NG NATION — Nike Golf Fan Blog
The blog by and for fans of Nike Golf.
Earlier this week Nike Golf tweeted a bunch of photos from their Twitter account which they shot at TPC Sawgrass on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I’ve taken the liberty if gathering them into a photo gallery so you can view them all together in one place. In the gallery there are several shots from the Nike Golf tour van, pics from the range and photos of the Athletes making their preparations for the tournament. Check them out in the gallery below:
Tiger Woods shot a 74 on Thursday to finish at +2 on the day. Since his win at Bay Hill, Tiger has played 7 rounds of PGA Tour golf. Only one of those rounds has been under par. One.
Here’s what Tiger had to say at TPC Sawgrass yesterday;
Just be patient with it. Just keep plugging along. You know, obviously in the last few months, I’ve put together some good rounds; won a couple tournaments.
Any kind of momentum that I would build, I would shoot myself in the foot on the very next hole.
I just didn’t score. I hit three decent shots in there and just got some of the worst lies. The best shot I hit all day was on 3, and ended up in a spot where I really couldn’t play from…It was frustrating in the sense that my good shots ended up in bad spots, and obviously my bad shots ended up in worse spots.
This year Nike Golf introduced the Tour Premium apparel line in their new apparel structure along with the Sport, Tour Performance and the Tiger Woods Collection. To me, the Tour Premium line is an evolution of the Tiger Woods Platinum collection which had a cult following. The line, which includes both men’s and women’s wear, incorporates modern cuts with performance fabrics. The real distinguishing quality is in its craftsmanship and tailoring. The men’s apparel, for example, is slimmer and more form fitting, using blacks and grays but pops of bright colors like Spark – a bright yellow/green color. The women’s apparel is very fashionable and like nothing I’ve seen on a golf course.
The collection is driven towards the needs of the fashion conscious, and certainly the addition of Tour Premium apparel to your collection will enable you to look your best on the course. I see it as a great option to have for an on-course business meeting, or at one of the nicer clubs I’ve played. Those who are sartorially inclined in their everyday wear will see this as an extension of their wardrobe.
Here is an example of Charl Schwartzel in the Stripe Polo at the Maybank Malaysian Open. A perfect example of how to wear it.
Some of my favorite Tour Premium men’s pieces include:
Stripe Polo:
Engineered Stripe Polo:
Embossed Textured Polo:
Jersey Polo:
Have a look at the Gallery to see more pictures. Photo Credit: GCpickers.com where you get 10% off for using code #GCPickers during check out.
There are 9 Swoosh Staff at TPC Sawgrass and here is a quick power ranking and fantasy analysis for each of them.
1. Francesco Molinari
Coming off of a win last week. 6th place before that and 19th at the Masters. 9th here in 2010.
2. Carl Pettersson
33rd here last year. Last 4 starts have been 46th, CUT, 1st and 2nd.
3. Simon Dyson
First time here. Made last 3 cuts since the Masters (12th last week, 36th and 24th the two weeks prior).
4. Stewart Cink
19th here last year, coming off of a 15th place last week. Decent sleeper.
5. Tiger Woods
WD from last two Players Championships, CUT last week, 40th at Masters, 1st at Bay Hill.
6. Kevin Chappell
69th here last year, 53rd last week and having a decent year.
7. Lucas Glover
50th here last year, 3rd here in 2010. CUT at Wells Fargo with a pair of 60th place finishes before that.
8. Paul Casey
Still recovering from his shoulder injury. 14th here in ’09 and 10th here in ’04. Missed last 2 cuts here.
9. Jhonattan Vegas
CUT here last year and hasn’t finished better than 46th in last 10 events.
Here are the scores after Round 1 of the Players Championship, for the 9 Nike Golf athletes in the field.
Vegas put up a great surprise round, while Francesco had a decent round himself. Tiger, Glover and Chappell will have some work to do on Friday.
Paul Casey’s WD because of shoulder issues (after dislocating it snowboarding). Simon Dyson WD because of a back injury. This must be new, given his 12th place finish on the European Tour last week.
All the best to the Nike Golf athletes the rest of this week.
Just wanted to give an update on the release date of the TW13 formerly known as the TW Free-Inspired Prototype Golf Shoes.
June 8 is the official release date. Are you getting a pair?
The Nike Swoosh Dominates in Europe with Victories from Francesco Molinari and Carly Booth
-Molinari and Booth Secure Wins with 14 Nike Clubs in the Bag Including the new Nike VR_S Driver-
The Swoosh was atop the leaderboard in Europe this weekend as Nike Golf athletes Francesco Molinari and Carly Booth secure wins at the Reale Seguros Open de Espana and the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open, respectively.
Using the new Nike VR_S Driver, a prototype Nike Method Core putter and the revolutionary Nike 20XI X golf ball, Molinari shot a final round 65, the best round on the European Tour this week. Molinari, who is currently fourth (80%) in greens in regulation on the European PGA Tour, won by a three-shot margin to secure his third European Tour Victory.
“I just went out today knowing that if the putter was a little bit hotter I had a chance,” Molinari said. “So I just tried to stay calm and I got off to a great start and hit the ball very well. So everything felt easy, even if it wasn’t.”
On the Ladies European Tour, Booth grabbed her first career title, becoming the youngest winner of the Scottish Open. The 19-year-old Scottish teenager, who described her victory as a “dream come true,” also used the new Nike VR_S Driver, a Method Putter and the 20XI X golf ball for her win. This triumph comes just three weeks after her recent victory on the Ladies European Tour Access Series Developmental Tour.
Molinari and Booth’s respective victories bring to 33 the number of global wins with the Nike Method Putter. Generating more distance for every shot, the Nike VR_S is an extension of the original VR line, which has more than 85 worldwide professional wins including three major championships. On the body, both Molinari and Booth wore Nike Golf Apparel and Nike Golf Footwear.
Molinari’s Nike Golf Arsenal
Driver: Nike VR_S 9.5-degree (Project X 6A4)
Fairway Wood: Nike VR Pro Limited Edition 3-wood/15-degree
Hybrid: Nike VR Pro 19-degree and 21-degree
Irons: Nike Pro Blades (4-PW)
Wedges: Nike VR Pro 52-degree and 58-degree
Putter: Nike Method Core Prototype
Ball: Nike 20XI X
Footwear: Nike Lunar Control
Apparel: Nike Tour Performance Men’s Collection
Booth’s Nike Golf Arsenal
Driver: Nike VR_S 9.5-degree
Fairway Wood: Nike VR Pro Limited Edition 3-wood/15-degree and 5-wood/19-degree
Irons: Nike VR Pro Combo (4-PW)
Wedges: Nike VR Pro 52-degree, 56-degree and 60-degree
Putter: Nike Method 003
Ball: Nike 20XI X
Footwear: Nike Air Embeliish
Apparel: Nike Tour Performance Women’s Collection
Nike Golf’s 2012 PGA Tour Victories
Nike Golf’s 2012 European PGA Tour Victories
Nike Golf’s 2012 Ladies European Tour Victories
I just read an article named “Lost swing: Kim feeling the pressure of retaining card” on PGATour.com.
While this article touches on an earlier NGNation post for AK’s injury timeline, this article goes much further with quotes from Kim on his physical and psychological state.
Here are some interesting quotes from the article;
“At the same time, I’ve learned from those situations. I’m not the perfect kid; I never claimed to be that. What I do in my personal life is my personal life. But because golf is a gentlemen’s game or whatever you want to call it — people forget I’m 26 years old and I’m trying my best.”
“A lot of guys out here without great swings, when they’re not playing well they can at least figure out how to put it in play,” Kim said. “I didn’t even have that ability. I had no idea what my body or what my club was doing. I couldn’t control my body and I couldn’t control my clubface.”
If you’re like me, you’re a fan of Nike Golf for Tiger Wood, their eye for talent and their ever-improving equipment and apparel. If you’re still like me, you like Anthony Kim because he’s a chill bro who plays the game with feel, youth and excitement. After a 2-win 2008 PGA Tour Season, the future was (and still is) so bright for Anthony “AK” Kim. However, in 2010 AK had a serious thumb injury that seemed to have lingered for well over a year.
We here at NGNation love AK and if you follow our Fantasy Four contest, you’ll notice Alan and I take him almost every chance we get. I just wanted to take the time to chronicle AK, his results and his latest injury news to surface at the 2012 Valero Texas Open after his WD.
April/May 2010
7 Straight Top 25′s, 1 Win and Injury Revelation
Anthony “AK” Kim’s last win was in 2010 at the Shell Houston Open. It was no surprise that he won here, as his 3 prior finishes were 22nd, 2nd and 24th. He also had two great finishes at the Shell Houston Open prior to the 2010 event. After that, Kim admitted that he had a torn ligament in his thumb for the past 16 months. That’s dating this injury back to January 2009.
AK received surgery on this following a 3rd place at the 2010 Masters, 16th at the 2010 Ballantines, a 7th at Quail Hollow, then withdrawing from the 2010 Players Championship in May.
August – October 2010
Return and Poor Finishes
AK returned to action at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational in August of that year. While there is no cut at this event, AK finished 76th out of 80. After that, AK missed the cut at 5 of his next 6 events and then withdrew of the Justin Timberlake event in Las Vegas.
November 2010 – January 2011
Return to Form? (part 1)
Right after his WD in Vegas, AK finished 25th at the WGC HSBC Championship and followed that up with a 16th at the Chevron. It appeared that Kim was back in form to start the 2011 PGA Tour season, and he started the season as such. His first 3 finishes in 2011 were; 19th at Tournament of Champions, 13th at Sony Open and 6th at Torrey Pines.
February – March 2011
Nagging Injury?
After such a good start to his 2011 season, AK then had a MC, WD, first round exit at Match Play, MC at Honda then a 60th out of 66 at Doral.
There was a flash of hope at the end of March at the Shell Houston Open, where AK was the defending champion. AK shot a great 2nd round 64, but finished 13th overall.
April – July 2011
Missed Cuts and the Open Championship
Starting with the 2011 Masters, Anthony missed 6 of his next 9 cuts, where his finishes were 56th, 68th, and 53rd.
Then another flash of hope… a 5th place finish at the Open Championship in July. AK followed that up with a DQ at the RBC Canadian Open where he’s had good history. Then he had a 14th place finish at the Greenbrier. This is when I thought he was back and finally over his thumb injury.
August – September 2011
Mixed Nuts
Then he had 2 straight missed cuts, but then a 24th at the Barclays. However, he missed the cut at the Deutsche bank the following week in the first week of September. This put an end to AK’s 2011 PGA Tour season, leaving a lot of hope for the 2012 season and the rest of 2011.
October – December 2011
Return to Form? (part 2)
AK took off about 7 weeks after the Deutsche Bank and returned to play in Korea, Singapore and Malaysia. He finished 3rd at two of these events and 23rd at the next one.
Kim followed up his overseas trip with a 12th place the Franklin Templeton shootout. This was the type of consistency we saw from AK about 18 months ago. I finally thought that AK was healthy and ready to go.
2012 PGA Tour season
MCs, WDs and a New Injury
AK has entered 9 events so far in the 2012 season, making the cut at only 2 of them (42nd at the Honda Classic and 66th at Bay Hill).
While this was unsuspected after his great finish to 2011, AK had to withdraw in his last 2 events at the Shell Houston Open and Valero Texas Open.
After withdrawing after 14 holes at the Texas Open, AK cited numbness in his arm due to a wrist injury. AK is due for an MRI and we can only hope he returns to form soon.
Yahoo! Sports Devil Ball Golf article on 2012 Valero Texas Open WD >>
There is something to be said about Nike’s relentless pursuit of innovation and performance, and there is no greater accomplishment than what the company did with its new Tiger Woods Collection, under the Tour Performance apparel line.
According to the company, the new apparel focuses on moisture management, cooling, and stretch technologies, and the line provides exceptional Lightweight Performance for golf athletes. But the new TW Dri-Fit Ultra Light pant goes well beyond consumer expectations. Nike Golf has truly set a new benchmark when it comes to performance golf pants with the TW Dri-Fit Ultra Light.
Last week, I was able to get a pair from Golf Coast Pickers who offer the pants for 10% off using the #GCpickers code at check out. Here’s my review of the pants:
Initial impression:
When I opened the package I thought there was no way that a pair of pants could be that light. Made of 95% lightweight polyester and 5% spandex, the pants, well, look like a pair of pants – but have the weight and feel of lightweight tennis shorts. The dark gray color was very versatile, and the screen print swoosh patch on the left thigh was a new styling feature that immediate caught my eye. The notched bottom hem is also very subtle, so as not to look like a pair of bell bottoms. The unwrapping was a great experience and I was ready to test.
Fit:
Nike Golf pants now come with a tag (see pic in gallery) to indicate whether the pants are standard fit, like the TW Ultra Light, or slim fit, like the Modern Tech Pant. At first, I was hoping that the TW Ultra Light would be a slim fit but when trying them on, they were actually very tailored. The only difference is that there is a little more room in the leg from the knee down to the ankle in the standard fit. In the thigh area, the cut and tailoring in the two models are virtually the same.
The pants provide a level of comfort that no other athletic pant has every provided me. The material is actually a four-way stretch Dri-fit material that really makes it impossible to snag, grab, and not move with you. The range of motion it allows is unparalleled.
Style:
New features to the Tiger Woods Collection pants include a new grip in the inside waist band in order to keep your shirt tucked in. It consists of small rubber dots to decrease weight but provide the same grip capabilities. Also, the button is now a snap close and presumably this too reduces weight. It is important to get the size right, because you do not want this snap to come undone during your swing. The v-notch hem is a very good improvement because the notch overlaps itself so its provides a nice lay down effect over your shoes but not so much that it looks like you’re a disco dancer from the 70s (no offense Rory). I like the way the swoosh is on the left thigh to proudly display the brand insignia. The back pockets are plain which is a welcomed change from last year’s Hyperlite pants that had contrast pockets.
Performance:
While I have only worn the pants walking around and hitting some balls outside, I can say that these are a great walking pant for warm temperatures. The stretchiness of the pants makes it feel like you’re not weighed down or uncomfortable, and gives you that athletic feel. While the pants are not water resistant, they do dry easily. I got the bottom wet to test it out, and while it did get wet like any other pant, it dried relatively quickly.
The pants do look great with shoes, as I have demonstrated with my Lunar Control in the gallery. The all white Zoom Trophy I have looks great too with the gray pants, so I would recommend these with a classic performance shoe.
Conclusion:
At its price point (MSRP $125.00), the TW Dri-Fit Ultra Light pant is the most technologically advanced pant in the Nike Golf lineup. But if you are looking for a performance pant, a pant you want to wear when you are in the competitive mindset, then these are for you. Alternatively, they are just great for a spring day when you want to look stylish on the course. I recommend these pants, and hope you will enjoy them as much as I did.
Gallery:
Sources:
Pictures taken by Golf Coast Pickers GCPickers.com page and myself.
Editor’s note: The reviewer/author was not paid for this review, and the opinions expressed in the review are strictly those of the reviewer/author.
Golf.com’s David Dusek has the inside scoop on CP’s new putter. The latest Nike winner on the PGA Tour had used a variety of long putters before Nike made this custom prototype for him. The long putter features the same Method technology but has a rounded back and a long alignment aid.
Click here to view the putter on Golf.com
Photo credit by David Dusek of Golf.com
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