Tiger Woods Joining PGA Tour Policy Board Receives Praise from Unlikely Source

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Wednesday’s news that Tiger Woods joined the PGA Tour Policy Board—giving players six of the 12 votes on the board—has garnered plenty of reaction around the golf world.

As you would expect, it’s seemingly universally positive.

One of the golfers praising the move on social media is LIV Golf’s Phil Mickelson, who was one of Woods’ greatest rivals on and off the course.

This is great to see. Players having equal representation on the board, Tiger getting more involved, and accountability across the board. Awesome news.

— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 2, 2023

Mickelson, of course, is a member of LIV Golf—a circuit whose fate could very well be in the hands of Woods, Rory McIlroy, and the other 10 members of the PGA Tour Policy Board if the agreement with the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) becomes official.

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The PGA Tour maintains it will have control over what happens with LIV, but the rival circuit held a rally in New York earlier this week, telling the business community that they are in it for the long haul.

While Woods was critical of LIV Golf, we haven’t heard his official stance since the framework agreement was announced on June 6. McIlroy has made his thoughts known, loud and clear. He is against LIV, to say the least.

At the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina, Justin Thomas threw his support behind Woods’ appointment.

🚨🐅🗣️ JT reacts to Tiger Woods becoming the newest PGA Tour Policy Board member: “I don’t think there’s anyone else I would want speaking on my behalf & the rest of the guys.… We gotta keep him busy somehow, he can’t just sit on the couch & do nothing.”pic.twitter.com/Q8dbcR2YeY

— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) August 1, 2023

In addition to the fate of LIV Golf, Woods and the rest of the board will decide on a path back into the PGA Tour for any LIV players who wish to return in the future.

Cover Image via Twitter

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Chris has worked in sports journalism for nearly 20 years and also loves the game of golf, even though it often doesn't love him back. Year-round golf is a perk of living in Florida, where Chris moved from his native New York shortly after graduating from college. Chris has played some famous courses in the state, including Bay Hill in Orlando and Innisbrook in the Tampa Bay area, and next on his to-do list is the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass to take a crack at the famous island hole.

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Callaway Debuts New Apex Irons and Utility Woods

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When you play golf, every piece of equipment has to work together.

From the woods down to your putter, your set has to work in sync. That’s what makes the golf grip such an important piece of equipment. A bad grip can lead to bad shots, and nobody wants that. Golf grip technology has come a long way over the years, but one thing with golf grips hasn’t really been upgraded to the modern golfer.

What I’m talking about is how they look. RipIt Golf is changing everything we know about golf grips by offering stylish grips that also perform well.

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When I received my box of 8 grips, or the “iron set” as they call it on the site, I was instantly impressed by how they looked. I was even more blown away by how they felt. Despite the unique designs, color options, and obvious amounts of flair, these grips really seemed to be a high-quality product. Because I only had eight grips, I had to decide what clubs would get changed out for the test. To maximize the test, I picked the clubs I expect to use the most. I changed out my driver, 3 wood, 8 and 9 iron, along with all my wedges (yes, I carry four).

The grip’s installed like any other grip I’ve ever tried. They went on easy and felt great in my hands while finally connected to my clubs. It was time to take them out to the course to see how they would hold up.

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I’ve played three rounds with these grips, and I can confidently say I am a fan for life! They do not slip in my hands at all. Shot after shot, swing after swing, the clubs feel great with these grips. I was skeptical at first because, with these wild design options, I didn’t think that they would actually perform well.

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One of the rounds I played was with a teaching professional, and I had him check them out himself. He felt the different clubs with the variety of grips, and he was equally impressed. The other rounds I played with these RipIt grips were at my local amateur. The person running the event is also a teaching professional, and after checking them out on day one, he made it a point to ask about the company on day two because he was equally impressed that they feel better than they look.

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Here is the catch with these grips. They are going to cost more than a plain tour wrap

Grip. A single grip will cost you $18.50 each. You can also buy them in a three-pack for $51.95 ($17.31 ea) or an eight pack for $133.95 ($16.74 ea). You are definitely paying for the look that comes with these grips. They will add a different level of swag to your bag, and it will cost you a bit more, but they actually feel amazing, so in my opinion, it’s completely worth it.

These grips turn heads and give an extra level of confidence to each shot I didn’t expect. I am a huge fan of this product, and I will be recommending them to everyone I play a round with going forward. Keep an eye out for this brand because they will be the grips that everyone wants to play in the coming years.

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Cover Image via RipIt Grips

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A week before it is officially unveiled, Golfweek revealed details about the much-anticipated 2024 PGA Tour schedule.

Among the highlights:

These Utah views are not going to disappoint 🤩

The Black Desert Championship will be a part of the 2024 FedExCup Fall. pic.twitter.com/z4fsKf6e4k

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 3, 2023

It was said back in March that the signature events wouldn’t have cuts, but a 36-hole cut will remain at The Players Championship, The Memorial, the Genesis Invitational, and the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The Players will remain a full-field event, whereas the others will drop to around 80 golfers with a cut to the top 50 after two rounds.

The new no-cut events will be the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, RBC Heritage, Wells Fargo Championship, and Travelers Championship.

The Sentry Tournament of Champions and three FedEx Cup playoff tournaments round out the dozen signature events, and those will remain no-cut events.

Schupak: Tiger Woods’ policy board influence already felt in unveiling of 2024 PGA Tour schedule https://t.co/srpwrPYYHl

— Golfweek (@golfweek) August 3, 2023

Much like the upcoming fall schedule, the 2024 fall series will give players who don’t qualify for the playoffs a chance to improve their status heading into 2025.

The schedule will officially be released on Aug. 8 along with more details on who will be eligible for the signature events.

Cover Photo via Twitter

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Contemporaneous with the new 2023 T-Series iron lineup, Titleist has also released new iterations of its U•505 and T200 Utility Irons to provide golfers with enhanced feel and improved accuracy in two tour-proven shapes engineered to create more scoring opportunities from distance.

The new U•505—available in 1, 2, 3 and 4 irons—is an extremely versatile, high-launching utility iron that now looks and feels dramatically better.

The new T200 utility—offered in 2, 3 and 4 irons—provides more solid feel across the face for the player seeking utility iron performance in a tour-preferred compact profile.

And both are available for fittings starting TODAY and available globally in golf shops on August 25th.

“Both new U•505 and new T200 build on the success of their predecessors and feature key refinements in feel and playability,” said Josh Talge, Vice President, Titleist Golf Club Marketing. “With this line, we have created two high-launching, forgiving and fast utility iron options that feel incredible. We have continued to drive performance while also putting a priority on exceptional feel through the strike. Combine that with an ultra-clean look, and you arrive at the new U•505 and T200 models.”

For the player seeking increased launch and speed at the top end of their bag, the U•505 is an extremely versatile, high-launching utility iron that now looks and feels dramatically better. The new model features an updated, clean design that inspires confidence at address with its shorter blade. Titleist engineers refined Max Impact Technology and added dampening in the muscle plate to guide the frequencies at impact to impart the feel that a discerning player looks for from a well-struck shot.

Max Impact Technology isn’t the only performance improvement; with an all-new stable, re-designed chassis and an even lower CG position, U•505 maintains speed and stability on strikes across the entire hitting surface. U•505’s new single taper face improves performance towards the heel to tighten dispersion and sharpen distance control.

Quoting Marni Ines, Director, Titleist Irons Development, Golf Club R&D: “Between all the changes that we made to U•505, the performance goal was to make all launch parameters across the face more consistent – from spin to launch to speed. And along with improving U•505’s playability, feel and looks were paramount. We worked extremely hard on fine-tuning sound on this iron so that impact feels fantastic. Along with that improved feel, U•505 also got an updated, tour inspired profile, so that from address, it presents a really clean and player-preferred shape.”

For the player looking to increase launch and speed in their longest irons, without sacrificing a compact profile, there’s the T200 Utility. Featuring the same technology as the new T200 irons, but offered in 2, 3 and 4 iron heads (17°, 20°, 23° of loft, respectively), T200 utility irons are engineered to be a high-launching and forgiving option at the top end of the bag.

Notably, the T200 is the most played utility iron on the PGA TOUR, as its tour-inspired shape (featuring the same blade length and offset measurements as T100 and T150) and all-around performance makes it as simple as ever to blend into a mixed set.

The new T200 utility iron features an unmistakable leap forward in feel. A completely re-designed internal structure takes T200 to a new level, with a more stable chassis, refined Max Impact Technology and a new dual taper face bringing tour-level feel and speed to this forged-face iron model. Like the T200 iron variant, the T200 utility features dense D18 tungsten and a 2000° aerospace brazing process affords Titleist engineers the ability to maximize performance in each club–from fast, high-launching long irons to accurate and forgiving short irons.

The T200 Utility at Address

The T200’s tour-inspired shape promotes a clean look from address promotes confidence, with identical blade length and offset measurements to T100 and T150 create seamless transitions throughout blended sets.

Likewise borrowing from the 2023 T200, the utility features a variable bounce sole design that’s been designed with input from tour pros and Vokey Design grind experts, and works faster and smoother through the turf.

Ines stated: “With T200 utility irons, our primary goal was to enhance feel. With so many players playing T200 in their longest irons, we wanted to build an iron that would feel as solid as the rest of a mixed set, while improving upon the speed, forgiveness, and launch that T200 is known for. With the changes we made to T200’s chassis and Max Impact Technology, we were able to dial in this improved feel without sacrificing the performance benefits that come from its multi-material, hollow-body construction.”

Both the U•505 and T200 utility come with standard—the Project X HZRDUS Black 4G (mid launch/mid spin) in 80 and 90 gram weights—and premium —two Graphite Design options: the Tour AD-DI Hybrid Shaft (mid-launch, low-mid spin) and Tour AD-IZ Hybrid Shaft (low-mid launch, low spin)—graphite shafts, and are priced at $269 with the standard graphite shaft and $399 with either of the premium graphite shafts.

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