Can 4 grams make that much of a difference? Matt Fitzpatrick thinks so

“My fault,” Fitzpatrick said when asked if anyone was fired over Weight-gate.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — With the weighty issue surrounding his driver solved, Matt Fitzpatrick once again feels good about his game.

Who knew 4 grams could lift such a burden?

Fitzpatrick is an analytical whisperer when it comes to golf, tracking every shot he hits during tournament play. But for much of last year, something felt a bit off when the Jupiter resident pulled out his driver.

He took the club to Titleist five weeks ago to have it shortened. They discovered a 4-gram weight in the grip. That jogged Fitzpatrick’s memory.

“I almost had a heart attack,” he said.

Fitzpatrick added weights to the grips of his irons about a year ago. That felt so good, about a month later he did the same with his driver.

The problem was that he forgot the weight was there, even as his driver started feeling uncomfortable.

“My fault,” Fitzpatrick said when asked if anyone was fired over Weight-gate.

After the discovery, Fitzpatrick felt the weight of the world was lifted … from his driver.

Now …

“I probably had five weeks of it and it’s been a mixed bag,” the 29-year-old said. “But from a feeling standpoint, it’s felt better.”

This week at the Players Championship, that bag is a good mix.

Fitzpatrick shot a 69 Friday, putting him 9-under for the first two rounds, five shots behind leader Wyndham Clark. He ended his second round leading the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, and second in driving distance.

So, can 4 grams make that much of a difference?

“Yeah,” he said. “The weight in the grip just made the ball go more right-to-left, basically more club closure.

“More face rotation, more kick from the shift. So left is the popular miss.”

Both days here, Fitzpatrick felt more like the man with two career PGA Tour wins, including the 2022 U.S. Open, at least off the tee.

“Just drove it well, drove it like I feel like I can drive it,” said Fitzpatrick, who also has eight wins on the DP World Tour.

“That obviously puts me in a great position to hit solid golf shots from there. To me, it felt a bit more like my old self, drove the ball well, putted well, and that’s kind of always been the key to when I’ve played well really.”

Of course, Fitzpatrick’s definition of playing well comes with a high standard. Even while being weighted down in 2023, the Englishman had one win, 11 top 25s and was a part of Europe’s dominating win over the U.S. in the Ryder Cup.

Fitzpatrick’s world ranking has hovered between No. 8 to its current No. 11 since winning the RBC Heritage in April.

Now, he’s made the cut at The Players for the first time in three years and is looking for just his second top-10 finish in nine starts at TPC Sawgrass. He tied for ninth in 2021.

While Fitzpatrick is looking to become the eighth to capture The Players while living in our area (Jack Nicklaus has won it three times, Tiger Woods twice), he would be the first Englishman.

Fitzpatrick pointed to the 12 years The Players was held in May for his country’s drought in North Florida, when it was played in warmer weather with firmer fairways and greens. Not exactly the maritime climate England experiences.

Although March is a bit cooler and can be wetter, it’s still not like the conditions when most of your coast is on the North Sea.

“I guess once it’s in March it’s probably a little bit better … It feels probably a little bit more like home with the grass,” he said. “It’s a tough golf course, there’s no two ways about it. Some weeks you have it, some weeks you don’t.”

Fitzpatrick has had it for most of his first two rounds with 12 birdies, and an eagle Thursday on No. 16. He’s carded three bogeys on the Stadium Course, but the one hole he’d like back is the par-4 No. 4 Friday, when his second shot out of the rough didn’t clear the water to the left of the green.

Fitzpatrick hit a nice wedge to 7 feet after his drop but missed his bogey putt. He went from a two-shot lead after a birdie on No. 2 put him at 10-under, to tied for third with the double bogey on No. 4.

“I felt the lie was good enough to kind of hack it onto the right side,” Fitzpatrick said. “It just kind of snagged me and went left. Just couldn’t really work out why it had gone so far left.”

That’s the only thing he hasn’t worked out so far this week.

Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and golf writer for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@gannett.com.

Justin Thomas leads list of 7 big names to miss the cut at 2024 Genesis Invitational

Gone after 36.

The PGA Tour’s third signature event of the season has reached its midway point, meaning the 36-hole cut has been made at the Genesis Invitational in Pacific Palisades, California, at Riviera Country Club.

The top 50 and ties, plus anyone within 10 shots of the lead, earned Saturday tee times.

Tiger Woods withdrew from the event Friday afternoon due to illness (and as you’d expect, social media went into a frenzy).

Patrick Cantlay, who last won at the 2022 BMW Championship, leads the way at 13 under, five shots clear of a group at 8 under that includes Jason Day, Luke List and Mackenzie Hughes.

Here are 7 players who are leaving the Los Angeles area a few days early.

Viktor Hovland’s alternative route at Riviera’s 15th remains in play this week despite serious discussion to install internal OB

“You’d have to be asleep at the wheel to not know that the scoreboard has been placed in that gap.”

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – Viktor Hovland’s alternate route to play the 474-yard par-4 15th hole at Riviera Country Club down the 17th hole will remain an option – a risky one at that over an electronic scoreboard meant to discourage players – after the PGA Tour considered installing internal out of bounds as a local rule this week but opted against it.

Instead of a power fade to turn the corner of the doglegged fairway and avoid the fairway bunker, Hovland for the past few years has been the most high-profile player opting to play down the 17th hole, which runs to the right of it. It’s a move he originally attempted playing at Riviera in the 2017 U.S. Amateur at the suggestion of his former Oklahoma State teammate Zach Bauchou.

When asked in 2022 if it was his game plan to play the hole in this manner regardless of the flag position, Hovland said, “I think so. … It’s a no brainer.”

Hovland also told Golfweek that his stats maven, DP World Tour pro Edoardo Molinari, advised him that was the best plan of attack for the hole.

“The main reasons to go down 17 is that you take out the right fairway bunker on 15 and you have a wider fairway to hit. It also makes the hole slightly shorter,” Molinari explained in an email.

The tournament’s rules committee, which is headed by Tour rules official Steve Rintoul, this week’s chief referee, spent considerable time on Tuesday and Wednesday considering whether to install internal out-of-bounds down the entire right side of the hole. The primary reasons to do so centered on safety concern for volunteer marshals and fans watching/walking on 17 being in the line of fire, and in part to protect the architectural integrity of the hole designed by architects George C. Thomas Jr., and Billy Bell, which they never dreamed to be played in this style.

Internal OB has been instituted in recent years to avoid a shortcut down the left side of the 18th hole at Waialae Country Club during the Sony Open in Hawaii, at No. 18 at TPC Sawgrass during the Players Championship, two separate spots at the upcoming Cognizant Classic at PGA National, not to mention at the first hole at Royal Portrush during the 2019 British Open to Rory McIlroy’s everlasting dismay.

“What if a guy tries to play the hole the right way and he’s behind a tree and his only play is to go sideways to 17? We’re taking that option away from that player. There were scenarios that didn’t sit well with us,” Rintoul told Golfweek in a phone interview Wednesday. “To do internal out of bounds at a revered place like Riviera for maybe one or two guys going that way isn’t a prudent thing to do.”

Genesis Invitational: Picks to win, odds | Tiger debuts ‘Sun Day Red’

The option to play down No. 17 exists because eucalyptus trees that used to block that route have died in recent years. The Tour filled the gap with an electronic board to discourage players from taking the route.

“There was a necessity for a scoreboard on that hole but you’d have to be asleep at the wheel to not know that the scoreboard has been placed in that gap,” Rintoul said. “We’re not naïve. But there’s good reason for it.”

Matt Fitzpatrick, who is another player who uses Molinari as a stats/strategy adviser, played his tee shot down 17 during his practice round but didn’t plan to go that way in the tournament.

“I didn’t particularly like the look of it,” he said. “It’s blind for the second shot if you don’t get far enough down.”

He also pointed out that the electronic scoreboard, which is meant to obstruct the view, had been raised between his practice round on Tuesday and his pro-am round on Wednesday and that the risk of hitting the board would prevent players from taking the alternative route.

“They raised it and put a flag or something on top of it to really mess with you,” Fitzpatrick said. “I think it’s ridiculous that they’ve done that.”

Matt Fitzpatrick of England chips on the fourth green during the Pro-Am prior to The Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on February 14, 2024 in Pacific Palisades, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Rintoul confirmed that the scoreboards had been raised but not in a malicious attempt to cut off the route. He pointed out that the boards are positioned at ground level every week and then raised before spectators are permitted on the course. They were lifted four inches ahead of the pro-am round.

Rintoul noted that according to ShotLink data only Hovland and Taylor Montgomery among this week’s 70-man field have opted to play down No. 17 in the past. Players would be advised to have their caddie forecaddie on this hole should they take the alternative route.

“If there was nothing in that gap, we could have a third of the field play that way,” Rintoul said. “That would force our hand with internal out of bounds.”

Adding to the intrigue of taking the alternative route is the fact that the 15th green, which Geoff Shackelford of The Quadrilateral describes as “one of the largest and most artfully constructed greens by Thomas and Bell,” underwent minor renovation since last year’s tournament that flattened the back right of the green. As a result, there’s an additional right-hand hole location on the green this week.

“I believe those flags (on the right side of the green) would be easiest to access from the 17th hole,” Rintoul said.

The long-term fix seems obvious: to add two large eucalyptus trees. It’s been discussed but it’s an expensive proposition that needs to be budgeted for in the future. For now, Hovland and potentially other players will continue to go bombs away down the 17th hole and the Tour will closely monitor the situation.

Stars (like Matt Fitzpatrick) are everywhere as the PGA Show is booming in Orlando this week

Organizers from the PGA of America say exhibitors from 25 countries are on hand this year.

ORLANDO — It wasn’t long ago that many were wondering whether or not the PGA Show at Orange County Convention Center was losing its fastball.

The 2024 edition of the annual trade show, however, is proving definitively the lasting power of the show — and perhaps how important it’s become in the wake of remote working quarters and increased travel.

According to organizers from the PGA of America, more than 1,000 exhibitors from 25 countries are on hand this year, and the event still includes a robust series of speakers and prominent guests, like 2022 U.S. Open champ Matthew Fitzpatrick and 8-time major champ Tom Watson. Attendees from 80 different countries registered for the event.

Also, while most guests come from the United States or Europe, many of the exhibitors come from China, Korea and Canada. A handful of the major golf club manufacturers still haven’t returned to the show, but many have and the floor has been an endless stream of activity.

“The PGA of America is actively sourcing more opportunities to partner with like-minded organizations, golf facilities and mission-driven individuals across Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa,” said Sean D. Thornberry, Director of Global Development at the PGA of America.

Here’s a look at some of the fun:

Here’s what four European pros and Ryder Cuppers had to say about Keith Pelley leaving the DP World Tour and thoughts on his successor

It didn’t take long at the Sony Open in Hawaii for news to spread among the Europeans in the field.

HONOLULU – It didn’t take long at the Sony Open in Hawaii for news to spread among the Europeans in the field that DP World Tour chief executive Keith Pelley announced he was leaving the circuit after eight and a half years in the role to join Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, as well as the city’s MLS and Canadian Football League franchises.

Pelley, who had been at the DP World Tour since 2015, came to golf from Rogers Media, where he oversaw its ownership of the Toronto Blue Jays. Since he never worked in the golf industry, Pelley brought a fresh perspective to the job and wasn’t afraid to step beyond perceived boundaries and break free of some of the sport’s long-held traditions.

Music and pyrotechnics on the first tee? Did it. A 40-second shot clock to improve pace of play? He signed off on the Shot Clock Masters in Austria in 2018. He signed Rolex to underwrite a lucrative series of tournaments and sold title rights to the circuit.

He also allowed Saudi Arabia to get its tentacles into golf with the creation of the Saudi International. Ultimately, Pelley chose to partner with the PGA Tour through its strategic alliance. It is part of the framework agreement with the Saudi Arabia’s PIF but has taken a backseat in the negotiations to the PGA Tour. Guy Kinnings, the current deputy CEO and executive director – Ryder Cup, will become the European Tour group’s new CEO effective April 2.

Here’s what several European prso had to say about his move.

2024 Sony Open in Hawaii odds and picks to win at this week’s PGA Tour stop

Waialae could be the perfect fit for Matt Fitzpatrick.

After a fantastic 2024 opener at The Sentry, the PGA Tour heads to Honolulu for the Sony Open in Hawaii at Waialae Country Club. While it’s not a signature event, this year’s field boasts plenty of star power.

Defending champion Si Woo Kim is joined by Matt Fitzpatrick, Ludvig Aberg, Tyrrell Hatton, Sahith Theegala, Brian Harman and Justin Rose. After a final-round 7-under 66 in Maui, Kim tied for 25th at The Sentry.

Will Zalatoris is also in the field and will be making his first official Tour start since withdrawing prior to the 2023 Masters. He did tee it up at Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge in December, finishing last in the 20-man field.

The Sentry winner Chris Kirk will be a name to watch this week. In ’23, Kirk finished solo third, and in ’21 he grabbed a share of second. Overall, Kirk has five top-10 finishes — four of which are top-5s — at the Sony.

The Sentry 2024 odds, course history and picks to win

The PGA Tour is back!

Welcome to 2024, folks. And to start the new year, the PGA Tour is in Hawaii for the season’s first signature event, The Sentry.

The Plantation Course at Kapalua in Maui will once again play host, while the defending champion is not in the 59-man field.

Jon Rahm came from behind to defeat Collin Morikawa last year, but cannot defend his title thanks to his move to LIV Golf.

Some of the stars actually in the field include world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Viktor Hovland, Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa, Xander Schauffele, Morikawa and Jordan Spieth.

Two notable names not teeing it up at the Plantation Course, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas.

Reminder, there is no cut this week.

Golf course

Plantation Course at Kapalua | Par 73 | 7,596 yards

2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions
Course scenics during practice prior to the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Plantation Course at Kapalua Golf Club on January 02, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo: Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Course history

Betting preview

‘Augusta National Golf Club cordially invites you:’ Players share photos of their 2024 Masters invitations

For players eligible for the Masters, it’s the most wonderful time of the year.

It’s that wonderful time of year again when players start to share their Masters invitations. Augusta National will host the year’s first major in 2024 and there will surely be some drama when the week comes.

Defending champion Jon Rahm caused waves through the sporting world when he announced his move to LIV Golf on Dec. 7. The Green Jackets in Georgia have been clear that any player who qualifies for the Masters is welcome to participate. With his win, Rahm can play in the historic tournament as long as he wants.

The Masters teased the invitations on Dec. 21 and players around the game have begun to share photos of their Masters invitations. See them all below.

Why Matt Fitzpatrick’s curiosity about an obscure local model rule led to Collin Morikawa’s 2-stroke penalty

“It’s nothing personal.”

NASSAU, Bahamas — Collin Morikawa got docked two strokes on Sunday morning in one of the more bizarre rulings on the PGA Tour in a long time – which is saying something.

If you’re unfamiliar with this week’s installment of “the Rules of Golf can be wacky,” you can read the backstory about why Morikawa was assessed two strokes for violating local model rule G-11, which restricts the use of green-reading material, on the fourth hole of the third round of the Hero World Challenge here. But the part of the story that couldn’t be told until players talked after the round was how the violation was reported in the first place.  And how did Morikawa and his caddie, JJ Jakovac, take the news?

In regards to the first question, chief referee Stephen Cox of the PGA Tour did confirm that Matt Fitzpatrick was responsible for bringing the subject to light. One rush to judgment was that the Englishman had ratted out Morikawa but that isn’t the case. Rather, he was simply looking for confirmation of a rule, which went into effect in 2022, when the USGA and R&A banned the green-reading books that took much of the skill out of reading a putt.

On the fourth green on Saturday, Fitzpatrick heard Morikawa ask his caddie about the break and witnessed Jakovac refer to his yardage book for the answer.

“I have wanted to use AimPoint earlier this year,” Fitzpatrick explained on Sunday after finishing T-4. “I spoke to my putting coach, Phil Kenyon, about it. He told me that he was pretty certain I can’t write the numbers down or use the AimPoint numbers. So, you know, I didn’t do it. And then obviously yesterday it happened and I asked Coxy just to clarify what the situation was. I asked the question and he was like, ‘Well, now you’ve asked the question, I need you to tell me what’s going on.’ That was it.

“Listen, it’s nothing personal. Whether it was Tiger or whoever, it’s just I wanted to know because I would have used it earlier this year.”

Fitzpatrick never broached the subject directly with Morikawa and, in fact, he forgot about it after the round. He didn’t text Cox until later that evening.

“It wasn’t until I was back in the house like where I was staying and someone was talking about putting or something like that. I was like, oh, [shoot], like I have that question,” Fitzpatrick recalled.

Morikawa cleared up another mystery in all of this: how could he be so sure that Jakovac only violated the rule that one time on the third hole on Saturday?

“I promise you it only did happen on the fourth hole because he read a putt wrong on the first hole with his feet and I fired him in the first round from reading my putts,” Morikawa explained.

Morikawa expressed no problem with Fitzpatrick bringing the potential violation to light, noting, “He did what any competitor should do.”

Morikawa also sided with his caddie, who he said had asked a different rules official if measuring the slope on the green with a level device was legal – which it is – but a player and/or caddie can’t write those figures down in his yardage book.

“He had asked other officials, he had asked other caddies and it sounded as if other people were doing this. And when you ask an official something, you assume it’s right,” Morikawa said. “Well, apparently if they tell you something wrong one day in a different tournament does not carry on, and I understand that, we made the mistake.”

But Morikawa wondered: “Why are there gray areas? There shouldn’t be gray areas in the rules, right? That’s what rules are for.”

Morikawa expressed some frustration at the process of how he was alerted to the possible infraction. Cox initially texted Jakovac in the morning a few hours before Morikawa’s tee time. Jakovac didn’t say anything to Morikawa at first because he didn’t want to concern him if there wasn’t any issue. Cox sent a second text with about 45 minutes left in Morikawa’s warmup calling for a meeting in the locker room.

“We go there and we’re looking for him and he’s nowhere to be found,” Morikawa said.

Cox is nothing if not punctual and was doing his due diligence to make sure he had his ducks in a row but Morikawa was equally frustrated with the process as he was with the ruling.

“Just give it to me, right?” Morikawa said. “If I broke the rules, I broke the rules and that’s on me, I have to take it.”

A two-stroke penalty turned his third-round score from 70 into a 72. Even before he teed off, his tall task at catching leader and eventual champion Scottie Scheffler grew from six back to eight back. It’s a mistake he and Jakovac likely will never make again.

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Collin Morikawa hit with 2-stroke penalty for ‘unwittingly’ violating Model Local Rule at 2023 Hero World Challenge

Morikawa’s third-round score at the fourth hole was changed to a triple-bogey 7.

NASSAU, Bahamas – Collin Morikawa was assessed a two-shot penalty for violating local model rule G-11, which restricts the use of green-reading material, on the fourth hole of the third round of the 2023 Hero World Challenge.

The rules committee was alerted to a potential rule violation late Saturday night after a question was posed by a player in the field. When asked if it was Morikawa’s playing partner during the third round, Matt Fitzpatrick, who brought the potential rule violation into question, chief referee Stephen Cox of the PGA Tour confirmed that was the case.

The local model rule was added in 2022 to protect the fundamental skill of reading greens. It’s not the first time a Tour pro has violated the rule.

Cox met with JJ Jakovac, Morikawa’s caddie, about two hours before their 12:03 p.m. final-round tee time. After reviewing his yardage book, it became clear that Jakovac had created a putting chart, which isn’t a violation of the rules in itself, but the manner of obtaining the information is key to the ruling. Jakovac used a level on the practice putting green and wrote a note directly into his yardage book and used it for assessing the read on the fourth hole during Saturday’s third round.

“Fortunately, that was the only time that a player or caddie used that chart or formula and on that basis the breach remained two strokes,” Cox said.

“This is a very complicated issue,” Cox added. “We were very specific in the fact that these handwritten notes needed to be obtained through traditional methods to protect the fundamental skill of reading greens through our sport and that’s the foundation of why we put the model local rule in place. In this situation, again, unwittingly, the player used a level to determine degrees of slope on the practice putting green, which in itself, isolated, is not a breach, but what that player did was formulated a chart and transferred that into his book.”

Had Jakovac devised a chart using his feet and estimated the slope or simply retained the information obtained from the measuring devise to memory rather than as a handwritten note, there would have been no penalty.

Morikawa was informed of the penalty on the range about 10-15 minutes before his tee time by Cox. When asked to describe Morikawa’s response, Cox said, “It went very similar to any other conversation that results in a penalty. He was very frustrated. It’s a very complicated rule.”

As a result, Morikawa’s third-round score at the fourth hole was changed to a triple-bogey 7, giving him an even-par 72.

“They understood the rule was broken but anytime the rules penalize a player there is inevitable pushback and frustration and that was shared by both player and caddie, which is human nature,” Cox told NBC Sports.

“At the end of the day we made the mistake and it’s on us. Thankfully it only happened that one time,” Morikawa said after his round Sunday.

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