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Posted
 

Don’t think it would have mattered with the way he was playing v CJ, but that was a dogshit ruling. You could tell on Burns’ practice swing right before they cut away that there was a whole pool of water below his feet.
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Posted
14 minutes ago, Steel Shank said:

Gotcha. I heard before play started what they were looking for. The way Spaun played down the stretch today made me think, "This is the dude they were looking for." Watching the others fade and wither, the USGA got their man. All good.

"We're not trying to embarrass the best golfers in the world, we're simply trying to identify them"

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Posted
1 hour ago, Steel Shank said:

Nothing about race:

image.thumb.png.b222330786130accd65a02eb870c5790.png

 

Seems like the diplomatic way of saying. “We’re here to fuck your shit up.”

 

It also makes me think of that description paralleling this:

 

The shit they threw at these guys this week was insane. It’s supposed to be, but as we all know it doesn’t always work out how they want. This one did not disappoint. Some of the biggest names and best in the game couldn’t make a 7+ cut.

All to come down to the final group to choke out, and a guy that went out in 40, was 9 back at one point, to fight back, settle down, and sink a 64ft and change putt to finish -1 and win by 2 shots.

I’m not sure they could have scripted it much better, aside from a no-name amateur doing it. Definitely got quite the show out of this one, and lived up to the hype. 

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Posted
9 minutes ago, thunderlounge said:

The shit they threw at these guys this week was insane. It’s supposed to be, but as we all know it doesn’t always work out how they want. This one did not disappoint. Some of the biggest names and best in the game couldn’t make a 7+ cut.

All to come down to the final group to choke out, and a guy that went out in 40, was 9 back at one point, to fight back, settle down, and sink a 64ft and change putt to finish -1 and win by 2 shots.

I’m not sure they could have scripted it much better, aside from a no-name amateur doing it. Definitely got quite the show out of this one, and lived up to the hype. 

I know the Masters is the Masters, but when its ON, the US Open is tough to beat. I love watching the best struggle to shoot under par, and I love a course that can grab you on any hole. Not too many courses that can keep Scheffler over par after 72 holes. 

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Posted
21 hours ago, Wally Fairway said:

Guys on the course say "Not so fast my friend" - 3 players currently -2, but they are hacks and maybe some better players  than Rory, Xander and Hideki (and he is through 18), and 4 other guys are at -1. So nobody has shown a go low round yet today.

Yea that aged poorly.  I think 67 or 68 was the day's low. 

Posted
15 hours ago, aggie08 said:

Yeah, the ratings for Sam Burns and JJ Spaun playing 18 holes of golf on a Monday would be off the charts!

Not that it matters now but I'm catching up on the posts after I stopped reading the thread yesterday.

US Open no longer uses 18-hole playoff format. They've gone to a three-hole aggregate playoff.

 

15 hours ago, ztejas said:

I watched JJ Spaun take Rory to the wire at Sawgrass earlier this year. 

I guess no one else really watches golf. Spaun can fucking play. 

Spaun is a career journeyman that's had a hell of a year so far and anybody who's been watching golf this spring knows it. He's been close a handful of times and finally sealed the deal yesterday.

 

14 hours ago, ztejas said:

That's not a gimmie 2 putt...

No, it wasn't. 😀

 

14 hours ago, Sgt Hulk said:

Dude had 3-4 birdies 30 foot plus 

I think they said he had nearly 140 feet of made putts on his last 7 holes (of course 64 of those were at the last).

Posted
1 minute ago, C-Man said:

I think they said he had nearly 140 feet of made putts on his last 7 holes (of course 64 of those were at the last).

Hell, just between 18 and the 40 footer on 14, he had 104ft of putts. lol

 

Posted

Pretty good read: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6428298/2025/06/16/jj-spaun-win-us-open/

Quote

OAKMONT, Pa. — One by one, they made their way over the bridge, down the stairs and into the scoring area. Their shoes and ankles were covered in mud. Their polo shirts soggily suctioned to their bodies. Their eyes glazed over from the things they’d seen. My goodness, these men wanted to win the U.S. Open with every bit of their being, to finally win a major championship and make this ugly, rainy day worth the battles behind them.

And then they watched those dreams fade away, as J.J. Spaun made his a reality.

Tyrrell Hatton was mid-interview as the putt rolled in, seeing a television screen out of the corner of his eye. The often aggravated, ornery Englishman slowed his words as he saw it, and his scowl turned to a smile of calm joy.

“He’s holed it,” Hatton said. “Unbelievable. What a putt to win. That’s incredible.”

Viktor Hovland was there on the green, still fighting with hope as it went in. His dreams were shattered right in front of him, yet Hovland immediately put his putter down and clapped with pure appreciation. He even slapped the man’s hand like a first-base coach celebrating a home run.

Robert MacIntyre was leaning back in a scoring area chair, hoping to the golfing gods for a J.J. Spaun disaster. He was the clubhouse leader with a chance to steal the U.S. Open until Spaun took the lead. If Spaun could just bogey 18, they’d go to a playoff. MacIntyre watched too as it fell, and the 28-year-old Scot lifted his arms and exaggeratedly clapped his hands high in the air. Pure respect. Well Done. “Wow,” he mouthed to himself.

Because everybody who witnessed what J.J. Spaun did on that 18th green Sunday at Oakmont understood they had just seen what this whole damn thing is about. They saw the reasons to still believe. The payoff for all the pain. The fact that maybe, just maybe, anybody can win a U.S. Open. And that mattered so much more than feeling sorry for themselves.

What happened was Spaun — a journeyman, a grinder, a stocky, 5-foot-8, 34-year-old golfer who nearly lost his PGA Tour card a year ago  — came out of a rain delay four shots behind the lead after a disastrous start. And Spaun just played. Played so well that he went to that 18th green at the toughest course in America with cold, foggy rain beating down, needing just a two-putt for a major championship.

Instead, Spaun went ahead and made the 64-foot, 5-inch putt to win the whole thing by two shots.

There are times at sporting events when you become fundamentally aware that it’s OK to feel. That we’re all just people working jobs and traveling around, hoping to get a little bit further, and a little bit further, and hoping it all works out in the end. You don’t get what you want often enough, and the cynicism can build in. Even watching golf. Oh, Scottie Scheffler wins again? Bryson DeChambeau? Cool. More superstars are getting what they want. But now and then, you witness Spaun launching his putter into the air in complete disbelief that he — he — really did the thing at the one place designed to bend golfers to its will. And you remember to feel.

Because J.J. Spaun is not your typical U.S. Open champion.

He’s a Lakers fan who was asked about his Kobe Bryant moment and compared himself to Derek Fisher. He recited a Tiger Woods story about playing in U.S. Opens, but not because Woods talked to Spaun himself. No, he just got the story secondhand from Max Homa.

He is a mixed-race guy from California who started playing golf without any formal lessons, learning by hitting balls into a net his dad set up in the garage. He was a walk-on at San Diego State and earned his way onto the team before becoming an All-American. He grinded on mini tours for four years, and even when he made it to the PGA Tour, he simply fought to survive for half a decade. He broke through with a 2022 win at the Valero Texas Open, but within two years was missing 10 cuts in five months.

“Last year in June, I was looking like I was going to lose my job, and that was when I had that moment where, if this is how I go out, I might as well go down swinging,” Spaun said.

There was a shift that summer. For so long, it was about climbing, climbing, climbing. Aspirations. Goals. Bitterness. Slights. Yet at 33, he understood he was OK. He had a wife, Melody, and two kids under age five. He’d spent eight years on the PGA Tour. He had made it in life. So golf did not need to be everything. The motto became: Let the golf be golf.

For so long, he had heard others talk in those sorts of self-improvement slogans and didn’t grasp them. Sure, stay focused. Stay calm. Got it. He had a family, but that still meant stress to provide for them. He still allowed golf to be his identity. He’d leave close calls in Hawaii and Memphis distraught, feeling a “crawl-into-a-hole-and-die kind of a feeling because it was just so embarrassing. I was just afraid to feel embarrassed again.” But last June, when he had to come to terms with the possibility this whole ride could end, it shifted.

“If this is how I’m going to go out,” he said, “then this is it.”

Caddie Mark Carens leaps into J.J. Spaun’s arms after the winning putt. (Patrick Smith / Getty Images)

And the golf got better. Three top 10s and five top 30s in six starts to end the season. Good performances in the fall. He kept his tour card, kept the success going into 2025, and got himself into signature events like the Players Championship. And there in Ponte Vedra, the possibilities were able to shift. No, it wasn’t life or death anymore, but he could dream a little bigger.

That day, so much like this Sunday, he went into the final round with a lead and struggled. Three bogeys before an afternoon rain delay forced him to reset. Everyone assumed the tournament was Rory McIlroy’s until Spaun came out of the delay and birdied 14 and 16 to force McIlroy into a playoff. He didn’t win, but he understood he could.

So on Father’s Day, entering it one stroke behind leader Sam Burns, he opened with an ugly bogey. Then, he caught one of the worst breaks imaginable on No. 2 with a perfect approach that bounced off the flagstick, went across the green, and rolled down the steep front for an eventual bogey. He bogeyed five of his first six holes for a front-nine 40. NBC stopped showing his shots. He was done for.

Until another weather delay.

As he went back to the driving range to prepare for the restart, his (very new) coach, Josh Gregory, told him, “Stop trying so hard.” Just chill, the team told him. Because in any world, J.J. Spaun should not be disappointed he’s four back at a major championship. When he went to the ninth tee to restart, he smoked one in the fairway and knew. He had a chance.

Spaun is the first player to card a 40 on the front nine in the final round of a U.S. Open and still win since Francis Ouimet in 1913.

While everybody around him collapsed into oblivion, Spaun made a 40-foot birdie on 12, a 22-foot birdie on 14, and when he went to the famous drivable par-4 17th hole, he was tied for the lead. There on 17, he hit a shot so good it’s only unfortunate history will remember the winning putt on 18 more. He landed the uphill green, hitting a 309-yard drive to 18 feet from the tight pin. He two-putted for birdie, went to the 18th tee with the lead and needing a par to win.

And he launched a perfect drive into the fairway. He stepped off the tee with his chest pumping in and out like a cartoon, the adrenaline surely flowing in excess. From the fairway, a bogey was less likely. He could put his approach safely on the left of the green, as he did. He could, as most would assume, two-putt for par and go off into the foggy sunset.

But by Sunday night, J.J. Spaun had learned to dream a whole dream.

“I didn’t want to play defensive,” he said. “I didn’t know if I had a two-shot lead. I didn’t want to do anything dumb trying to protect a three-putt or something.”

Hovland’s putt before his showed him the exact line. Spaun had his guide. He had his line. And Spaun launched that 64-foot, 5-inch putt up the hill and let it go.

And the entire golfing world — from the gallery, to the workers, to the golfers hoping he missed — watched something special happen in front of them. They watched as the putt fell, and they remembered what this was all for.

 

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Posted

The putts Spaun made at 12 and 18 are the two longest putts he's made all year. Some interesting notes here: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6428283/2025/06/15/us-open-2025-what-to-know-spaun-win-oakmont/

 

Quote

A frantic, exceedingly soggy final round at Oakmont managed to generate one of the more exciting horse races in recent major championship history.

A half-dozen players claimed a share of the lead at some point during the afternoon, navigating one of golf’s most demanding venues. After a weather delay of more than 90 minutes, J.J. Spaun emerged above the pack, making birdie on four of his last seven holes to secure his first major win.

Here are the top numbers and notes to know from the final round of the 125th United States Open.

1. Spaun’s performance Sunday was inarguably one of the most resilient by a major champion in the history of the sport. He clanged an approach off the pin at the second that bounded back some 50 yards. He made bogey on four of his first five holes and scored 40 through nine holes. He didn’t make a birdie until the 12th and wound up carding six bogeys in all. He missed half of his fairways and lost more than a stroke and a half to the field with his approach play in the final round. None of that mattered.

Spaun is the first player to card a 40 or higher on the front nine in the final round of a U.S. Open and still win since Francis Ouimet in 1913. He is the first man to card a 40 or higher on any nine holes the week of a major win in 23 years (Ernie Els, third round of the 2002 Open). His six bogeys are the most in the final round by a U.S. Open champion since Hale Irwin at Inverness in 1979.

2. Spaun’s championship-clinching birdie putt at 18 was 64 feet, five inches, the longest made by any player on the 18th all week. He is just the fifth player to finish birdie-birdie to win the U.S. Open in regulation, and the second to do it at Oakmont. Ben Hogan also birdied the 71st and 72nd holes in his victory in 1953.

Spaun holed putts of 22, 40 and 64 feet all during his last seven holes played. His makes at 12 and 18 are his two longest all year. Spaun made 160 feet of putts Sunday, 40 more than any other player in the field. His preposterous 401 feet of putts made for the championship also led all players. He entered the week ranked 158th of 179 qualified players on the PGA Tour in feet of putts made per round.

Spaun had played in the U.S. Open just once previously, missing the cut at Torrey Pines in 2021. He is the first player to win this championship in his second career start since Webb Simpson at The Olympic Club in 2012.

3. While Spaun’s winning putt will be played on U.S. Open highlight reels forever, the significance of the tee shot he hit the previous hole cannot be understated. Tied for the lead standing on the 71st tee, a 314-yard par 4, Spaun hit an absolutely perfect drive, bouncing onto the green, 18 feet from the cup. He made a two-putt birdie to take an outright lead he refused to relinquish. Spaun gained 2.35 strokes on the field for the week with his tee shots, ranking a modest 26th among players to make the cut. His last two tee shots were responsible for 70 percent of his strokes gained off the tee for the week.

Spaun is just the fourth player since 2000 to be age 34 or older and get his first major win at the U.S. Open. Two in that group got it done at Oakmont: Angel Cabrera was 37 when he outlasted the field at 5 over back in 2007.

4. Robert MacIntyre finished alone in second place, the best result by a player from Scotland at the U.S. Open since Colin Montgomerie did the same in 1997. MacIntyre shot 69-68 on the weekend, the only player in the field to break par in both Rounds 3 and 4. He played his last 12 holes of the championship 3 under, bogey-free, going 4-of-4 scrambling to post 1 over for the week.

This is MacIntyre’s first top-five finish in a major championship. His previous best came in his debut, the 2019 Open at Royal Portrush, where he finished T6. MacIntyre was tied for 23rd through 36 holes this week before nearly completing a historic winning charge. In U.S. Open history, only three players have come from farther down the leaderboard after 36 holes and gone on to win.

5. Viktor Hovland finished alone in third place, three shots off the lead — precisely where he began the final round. Hovland has four top-five finishes in major championships. Since the beginning of 2022, that is tied for most of any player without a major win in that span, alongside Tommy Fleetwood and Collin Morikawa.

Though his approach numbers for the week were good overall, they weren’t up to his elite standards Sunday. Hovland had an average proximity to the hole in the final round of 49 feet, 9 inches — more than 27 feet farther away than what he produced Saturday. Perhaps the most buoyant statistic for Hovland came from his beleaguered short game. Hovland, who entered the week ranked 158th on tour this year in strokes gained around the green, led the field at Oakmont in that metric.

6. Sam Burns, the 54-hole leader, closed with 78 to finish in a tie for seventh place. It’s the highest final round shot by a 54-hole leader in a U.S. Open since Dustin Johnson carded 82 at Pebble Beach in 2010.

Burns received a less-than-magnanimous ruling regarding casual water relief at the 15th, where he ended up making double bogey, derailing his title hopes. Over the last two summers, Burns has been one back entering the final round at Royal Troon and one ahead entering Sunday here at Oakmont. In those final rounds, he is a combined 15 over par.

The last player to hold a one-shot lead through 54 holes at the U.S. Open and win the championship in regulation remains Payne Stewart in 1999 at Pinehurst.

7. Adam Scott closed with 79, his worst round in a U.S. Open since an 82 in 2007. That was also here at Oakmont. Scott never quite had his best form at any point Sunday — his lone birdie of the afternoon came on the fourth hole. His seven fairways hit and nine greens in regulation were both personal lows for the week. A run of 5 over par on his last five holes left him in a tie for 12th place.

Scott was seeking to become the first player in men’s golf history to win his second career major 12 or more years after claiming his first. Now 44, he would have been the second-oldest U.S. Open champion all-time, behind only Hale Irwin in 1990 (age 45).

8. Carlos Ortiz made just one birdie Sunday amid the extremely difficult conditions but leaves Pennsylvania with easily his best major finish. His tie for fourth is the best finish in men’s major championship history by a player representing Mexico. The previous mark was held by fellow LIV Golf competitor Abraham Ancer, who finished tied for eighth at the 2022 PGA.

Tyrrell Hatton shares fourth place with Ortiz and American Cameron Young. It marks the best major championship finish of Hatton’s career, his previous best a T5 nine years ago at The Open. His Legion XIII teammate Jon Rahm posted the early clubhouse lead, 4 over, after a Sunday 67. It’s the third time Rahm has shot 67 or lower in the final round of a U.S. Open, tied for the second most in history.

9. Xander Schauffele never truly got in contention, but his tie for 12th place continues a staggering run of U.S. Open consistency. Schauffele is just the third player since World War II to finish in the top 15 in the United States Open nine years or more in a row. The other two players are Sam Snead (also nine straight) and Jack Nicklaus (12).

Rory McIlroy closed a sour week with a sweet note, finishing his U.S. Open with a round of 67. It’s McIlroy’s 10th career round of 67 or lower at the U.S. Open, the most of any player in history. With 39 rounds of 67 or better in his major championship career, Rory trails only Tiger Woods (48), Nicklaus (42) and Phil Mickelson (41) for most in the modern era.

10. The final men’s major of the season is The Open, hosted by Royal Portrush for just the third time. Shane Lowry was the last victor there six years ago, his Saturday 63 sparking a six-shot runaway and a party that may have only recently ended. Fleetwood, Tony Finau, Brooks Koepka and Lee Westwood rounded out the top five that week.

The opening round of The Open is in 32 days.

 

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Posted
On 6/15/2025 at 7:23 PM, ztejas said:

I mean. Maybe? He didn't need to make it. 

I think it will go down as one of the all-time great shots. He won the tournament with that putt. I've been watching golf for a long time and have never seen anything like it. 

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Posted
2 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

I think everyone should spend $600 on a putter to keep their hopes of breaking 100 alive.

Does it count if I have 2 putters with that? 

JJs most amazing feat was grinding out that front 9 40, and then getting hot on the back side

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Posted

And after getting fucked hard on a great approach shot on 2.

 

 

If a Scottie/Rory (or the type) won it, it would have been a story line of “ho-him, [player] won yet another one” type of vibe; barring any extreme events, of course.

Not that it wouldn’t have been great for Scottie to win it, it would have kicked ass, but in a different kind of way, with a different vibe.

When people talk about how demanding, brutal, exciting, whatever that the US Open is, this one  definitely was one that hit every bullet point.

 

You didn't really see much coverage of JJ before this. Sure a shot here or there, or maybe as a third in someone’s featured group. A year ago he didn’t think he’d have a card this year. And here we are. He seems like a good person, and golf needs that.

 

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Posted
13 hours ago, Bookman said:

I think it will go down as one of the all-time great shots. He won the tournament with that putt. I've been watching golf for a long time and have never seen anything like it. 

Especially considering that was not an easy 3-putt from there. Also, if the putt didn't fall it was going to be more than a gimme coming back.

 

12 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Well his drive on 17 is basically jack’s 1 iron at pebble.  Then the next hole he dropped that putt just for show. 

Felt more like Pavin's shot at Shinnecock to me. I'm a little young to remember much of Jack's career other than his '86 Masters.

 

11 hours ago, thunderlounge said:

 

You didn't really see much coverage of JJ before this. Sure a shot here or there, or maybe as a third in someone’s featured group. A year ago he didn’t think he’d have a card this year. And here we are. He seems like a good person, and golf needs that.

 

I watch a lot of golf. JJ Spaun has been all over this spring, which is why I came this close to picking him in my US Open pool since he was still fetching a pretty good price. Did I expect him to win the US Open? Absolutely fucking not.

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Posted
11 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

The four million is probably nice too. Even though after taxes, caddy, and agent fees he probably won’t clear more than 2 million?  Got a decent check from the players’ too I guess. 

Oh that $4 mil is just the starting point, any new or renewed sponsorships just went up in price; along with a Ryder Cup, all the signature events, entry into all the majors for a few years, probably invited to the Hero event,  he moved up in OWGR from 25 to 8. I think he's going to do pretty well financially, proved he direct gamble or skirt chase it away.

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Posted
1 hour ago, C-Man said:

I watch a lot of golf. JJ Spaun has been all over this spring, which is why I came this close to picking him in my US Open pool since he was still fetching a pretty good price. Did I expect him to win the US Open? Absolutely fucking not.

 

Yes, but that’s a recent turn of events. It’ll stay for a while, on just the open momentum, and I hope he keeps playing well enough to keep it going in the longer term.

 

55 minutes ago, Wally Fairway said:

Oh that $4 mil is just the starting point, any new or renewed sponsorships just went up in price; along with a Ryder Cup, all the signature events, entry into all the majors for a few years, probably invited to the Hero event,  he moved up in OWGR from 25 to 8. I think he's going to do pretty well financially, proved he direct gamble or skirt chase it away.

 

I wonder what an average breakdown is?

Obviously the caddie gets a percentage cut.

Coaches, counselors, personal assistants, book keepers, the lot. Those folks aren’t getting a percentage of the week.

Would be kinda neat to see how it all comes out in the end.

Granted, sponsors pick up a lot, but not everyone gets that benefit I’d assume. 

Posted
13 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

The four million is probably nice too. Even though after taxes, caddy, and agent fees he probably won’t clear more than 2 million?  Got a decent check from the players’ too I guess. 

Yeah he made 2.7M at the Players and he's had some other top 5s as of late. He had some lean years starting out but he was already pretty set coming into this week. 

33 minutes ago, thunderlounge said:

Coaches, counselors, personal assistants, book keepers, the lot. Those folks aren’t getting a percentage of the week.

His wife, too 😂

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Posted
2 hours ago, thunderlounge said:

 

Yes, but that’s a recent turn of events. It’ll stay for a while, on just the open momentum, and I hope he keeps playing well enough to keep it going in the longer term.

 

 

I wonder what an average breakdown is?

Obviously the caddie gets a percentage cut.

Coaches, counselors, personal assistants, book keepers, the lot. Those folks aren’t getting a percentage of the week.

Would be kinda neat to see how it all comes out in the end.

Granted, sponsors pick up a lot, but not everyone gets that benefit I’d assume. 

The caddy's cut is usually 10% of winnings unless it's a situation like Tiger where he wins so much that they have a set salary situation instead. To my knowledge, caddie is the only one who gets a percentage of winnings in the professional golf world unless you've got a player who is "sponsored" by a group of investors who might have a payout schedule.

JJ was T2 at The Cognizant back in early March, then went T31 at Bay Hill/Palmer, lost in a playoff at The PLAYERS, cut in Houston, 50th at Augusta, T42 at Harbor Town, T17 at Truist, T37 at PGA, T6 at Colonial, cut at Memorial and won the US Open. That's a pretty good 3+ month run.

JJ's win at the US Open puts him 3rd in the current Ryder Cup rankings -- who would've pegged JJ Fucking Spaun as a Ryder Cup player two weeks ago!

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Posted

I'd rather have Cantlay than some of the other guys on our list right now.  He doesn't seem to wilt like most of our guys.  certainly better than Griffin, Novak, or English.

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Posted
His wife, too

I hate to type this, but is it me or was there a noticeable coolness between JJ and his wife? He seemed much happier to see his kids than her. Definitely not the same level of happiness Scottie shows when he sees Meredith. I'm probably overthinking this, but since Ive got thumbs and access to this social media site then I guess its a valid observation.
Posted

I hate to type this, but is it me or was there a noticeable coolness between JJ and his wife? He seemed much happier to see his kids than her. Definitely not the same level of happiness Scottie shows when he sees Meredith. I'm probably overthinking this, but since Ive got thumbs and access to this social media site then I guess its a valid observation.

Maybe. But I think JJ was in shock after he won.
Posted
4 hours ago, dcar00 said:

I'd rather have Cantlay than some of the other guys on our list right now.  He doesn't seem to wilt like most of our guys.  certainly better than Griffin, Novak, or English.

Cantlay’s majors record is as good as mine. I don’t care what he did while paired with Xander previously. The guy shouldn’t be on the team

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Posted
4 hours ago, dcar00 said:

I'd rather have Cantlay than some of the other guys on our list right now.  He doesn't seem to wilt like most of our guys.  certainly better than Griffin, Novak, or English.

Not only does he play slooooow, but that whole hat issue in Italy was bullshit

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Posted
8 minutes ago, MrX said:

Cantlay’s majors record is as good as mine. I don’t care what he did while paired with Xander previously. The guy shouldn’t be on the team

you mean 4-4 Ryder cup Xander?

Posted
On 6/16/2025 at 10:17 PM, aggie08 said:

I think everyone should spend $600 on a putter to keep their hopes of breaking 100 alive.

Drivers go for north of $600 to start now (Titleist GTs are $649 to start). Spending $600 on a putter that you will use more, last longer, and shave more strokes off your game (assuming it's fit for your putting stroke) isn't that out of whack these days.

Posted
21 minutes ago, dieucla98 said:

Drivers go for north of $600 to start now (Titleist GTs are $649 to start). Spending $600 on a putter that you will use more, last longer, and shave more strokes off your game (assuming it's fit for your putting stroke) isn't that out of whack these days.

I have the same Scottie Cameron putter that I bought back in 2003 right before I got married to my first wife. It cost me $350 or so. It was a big purchase for me at the time as I wasn't making all that much as a sports reporter at the Startle-Gram. Love that putter. I've thought about swapping it out for a newer Cameron but it's still a great putter.

Not to thread derail but I like to buy woods that are one or two generations behind. I have a Ping G20 driver and 3W (I think I got the driver when it was one generation behind and the 3W when it was two behind to match the driver) and they both suit me just fine. I have the stock graphite shaft and haven't thought of replacing it. The bottom line is you could buy a great putter now and use it the rest of your life but the driver will ultimately give out due to wear-and-tear. I had an old Callaway Great Big Bertha where the head snapped off the hosel at the old Scotty's Driving Range in Uptown Dallas (where the Rustic and Mutt's are located now). It went flying out into the range. I went back the next day and picked it up after the retriever cart scooped it up for me later that day. Good times.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted (edited)
51 minutes ago, dieucla98 said:

Drivers go for north of $600 to start now (Titleist GTs are $649 to start). Spending $600 on a putter that you will use more, last longer, and shave more strokes off your game (assuming it's fit for your putting stroke) isn't that out of whack these days.

I suppose if someone is a legit 5 handicap or under it might be worth it but a 600.00 putter is crazy for anyone that is a 5+ handicap.  good for scotty cameron I guess.

I did get a new driver head Callaway Smoke AI a couple of years ago because my other driver was 10 years old.  It did give me about 10 to 20(tops) yards more off tee.  being able to hit a lower iron off the fairway is way more valuable for a mid handicap IMO. 

Edited by dcar00
Posted
1 minute ago, dcar00 said:

I suppose if someone is a legit 5 handicap or under it might be worth it but a 600.00 putter is crazy for anyone that is a 5+ handicap.  good for scotty cameron I guess.

I did get a new driver head Callaway Smoke AI a couple of years ago because my other driver was 10 years old.  It did give me about 10 to 20(tops) yards more off tee.  being able to hit a lower iron off the fairway is way more valuable for a mid handicap IMO. 

$649 for a new driver vs $600 for a new putter - which will improve your game more? W/o a doubt in my mind, the answer is the putter. Those LAB putters in particular, do a LOT more for higher handicap shitty putters by stabilizing the face and stroke and removing the massive variability high handicappers have - again, assuming the putter matches the stroke. A new driver isn't going to do that - you're way better off spending $600 on a lesson.

IMO, putters have less of an impact the better you get - low handicap players have a low variability stroke already, generally speaking, so it ends up being more about the weight, feel, etc...  

And for the record, I don't own an LAB putter - circa 2010 Scotty here that I love. However, I have seen the difference those LABs make with many 8-15 index players.

Posted
1 hour ago, C-Man said:

I have the same Scottie Cameron putter that I bought back in 2003 right before I got married to my first wife. It cost me $350 or so. It was a big purchase for me at the time as I wasn't making all that much as a sports reporter at the Startle-Gram. Love that putter. I've thought about swapping it out for a newer Cameron but it's still a great putter.

Not to thread derail but I like to buy woods that are one or two generations behind. I have a Ping G20 driver and 3W (I think I got the driver when it was one generation behind and the 3W when it was two behind to match the driver) and they both suit me just fine. I have the stock graphite shaft and haven't thought of replacing it. The bottom line is you could buy a great putter now and use it the rest of your life but the driver will ultimately give out due to wear-and-tear. I had an old Callaway Great Big Bertha where the head snapped off the hosel at the old Scotty's Driving Range in Uptown Dallas (where the Rustic and Mutt's are located now). It went flying out into the range. I went back the next day and picked it up after the retriever cart scooped it up for me later that day. Good times.

 

I have an older (mid-late 90’s) Callaway BJ-1 (Bobby Jones) blade putter. Love that thing.

Also have a recent-ish Taylor Made Spider-X, in that nice copper color. Got it maybe 3-4 years ago, at $350.

I switch them out depending on what I see for speed on the putting green beforehand. Slower gets the TM, faster gets the Callaway. 

Also have (somewhere) an original Big Bertha, and a TM Ti-Bubble. My current driver is a Sim2, as is my 3-wood. My 3 has a bigger head than the old bertha and ti-bubble.

Also have an old 2-iron I still love. Wilson Staff RM with their “fat shaft”.  In the right spot, it’s a keeper. Although I do have a replacement in my bag for it that isn’t technically a 2-iron, but it’s close. (TM “driving iron”)

Still have an adams tight lies from 98-99, and remember that Viper lob wedge? Yeah, got one of those too. Granted, I don’t use either of those any more, not the old drivers. 

When I first started out as a kid in the mid 80’s, my old man would take me out occasionally. Loved it. I mean I wasn’t anywhere near even being decent, but still loved to play. He had an old set, but it wasn’t different than any others really, since that was back before metal woods were a thing.

When I was first starting out in the Navy, I got to play A LOT. Got out of boot camp late fall, and was in “school” for 18 months. First school was at night. 4-midnight. So that spring I started playing on my own before classes. Went and got a wilson starter set, some shoes, and a bag. They only had a display available in lefty, so they just threw the clubs in the bag. When checking out, I thought the total was a tick low. Didn’t think anything about it and figured the running total in my head was off. Shrugged it off, but walking out to the truck it still kinda bothered me. No security was running put the door, so I kept going. Get in the truck, and check the receipt, they didn’t ring up the bag. So I was right. I was also a lowly E-3 still, half broke, and well, $150 was $150. That was 7 rounds with a cart at the base course. Turned on the ignition and drove off.

I played every day from there on out, weather permitting. Finished second school in late may/june. Thinking I’d be out on orders soon, I played my butt off over the “free week” I thought I had. But not so fast my friend. The canoe club was short on funding, and had to prioritize. I was going into a “hold status” until October when the new fiscal year started.

Just great. However, it worked out peachy. The “hold crew” didn’t get much thought, or really have anything to do. We came in at 8, played spades for an hour, and left. Perfect! More golf, and I could still play every day.

After about a week, I find out one of my new friends also loved to play, was a scratch golfer, and happened to also be a lefty. He was also willing to teach me. So now I had a daily playing partner, and would be learning a lot. It was funny, he’d be teaching me while I’m trying to break 100, and he was shooting 3-4 under.

Anyway, I got pretty damn decent in that time. I wasn't shooting  lights out, but I was consistently under 80, even had some at or just below rounds on occasion. It was fun. A lot of fun. Then I got orders, off to Norfolk for one more school and sea duty. Nothing can ruin your game like sea duty. Still played, but down to a round a week, maybe two if I was lucky. Played some nice courses though. Nothing super hard, although Damn Neck had a lot of water, but they were all kept in an immaculate condition. To me that goes a long way, compared to a city course with dormant grass and needing attention. But I digress, back to current reality, and gear.

Talk about a big deal when the metal started showing up. Been an arms race since, but starting to slow down a good bit and the jumps between series are significantly less in terms of distance.

Thinking about it, the equipment side has come a long way in a relatively short time in the grand scheme of things.

 

Posted
7 minutes ago, thunderlounge said:

 

I have an older (mid-late 90’s) Callaway BJ-1 (Bobby Jones) blade putter. Love that thing.

Also have a recent-ish Taylor Made Spider-X, in that nice copper color. Got it maybe 3-4 years ago, at $350.

I switch them out depending on what I see for speed on the putting green beforehand. Slower gets the TM, faster gets the Callaway. 

Also have (somewhere) an original Big Bertha, and a TM Ti-Bubble. My current driver is a Sim2, as is my 3-wood. My 3 has a bigger head than the old bertha and ti-bubble.

Also have an old 2-iron I still love. Wilson Staff RM with their “fat shaft”.  In the right spot, it’s a keeper. Although I do have a replacement in my bag for it that isn’t technically a 2-iron, but it’s close. (TM “driving iron”)

Still have an adams tight lies from 98-99, and remember that Viper lob wedge? Yeah, got one of those too. Granted, I don’t use either of those any more, not the old drivers. 

When I first started out as a kid in the mid 80’s, my old man would take me out occasionally. Loved it. I mean I wasn’t anywhere near even being decent, but still loved to play. He had an old set, but it wasn’t different than any others really, since that was back before metal woods were a thing.

When I was first starting out in the Navy, I got to play A LOT. Got out of boot camp late fall, and was in “school” for 18 months. First school was at night. 4-midnight. So that spring I started playing on my own before classes. Went and got a wilson starter set, some shoes, and a bag. They only had a display available in lefty, so they just threw the clubs in the bag. When checking out, I thought the total was a tick low. Didn’t think anything about it and figured the running total in my head was off. Shrugged it off, but walking out to the truck it still kinda bothered me. No security was running put the door, so I kept going. Get in the truck, and check the receipt, they didn’t ring up the bag. So I was right. I was also a lowly E-3 still, half broke, and well, $150 was $150. That was 7 rounds with a cart at the base course. Turned on the ignition and drove off.

I played every day from there on out, weather permitting. Finished second school in late may/june. Thinking I’d be out on orders soon, I played my butt off over the “free week” I thought I had. But not so fast my friend. The canoe club was short on funding, and had to prioritize. I was going into a “hold status” until October when the new fiscal year started.

Just great. However, it worked out peachy. The “hold crew” didn’t get much thought, or really have anything to do. We came in at 8, played spades for an hour, and left. Perfect! More golf, and I could still play every day.

After about a week, I find out one of my new friends also loved to play, was a scratch golfer, and happened to also be a lefty. He was also willing to teach me. So now I had a daily playing partner, and would be learning a lot. It was funny, he’d be teaching me while I’m trying to break 100, and he was shooting 3-4 under.

Anyway, I got pretty damn decent in that time. I wasn't shooting  lights out, but I was consistently under 80, even had some at or just below rounds on occasion. It was fun. A lot of fun. Then I got orders, off to Norfolk for one more school and sea duty. Nothing can ruin your game like sea duty. Still played, but down to a round a week, maybe two if I was lucky. Played some nice courses though. Nothing super hard, although Damn Neck had a lot of water, but they were all kept in an immaculate condition. To me that goes a long way, compared to a city course with dormant grass and needing attention. But I digress, back to current reality, and gear.

Talk about a big deal when the metal started showing up. Been an arms race since, but starting to slow down a good bit and the jumps between series are significantly less in terms of distance.

Thinking about it, the equipment side has come a long way in a relatively short time in the grand scheme of things.

 

I helped cover a lot of golf at the ST and one story I remember writing during the Nelson or Colonial was a story about Ron Streck, who was the first PGA Tour pro to use a metal wood on tour. I think it was the 25th anniversary or something that year. The first metal wood was made by TaylorMade. I talked to Ron and wrote the story and TaylorMade sent me a pretty nifty TM r5 or something driver (it was the higher handicap version of the one that you could adjust the loft with a tool) that was top-of-the-line back in 2004 or 2005. We weren't supposed to accept shit like that but first, I wasn't sure how to get it back to TM and second, I knew I was leaving the newspaper biz pretty shortly after so I said what the hell and kept the damn thing.

  • Like 2
Posted
22 hours ago, dieucla98 said:

$649 for a new driver vs $600 for a new putter - which will improve your game more? W/o a doubt in my mind, the answer is the putter. Those LAB putters in particular, do a LOT more for higher handicap shitty putters by stabilizing the face and stroke and removing the massive variability high handicappers have - again, assuming the putter matches the stroke. A new driver isn't going to do that - you're way better off spending $600 on a lesson.

IMO, putters have less of an impact the better you get - low handicap players have a low variability stroke already, generally speaking, so it ends up being more about the weight, feel, etc...  

And for the record, I don't own an LAB putter - circa 2010 Scotty here that I love. However, I have seen the difference those LABs make with many 8-15 index players.

One of the guys in my regular 4some changes putters more than any club in his bag trying to find something that works for him. Maybe a lab would help him, but I’m of the opinion that picking a putter and putting in some legitimate focused practice with it would help more than spending a bunch of money. 

But I’ve also never bought a putter. A friend of mine gave me a Cleveland copy of an 8802 that he found on the course that no one ever came back to claim. One year I was frustrated with my putter and was thinking about changing it, spent an hour or so at the practice green a couple times a week for a couple months and changed my approach to putting on the course, took my putting average from 37 to 32. 

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