In Dyche’s case, a dressing room can be lost very quickly, after succeeding Ange Postecoglou to become Forest’s third permanent manager this season.
Dyche’s reign went downhill after a good start, with BBC sources suggesting he struggled to bond with some players who questioned his methods and tactics, as he focused on the squad’s physicality.
Players’ opinions were also canvassed after defeat at Leeds United and they did not give Dyche their full backing.
So how quickly can a dressing room turn against a manager – and could it even happen before he steps through the door?
Advertisement
Sutton said: “Players talk when a new manager comes in. Some players may have experienced that manager before, or there may have been fall-out. I think instant impact is important.
“Certain managers will go into a club and want to do things their own particular way. They may leave out a club legend who’s already there, or a strong character, then that person won’t be happy and might be influential in the dressing room.”
Murphy believes every manager gets a chance, but warned: “It can change within three or four games.
“It can happen after a few bad results and performances, when you feel like you’re really struggling, getting beaten heavily, not competing in games.
Advertisement
“So maybe a month. One of the difficulties is when you have a dressing room where there is a little bit of pushback because some players are OK with the manager.
“This can become toxic as well because what you don’t want is a group of players who feel differently, because then you don’t have that cohesion and togetherness.
“But I would suggest when it starts going wrong it becomes a majority quite quickly.”
LOS ANGELES — Luka Doncic had 38 points and 11 assists, Austin Reaves added 29 points and the Los Angeles Lakers held off the Los Angeles Clippers down the stretch for a 125-122 victory Friday night.
LeBron James had 13 points and 11 assists for the Lakers in their return from the All-Star break. They blew a 15-point lead in the second half, but Doncic scored 12 points in the fourth quarter as the Lakers split the four-game season series with their crosstown rivals.
Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points before missing the final 5:10 with an apparent ankle injury for the Clippers (27-29), who fell just short of getting back to .500 in incredible fashion after their 6-21 start to the season.
Bennedict Mathurin had 26 points and seven rebounds in his second straight outstanding game for his new team before fouling out with 1:49 to play. The athletic guard acquired from Indiana for center Ivica Zubac dropped a career-high-tying 38 against Denver on Thursday.
Advertisement
Derrick Jones Jr. scored on consecutive possessions to trim the Lakers’ lead to 123-120 with 46 seconds left. Nicolas Batum then stole James’ pass in the final seconds, but the Frenchman missed a tying three-point attempt with four seconds left.
Doncic, James and Reaves were able to play together for only the 11th time in the Lakers’ 55 games this season, thanks to a rare moment of full health for the Lakers coming out of the break. They responded with a prolific offensive performance, even while James managed just two points in the second half.
In Doncic’s return from a four-game absence followed by a five-minute All-Star Game appearance due to a mildly strained hamstring, the Slovenian superstar scored 17 points with four 3-pointers in a dynamic first quarter for the Lakers, who made 16 of 17 shots in one stretch.
Leonard, who had just one bucket in the first, answered with a 19-point second.
Advertisement
The Clippers’ John Collins was helped off the court with 18 seconds left in the first half after he bloodied his face on a hard landing while trying to catch a long pass at the rim.
Igor Tudor has acknowledged Tottenham are in an “emergency situation” but believes the quality of the squad can steer them clear of Premier League relegation worries.
Tudor faced the media for the first time on Friday and fielded questions on Spurs’ precarious league position, a hefty injury list and the daunting prospect of a managerial debut in a north London derby against Arsenal.
The 47-year-old is no stranger to a crisis situation after taking over at Juventus, Lazio and Udinese in difficult moments and was defiant before his maiden Premier League match on Sunday.
“Style of play comes from pre-season when you have 50 days and you have 20 players. Of course when you have the style, very concrete, but now this is an emergency,” Tudor pointed out after he declared to be “100 per cent” confident of survival.
“An emergency situation when you need to find fast what suits the 10 (outfield) plus three players and it’s totally different.
Advertisement
“You have to go day by day, week by week.
“Let’s see what we can do. If you ask me what we are going to see on Sunday? Then I believe something concrete, good that the people will like, but it’s also about working, doing your best and then you will see on Sunday.”
Igor Tudor will take charge of his first Tottenham match in Sunday’s north London derby with Arsenal (Will Matthews/PA) (PA Archive)
Arsenal are favourites to win a first league title since 2004, but even if they had not been the most dominant team in the division, this would still be one of the most difficult fixtures for a new Spurs head coach to make his debut in.
Advertisement
Yet Tudor pushed back by saying: “Is it a good time to play against Arsenal at home? It’s always a good time to play against Arsenal at home.
“Good if you are not in a good moment, of course. If you are not in a good moment, of course, so let’s go.
“We respect them but we play at home. Let’s see what will happen. We need to have courage, confidence. We have good players, they have good players, so let’s see what will happen.
“Be humble but brave, intelligent. The right things to do to put in the pitch. We play at home, eh?”
Advertisement
This is Tudor’s 12th different managerial role since he started out at Hajduk in 2013, but he bristled at the suggestion of sampling life in London during his time off over their next three months.
The former Croatia centre-back was also quizzed on the meaning of the term ‘Spursy’ and claimed to “never heard” of the popular social-media phrase.
While the task at hand is sizeable given Tottenham have won only two of their last 17 league fixtures, Tudor’s belief was unwavering.
Advertisement
“I come here not to visit the city, I have come here to make a job at a very difficult moment for this club,” Tudor insisted.
“What I saw this week is the quality of the player, we have enormous quality in the players even though some of them are not with us, but they will come back.
“On Sunday we will have 13 good players. It’s about that.”
The Lindsay Park-trained Evaporate remains without a Group 1 win to date, but his handlers are convinced that top-tier glory awaits the four-year-old soon.
Ben, Will and J D Hayes have the galloper primed for an autumn opener in Saturday’s Group 1 Futurity Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield.
Evaporate is a more seasoned athlete this preparation, as per Ben Hayes, setting him up nicely for what lies ahead.
He boasts five prior Group 1 runs, achieving podium finishes thrice: third in the Caulfield Guineas, second place in the Toorak Handicap, and third most recently in the C F Orr Stakes behind Jimmysstar.
Advertisement
In his younger days as a three-year-old, Lindsay Park entered him in the Cox Plate, where Via Sistina beat him comprehensively, and he ran fourth behind Mr Brightside in last year’s Futurity Stakes before heading overseas to New Zealand.
Following the Orr placing, Evaporate took a quick spell before the customary Lindsay Park two jump-outs leading into Saturday.
“I think he’s trialled up very well this time around,” Hayes said.
“What we really like is he seems a lot more relaxed and has shown us a really good turn of foot in both his jump-outs and his work at home.
Advertisement
He’s a horse that has always shown us above average ability and it’s a race he can run very well in.
“He has already shown that he is capable at weight-for-age before and he’s a more hardened horse now.”
Co-trainer Hayes sees Evaporate tougher now, but Treasurethe Moment represents a tough hurdle on Saturday.
She resumed victorious in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes last spring, at Caulfield over 1400m, upsetting Mr Brightside.
Advertisement
“It would be nice to get that Group 1 on his CV,” Hayes said of Evaporate.
“He’s a Group 1 horse, but we’re going to run into a horse like Treasurethe Moment who was amazing last spring campaign.
“But I think we’ve improved, which we have to, to beat her.”
Joni Taylor is the 2026 recipient of the Kay Yow Heart of a Coach Award. The Texas A&M women’s basketball coach received the award after a unanimous vote from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley took to X to give Taylor her flowers.
“@CoachJoniTaylor, there’s not a big enough bouquet of flowers to celebrate you for who you are and what you represent to us! Congrats! Congrats! Congrats! Much deserved!” Staley wrote.
Advertisement
Joni Taylor started her coaching career as an assistant at Troy. She took up the job shortly after graduating from Alabama, where she starred as a power forward and center.
Taylor had other stints as an assistant, namely with Louisiana Tech, Alabama, LSU and Georgia. She became the Georgia Bulldogs coach in April 2015. Taylor spent seven seasons in the role, posting winning records each year.
Taylor became the Texas A&M coach on March 23, 2022. She’s looking to guide the program to success in the uber-competitive SEC. The Aggies are currently 11-11 (4-9) in the 2025-26 season. They’re fresh off an 82-74 win against the No. 21-ranked Tennessee Vols, and their next game is against the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Dawn Staley and Joni Taylor made history in 2021
History was made at the 2021 Southeastern Conference Tournament Championship game between the South Carolina Gamecocks and Georgia Bulldogs. That game was the first time two Black women head coaches met in a Power Five conference tournament championship.
Advertisement
Dawn Staley coached the Gamecocks to a win over Joni Taylor’s Bulldogs. The duo embraced before and after the showdown.
“You can’t dream what you can’t see,” said Taylor after the game.
“So (the SEC title game) was a chance for people to dream something that they haven’t seen before.”
Taylor has since taken her talent to Texas A&M, while Staley remains South Carolina’s coach. The latter is vying for a winning season, while the latter is aiming for yet another national championship to add to an impressive haul.
Why did you not like this content?
Advertisement
Was this article helpful?
Thank You for feedback
Dawn Staley, Geno Auriemma, or Kim Mulkey – who is NCAAW’s highest-paid coach? Find out here
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent weighed in on the controversy over the American-born Olympic skier Eileen Gu’s decision to compete for China over the U.S.
During an interview on Fox News’ “The Will Cain Show” on Friday, Bessent suggested Gu “sold out” with her decision to compete for America’s greatest adversary, comparing her to billionaire Democrat donor George Soros.
“It was just like this young Olympic athlete that the Vice President was talking about earlier on the previous show. America was great to her, she sold out to China. America was great to Mr. Soros,” Bessent said.
Eileen Gu of Team People’s Republic of China falls in the Women’s Freeski Halfpipe Qualification 1 on day thirteen of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Livigno Air Park on Feb. 19, 2026 in Livigno, Italy. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Bessent referenced comments made by Vice President JD Vance in response to a question about Gu during a Tuesday interview on Fox News’ “The Story With Martha MacCallum.”
“I certainly think that someone who grew up in the United States of America who benefited from our education system, from the freedoms and liberties that makes this country a great place, I would hope they want to compete with the United States of America,” Vance said on “The Story With Martha MacCallum.”
“So, I’m going to root for American athletes. I think part of that is people who identify themselves as Americans. That’s who I’m rooting for in this Olympics.”
Advertisement
Gu responded to Vance’s comments on Thursday.
“I’m flattered. Thanks, JD! That’s sweet,” Gu said of Vance’s comments, per USA Today.
Gu was also asked if she currently feels “like a bit of a punching bag for a certain strand of American politics” after her competition on Thursday.
“I do,” she said, per USA Today. “So many athletes compete for a different country. … People only have a problem with me doing it because they kind of lump China into this monolithic entity, and they just hate China. So it’s not really about what they think it’s about.
“And also, because I win. Like if I wasn’t doing well, I think that they probably wouldn’t care as much, and that’s OK for me. People are entitled to their opinions.”
Gu has previously said she was “physically assaulted” for her decision to represent China.
“The police were called. I’ve had death threats. I’ve had my dorm robbed,” Gu told The Athletic. “I’ve gone through some things as a 22-year-old that I really think no one should ever have to endure, ever.”
Advertisement
Gu has been the subject of global criticism since her decision to represent China dating back to the original decision in 2019, and her first Winter Olympics in Beijing in 2022. This year, that criticism has ramped up, as she has won two silver medals and even responded to a question about President Donald Trump criticizing U.S. Olympian Hunter Hess for being critical of the current state of America.
“I’m sorry that the headline that is eclipsing the Olympics has to be something so unrelated to the spirit of the Games. It really runs contrary to everything the Olympics should be,” Gu told reporters Monday. “The whole point of sport is to bring people together… One of the very few common languages, that of the human body, that of the human spirit, the competitive spirit, the capacity to break not only records, but especially in our sport, literally the human limit. How wonderful is that?”
Gu also claimed she had been “caught in the crossfire” herself.
Silver medalist Eileen Gu of China poses for photos after the awarding ceremony of the freestyle skiing women’s freeski big air event at the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, Italy, Feb. 16, 2026. (Wang Peng/Xinhua via Getty Images)
“As someone who has got caught in the crossfire before, I feel sorry for the athletes,” Gu said. “I hope that they can ski to their very best.”
Gu will compete in the women’s freestyle skiing halfpipe final on Saturday after winning silvers in her first two events.
Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for Fox News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson’s reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to the enforcement of Title IX, and in legacy media outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Associated Press and ESPN.com.
Cross-country skiing, biathlon and speedskating are on the docket for Olympic Morning on Day 15. Coverage starts on Saturday at 4:50 a.m. ET / 1:50 a.m. PT.
Welcome! Where are you, you ask. I’m calling this the Weekend 9. Think of it as a spot to warm up for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We’ll have thoughts. We’ll have tips. We’ll have tweets. But just nine in all, though sometimes maybe more and sometimes maybe less. As for who I am? The paragraphs below tell some of the story. I can be reached at nick.piastowski@golf.com.
“Golf is a game played by human beings. Therefore, it is a game of mistakes. Successful golfers know how to respond to mistakes.”
I’ve always liked that thought. It comes from “Golf Is Not A Perfect Game,” the well-read book from Dr. Bob Rotella, the famed sports psychologist. And over the past week, we saw some of that play out — from three golfers, interestingly. One rebound has been seen over the past few weeks. Another played out over a few years. The third, even longer.
What the struggle was: Slow starts. Two weeks ago at the WM Phoenix Open, Scheffler opened with a 73. Last week at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Scheffler opened with a 72. This week at the Genesis Invitational, more of the same — Scheffler shot a 74 in the first round.
What followed: At Phoenix, Scheffler tied for third, and at Pebble Beach, he tied for fourth. On Friday, he shot a second-round 68.
How he responded: Scheffler said he stayed calm. And calm is not panicking. And panicking is blowing things up.
Advertisement
“I think these are some of the weeks when you look back,” Scheffler said Sunday, “I’m very proud of sticking with it, not giving up even when I felt like things were going against me this week. Just kept fighting, kept trying to hit shots, kept trying to execute.”
He added this, too: “Sometimes it’s just scoring stuff. Like we came around here the first round and I looked at Teddy [caddie Ted Scott] about the 15th, 16th hole and I feel like I’m doing kind of good and I’m 10 shots back. It’s a funny game. Sometimes things go your way and sometimes things don’t.”
Collin Morikawa’s two-plus-year winless drought
What the struggle was: Morikawa won the 2023 Zozo Championship. Then he searched for two-plus years.
Advertisement
What followed: Morikawa won last week at Pebble.
How he responded: Morikawa said when he was young, he played golf. Then he got older, and he went fishing, looking for new methods. All of it was in good spirit — he wanted to win more. But one thought, he said, helped him win again: Just play golf, man.
“I think I’ve been trying to make golf so perfect trying to hit these shots and trying to make these putts in a certain way,” Morikawa said Sunday, “that maybe others are doing it that you forget how to play the game of golf.
“I think looking back when I was 10, 12, 15 growing up on Chevy Chase, playing 10 holes, dropping three balls, like I played golf.
“And I’ve gone so far away from that, that creativity that I think the last two days, I went to go play golf. I caught myself today even after the bogey on 5 — I was like, man, I love being in this position. Like I hadn’t felt that in such a long time. And you feel that in the team events, you feel that here and there, but I just told myself like, man, like it just felt so good to be in that position.
“And I knew when I was able to convince — not convince myself, but just talk to myself in my head that way that I was ready. Whether it went great or it didn’t go great, I was ready to go execute the shots, play golf and not worry about the wind, not worry about the rain, not worry about, man, if I make bogey on 8 and I go try and make pars on 9 and 10 — it was very in-the-moment stuff. But I think it all comes back to how you start the day. I started the day this morning telling myself, yeah, let’s go out and win this thing.”
Anthony Kim’s 12-year absence from golf
Advertisement
What the struggle was: Anthony Kim returned to pro golf in 2024 following a 12-year absence. His last win came in 2010.
What followed: On Sunday at LIV Golf’s Adelaide event, Kim won.
How he responded: I learned this from my interview this week with Matt Killen, Kim’s swing coach. Much like Scheffler, they didn’t deviate from who he once was. They just worked to find that again. Ahead of an event in early January where Kim needed to finish in the top three in order to play another season with LIV, Killen and Kim had this conversation:
“I don’t think either one of us was like, ‘OK, I hope you play good.’ We were like, ‘Hey, you’ve got to go do this. Like, how are you going to do it?’ And he said he’s going to do it. And so then backtracking, like what shots do you need, how are you going to manage that, what information do we put in that is helpful but doesn’t take away the ability for him to be an athlete.
Advertisement
“And what that means is letting subconscious take over. You don’t even think about positions or complex swing thoughts when you need to hole it. … You’ve got to play golf.”
Another instruction tip for your weekend
2. Let’s stick with instruction. I thought the video below (in the second slide), shot after Morikawa’s win, was good.
Another instruction tip for your weekend
3. I thought the video below was good. It came from the “All Square” show on SiriusXM, and it features GOLF Top 100 Teacher Adam Schriber — and a talk he once had with Michael Jordan.
One takeaway from the week that was
4. The 2024 Genesis was the last event Scheffler played with a blade putter — and he’s since gone on to win 14 PGA Tour events with a mallet, including three majors.
Advertisement
Why has it helped him so much?
“So going to mallet where I don’t have to line the ball up,” Scheffler said, “and it gave me a better visual for what I wanted to see really just freed me up to where I don’t have to — I was never really a guy that was super good at, like — I don’t know if lining things up is the right word, but for me less is more typically.”
One takeaway for the weekend
5. Should you be looking for someone to watch this weekend, Njoroge Kibugu might be your player. The 22-year-old Kenyan will be playing in front of his home crowd at the DP World Tour’s Magical Kenya Open — and below are two videos showing how he made the cut:
Tony Johnstone’s description of the shot is good, too. “Oh, it’s heaven. You little beauty.”
Advertisement
Five stories (!) that interest me
6. I thought this story here, which was first spotted by My Golf Spy’s Brittany Olizarowicz, was interesting. Written by 11 authors for the European Journal of Sport Science, it looks at riding a cart versus walking.
7. I also thought this story here, written by John Garlock of KTVO, was interesting. It explains why firefighters in northeast Missouri purposefully set a golf course on fire.
8. And I thought this story here, written by Maggie Kent of 6ABC, was interesting. It describes how a woman in Roxborough, Pa., said her house is being hit by golf balls, even though she doesn’t live by a golf course or driving range.
9. I thought this story here was interesting, too. Written by Marc Fortier of NBC Boston, it describes how a New Hampshire man was sentenced after fraudulently obtaining Covid relief funds and using them to buy a golf course.
Advertisement
10. Let’s do 10 items! I also thought this story here was interesting. Written by Golf Business News, it describes the life of Jeremy Chapman, who recently died — and was once called the “Tiger Woods of golf tipsters.”
What golf is on TV this weekend?
11. Let’s do 11 items! Here’s a rundown of golf on TV this weekend:
Floyd Mayweather has announced he is coming out of retirement again.
The former multi-weight champion, who turns 49 later this month, is due to fight Mike Tyson in an exhibition bout in Spring, even though the specifics like date and venue have not been confirmed.
But after sharing the ring with “Iron Mike”, Mayweather will resume his professional career with his first fight slated for this summer. His first opponent will be confirmed at a later date, along with the venue.
This is the American’s fourth comeback from retirement, having previously hung up the gloves in 2007 and 2015, before most recently calling it quits in 2017 after his lucrative fight with former UFC champion Conor McGregor.
“I still have what it takes to set more records in the sport of boxing – from my upcoming Mike Tyson event to my next professional fight afterwards – no one will generate a bigger gate, have a larger global broadcast audience and generate more money with each event – than my events,” said Mayweather.
Advertisement
Floyd Mayweather will resume his professional career (AP)
Mayweather, who will return to the professional game with an undefeated record of 50-0, has signed with CSI Sports and Fight Sports.
He won titles across five weight classes across a glittering career which saw him headline three of the highest-grossing bouts in history against eight-weight world champion Manny Pacquiao, Mexican pound-for-pound sensation Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, and McGregor.
This latest return sets up a first professional fight for Mayweather in nearly a decade, but “Money” has been involved in several exhibitions since his last retirement in 2017.
Advertisement
He most recently squared off against John Gotti III, the grandson of New York crime boss John Gotti, in August 2024 and has also contested bouts with YouTubers Logan Paul and Olajide Olatunji, the brother of KSI.
A few months ago, I got to live out every golf diehard’s dream: I got the opportunity to venture out to the Titleist Performance Institute to test out the new Titleist Vokey SM11 wedges and go through my first official Vokey wedge fitting.
With my fitter, Brandon, by my side, I ended up in a set of four new Vokeys, from pitching wedge through 60-degree. The final selections were wedges I probably wouldn’t have picked for myself, but I’m thrilled with the outcome. With that in mind, I want to break down exactly what went into that testing, and how you can repeat the process for your own game.
Starting with the full shot priorities
Before filming, Brandon and I hit a few shots with my 9-iron to establish carry distances and give him a baseline for what I needed from full swings with my pitching wedge. Vokey’s SM11 comes in 44-, 46- and 48-degree options in this range, and we settled on the 46-degree in a higher bounce to prevent the club from digging too aggressively at impact. The 46-degree gapped correctly off my 9-iron, while the 44-degree produced too much speed. Because I play a steep angle of attack — and the 46-degree loft comes in only one grind — the decision came down to bounce alone. The lower-bounce option dug sharply into the turf and was difficult to exit cleanly. The higher-bounce option accommodated my steep delivery consistently without getting stuck.
All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team.
If you buy a linked product, GOLF.COM may earn a fee. Pricing may vary.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Titleist Vokey SM11 Tour Chrome Wedge
Titleist Vokey Design’s new SM11 wedges feature a new precise CG position across each grind in a loft, meaning every wedge will now perform the same way with the same strike.
We ran the same process with the 50-degree wedge until we found the right match. For my game, the 46-degree and 50-degree need to perform identically — both are full, square-faced shots with no real variation required. Matching the 50-degree to the 46-degree we had already dialed in made this segment quick, and that brings us to our first takeaway.
Advertisement
Author hitting full shots with his fitter at Titleist Performance Institute
John Sodaro / GOLF
Sometimes it’s okay to let good be good. Walking into your local PGA Tour Superstore and testing every loft and grind combination sounds appealing — and I would be a hypocrite to say it isn’t — but you can spend your time more efficiently when building a set. If two clubs serve the same purpose in your bag, one fitting session covers both. Some players use their gap wedge for bump-and-run shots or specialty pitches that require keeping a few options around, but that isn’t my game. My 50-degree needs to do exactly what my 46-degree does, so we moved on to the sand wedge loft.
Be realistic about what your wedges need to do
As we moved into the 56-degree, we decided to stay in the full shot area of the compound, which was certainly unusual. Full swings aren’t necessarily the 56-degree’s intended use, but I take full swings with it all the time — whether my coach likes it or not. It’s also a pretty big differentiator in my grind selection. Which leads us to my first surprise of the fitting…
After the full shot segment, we’d settled upon the D grind … for good. No chips or pitch shots necessary. At the start of the fitting, I’d told Brandon I’d split my 56-degree wedge roughly 50-50 between bunker shots and full swings. Once it came down to a couple of options with the full shots off the grass, he ended up only bringing the D grind along with him.
Not every shot is going to go well, and in this case you can fully blame the club!
John Sodaro / GOLF
In the bunker, we hit the D grind a handful of times and confirmed it was the right 56-degree choice for my game. Left to my own devices, I never would have selected the D grind. The lesson: understand the role each wedge plays in your set and test them accordingly. Even when demoing wedges at a PGA Tour Superstore or indoor facility, hit the shots you actually need on the course. You will be able to identify which options work for your delivery and which do not. Do not let a mat fool you into thinking you cannot learn something useful. If you cannot feel confidence in a bunker-style shot off a mat, you will not have it in an actual bunker either. That sounds counterintuitive, but experience has taught me the difference between feeling confident with a wedge and not — on any surface.
Goal setting and a transparent performance discussion are critical, even it’s between you and yourself
John Sodaro / GOLF
Advertisement
The lobber is everything
Last came the lob wedge, which took the most time by far, and I would encourage you to plan for the same. This is where you make your money back. Most players need more versatility from their lob wedge than any other club in the set, and for me, it anchors my entire short game. From about 100 yards and in, I play almost exclusively my 60-degree. My coach has feelings about that. The one caveat I gave Brandon was that the 40-yard pitch and in needed to be the priority, and I would figure out full swings from there — or, as my coach would prefer, stop hitting it full altogether. So we started on the green side and hit short chips to a flag about 30 feet away.
Vokey places a strong emphasis on blind testing. They hand you a wedge before you can see it, removing any preconceived preference before you start hitting. If you can bring someone with you to manage the clubs during an in-store test, try to replicate that process. There is something freeing about not knowing what is in your hands — you simply try to hit shots. It also speeds up the session because you stop trying to force a result with a club you have already decided you want. I handed several options back to Brandon after one swing, because I could feel immediately that something else would be better. The key shot at this stage was a low runner with a toe-down setup. From the green-side chips, we advanced two options, and at that point it was genuinely close.
We moved back to about 40 yards, and things got interesting. One of the two remaining options started producing the kind of trajectory — high, soft, spinning — that you see on Tour and spend years chasing. I did not want to stop hitting it. Then the other option started doing it, too. For a moment, I thought I had found two legitimate choices. The difference came down to speed. One of the options came off the face hotter than I wanted, creating just enough hesitation in my swing that I felt less in control. The other let me swing freely with more speed.
Advertisement
Hitting green side chips during the Vokey wedge fitting
John Sodaro / GOLF
We settled it in the bunker, and the M grind won out. It was also my preferred option from the green-side chips and the 40-yard pitch, which made the decision easy. I left confident in the 60-degree M grind. In the bunker, the M grind let me swing aggressively and pop the ball out without being precious about it — a big deal for how I play. One final note: pay attention to how your wedge looks in direct light. Take it outside or have someone shine a phone flashlight at the face as you open it up. You may find you strongly prefer one finish over another based on how it reflects at address. Personally, the nickel finish is the one for me.
Available right now at PGA Tour Superstore!
Vokey SM11 wedges are now available at PGA Tour Superstore. As I said above, don’t get frightened by people saying you can’t make a good purchase buying wedges in store. There’s plenty you can do with the resources available at PGA Tour Superstore and hopefully between this article and my last, you’re armed with the right information to get yourself into a brand new set and shoot some lower scores. If you haven’t read the pre-cursor to this article you can read that here.
Johnny Wunder also went through a Vokey fitting experience, which you can watch on the Fully Equipped YouTube channel!
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
