Tour Tech Rundown gets mean and lean when big-week events surface on the PGA Tour. When the four majors and the Players come to our screens, the KFT, PGATC, and PGATA take time off for power cell recharge. Fortunately for you and us, we have the Ladies European Tour and the LIV Golf Circuit to complement the penultimate event on the Florida Swing. It’s shaping up to be quite a year for a certain Aussie lass, while breakaway golf produced its fourth different winner in four events.

As for the Players Championship, it seemed that the entire European Ryder Cup side was chasing the championship belt. Hovland, Aberg, Fitzpatrick, MacIntyre, Fleetwood, and Straka were all in the mix. In the end, it was Team USA’s glass of the finest that lifted the vessel high. Cheers to Mother So Dear. Let’s all have a deep breath and a deep dive into this week’s tech secrets of the stars, in Tour Tech Rundown.

PGA Tour @ The Players Championship: Forever Young

May the good lord be with you down every road you roam…

Let’s dance in style, let’s dance for a while, Heaven can wait, we’re only watching the skies

May God bless and keep you always, May your wishes all come true, May you always do for others
          And let others do for you

Forever Young is a popular song title, and equally popular to cover, whether it’s Dylan, Alphaville, or Rod Stewart. The Ides of March 2K15 will always be Forever Young, for one Cameron Young of Fordham Prep, Wake Forest, and Team USA fame. Young found a way to surge past the finest golfers on the planet and claim his second tour title, and one of the biggest.

For the third consecutive day, Young birdied Dye’s Folly, the island par-three 17th hole. Unlike Saturday, Young kept his tee shot dry on the 18th hole and made par for the victory. Young was paired with Matt Fitzpatrick in the penultimate game, and the duo made most of the noise on day four. Fitzpatrick went out in three-under 33, then added two more birdies to reach minus-thirteen with four to play. His final quadrilateral was bumpy, as he made a birdie, a par, and two bogeys, including one at the last, to finish on twelve under par.

As third round leader, Ludvig Aberg and playing partner Michael Thorbjornsen were struggling to 76 and 77, respectively, Young was heating up. The Baron of Bethpage turned in one-under 35, then flamed home in 33 strokes. His 68 brought him to thirteen-deep on the week, and a one-shot margin of triumph over Fitzpatrick. Third place went to Xander Schauffele, while solo fourth was occupied by Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre. Let’s leave it to Bob Dylan to bring us home.

May your hands always be busy, May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation, When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful, And may your song always be sung
May you stay forever young

Cameron’s Gear Bag

The folks in Acushnet, Massachusetts, are rowdy tonight. His driver is a GT3 with Diamana PD 60 TX shaft, while his fairway metal (14.5 degrees) and hybrid (20 degrees) are GT1 model. To the irons: A T200 4-iron, T100-5 iron, and 631.CY prototypes from 6 through 9 have earned his trust. All boast a Dynamic Golf X7 shaft. Three wedges 48, 52, 56 degrees) boast the Vokey Design emblem, while the 60-degree wedge shows off the Vokey WedgeWorks logo. Young completes his bag with a Scotty Cameron 9.5R Tour Prototype, in case you wondered which club rolled that Titleist ProV1x two-left-dot prototype ball into the hole so often, from so far away.

Ladies European Tour @ Australian Open: Homeland Hannah’s Heroics

In 2K14, Karrie Webb lifted the Australia Women’s Open winner’s bowl, and for a dozen years, she was the last one. Playings came and went, but no homegrown or adopted daughter was able to replicate her feat. A dozen years isn’t a lifetime, but with each ceremony, the homegirl-as-champion notion became more elusive. This year, a spate of Aussie lasses stepped up, and the likelihood was high that someone would end the run of tourist titleists.

Cassie Porter began Sunday’s final round nine shots behind the leader, and she made up eight of those blows at Kooyonga with a scintillating 62. Ten birdie putts fell for her, with nary a bogey spoiling her scorecard. Porter finished on 10-under par, one shot out of a playoff. The host country’s Karis Davidson claimed a T4 finish at six-under par, but was never the sort of threat that Porter represented.

Fortunately for all of Oz, the third-round leader was Hannah Green. Two weeks removed from an LPGA win in Hong Kong, Green wanted nothing more than a second title this month. She played steady golf on Sunday, posting three birdies against zero bogeys through sixteen holes. Green carried a two-shot advantage to the 17th tee, but gave one of those shots back with the day’s sole bogey. With the title in sight, Green coaxed a par putt into the abyss, and escaped with a one-shot victory and an end to the dozen-year streak.

Green’s Gear Bag

As of two weeks ago, when she won in Hong Kong, we THOUGHT that Hannah Green was gaming a Srixon ZX5 Mk II LS driver and a ZX Mk II three-metal in her bag. However, in Facebook and Instagram posts this morning, Dunlop/Srixon/Cleveland listed the following clubs for the champion:

• Srixon ZXi5 4i
• Srixon ZXi7 5i-PW
• Srixon Z-STAR DIAMOND
• Cleveland Golf RTZ Tour Rack 50°, 56°, 60° Mid

Based on that list, we have to imagine that Hannah Green returned to a Callaway driver, possibly the Paradigm-Ai Smoke, and she may have ripped a Callaway Elyte mini-driver as well. There is no reason to imgine that she replaced her trusty Titleist TSR2 21-degree lofted fairway metal. For irons, we have the provided list from DSC as proof of her lofted clubs. On the green, Green continued to roll a Srixon Z Star Diamond ball with her ultra-reliable Scotty Cameron Phantom 5S putter.

LIV Golf @ Singapore: O/T Bryson by a yip

The Sentosa Golf Club is rife with water and sand. As you begin the highlight reel linked below, be certain to check the stat for Richard “RT” Lee: one of two golfers to not have a penalty drop all week. It will prove ironic by the installment’s end. Lee played a magnificent tournament, reaching 14-under par while all but one around him faltered. He and Bryson DeChambeau made birdie at the par-five closing hole in regulation, despite the spring rains in the East, and returned to the tee for a playoff.

Bryson immediately deposited his drive into the portside water, so Lee did the logical thing: bail right. He found the sand. Bryson ripped his metal shortside right of the green, while Lee played smartly up the fairway. After Lee placed his third on the green, some twenty feet from glory, DeChambeau flopped a recover inside eight feet, and drained the putt for par. Lee’s attempt at birdie from twenty feet missed left, but sadly, so did his two-feet putt for par. In the blink of an eye, the fellow who found the penalty area had won, while the chap who stayed safe all week, had lost.

Bryson’s Gear Bag

Even though he has toned down the toning up, Bryson’s metals still ring heavy like a long-drive contestant. Driver, 3 and 5-metal are all Formula Fire models from Krank Golf. BDC employs a Project X Prototype D70 shaft in the big stick, but switches to LA Golf BAD prototype wands in the fairway metals. Eschewing big names for smaller companies is BDC’s vibe, and his Avoida irons continue that trend. His eponymous Prototype model features 3 iron and 5 through PW, but the big man shifts to three Bettinardi wedges (yes, you read that correctly) at 49 (bent from 50) 54 (bent from 56) and 60 degrees. An LA Golf SIK Pro C-series Armlock putter takes care of business on the greens, in partnership with a Titleist ProV1 X 25 ball.