Ten years ago Nike Golf revolutionized the golf ball industry with its introduction of the Tour Accuracy, the first solid core golf ball, which sent wound golf ball manufacturers scrambling to find competitive golf ball technologies. When Tiger committed to playing this new ball in 2000, it confirmed the success of the solid core golf ball and indicated that the technology would be the benchmark for golf ball design in the future. Well, it looks like history might be about to repeat itself.

Last week on Twitter I heard a mention of a new prototype golf ball from Nike Golf — the PROTOTYPE RZN ball — presumably released at its equipment and sales meetings last month in Fort Worth. Nike Golf has given some of its reps sleeves of this ball to test out and give their opinions and feedback. In this post yesterday on Golfwrx.com we saw the first information about and pictures of this new ball, the pics are in the gallery below (courtesy of Golfwrx.com).

According to the post, this new ball features a new material — resin (hence the prototype name) injected into the core — the first time in the 10-year history of the solid core ball that a material other than rubber would be used for the core of a solid core production golf ball. The new material reportedly makes the core lighter, which allows more weight to be moved to the perimeter of the ball, increasing MOI, and thus ball speed and directional forgiveness. Supposedly the ball feels lighter, and the cover feels softer, presumably for increased feel around the greens. The claim is also that the ball spins less with the driver and more with the wedges.

The first entry in the post mentions these are the three key features of the new ball:

- Faster ball speed: 3 mph faster on average
- Highest MOI ever for a golf ball: more forgiving and tighter shot dispersion
- Steeper Spin Slope (relationship of driver spin to wedge spin): 150 rpm less driver spin and 300 rpm more wedge spin than the Nike One Tour (an already high spinning ball)

Of course none of this information is official or straight from Nike Golf. The official name for this ball is supposed to be revealed in November, with ball hitting retail shelves in February. As soon as we get any official information on this new ball from Nike Golf we’ll surely bring it to you here on NG Nation. I personally can’t wait to see and test out this new ball. A question I have is will this new ball be offered in addition to the ONE Tour and Tour D models, or in place of one or both? Sounds like we’ll have to wait until November to find out.

For now, check out the comments on the new PROTOTYPE RZN ball in the Golfwrx.com forum at the link below, and see what people are saying about this revolutionary new golf ball design.

All photos courtesy of Golfwrx.com.

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Check out the forum post about the PROTOTYPE RZN on Golfwrx.com >>

As many of you know, this week’s FedEx Cup playoff tournament is at TPC Boston and weather experts have predicted Hurricane Earl to make an appearance.

In the lastest weather report I read up here in the northeast, Hurricane Earl was downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane, which still means that winds could be as high as 74 to 95 miles per hour.

According to PGA Tour on-site meteorologist Stewart Williams, Hurricane Earl will arrive at TPC Boston early this afternoon, when 48 of the 99 golfers in the field will be on the course. It’s estimated to drop 2 to 4 inches of rain on TPC tonight, but hopefully it will be gone by Saturday.

Having said that, the best way to stay dry on the golf course is with a good rain suit and a big umbrella. Here’s a look at some of my favorite recent Nike Golf umbrellas. Hope you enjoy and stay dry!

68″ Victory Red Windsheer II Umbrella

62″ Windproof Umbrella

62″ Windsheer II

48″ Nike Golf Japan

68″ 2009 SQ

68″ UV Cut

62″ TW Windsheer II

Today Nike Golf announced a fun contest on their Facebook page — since this is opening weekend for college football, Nike Golf is pitting their athletes against each other in a bracket-style competition at the Deutsche Bank Championship. Each athlete will be sporting their school colors at the tournament this weekend, and they will represent their conferences and schools in this contest. The first round match-ups on Friday will be decided by most birdies made, then winners move on to round 2 where the match-ups will be decided by fewest putts on Saturday. The championship match will be decided on Sunday by most greens hit in regulation. Fans who pick the winning athlete have the chance to win Nike Golf Collegiate Apparel. So log on to Nike Golf’s Facebook page and cast your vote for who you think will win the Nike Golf College Football Bracket Challenge!

Submit a comment and vote for who will win Nike Golf’s College Football Bracket Challenge >>

This week is huge on the PGA Tour, as Tiger and Leonard will fight to stay alive in the the hunt for the FedEx Cup, while the Champions Tour heads to Pebble Beach and Simon Dyson looks to keep up his hot play in Europe. Also, Jamie Lovemark returns to the Nationwide Tour sitting at #2 on the money list and Carly Booth looks to make a splash on the Ladies European Tour.

Here are all of the Nike Golf athletes at the tour events this week;

*PGA Tour Playoffs: Deutsche Bank Championship

Stephen Ames
Paul Casey
Stewart Cink
Lucas Glover
Anthony Kim
Justin Leonard
Carl Pettersson
Tiger Woods

European Tour : Omega European Masters

Simon Dyson
Pablo Martin
James Morrison
Charl Schwatrzel
Marc Warren

Champions Tour : Home Care and Hospice First Tee Open

John Cook
Bob Tway

Ladies European Tour : UNIQUA Ladies Golf Open

Carly Booth
Frances Bondad

Nationwide Tour : Mylan Classic

Scott Brown
Kevin Kisner
Craig Lile
Jamie Lovemark
Chris Nallen
Garrett Osborn
Jhonattan Vegas

European Challenge Tour : Allianz EurOpen de Strasbourg

no nike athletes entered

LPGA Tour : no event this week

*The Deutsche Bank Championship will be played Friday-Monday

For the second week of the PGA Tour Playoffs, we head to TPC Boston for an event and course that have been played since 2003. There’s plenty of history to rely on, along with players struggling to win the Tour Championship and make the cut. We have the Top 100 this week, trying to get a win and some trying to make the Top 70. It should be a very exciting week.

The yardage at TPC Boston is basically the same as Ridgewood last week, so don’t worry about that. Also, defending champs do well, generally. Adam Scott won in ’03 and was the runner up in ’04. Tiger was also a runner-up in ’04, then won in ’06 and was the runner up in ’07. Vijay won in ’04, then was a runner up in ’06 and won again in ’08. Ridiculous. There’s another good fantasy four — Scott, Vijay, Woods..aaaand whoever. Lots of good options this week.

This is Event 20 of the season and the second event of The Playoffs for the NG Nation Fantasy Four and it’s never too late to join. For a refresher on the rules, hit the link — Contest Guidelines and leave your Fantasy Four below.

To see the standings up to this point, click HERE and witness the double points explosion that occured after the first week of play.

NIKE GOLF: Four to Watch

Stewart Cink (42)
Cink is one of the most consistent guys on tour right now. The numbers don’t lie, as he’s has 3 straight Top 20′s and 9 straight made cuts. However, he missed the cut here in ’09 and ’07, but had a T33 in ’08. He could be a good pick and he wants to make an impression of Mr. Pavin.

Lucas Glover (63)
Sure, G’Lover missed the cut last week, but he had a Top 10 at the Wyndham and a T22 at the WGC-Bridgestone. He needs to make the cut this week to move on and he should rebound well from the missed cut.  T14 in ’07, T12 in ’06 with made cuts in ’08 and ’09 is good enough for me.

Justin Leonard (68)
Leonard has definitely played his way to where he is now. He’s made 5 straight cuts, all Top 40′s, which include 3 Top 25′s and a top 10 at the Wyndham. T19 here last year, T7 in ’08 is pretty good. I think this could be his breakthrough week.

Tiger Woods (65)
Yes, only three of us picked Tiger last week and there may be even more this week. I’m sure that Tiger will win a Playoffs event, but I’m not convinced it’s this one. T11 in ’09, T2 in ’07, 1st in ’06, T2 in ’04..his record here is great, but the same could be said for many tournaments this past year. I see a similar finish to last wek, though, the Friday start should help Tiger.

Other Nike golfers in the field: Stephen Ames (69), Anthony Kim (27) , Carl Pettersson (30), Paul Casey (23)

THE FIELD: Four Who are Hot

Dustin Johnson (6)
Recent starts – T9 at Barclays, T5 at PGA, 15 at WGC-Bridgestone
Kuchar got his win, now I think it’s time for DJ to get his. I don’t think people really deserve to win, but DJ is due. There’s no way around it. He’s only played this course once and he finished T4 last year. Ummm, count it.

Matt Kuchar (1)
Recent starts –1st at Barclays,  T10 at PGA, T9 at WGC, T21 at Greenbrier, T4 at Canadian Open, T27 at The Open, T6 at US Open, T8 at Memorial
Kuch-daddy got his big win and he’s not going to stop there. His stats are insane and he had a T15 here last year. This tournament is an all out war.

Kevin Streelman (18)
Recent starts – T3 at Barclays, T18 at Wyndham
Streels has put together two strong weeks and he is playing well. The familiar course helped him last week. He has played TPC Boston the past two years with T35 and T50 finishes, so we’ll see what he can do.

Jason Day (14)
Recent starts – T5 at Barclays, T10 at PGA, T22 at WGC-Bridgestone
With people leaning towards Furyk, Stricker, Woods, Kuchar and DJ, Jason Day is flying right under the radar. He’s even hotter than what I’m showing — 9 straight made cuts, 6 top 25′s..1 win, 4 top 10′s..yep. T19 here last year.

THE FIELD: Four Who Have History

Steve Stricker (2)
Best finishes – 1st in ’09, T13 in ’08, T9 in ’07, T7 in ’06
Stricker is laughing right now. This is his event and he dominates in the Playoffs. He also has 3 Top 10′s in his last 5 starts and is clutch.

Adam Scott (19)
Best finishes – T17 in ’07, 2nd in ’04, 1st in ’03
Remember when Adam Scott was a pick for the President’s Cup and everyone thought it was ridiculous? It was clearly the right move. Scott also has 4 straight made cuts with a pair of T9′s in there and a win this year. He’s looking great.

Jim Furyk (8)
Best finishes – T8 in ’09, T7 in ’08, T13 in ’03
Furyk isn’t happy about last week…and they change the rule right after it happens? Ridiculous! Furyk is the only one here who hasn’t won it, and he’s playing very well.

Vijay Singh (86)
Best finishes – 1st in ’08, 2nd in ’06, 1st in ’04, 4 in ’03
Vijay has a chance right now to make a great finish. He’s in danger of not advancing and once again, he’s the ultimate sleeper. I haven’t seen it in his game, but anything can happen in the Playoffs!

Other notables in the field: Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington, Luke Donald, Hunter Mahan, Sean O’Hair, Ian Poulter, Jeff Overton, Ernie Els, Martin Laird, Justin Rose, Geoff Ogilvy, Ben Crane, Robert Allenby

FINAL FOUR: Sean O’Hair, Adam Scott, Paul Casey and Lucas Glover

I think the easy four this week is either Stricker, Furyk, DJ, Kuchar and a swoosher, but you can’t really go too wrong there, with Cink, Leonard, Casey, Glover and Woods all poised to breakout. Day is looking great, too…this is really a toss-up.However, if you’re looking at the Top 10 from 2008 when they went from Ridgewood to TPC Boston, Vijay had back-to-back wins and Furyk basically had 2 Top 10′s..so maybe that stat will intrigue some of you.

I think O’Hair and Glover will be trying to play onto the Ryder Cup team, while Casey is going to prove that he should have been on it.

Check out the full field here >> Deutsche Bank Championship Full Field

Leave your Fantasy Four in a comment below. Remember, you have to pick at least ONE Nike Golfer and have your picks in by THURSDAY at Midnight (PST).

Don’t forget, the points are doubled for the next 3 events, so you’re still in it!

Pick with your heart,

D.

Great weekend for Nike golf. Lots of players in contention and there could have been wins on three of the major tours. Woods impressed and made ground, while Casey and Cink played very well. Dyson and Molinari were in contention from the start, while Pettersen and Wie were in similar positions in Winnipeg, but finished 1, 2.

PGA Tour: The Barclays

T12 :: Paul Casey :: 69 69 70 69 :: 277 :: -7
T12 :: Tiger Woods :: 65 73 72 67 :: 277 :: -7
T15 :: Stewart Cink :: 67 79 73 69 :: 278 :: 6
T36 :: Stephen Ames :: 74 68 69 72 :: 282 :: -2
T36 :: Justin Leonard :: 71 71 71 69 :: 282 :: -2
T64 :: David Duval :: 68 72 72 75 :: 287 :: +3
CUT :: Lucas Glover :: 72 74 :: 146 :: +4
CUT :: Anthony Kim :: 73 75 :: 148 :: +6
CUT :: Carl Pettersson :: 71 75 :: 146 :: +4
European Tour: Johnny Walker Championship

T3 :: Francesco Molinari :: 68 70 68 75 :: 281 :: -7
6 :: Simon Dyson :: 68 70 70 74 :: 282 :: -6
T51 :: Richard Finch :: 66 74 70 82 :: 292 :: +4
T56 :: Marc Warren :: 68 70 71 84 :: 293 :: +5
T63 :: Oliver Fisher :: 69 73 76 79 :: 297 :: +9
T65 :: James Morrison :: 71 72 75 81 :: 299 :: +11
CUT :: Pablo Martin :: 72 73 :: 145 :: +1

LPGA Tour: CN Canadian Women’s Open

1 :: Michelle Wie :: 65 69 72 70 :: 276 :: -12
T2 :: Suzann Pettersen :: 69 69 72 69 :: 279 :: -9
CUT :: Amanda Blumenherst :: 77 79 :: 156 :: +12

Ladies European Tour: Finnair Masters

CUT :: Carly Booth :: 73 75 :: 148 :: +6

Champions Tour: Boeing Classic

T25 :: John Cook :: 71 70 74 :: 215 :: -1

Nationwide Tour: Knoxville News Sentinel Open

T54 :: Kevin Kisner :: 69 71 71 72 :: 283 :: -5
T61 ::  Chris Nallen :: 69 71 68 77 :: 285 :: -3
WD :: Garrett Osborn
CUT :: Scott Brown :: 70 73 :: 143 :: -1
European Challenge Tour: SWALEC Wales Challenge

CUT :: Matt Haines :: 81 70 :: 151 :: +7

*grey = Missed Cut
* bold = Top 10
* bold victory red = Win

UPDATE 9.1.10: Yesterday pictures were also posted on Golfwrx.com of Nike Golf’s new VR Pro Combo and Pro Blade Irons. Both are very clean, classic designs, and I am particularly drawn to the VR Pro Combos (I still own my Pro Combo Tour and OS irons). I can’t wait to see these, and hopefully I’ll have a chance to test and review them here on NG Nation.

All photos courtesy of Golfwrx.com.

VR PRO COMBO AND PRO BLADE IRONS:

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UPDATE 9.1.10: Yesterday pictures were posted on Golfwrx.com of Nike Golf’s two new drivers, the VR Pro STR8-FIT (seen on the left in the photos) and the SQ MachSpeed Black STR8-FIT (on the right in the photos). Looks like the Pro has more of a pear shape than last year’s model, and the MachSpeed has a wider/deeper head and  taller face. I can’t wait to see these in person!

All photos courtesy of Golfwrx.com.

VR PRO STR8-FIT AND SQ MACHSPEED BLACK STR8-FIT DRIVERS:

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UPDATE 8.31.10: Today Nike Golf released the photo below on their Facebook page (click on the photo for an enlarged version). The “Coming This Fall” caption means that information and the retail release date should be coming soon from Nike Golf on this very cool looking new driver, and we’ll have it here on NG Nation when they send it to us. Click here to read fan comments about the photo and the new MachSpeed Black driver on Nike Golf’s Facebook Page.

The golf equipment forums have been buzzing for the last week about what might be coming next from Nike Golf for their 2011 equipment line. Lots of speculation and a variety of spy pics have come out, as well as some preliminary information from last week’s equipment and sales meetings. The majority of the comments in the forums have been extremely positive, and the overriding opinion seems to be that this will be Nike Golf’s strongest equipment offering to date.

In this post last night on Golfwrx.com, a user posted some pictures (supposedly) from Nike Golf’s 2011 equipment catalog. Some of the comments in this post indicate that the 2011 equipment line may include the following (keep in mind this is all still speculation at this point):

DRIVERS

VR Pro STR8-FIT Driver: 10.5 and 11.5 degree lofts have 460cc head; 9.5 degree loft comes in both 440cc and 460cc head, 8.5 degree loft comes in 440cc head; All have Nike Project X shaft

Machspeed Black STR8-FIT Driver: Available in round and square head, comes with Nike Fubuki shaft.

FAIRWAY WOODS

VR Pro Fairway Wood: No pics, speculation that there will be STR8-FIT and glued versions available, stay tuned.

MachSpeed Fairway Woods: No pics or info about this yet, maybe a MachSpeed Black fairway wood to come soon?

HYBRIDS

VR Pro Hybrid: See pics below

Machspeed Hybrid: No pics or info about this yet, maybe a MachSpeed Black hybrid to come soon?

IRONS

VR Pro Blade: See pics below

VR Pro Combo: See pics below

VR Pro Cavity: See pics below

WEDGES

No info or pics on any new wedges, Nike recently released their V-Rev Wedge Series, review coming soon!

PUTTER

Method Core: Looks to be an insert rather than direct polymer fill like on the original Method, see pics below.

Today more pictures were posted of the VR Pro Hybrid and VR Pro Cavity irons, you can see those in the gallery below.

Of course none of the information or photos are coming straight from Nike Golf, so I still consider it speculation, but the pics from the equipment catalog seem to point at some solid info about what is to come soon. I’ll tell you that I am personally super-excited to see this new equipment line in person, as I tend to agree that this looks to be one of Nike Golf’s most impressive equipment lines in their history. We’ll keep you posted on any new developments, and of course we’ll get you the official info as soon as we get it from Nike Golf!

A big thank you to Golfwrx.com for letting us use their photos in our post here on NG Nation. Take a look at the pics below and let us know what you think about what you see!

All photos courtesy of Golfwrx.com.

VR PRO HYBRID AND PRO CAVITY IRONS:

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2011 NIKE GOLF EQUIPMENT CATALOG PICS:

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Wie Touts Ball Striking and Putting as Keys to Victory

The phenomenal talent of Michelle Wie came shining through at the LPGA’s CN Canadian Women’s Open.  The 20-year-old Nike athlete captured her second LPGA career title by leading the tournament from start to finish and ultimately winning by a three-stroke margin.



One of the highlights of her week was in the first round when she made the second ace of her career on the par-3 181-yard 11th hole, where she hit a Nike VR Blade 5-iron.  This propelled her to 5-under-par for the tournament and gave her the solo lead. According to Wie, the key to her win was in her ball striking and her putting.  On the back nine in the final round, Wie made three consecutive birdies using Nike’s Method putter. 



“I made a lot of putts, but at the same time I made a lot of really crucial putts,” said Wie.  “And you know, I think it was my ball striking that really kept me above water today.”



During the week, Wie averaged 290-yard drives with her Nike VR Tour driver and maintains the highest ranking in the LPGA Tour’s driving average category with the winning combination of her driver and Nike ONE Tour ball.  Wie also played with the Nike VR Blades, Nike VR wedges, Nike VR STR8-FIT 13-degree fairway wood and Nike VR hybrids. Wie wore Nike Golf apparel and footwear.

Fellow Nike athlete Suzann Pettersen, who also has a full bag of Nike arsenal, including the VR STR8-FIT driver, VR Split Cavity irons and the Method putter, finished tied for second in the event which she won last year.



Wie’s win brings to eight the number of professional wins by Nike Golf athletes around the world.

Wie’s Nike Arsenal:

Driver:  Nike VR Tour 8.5 degree
Fairway Woods:  Nike VR STR8-FIT 13-degree
Irons:  Nike VR Blades (5-PW);
Hybrids: Nike VR 18 and 24-degree
Wedges:  Nike VR 52, 56 and 60-degree
Putter:  Nike Method
Ball:  Nike ONE Tour
Glove: Nike Dri-FIT Tour
Apparel: Nike Golf Women’s Apparel
Footwear:  Nike Air Brassie III

Nike Golf’s 2010 PGA Tour Victories
Carl Pettersson – RBC Canadian Open
Anthony Kim – Shell Houston Open

Nike Golf’s 2010 LPGA Tour Victories
Michelle Wie – CN Canadian Women’s Open

Nike Golf’s 2010 International Victories
James Morrison – Madeira Open
Charl Schwartzel – Joburg Open (PGA European Tour)
Charl Schwartzel – Africa Open (PGA European Tour)
Pablo Martin – Alfred Dunhill Championship (PGA European Tour)

Nike Golf’s 2010 Nationwide Tour Victories
Jhonattan Vegas – Wichita Open
Jamie Lovemark – Mexico Open Bicentenary

Editor’s note: The post above is from a Nike Golf press release.

The playoffs truly started with a bang as a well deserved Matt Kuchar picked up his first win of the season in dramatic fashion. His win was not only his first of the season, but caused the biggest points mix-up in the Fantasy Four contest to date. Due to the double points, we’ve seen a new record for scoring and a costly effect of failing to enter your picks for the week. We also saw a record low for MC’s, with only 2 this week.

• Number of Entries: 11 (no Mick this week)
• Number of Golfers Selected: 16
• Most Popular Pick: Paul Casey– picked 6 times
• Number of Missed Cuts/WD’s: 2 – Mickelson and AK (both picked by Bryan D
• Number of Top 10’s: 3  – Matt Kuchar (1), Steve Stricker (T3) and DJ (T9)
• Number of Top 10-Top 25’s: 4 – Tiger + Casey (T12), Cink and Poulter (T15)
• Top Nike Golfer: Tiger + Casey (T12)
• People That Selected the Winner: 3  - Matt Kuchar picked by Jane, Brian and Chris
• Average Points: 22.36

I think it was a great week. While Els, Overton, Mahan, Mickelson, Bubba, Watney and McIlroy failed to impress, the real gamers game out to play and Tiger, Casey and others were close to Top 10′s. Steve Stricker may be the favourite to win the FedEx cup now. While 3 entries had Kuchar, Brian and Jane only backed him up with 1 other Top 25, while Chris had that plus a Top 10, which gave him a decisive win.

Chris Wang’s Winning Team  (52 points) :Matt Kuchar (1), Steve Stricker (T3), Paul Casey (T12) and Rory McIlroy ( T56)

Chris vaults into first place, while NG Nation and Meredith only picked up 12 and 18 points, respectively.

Hit the link to check out the The Barclays Fantasy Points to see how you fared this week.

What a start to the Playoffs. I think the double points will be really exciting and I’m going to predict that at least one person will pick the winner through the entire FedEx Cup. Check below for the monthly and season ranks!

I bet you’re all excited for the Deutsche Bank. After Chris Wang’s double points explosion, I hope you all have faith that you can dethrone the power couple and make a play for the Nike driver and balls, courtesy of Nike Golf.

Photos: Pvt pauline/wikimedia

What a big weekend for the Molinari brothers, Edoardo and Francesco. Edoardo won the Johnnie Walker Championship by circling the last three holes of the tournament and winning by one shot at -10. Meanwhile, Francesco shot a 75, but still finished at -7 and tied for 3rd place. Edoardo picked up his 2nd win of the season, while Francesco picked up his 7th Top 10.

Normally, that’s an exceptional weekend for the Brothers Molinari. I mean, what Mother wouldn’t be happy with 1st and 3rd in a European Tour event with a good field? But these Italians (from Turin) took it one step further with the help of Colin Montgomerie. Francesco already qualified for the European Ryder Cup team, but today (after winning in Scotland) Edoardo was also named to the team as a Captain’s pick (alongside Padraig Harrington and Luke Donald).

The funny thing is that Edoardo is actually higher in the Race to Dubai rankings, but these two were going to make the team no matter what. They are 27 and 29 years of age and are the defending champions form the World Cup. It only makes sense to have them play together in the Ryder Cup and they should be unstoppable. In the World Cup they played 2 rounds of Fourballs and 2 rounds of alternate shot (Foursomes). They consistently went low and shot -29 through 4 rounds.

These brothers also played together in amateur golf winning the 2002 and 2004 Italian Amateur Foursomes Championship. The have been amazing all year and sit at 21 (Edoardo) and 38 (Francesco) on the Official World Golf Rankings (prior to the Johnnie Walker Championship).

They will be a force to be reckoned with when the world’s best golfers head to Celtic Manor from October 1-3. Meanwhile, let’s see how the US Ryder Cup team shapes up as Corey Pavin’s picks will come in just over a week.