Notebook: Titleist 909 driver gets first win

It didn't take long.

Titleist's 909 drivers earned a PGA Tour victory last week when champion Chez Reavie was one of 17 players to use the 909D2 at the RBC Canadian Open.

Since its introduction on the PGA Tour last month, Titleist's new line of 909 drivers have been quick to find their way into the pros' bags. But it only took a few weeks for one to be in a winner's bag - that of Chez Reavie at the RBC Canadian Open.

Reavie used a 909D2 driver, a 460cc titanium head club that delivers mid-range launch and spin. Sixteen other players at the Canadian Open also used a 909 model, including Zach Johnson, Bill Haas, Davis Love III and Nicholas Thompson.

The clubhead isn't the only new thing about Reavie's driver. He also used a new 79-gram graphite Proforce AXIVCore shaft from UST. AXIV technology incorporates a single layer of carbon fiber material that's woven in four directions to give feel and control with stability. The special weave is incorporated in the butt end of the shaft and helps resist deformation at impact.

The combination helped Reavie finish fourth in driving accuracy, with 78.6 percent of fairways hit for the week. The self-proclaimed shorter hitter also averaged 282.3 yards off the tee, good for T-34 in the field.

Titleist plans to introduce the 909 drivers to golfers in the U.S. in October, while the UST Proforce AXIVCore shaft will be available in November.

NEW PING IRONS WIN: Speaking of first wins for new equipment, Ping's new irons, the S57s, earned a win for the first time at the Nationwide Tour last week.

Bill Lunde had the new set in his bag for his win at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational. He had 13 birdies for the week and finished with 65.3 percent of greens in regulation (T26), despite a poor day on Friday where he hit just 44 percent.

The S57 blades are constructed of stainless steel and are the next step up from Ping's popular S58 irons. They boast a smaller head and less offset than the S58s, and use tungsten weighting in the toe to increase stability, much like Ping's Tour-W wedges.

They debuted on the PGA and European Tours in mid-June. Daniel Chopra, Jeff Maggert and Ted Purdy have all used them in competition. Consumers in the U.S. can expect to see them in stores this fall.

SECOND PLACE FOR OLD PUTTER: Nationwide runner-up Dustin Bray relied on an old putter his dad bought him when he was a high school sophomore and found his comfort level on the greens.

"It's an old Pat. Pending Anser II," Bray said. "Last year I was telling guys I've been putting with it for 12 years, so it's 13 years. It was '95 when he got it for me."

Bray said that although he had more three-putts than he would have liked - he finished T71 in putts per round with 31.8 - he felt better on the greens and made some really big putts.

"I had had good vibes on these greens with that putter in the past and I finished 17th at the nationals here when I was in college, and all in all, I just tried to take that little bit of confidence that I had from the college event I played here," he said.

Bray said he also put an older set of TaylorMade irons back into his bag for the week. He was first in greens in regulation with 81.9 percent.

COMING UP: Callaway and Nike are both set to unveil new drivers. While both are in the rumor stage, it sounds like Callaway's new offering will be called the FT-9 and Nike's will be the Dymo. The Dymo was listed on the USGA's approved list this week. Look for them both to debut on tour in the next few weeks.

Mitchell putter earns U.S. Amateur Pub Links win

Jack Newman has a lot of reasons to thank Michigan State University golf coach Sam Puryear. After winning the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship two weeks ago, one of the most important reasons may be his putter.

Puryear, a new coach at MSU, worked with Mitchell Golf last fall so his golfers could all have their equipment specs analyzed and adjusted to improve performance. One of the recommendations for Newman was a new putter.

Newman sank putts at the Murphy Creek Golf Course in Aurora, Colo., on the 14th, 15th, 16th and 18th holes to go 1 up over John Chin heading into the afternoon of the scheduled 36-hole final.

"First 18, I made some really good putts," Newman said. "I think that sort of stunned John. I mean, I made a lot of putts this week, and John played awesome. And just made a few putt that's were really, really nice."

The Mitchell Golf putter in Newman's bag? Try a center-shafted CS model. It's made of carbon steel, CNC milled and was fitted to Newman by Ed Mitchell, owner of Mitchell Golf. The putter head is custom weighted for balance and feel.

"I was just really comfortable the whole week," Newman said. "The game settled in. Making a lot of putts. And match play you either make it, you have to make it or if you don't, the hole's over."

Notebook: Wilson marks 60 major titles

Wilson Sporting Goods has been in business a long time, actually since 1914. And in that long history, the company has signed some of the game's greats, introduced new technology from the sand wedge to advances in the golf ball, and now has amassed 60 major titles.

Padraig Harrington's victory at the 137th British Open playing Wilson Staff clubs marked the company's 60th major title win.

Harrington used the Wilson Staff Dd6+ driver, a European version of the Dd6 that is sold in the U.S. He also had a combo iron set with Ci7s and Pi5s, and two of the company's newer Tw9 wedges.

His 5-wood - with which he hit the 17th green Sunday for an eagle to ensure his victory - is also a Wilson club, a FYbrid.

PUTTER DOES THE TRICK: U.S. Bank Championship victor Richard S. Johnson boasted a new putter for the week, a Scotty Cameron Newport Fastback design.

Johnson said last week he was ready to throw his previous putter in the lake. But he said that besides the new flat stick, he had a new approach to performing on the greens in Milwaukee.

"I've been very technical in my putting and trying to make everything square and make it look good. Whereas I think I've been - I am more of a feel putter," he said. But last week he started "just aiming at a spot and just trying to putt more with feel."

Johnson was fourth in the field in putts per green in regulation (1.643) and T-10 in putts per round (28.3).

So what happened to his old putter?

"I gave it back to the manufacturer," he said. "I don't break clubs."

NEW TITLEIST PLAYER: Webb Simpson made his debut on the Nationwide Tour at the Price Cutter Charity Championship last week. The 22-year-old Wake Forest grad turned professional two months ago and finished second in the event, four shots behind Colt Knost.

Simpson is a Titleist staff player who used the company's newest 909D3 driver in his debut. He also had a 909F2 fairway wood, 585.H hybrid, AP2 irons, Vokey Design Spin Milled sand and lob wedges and a Titleist Pro V1x golf ball.

Simpson has also played in a handful of PGA Tour events since June, with his best pro finish a T37 at the Travelers Championship.

BATTLING THE WIND: With 35-plus mph winds at the British Open, using an umbrella - to block rain or wind - could get tricky.

GustBuster president Steve Asman was proud to say that his umbrella stood up to the elements without flipping inside out or being destroyed.

"The wind and rain was relentless, but GustBuster did its job," Asman said. "If it's good enough for the best players in the world, under these kinds of conditions, it has to be good enough for the average everyday player.

The GustBuster is designed to withstand 55 mph wind gusts by using a special flow-through design and polycarbonate construction that won't turn inside out.

STREAKY PUTTING CONTINUES: John Daly says that he's always been a streaky putter.

Despite a change to a new putter, streakiness continued for the two-time major champion during the British Open. Daly, who missed the cut after shooting 80-89, tried a new TaylorMade Spider putter for the week.

"I was working with the guys from Adidas TaylorMade yesterday," Daly said Wednesday. "(The Spider is) just something totally different that I'm not accustomed to. I'm not used to seeing anything that big behind the putter face. But it's something different, and maybe it's time I look at something different."

Unfortunately, the putting didn't improve for Daly, who had 31 and 37 putts, respectively, in his two rounds.

"This is a tournament that you've just got to putt decent," he said. "You can win by six or seven shots if you putt really, really great."

ODDS AND ENDS: Jim Furyk finished the British Open tied for fifth using a new Titleist 909D2 driver and Scotty Cameron putter. He's had both in play before in recent weeks, but had been experimenting with an Adams driver as well. ... U.S. Bank Championship runner-up Ken Duke had a bag full of Cleveland equipment: HiBore XLS Tour driver, CG Red irons, 588 DSG wedges and a Never Compromise Milled Series putter. ... Phil Mickelson didn't try any new tricks with his equipment at Royal Birkdale. He said that deciding between a 2-iron and a hybrid was as different as he wanted to get in the conditions. ... In a press conference at the British Open, the R&A's Peter Dawson said an announcement on grooves would be coming in the next three to four weeks.

Norman has long, deep ties to MacGregor

Since 1978, Greg Norman has been somehow connected to MacGregor.

Greg Norman carried an 8.5-degree MacGregor MT driver in his run for a third British Open title.

That didn't change this year - while in contention at the British Open, Norman carried a MacGregor MT driver, 2009 MacGregor VIP Pro irons, MacGregor Don White wedges and a prototype DCT Captiva putter.

"There wasn't a whole lot wrong with my game," Norman, 53, said after finishing tied for third. I've still got the components in there."

Norman has more than an equipment interest in MacGregor. Last year, he became a part owner of the company after a re-organization. He also was appointed chairman of the board of directors and has participated in the company's product development and marketing over the past several months.

MacGregor has a 110-year history of making golf equipment, but had seen something of a decline earlier this decade. Since Norman has come on board, the company has dropped its MacTec line of drivers and woods, and introduced MT drivers, hybrids, irons and wedges.

MacGregor also acquired the Greg Norman Collection from Adidas/Reebok.

Notebook: Scratch gets a Second Nationwide Win

It's always exciting to see a small equipment company that focuses on quality get a win on tour.

This week, it was Scratch Golf, a small Oregon-based wedge maker that is quickly becoming known as one of the handful of top-notch wedge manufacturers in the world. With a 61-degree wedge in the bag of Rick Price, winner of the Nationwide Tour Players Championship, Scratch has earned its second win of the season - the first when Kris Blanks used three Scratch wedges in his win at the Bank of America Open.

"We are thrilled with the success players have had using our clubs on the Nationwide Tour this year," said Ari Techner, CEO of Scratch Golf. "We are honored that these guys have chosen to put our wedges in their bags and we couldn't be more excited about their recent victories."

Scratch Golf prides itself on producing custom grinds that fit an individual player's swing. Consumers can buy five grind options that fit three main swing types. Each wedge is made from 1018 carbon steel for great feel around the greens.

Although there haven't been any Scratch Golf wedge wins on the PGA Tour yet, the company has had five top-10 finishes in 2008 and has equipment in play at the Champions, LPGA and European Tours as well as PGA and Nationwide.

PHIL WATCH: What will Phil Mickelson put in the bag for the British Open at Royal Birkdale next week? It's always interesting to see what Mickelson does - from using two drivers to no drivers and with as many as five wedges, the world No. 2 rarely disappoints equipment fanatics who like to debate his choices.

Mickelson, who played in last week's Scottish Open at Loch Lomond as a tune-up for the British, shared his thoughts on what will be in his bag.

"(The equipment) actually will vary day-to-day based on the weather," he said. "When it's windier, I'll have a couple of longer irons that will keep the ball down and if it's soft, like it's possible with some rain, I'll keep the hybrids in and some of the longer stuff to hit it higher."

Mickelson said he could not think of a reason why he would carry multiple drivers. At Birkdale, length is not a requirement.

"There are very few drivers at Birkdale," Mickelson said. "There are a couple but there aren't many."

ODDS AND ENDS: Zach Johnson is another new convert to Titleist's 909 driver. He had one in the bag for the John Deere Classic. ... Karrie Webb recently switched from a YES! putter to a SeeMore model. "I just picked this one up as I finished practicing Wednesday," she said of the SeeMore mallet. "I never expected to change in the tournament. But my first round was so awful, and I felt so awkward over the ball, I just thought I would give it a shot." ... Just in time for his return visit to Royal Birkdale, where he made headlines 10 years ago finishing T4 as an amateur, Justin Rose has re-signed with TaylorMade-adidas Golf Company. There shouldn't be any changes to Rose's bag - he'll keep playing TaylorMade clubs and golf ball and will wear adidas apparel. ... European Tour Order of Merit leader Miguel Angel Jimenez earned a third-place finish at the Scottish Open while using Srixon's Z-URS golf ball.

Ping Putter Helps Perry to Third Win

Kenny Perry has racked up three wins in his last five outings - a number that would be hard to do without a consistently good performance on the greens.

And for the past few months, Perry's flat stick of choice has been the Ping Craz-E putter. It's a regular-length putter - not a belly model.

"Ever since I stuck with this putter, I have been comfortable with it," Perry said after winning the John Deere Classic Sunday. "Man, I kept tumbling them in there. All it did was give me more confidence."

Perry used a Rossa model putter for much of his career, until he picked up the mallet-style Craz-E putter from a guy named Paul Hargarten, a member at Bent Pine in Vero Beach, who told Perry he should use the putter for help on the greens.

"I just accepted the putter from him, kind of threw it in the back of my truck," Perry explained Friday. "And started putting bad with my Rossi, so I went and grabbed it, and next thing you won I've won $3 million with it this year."

What makes the Craz-E putter work so well for his game? Perry said that the stability built into the putter was of help for his stroke.

"To me it's the most stable putter I've ever hit through impact. I don't feel a lot of heel-toe motion through impact area. It stays very stable, very balanced, and it's very dead," he said. "What I like about it is I've kind of got a little hit in my stroke. At my age I want to hit it with my right hand a little bit, and the face of this putter is very dead, so it lets me whack at it like I want to and the ball doesn't come flying off the face."

Perry said that he's never thought that his putting was better than his ball striking until the win Sunday.

"I have never remembered a tournament where my putter won the tournament for me. I always felt like my ball striking was what I won the tournament with. Today it was definitely my putter that won the golf tournament. I was clutch. Whenever I had to make it, I made it," he said.