Welcome to this week’s Tour Report from Albany in the Bahamas for the 2022 Hero World Challenge. The week started with an unfortunate update from tournament host Tiger Woods, who was forced to withdraw from the event due to pain caused by plantar fasciitis.

As reported by PGATour.com, Woods will not seek surgery, instead opting for a “stretch and relax” approach. He still plans on playing in the upcoming PNC Championship and The Match, however, and we also got a brief look at his current golf swing, as I’ll get into below.

Aside from Woods, there were a few notable gear updates from the Bahamas, including Collin Morikawa debuting two brand new iron models, Corey Conners finally switching drivers, and Tony Finau showing off one of the coolest custom staff bags I’ve ever seen. Justin Thomas made yet another putter change, as well.

Let’s dive into this week’s Tour Report from Nassau, Bahamas.

JT makes yet another putter change

After making several putter changes throughout 2022, the Justin Thomas putter saga ultimately came full circle, ending the year with the same putter that he started off the year with. Before moving into several different 1-of-1 long-neck Scotty Cameron T5 prototype putters, Thomas began the year with a Scotty Cameron X5 Tour Prototype with a short flow neck. And that’s what he had in the bag at the 2022 Hero World Challenge this week, as well.

Also, here’s your reminder that Thomas’ custom Titleist 621.JT Forged irons have zero offset, and they’re bone chillingly intimidating to look down at from address.

Shivers.

Justin Thomas’ full WITB from the Bahamas

Morikawa’s new TaylorMade prototype irons

Typically, Collin Morikawa doesn’t change irons unless he’s playing in extremely firm turf conditions over in Scotland. This week, however, he debuted an entirely new combo set, including TaylorMade “P7CM” prototype short irons (7-PW), and new “P7MC” long irons (5 and 6).

As we highlighted in our Equipment Report over on PGATour.com this week, Morikawa worked closely with TaylorMade to dial in his new P7CM irons, which are obviously named using his initials. While the irons have a similar look to the company’s previous P7MB blade irons, they appear to show a combination between chrome and raw finishes.

Here’s what Morikawa told GolfWRX on Tuesday about the irons, and why he switched out his 4.5-year-old TaylorMade P730 blade short irons:

“They’re brand new,” Morikawa told GolfWRX.com. “I’ve been using them for probably two weeks now. They’re not too far off from the P730’s that I’ve been using pretty much since I turned pro. I was fortunate enough to do some iron testing with TaylorMade – which I’ve never done – and go into the whole sole pattern, and bounce, and width of an iron. There’s nothing wrong with 730’s, I … love them, that’s why I played them for probably 4.5 years now. But there’s just certain shots here and there that come out of nowhere.”

In addition to the new blades, he also debuted new TaylorMade P-7MC irons, which have a different design in their back cavities compared to the previous iterations of P7MC irons. Morikawa said it was an “easy transition,” but we’re yet to hear more details from TaylorMade about specific technical information or possible release dates.

We’ll keep you up to date should we learn more about the TaylorMade P7MCs that Morikawa had in the bag at the Hero.

Collin Morikawa’s full WITB from the Bahamas

Tony Finau’s absolute HEATER of a golf bag

Whether you’re a Utah Jazz basketball fan or not, I simply refuse to believe anyone can say this 1-of-1 Vessel-made staff bag isn’t one of the coolest of all time. The all purple colorway, Jazz logo, and jersey-style “Finau 7” stitching on the front make this bag absolutely pop. The icy blue zipper colorway was a nice touch, too.

Finau teed it up in Wednesday’s Pro-Am alongside former NBA all-star and current Utah Jazz executive Danny Ainge, and Finau certainly did not disappoint.

@golfwrx Tursky says Tony Finau’s @Utah Jazz themed bag is the coolest bag he has ever seen. Do you agree? #golf #golftiktok #golfwrx #utahjazz ? original sound – golfwrx

According to Finau, he’s going to autograph and giveaway the golf bag at the upcoming Golden State Warriors vs. Utah Jazz game on Wednesday. If you have a chance to become the owner of this bag, I sincerely wish you good luck.

See what GolfWRX members are saying about the bag in our forums

Corey Conners finally ditches his driver from 5 years ago

Conners, who’s statistically one of the best drivers on the PGA Tour for the last several years, finally switched out his previous Ping G400 LST for a new Ping G430 LST. According to Conners, he started using the G400 LST at the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills, and he hadn’t switched it out since, although he did go through about 10 different heads throughout the 5 year stretch.

He told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday that although he actually found his previous model to produce slightly more speed, the new G430 was significantly more forgiving on off-center hits, so he gave it the nod this week at the Hero. The new driver is also equipped with a 1-of-1 UST Mamiya Linq shaft.

For more information on his switch, head over to the PGATour.com Equipment Report by GolfWRX.

Tiger Woods competes in the “Hero Shot” challenge, despite foot injury 

No one would have blamed Tiger if he didn’t compete in the Hero Shot challenge this year, especially being that he withdrew from the actual event. As the tournament host, however, he sucked it up to help put on a great show for the fans (and for social media).

Although he failed to advance to the second round against the five other competitors, it was still great to see his swing and enjoy the festivities.

 

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For those curious, he used a TaylorMade MG3 56-degree wedge for the 87-yard shot, and he was wearing Nike Metacon 8 sneakers. I took a deep dive into Tiger Woods at the Hero Shot earlier this week, if you’re looking for further insight.

Caddies everywhere, take notes

As a former club caddie myself, I fully respect this move from an Albany caddie during the pro-am. Instead of writing down the players approximate yardages in a yardage book or on piece of paper, he writes them down on a square slab and velcros it to his caddie bib for instant visual access.

This is a true veteran move. I’m questioning the yardage gapping for that particular player, because something seems off, but the point is that it’s a great caddie trick regardless.

And with that, we say goodbye to the Bahamas. Legendary GolfWRX photographer Greg Moore will be on location at the PNC, so look out for more WITBs and inside-the-ropes photos soon.

Check out all of our photos from the 2022 Hero World Challenge