Seen on tour
Henrik Stenson returned to his old fairway wood in Texas—you won't believe its current resale value
Stuart Franklin
There are always interesting equipment tidbits week to week on tour—but when a major champion returns to playing one of the most famous fairway woods in golf, that's big-time news. Henrik Stenson put an old friend back in the bag at the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio, and given its age, you won't believe how much it's currently worth (scroll down for the full story). We also saw a new driver in play for Gary Woodland, who had his best finish on the PGA Tour since July. And at the first major of the year at the ANA Inspiration, a putter brand reaped its first LPGA win ever.
Stenson returns to faithful fairway wood
As the song goes, breaking up is hard to do. Certainly, Henrik Stenson feels that way about his Callaway Diablo Octane 3-wood, which returned to his bag at the Valero Texas Open.
The club is an absolute artifact compared to the more technologically advanced clubs available today as reflected by its $13.50 trade-in value on the PGA Value Guide. Stenson’s 3-wood not only dates back more than a decade (it debuted in 2008), but the Grafalloy Blue shaft in it goes back another five years to 2003. Still, the Diablo Octane carries some good memories for Stenson as he used it during his win at the Open Championship in 2016. Perhaps he’s hoping to rekindle some of that magic at Augusta National for the Masters.
Woodland changes drivers yet again
Steve Dykes
After several weeks trying two different versions on Cobra’s Radspeed driver, Gary Woodland made another change at the Valero Texas Open, switching to TaylorMade’s SIM2 Max (with a strip of lead tape on the sole, no less). Woodland can be forgiven for shuffling big sticks in and out of his bag as his result this season coming into San Antonio included more cuts missed (six) than made (five) and zero top-10 finishes.
That all changed at TPC San Antonio’s Oaks Course. On a course that demands you be solid off the tee, Woodland was—ranking 18th in strokes gained/off-the-tee, picking up 2.785 strokes on the field. He was also third in driving distance at 325.7 yards. The result was a T-6 finish, his first top-10 finish since last July’s Workday Charity Open and good momentum heading into the Masters.
Bettinardi’s first LPGA win
Michael Owens
When Bettinardi Golf signed Patty Tavatanakit in February, well, it didn’t exactly rank as breaking news. What is noteworthy, however, is that Tavatanakit’s two-shot win at the ANA Inspiration was the first LPGA event ever won with a Bettinardi putter. Tavatanakit uses a Studio Stock 3 mallet with a black PVD finish and micro-honeycomb milled face. The head, made from double-aged stainless steel, weighs 360 grams. Tavatanakit used the flat stick effectively in finishing at 18 under par, making just four bogeys over 72 holes.
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