PGA Championship Preview: Nike Golf Athletes at Hazeltine

The 91st PGA Championship starts tomorrow at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, and several Nike Golf athletes are poised to make a run at the title. The last time the PGA was held at Hazeltine was in 2002, when Rich Beem held off a charging Tiger Woods on Sunday to claim his first major victory. This time around there are many new faces as well as seasoned veterans in the field, all of whom are hoping to raise the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday evening.

Nike Golf is well represented in field at the PGA this week — here’s the complete list of Nike Golf athletes in the field:

PGA Championship
Stephen Ames
Paul Casey
KJ Choi
Stewart Cink
Lucas Glover
Trevor Immelman WD
Anthony Kim
Justin Leonard
Francesco Molinari
Carl Pettersson
Charl Schwatrzel
Chris Starkjohann (Club Pro)
Bob Tway
Bo Van Pelt
Tiger Woods

From this list we propose the following five Nike Golf athletes as having a shot at winning the championship on Sunday.

Lucas Glover
The reigning U.S. Open Champion has had time to rest after his victory at Bethpage Black and whirlwind tour afterwards. A T-19 finish at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational last weekend shows that Lucas hasn’t lost his major championship form. We’ll see if he can challenge for the title on Sunday.

Anthony Kim
We’ve been waiting for AK to break through at a major championship this year, and he almost did so at the Canadian Open in July with a T3 finish there. A T36 finish at the Bridgestone last week left something to be desired, but we still feel he can make run at a major title this year, and this could be the week.

Stewart Cink
The Champion Golfer of the Year is currently playing some of the best golf of his career. Stewart claimed the claret jug after quietly hanging around the top of the leaderboard for four days at Turnberry, then returned to the tour at the Bridgestone Invitational and again quietly posted a T6 finish there. He is poised for another high finish at the last major of 2009.

Justin Leonard
The PGA Championship places a premium on driving accuracy, and that is a category in which Justin holds his own (he’s currently ranked 30th on the PGA Tour). He’s my dark horse pick because of the length of the course this year (7,674 yds) and the fact that he’s 121st in driving distance (but still drives it 285). Justin has played consistently in his last several events with a T34 at the Travelers, a T8 at The Open, a T14 at the Buick and a T44 at the Bridgestone. We look for a high finish from Justin this week at Hazeltine.

Tiger Woods
And once again, there’s Tiger. We don’t need to say a lot here — he’s won in his last two starts at The Buick Open and The Bridgstone Invitational, and with the way he’s swinging the club right now, the focus and intensity back in his eyes and the smile returning to his face at times, Tiger is looking like a good pick to win his third event in a row and first major title of the year this week.

There are four tough days of golf to be played at Hazeltine this weekend. We’ll just have to wait and see if there’s a Nike Golf athlete left standing holding the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday evening.

Nike Golf’s METHOD Putter to Hit Retail November 2, 2009 and February 1, 2010

METHOD-1The name of Nike Golf’s new putter design was announced today — The Nike METHOD. The much talked about putter represents the emergence of yet another ground breaking innovation from Nike Golf’s Research and Development center, The OVEN. The Nike METHOD follows on the same game-changing trail blazed by square drivers and adjustable drivers, which were also created and developed at Nike Golf’s Fort Worth based facility.

Inspired by the philosophy of the “scientific method,” the OVEN’s team of designers and engineers combined steel and polymer in multiple ways before discovering the unique polymetal groove technology. The revolutionary and visibly distinctive polymetal groove technology is influential in creating a faster forward roll after impact. We can assume the putter’s name is also inspired by the scientific method the OVEN’s engineers employed in the putter’s design.

The Nike METHOD page on the nikegolf.com web site states that the putter incorporates “Polymetal Groove Technology” that “combines milled steel precision and polymer touch” for “precise audible feedback, a dampened soft touch and an accurate, true-rolling forward spin on the ball.”

The announcement of this putter’s retail information has been highly anticipated since Nike Golf athletes have notched several wins this year when using the prototype model, including Paul Casey (three wins worldwide), Lucas Glover (U.S. Open) and most recently Stewart Cink (Open Championship). In addition to Glover, Cink and Casey, Nike athletes Justin Leonard and Stephen Ames also switched to the new Nike METHOD putter.

The new Nike METHOD will officially be available in the market on February 1, 2010, with limited, special edition quantities becoming available starting on November 2, 2009. The new putter will have a retail price of $249.99 and will be available in five models, four of which are blades and one is a mallet.

We look forward to hearing more about this putter in the coming months prior to its release to the retail market. We’ll also look to get reviews of it here on the blog as soon as we are able.

Check out the METHOD putter page on nikegolf.com >>

Check out Video from Golf.com with Tom Stites explaining the technology behind the new Nike METHOD putters, plus views of all five models >>

Read David Dusek’s blog post at Golf.com about the new Nike METHOD putters >>

Read Rob at Sandbox 8′s blog post about the new Nike METHOD putter including great photos and video from the special media release event >>

Update 8.28.09: Today Paul Casey tweeted these photos comparing his prototype “gamer” to the new METHOD putter. His prototype is the one with the red insert, red line on the sole and red swoosh on the back, the new Nike METHOD has the black insert and METHOD name:

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2009 PGA Championship Week: Five from Tiger’s Highlight Reel

With the PGA Championship returning to Hazeltine in Chaska, Minnesota this week, we will most likely again hear about Tiger Woods’ great shot on the closing hole of the second round in 2002. His 3-iron shot on Saturday morning from the left fairway bunker on 18 is what Tiger says might be his greatest shot ever in a PGA Tour event. In addition to this shot I am reminded of other great shots Tiger has pulled off in competition, and I wonder which might actually be his greatest. In the spirit of a major championship week, I offer these five candidates:

- 2002 PGA Championship: The 3-iron out of the left bunker on 18 at Hazeltine in the second round — Tiger says this is the best shot he’s ever hit on the PGA Tour. Watch the video (at 40 second mark) >>

- 2000 Bell Canadian Open: The 6 iron from the bunker over water on 18 at Glen Abbey – in my opinion this is his greatest clutch shot ever. Watch the video (at 1:30 mark) >>

- 2009 World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational: Yes, from just this past Sunday — the 8 iron on 16 to a foot, setting up birdie which (in combo with a Harrington meltdown on same hole) ultimately sealed victory #70. Watch the video >>

- 2000 NEC Championship: The “Shot In The Dark” — and final putt with flash bulbs and lighters — on the final hole at Firestone CC. An 11-shot victory is impressive enough, but this shot to close the tournament — when he couldn’t even see the flag — was truly memorable. Watch the video (at 4:14 mark) >>

- 2008 US Open: His putt on the 72nd hole at the US Open at Torrey Pines last year — perhaps his greatest clutch putt ever. Watch the video >>

What do you think is Tiger’s greatest clutch shot ever? Let us know if I missed any, and cast your vote in the comments below.

Nike Golf Athletes: Tour Wrapup 8.9.09

Congratulations to Tiger Woods on his victory at the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational and victory #70! Here’s how the rest of the Nike Golf athletes finished at the tour events this week:

PGA Tour: World Golf Championships — Bridgestone Invitational
Tiger Woods  1 Champion  -12  268
Stewart Cink  T6  -6  274
Lucas Glover  T19  -1  279
Anthony Kim  T36  +2  282
Carl Pettersson T36  +2  282
Justin Leonard 44  +4  284
KJ Choi T45  +5  285
Trevor Immelman  T60  +8  288
Paul Casey  WD

PGA Tour: Legends Reno –Tahoe Open
Kris Blanks  T53  E  288
Brendan Todd  MC

Nationwide Tour: Wichita Open
Jhonattan Vegas  T4  -13  271
Paul Gow  MC
Chris Nallen  MC
Ron Whitaker  MC

Nike Golf Athletes in the Field 8.6-8.9

Here’s the list of Nike Golf athletes in the field at the tour events this week:

PGA Tour: World Golf Championships — Bridgestone Invitational
Paul Casey
KJ Choi
Stewart Cink
Lucas Glover
Trevor Immelman
Anthony Kim
Justin Leonard
Carl Pettersson
Tiger Woods

PGA Tour: Legends Reno-Tahoe Open
Kris Blanks
Brendan Todd

Nationwide Tour : Wichita Open
Paul Gow
Chris Nallen
Jhonattan Vegas
Ron Whitaker

Nike Golf Athletes: Tour Wrapup 8.2.09

Congratulations to Tiger Woods on winning his 69th PGA Tour title at the Buick Open. Congrats also to Michelle Wie for her T-11 finish at the Women’s British Open, and her selection for the 2009 Solheim Cup Team. Here’s how the rest of the Nike Golf athletes finished at each tour event this past weekend:

PGA Tour: Buick Open
Tiger Woods  1 Champion  -20  268
Justin Leonard  T14  -13  275
Kris Blanks  T37  -9  279
David Duval  T63  -5  283
KJ Choi  MC
Jamie Lovemark  MC
Brendan Todd  MC

Nationwide Tour: Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational
Jhonattan Vegas  T11  -4  280
Paul Gow  T51  +3  287
Ron Whitaker  MC
Chris Nallen  MC

LPGA Tour: Women’s British Open
Michelle Wie  T11 +4  292
Suzann Pettersen  MC
Ashleigh Simon  MC

Champions Tour: U.S. Senior Open
John Cook   T19  -3  285
Bob Tway  T22  -2  286
Craig Stadler T36  +1  289
Lanny Wadkins  MC

European Tour: Moravia Silesia Open
Simon Dyson  T17  -4  284
Marc Warren  T36  E  288
Alexandre Rocha  T53  +3  291
Richard Finch  MC
Oliver Fisher  RET
Pablo Martin  MC