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Multiple major champ says the pros should be made to play Persimmon woods

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Bifurcation – ‘the point or area at which something divides into two branches or parts.’ (Merriam-Webster dictionary.)

Not a word heard very often, or at all, but now one ingrained into virtually every golf story in the past 48 hours, and now legendary player Tony Jacklin has joined other professionals in suggesting something other than the proposed Model Local Rule, where compettion organisers could enforce a ruling to ensure the players use a ball that travels shorter than balls currently used by professionals and amateurs alike.

The idea is not new. Indeed, the concept of differing balls used by the two sectors of golfer was debated on here as far back as 2017,  but with technology moving apace and with players getting stronger and fitter, the two rules makers have proposed a move to stop the huge hitting players that “threaten golf’s long-term sustainability and undermines the core principle that a broad and balanced set of playing skills” that should “remain the primary determinant of golf.”

Whilst everyday golfers will always try to match their professional counterparts, it is a rare thing to hear any comment that it’s unfair that they can’t hit the distances of Bryson, Rory, Cameron Young et al, particularly as distance does not always equate to accuracy.

Player such as Long Drive World Championship runner-up Bryson DeChambeau called the move ” the most atrocious thing that you could possibly do to the game of golf,” whilst current PGA Champion Justin Thomas (wearing a manufacturer’s cap) said the proposed move was “selfish” and that it ignored the fact that “we [the professional golfers] are athletes now.”

On Wednesday, two-time major winner and twice winning captain of the European Ryder Cup side added his opinion to the debate surrounding length.

The 78-year-old took to Twitter to suggest the way to overcome the bombers is to bring back persimmon woods for the professional elite.

Many replies were in agreement, suggesting the smaller head and sweet spot meant the driver used to be the hardest club in the bag to hit and the reason why classic courses were so difficult.

The last player to win a The Masters using a persimmon wood was Berhard Langer in 1993, with players such as Justin Leonard and David Love keeping one in the bag after the majority had moved on to metal beasts.

Whilst it seems as though viewers like to see reachable par-4s, there is a particular delight in watching the guile required around the classic, shorter tracks such as this week’s Copperhead, host of the Valspar Championship.

Whilst Jacklin seems to concede the days of four-iron or five-iron to par-4s is a thing of the past, the current move is certainly trying to get close to it.

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19th Hole

‘Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight’ – LPGA pro offers candid take following rough AIG Women’s Open finish

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An opening round of 77 left LPGA pro Jenny Shin with a mountain to climb at last week’s AIG Women’s Open.

However, fighting back with rounds of 69 and 67, Shin found herself six shots off the lead and just outside the top 10 heading into Sunday as she went in search of her first major victory.

Shin, who won the US Girls’ Junior at just 13, couldn’t back those rounds up on Sunday, though, and after playing her opening nine holes of the final round in level par, she then bogeyed three holes coming home to slip down the leaderboard and eventually finish T23.

Taking to X following the final round, Shin offered a frustrated and honest take on how she was feeling, posting: “Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight. What a crappy way to finish.”

Shin has made 11 cuts in 13 starts on the LPGA Tour this season, but has been plagued by frustrating Sunday finishes throughout the year. Shin ranks 102nd on tour this year out of 155 for Round 4 scoring in 2025.

Miyu Yamashita won the 2025 AIG Women’s Open with a composed final round of 70 to win her first major of her career by two strokes.

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How a late golf ball change helped Cameron Young win for first time on PGA Tour

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Cameron Young won the Wyndham Championship on Sunday for his first victory on the PGA Tour.

Young dominated all weekend at TPC Sedgefield, running away from the pack to win by six strokes and put himself in contention for a Ryder Cup pick in September.

Ahead of the event, the 28-year-old switched to a Pro V1x prototype golf ball for the first time, following recent testing sessions with the Titleist Golf Ball R&D team.

Interestingly, Young played a practice round accompanied by Fordie Pitts, Titleist’s Director of Tour Research & Validation, at TPC Schedule early last week with both his usual Pro V1 Left Dot ball and the new Pro V1x prototype.

Per Titleist, by the second hole Young was exclusively hitting shots with the Pro V1x prototype.

“We weren’t sure if he was going to test it this week, but as he was warming up, he asked to hit a couple on the range,” Pitts said. “He was then curious to see some shots out on the course.  Performance-wise, he was hitting tight draws everywhere. His misses were staying more in play. He hit some, what he would call ‘11 o’clock shots,’ where again he’s taking a little something off it. He had great control there.”

According to Titleist, the main validation came on Tuesday on the seventh hole of his practice round. The par 3 that played between 184 and 225 yards during the tournament called for a 5-iron from Young, or so he thought. Believing there was “no way” he could get a 6-iron to the flag with his Left Dot, Young struck a 5-iron with the Pro V1x prototype and was stunned to see the ball land right by the hole.

“He then hits this 6-iron [with the Pro V1x prototype] absolutely dead at the flag, and it lands right next to the pin, ending up just past it,” Pitts said. “And his response was, ‘remarkable.’ He couldn’t believe that he got that club there.”

Following nine holes on Tuesday and a further nine on Wednesday, Young asked the Titleist team to put the ProV1x balls in his locker. The rest, as they say, is history.

Check out Young’s winning WITB here.

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Rickie Fowler makes equipment change to ‘something that’s a little easier on the body’

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Rickie Fowler fired an opening round of one-under par on Thursday at the Wyndham Championship, as the Californian looks to make a FedEx Cup playoff push.

Fowler is currently 61st in the standings, so will need a strong couple of weeks to extend his season until the BMW Championship, where only the top 50 in the standings will tee it up.

Heading into the final stretch of the season, Fowler has made an equipment switch of note, changing into new iron shafts, as well as making a switch to his driver shaft.

The 36-year-old revealed this week that he has switched from his usual KBS Tour C-Taper 125-gram steel shafts to the graphite Aerotech SteelFiber 125cw shafts in his Cobra King Tour irons, a change he first put into play at last month’s Travelers Championship.

Speaking on the change to reporters this week, Fowler made note that the graphite shafts offer “something that’s a little easier on the body.”

“I mean, went to the week of Travelers, so been in for, I guess that’s a little over a month now. Something that’s a little easier on the body and seemed to get very similar numbers to where I was at. Yeah, it’s gone well so far.”

Fowler has also made a driver shaft change, switching out his Mitsubishi Diamana WB 73 TX for a UST Mamiya Lin-Q Proto V1 6 TX driver shaft in his Cobra DS-Adapt X, which he first implemented a couple of weeks ago at the John Deere Classic.

However, according to Fowler himself, the testing and potential changes are not done yet.

“Probably do some more testing in some different weight configurations with them once I get some time. Yeah, I feel like we’re always trying to search, one, to get better but are there ways to make things easier, whether that’s physically, mentally, whatever it may be. So yeah, I thought they were good enough to obviously put into play and looking forward to doing some more testing.”

Fowler gets his second round at TPC Sedgefield underway at 7.23 a.m ET on Friday.

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