Carlsbad, California – After 14 years, one major championship, a European Tour Order of Merit title and 14 wins wordwide, the pairing of Justin Rose and TaylorMade Golf is still going strong. The company announced it has renewed its commitment with the 2013 U.S. Open Champion through 2018.

Rose will continue to play 14 TaylorMade clubs; use a TaylorMade golf ball and gloves; and wear Ashworth apparel and footwear – which he has worn since 2012. Rose will also sport a TaylorMade staff bag and hat.

“TaylorMade and I have shared a wonderful history of success throughout my career,” said Rose. “It is a company that prides itself on technology, innovation and delivering the best possible golf equipment. I’m very excited to extend our partnership and look forward to continued success.”

It was 1998 when a 17-year-old Rose announced himself to the golfing world. As an amateur competing in the 127th Open Championship, Rose pitched in on his last hole at Royal Birkdale to earn a 4th place finish. Rose turned professional the same year and first signed with the TaylorMade Golf Company in 1999.

In the years following the dramatic scenes at Birkdale, Rose has proven himself as one of the world’s leading golfers, winning the European Tour Order of Merit in 2007, the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion and reaching No.3 in the World in 2012. He was also the best performing rookie of both teams in the 2008 Ryder Cup, finishing with a record of 3-1-0.

What’s In Rose’s Bag

SLDR 10.5 Driver
RBZ Stage 2 Tour 3HL Fairway Wood
Tour Preferred CB Irons 3, 4, 5
Tour Preferred MC Irons 6
Tour Preferred MB 7-9, PW
ATV Wedges (AW, SW, LW)
Spider Blade Putter (37 5/8”)
Tour Preferred golf ball
Ashworth apparel and footwear

Mike Weir and coach Grant Waite have parted ways according to Waite via Twitter. The split garnered notoriety thanks to a blog by SCOREGolf’s Bob Weeks. You can read it here.

After spending a year and a half working together, the pair officially parted ways following the OHL Classic at Mayakoba in November of 2013. Weir made the cut in Mexico and finished tied for 75th.

On November 27, 2013, Weir fell short of officially announcing the split on his blog. But, in retrospect, perhaps there was a cryptic message in a blog posted on his site.

“I’ve made some fairly significant strides with my swing in the past 12 months and now when I step on to the tee, I no longer have any questions about how I’m going to swing or what I need to work on,” wrote Weir. “One thing about being where I am with my game this year is that I can now devote a balanced amount of time to my short game. In the past, I really had to spend the time on my full swing.”

Waite was brought on to work with Weir following an elbow injury he sustained during the 2011 RBC Canadian Open at Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club in Vancouver.

Waite turned pro in 1987 and secured his PGA Tour card two years later. He won on the Canadian Tour (now PGA TOUR Canada), the Australian Professional Golf Tour and on the PGA Tour before leaving professional golfer to coach.

Here are Waite’s tweets regarding the break up.

I have a number of people asking me about Mike Weir and his progress for this year. I no longer work with Mike since the end of last year.

— Grant Waite (@grantwaite) January 12, 2014

Mike decided to go in another direction after Mayakoba. I appreciate the time we spent together over the year and half we worked.

— Grant Waite (@grantwaite) January 12, 2014

Weir is relying on his last career money list exemption to compete on the PGA Tour this season. He’s made three of five cuts at official events and finished tied for 8th at the Franklin Templeton Shootout alongside partner Graham DeLaet. Of course, as a past Masters champion, he’ll also have a lifetime exemption to compete at Augusta.

Gil Hanse talks Olympic course design

CNN’s Shane O’Donoghue spoke with Gil Hanse, the architect behind Rio 2016’s Olympic golf course, for a progress report. Check out the interview below which includes some great aerial shots of the site under construction.

Schwartzel’s amazing recovery shot at Volvo Champions

Charl Schwartzel didn’t win the Volvo Champions title at Durban Country Club in South Africa, but he did make the recovery shot of the year. During the 3rd round, Schwartzel hit this remarkable shot off the cart path, surrounded by trees to just five feet of the pin. Of course, the golf gods wouldn’t allow him to make the putt. The former Masters champ went on to tie for 15th at 3-under.

HONOLULU – Jimmy Walker, an astronomy fanatic and now a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, gazed through a glass window across the room to a television that showed his most recent photo of Orion’s Sword.

Walker toiled on the PGA Tour for seven years and 187 tournaments without winning. Now it appears the stars have aligned for him.

That certainly was the case Sunday in the Sony Open.

In a wild final round, where four players were in the mix with an hour to go, Walker followed a clutch par save with three straight birdies to pull away from the pack. He closed with a 7-under 63 for a one-shot victory over Chris Kirk.

That’s two wins in six starts for Walker.

And while it’s still only the middle of January, he’s No. 1 in the Ryder Cup standings.

“It took me a long time to do it,” Walker said. “I felt very calm and controlled. That’s what you’ve got to feel and do when it’s time to win. It’s easy to say, hard to do. But today was awesome. Really cool golf.”

This wasn’t easy.

Walker’s big run began with a 12-foot par on the 14th hole. One shot behind Harris English, Walker rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt on the 15th hole, and took the outright lead when English _ behind him in the final group _ failed to save par from a bunker.

Walker made a 7-foot birdie putt on the 16th, and then hit 7-iron into 6 feet for birdie on the par-3 17th. A par on the last hole made him wait just a little bit longer.

Kirk had a 30-foot eagle chip from just short of the green on the par-5 18th that would have forced a playoff. It stayed right of the hole, and Kirk made the birdie putt for a 66 to finish alone in second place.

“I feel like I hit the ball well enough to win this week, but it doesn’t always work out that way,” Kirk said.

Jerry Kelly (65) was alone in third. English never recovered from his bogey. He missed birdie putts on the last three holes for a 67.

Walker won the Frys.com Open in October, the first tournament of the new wraparound season. As the first multiple winner for the 2013-14 season, he is leading the FedEx Cup and closing in on cracking the top 30 in the world.

Walker finished at 17-under 263 and earned $1.08 million. He already qualified for his first Masters by winning in October. Now he’s piling up the wins.

“I’ve always felt like I belonged, and you need affirmation every now and then,” he said. “The other win was like, ‘Yeah, OK, I can do it.’ I did it, and I was supposed to be able to do it. Everybody told me I was supposed to do it, and I finally did it. And then it’s, ‘Well, are you going to be the guy that won that you never hear from again?’ It’s nice to get it done and do it again today.”

With so many players in contention, the key was to keep bogeys off the card. Walker had made at least two bogeys in each of the three previous rounds, and it looked as if he was headed for one at the wrong time on the 14th hole when he chipped from an awkward stance near the bunker to about 12 feet. Kelly missed a 15-foot par putt from the same line, and Walker poured it in.

And then, he was off to the races.

Masters champion Adam Scott went out in 30 and was one shot out of the lead just as the final group was starting play. Scott hit too many poor drives to keep it going, and the way the final two groups played the back nine, it wouldn’t have mattered. Scott tied for eighth (seven shots behind), and after a tie for sixth last week at Kapalua, heads into a six-week hibernation before returning to golf in Florida.

The three players with the best shots at winning all won last fall in the early part of the wraparound season _ Kirk at the McGladrey Classic, English in Mexico.

New year, same season.

“Guys get into grooves and they’ve all been playing really well,” Walker said. “I think it’s cool. Everybody makes a big deal about being No. 1 on the FedEx and stuff, and it is cool and it is a big deal. … I know it’s January. It’s a long way to September, and every little bit helps.”

Kirk, who had a one-shot lead going into the final round, made birdie on the 17th hole to stay within two shots of the lead and at least entertain the idea of eagle. His approach out of the rough needed about two more hops on the firm turf at Waialae to get on the green.

English ran off two birdies around the turn, took the outright lead with an 8-foot birdie on the 14th, and that was as close as he got.

“Just started hitting it better, but started putting a little worse,” English said.

David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., finished in a tie for 38th, closing with a 69 for a 6-under total of 274.

DURBAN, South Africa – South African Louis Oosthuizen birdied his closing two holes to retain the Volvo Champions title on Sunday after an earlier eagle on the eighth.

The 2010 British Open winner shot a 4-under 68 for an overall 12-under 276 and claimed his seventh win on the European Tour.

Oosthuizen finished a stroke ahead of fellow South African Branden Grace, who also shot a 68 on the Durban Country Club course.

It was Oosthuizen’s first success since winning this elite 36-player event a year ago.

After a slow start, with pars on the opening seven holes, Oosthuizen sank a 12-foot eagle putt at the par five No. 8.

He drew level with Grace with a birdie at the 17th and then claimed the win by holing a 2-foot birdie putt at the last.

“When I eagled the eighth hole I felt I could go on and make a few birdies from there on and, while stopped by a bogey on 10, I just felt really comfortable out there,” Oosthuizen said.

“I noticed when I was about to play my shot at 17 that Branden had finished on 11-under par, so I needed to give myself a good opportunity to tie him and I did and then managed to birdie the last.”

Oosthuizen came into the event with a persistent lower back injury.

“I’ve still got a few niggles that I need to work on with my back, but it’s been great this week and not causing me much concern,” he said.

Grace recorded his best finish in more than a year after winning four times in 2012, including starting that year with a Volvo Champions success, but then going without a win in 2013.

The 25-year old Grace capped his round with three birdies in succession at the sixth hole and then birdied two of his closing three holes.

“I thought I played some superb golf today,” Grace said.

England’s Tommy Fleetwood (72) and Dutchman Joost Luiten (71) shared third on 10-under.

Triple Major winning Padraig Harrington (67) was tied fifth on 9 under, his best effort since fourth in Durban a year ago.

HONOLULU –  Will Wilcox finally got around to making his debut as a PGA Tour rookie and was surprised as anyone to be in the final group at the Sony Open.

As for Chris Kirk and Harris English, it’s no surprise at all.

Kirk got up-and-down from a bunker on the par-5 18th by making a 10-foot birdie putt for a 5-under 65, giving him a one-shot lead going into the final round of a Sony Open that remains up for grabs among at least a dozen players.

Cloudy conditions and only a gentle, Pacific breeze kept everyone in the mix Saturday at Waialae, even John Daly.

And even Wilcox.

The 27-year-old from Alabama made birdie on his last two holes for a 64 and was one shot behind. Wilcox once qualified for the RBC Canadian Open in 2010, and for the U.S. Open in 2011 at Congressional. He finally made it to the big leagues by finishing 10th on the Web.com Tour money list, although he didn’t play in the Web.com Tour Finals or in the fall for what he only said were “unfortunate, personal things.”

And here he is.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen this week,” Wilcox said. “Making the cut was a dream come true. Playing good on Saturday was a dream come true. Getting to have a decent shot tomorrow is ridiculous. We’ll see.”

Kirk, who was at 12-under 198, won the McGladrey Classic in November, his final tournament of 2013 before taking time off for the birth of his second child. He returned at Kapalua and shook off some rust. And while he closed with a 73 at Kapalua, it was a good day of scrambling and gave him a small measure of momentum on Oahu.

English, who had a 67, won the final event of 2013 in the OHL Classic at Mayakoba. He goes for his third win in his last 16 starts on the PGA Tour.

“It was just kind of ‘Grind it til you find it.’ This course is tough,” English said. “It’s hard to hit the fairways, and you’ve just got to be a wizard around the greens, and that’s kind of how I approached today. I didn’t have my best golf, but I scraped it around at 3-under par and I’m still in this golf tournament.”

So is everyone else it would seem.

At one point there was a six-way tie for the lead. An hour later, 14 players were separated by a single shot.

Daly matched the low score of the third round with a 64 and was five shots behind. Masters champion Adam Scott wasn’t making up any ground, dropped two shots late in his round and finished with a two-putt birdie for a 71 and was two shots behind.

A dozen players were separated by three shots going into Sunday, a group that includes Kapalua winner Zach Johnson as he tries to become the first player since Ernie Els in 2003 to sweep the Hawaii swing.

The plan for all the contenders is to not worry about anyone else because there would be too many players to worry about.

“When it’s so close like that, everybody is going to be making some birdies here and there,” Kirk said. “So I probably won’t look at leaderboards as much as I normally would. A lot of courses I think lend themselves to you need to know what your position is going into any given hole, but out here, I don’t think that’s really the case. They’re just so volatile with guys making birdies and bogeys.

“I’ll just probably try to keep my head down and make as many birdies as I can.”

Former Sony Open champion Jerry Kelly (66) and Jimmy Walker (67) were at 10-under 200, while the group at 201 included Robert Allenby (65), Pat Perez (66), Retief Goosen (66) and Johnson, who had a 66. Brian Stuard, who had a one-shot lead going into the third round, had a 71 and also was still only three shots behind.

Perez was among those tied for the lead until he four-putted the 14th, the final three putts from 3 feet. PGA champion Jason Dufner three-putted from 3 feet on the 18th hole for a bogey and was four shots behind.

The long shot would have to be Wilcox, who learned to play from his mother, a golf pro at Pine Harbor in Alabama. Small for his age, he played at least 36 holes a day as a kid, a habit that only changed after he was old enough to drive.

On his bucket list is to play on the PGA Tour. He checked that off. His dream foursome includes Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Boo Weekley, and he already has played with Weekley. The idea of winning is too far away, even though only 18 holes remain.

“I saw I was beating James Hahn by two or three. He was like 51st and I was in 13th or something,” Wilcox said. “You’ve just got to play tight and make a couple of clutch putts, which I did today. I don’t know. We’ll see.”

Having a decent shot might seem like a dream for Allenby considering where his game has been.

He made only five cuts in 24 tournaments last year and had to use an exemption from career money (top 25) to get his card. Allenby has been making enough putts to at least give himself a chance, and for that, he credits the games he plays at home in Florida. What should have been taken as an insult as turned into a benefit.

“I’ve been playing the guys at Admiral’s Cove, all the 60-year-olds, and they make me putt out because they’re like waiting for me to miss,” he said. “I keep shooting 7-, 8-, 9-unders and stuff with them. They’ve put me in a good mental state for out here on tour.”

Brantford, Ont. native David Hearn is 7-shots back of the lead and tied for 40th at 5-under. Hearn recorded his best round of the event Saturday, firing a 67.

DURBAN, South Africa – England’s Tommy Fleetwood birdied the last hole in a third-round 69 to seize a one-shot lead in the Volvo Champions on Saturday with an overall 10-under 206.

Dutchman Joost Luiten (70) and Victor Dubuisson (69) of France were tied in second at 9-under in the elite 36-player event at the Durban Country Club.

Defending champion Louis Oosthuizen was left counting the cost of having to take an “unplayable” penalty shot that led to triple bogey at the 16th hole in a round of 71.

Oosthuizen dropped to fourth on 8 under. The former British Open winner, whose last victory was at this event a year ago, had birdied the 15th to move to 10-under before stumbling at the 16th.

“I had a look where the ball was lying in the bushes but there was no way I could get a club to it, so I decided to call it unplayable,” Oosthuizen said. “I know I came from five back last year to win but you don’t want to give yourself unnecessary work to do. I had a good opportunity today to go to 12 under at least.”

The 118th-ranked Fleetwood is a former Walker Cup player and joined the European Tour full-time in 2012. He qualified for Durban by winning the Johnnie Walker Championship in September at Gleneagles.

“It would be awesome if I could win again as all I want to do is win golf tournaments,” Fleetwood said.

Dubuisson heads into the final day also seeking a second Tour victory and trying to reinforce his chances of qualifying automatically for this year’s European Ryder Cup team.

Dubuisson arrived in South Africa third overall on the European team points table and needs only to finish in the top eight to take the lead.

Ronan Flood resumed his role as caddy for Padraig Harrington after collapsing on the course a day earlier from the effects of food poisoning.

HONOLULU – Fans soaking up the sun along the shores of Oahu took home plenty of memories Friday in the Sony Open, the least of which was Brian Stuard atop the leaderboard with this fourth straight round of 65 at Waialae.

Stuard finished the second round with a hybrid into 2 feet for eagle, giving him a one-shot lead over Marc Leishman of Australia and Hideto Tanihara of Japan.

The best stuff came later.

James Hahn, best known for his “Gangnam Style” moves after making birdie at the raucous 16th hole at the Phoenix Open last year, tried (and failed) for a chest-bump with his caddie after the rarest shot in golf – an albatross – when he holed out from 191 yards with a 6-iron on the par-5 ninth hole.

“That was a little spontaneous, but I forgot that – I’ve got to be politically correct, right? – but white men can’t jump,” said Hahn, a South Korean-born, Cal grad and funnyman on tour. “So I got a little air, he didn’t. But it was fun. I don’t think he knew I was going to chest-bump him. But that’s just what I felt like at the time.”

The big attraction was having surf champion Kelly Slater in the gallery for the final hour, even though he was there to watch a caddie.

Fellow surfer Benji Weatherley is on the bag this week for Masters champion Adam Scott, and he had a blast in front of two dozen friends from the North Shore. But this golf is serious business, and Weatherley showed great confidence talking Scott out of a driver on the 18th hole.

“He’s really getting the hang of it,” Scott said.

Scott took over from there, getting a break on the last hole when his ball was in a partial divot. Scott was able to take a free drop away from the grandstand, and while his chip came out strong, it banged against the bottom of the flagstick and stopped an inch from the hole for a tap-in birdie and a 66.

Scott was only three shots behind. Weatherley was having a blast.

“It’s the most fun you could ever have,” he said. “I have no nerves because for one, he’s so good it’s embarrassing. Like every single shot is what you see on ‘Sports Center,’ especially that last one.”

He said this during an interview with the Golf Channel.

Meanwhile, another good tournament was shaping up in Hawaii.

Stuard was at 10-under 130. Those four straight rounds of 65 ordinarily might be good enough to win a tournament. Except that the first half of that streak happened on the weekend at Waialae last year. Even so, it was enough for him to be in the lead going into the weekend.

It was his seventh straight round in the 60s at Waialae dating to Stuard’s first trip here in 2010.

“I think it’s something to do with the greens,” Stuard said. “I feel comfortable on the greens. I feel like I read them pretty well and I’m able to make putts.”

Leishman also made an eagle on the ninth hole, but that was in the middle of his round. And it was part of a three-hole stretch he played in 4-under, and he made a 25-foot birdie putt on the 14th hole. It led to a 64 that put him in a good spot going into the weekend.

“They’re the sort of things that really turn an average round into a good one, or a good one into a great one,” Leishman said. “It was nice to shoot 6-under and get myself right in it.”

Tanihara had a 65 and will join Leishman and Stuard in the final group Saturday. The tee times were moved up for the third round because of rain in the forecast.

Harris English had his second straight round of 66 and was two shots behind, poised to go for his third win in his last 16 starts.

“I hit it all over the map,” English said. “Yesterday, I striped it down the middle and didn’t make any putts. Today, 4-under was the lowest I could have shot.”

He was scrambling so far that he didn’t realize until the end of his round that he had a glove on his left hand, and another one tucked under the back of his belt. This was not a new craze, like Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey with gloves on both hands. English was letting it dry out and forgot about it.

Joining Scott in the group three shots behind were Jimmy Walker and Chris Kirk, while Hudson Swafford (64), Justin Leonard and past Sony Open champion Jerry Kelly were still in the mix at 6-under 134.

Kapalua winner Zach Johnson, trying to become the first player since Ernie Els in 2003 to sweep the Hawaii swing, had a 67 and was five shots behind.

Hahn also was 5-under after a 68.

Three Canadians are in the field this week. David Hearn sits at 2-under to share 42nd spot, while Mike Weir and Brad Fritsch tied were 5-over and failed to make the 36-hole cut.

UXBRIDGE, Ont— The Golf Association of Ontario (GAO) has announced the 12-players and four coaches who will comprise Team Ontario for 2014. The team, which began its selection process in late September, is currently in the training portion of their program as they prepare for the start of the season in May with the Junior Spring Classic.

The GAO made changes to the program this year by creating just one provincial U19 team as opposed to the combined U19 and U17 teams in the past. Now, the best golfers in Ontario will be on the provincial team, while three regional feeder teams have been set up for an additional 36 players.

“It is a big shift for us from last year having 20 players on one team to having a provincial team and regional teams,” explained GAO Manager of Sport Performance Mary Ann Hayward. “We have selected the best players in the province that all have a realistic chance to move on to the national team,”

This year’s squad will see seven returning players join five new faces. On the girls side are: Monet Chun, 13, returnee, from Richmond Hill and The Summit Golf & Country Club, coached by Don Lee; Alyssa Getty, 17, rookie, from Leamington and Kingsville Golf & Country Club, coached by Sean Foley; Annika Haynes, 17, returnee, from Oakville and Credit Valley Golf & Country Club, coached by Ann Carroll; and Grace St-Germain, 15, returnee, from Orleans and Hylands Golf Club.

The boys side includes: Jason Chung, 15, rookie, from Thornhill and Pheasant Run Golf Club, coached by Charlie Woo; Sam McNulty, 17, returnee, from Port Perry and Granite Golf Club; Tyler Nagano, 15, rookie, from Toronto and Station Creek Golf Club, coached by Jon Roy and Jeff Overholt; Trevor Ranton, 17, rookie, from Waterloo and Whistle Bear Golf Club, coached by Mike Skimson and Dave Smallwood; Max Sear, 17, rookie, from Markham and York Downs Golf & Country Club, coached by Ian Crebbin; Brendan Seys, 16, returnee, from Port Lambton and Maple City Golf & Country Club, coached by John Dengel; Connor Watt, 17, returnee, from Mississauga and Piper’s Heath Golf Club; and Chad Watts-Denyes, 17, returnee, from Hamilton and Cedar Brae Golf & Country Club.

Joining the players are four coaches. Reggie Millage, was named the GAO’s Head Provincial Coach in November and has been working with the team since the fall. Millage is a Class ‘A’ PGA of Canada professional who continues to play competitively. Joining Millage are Mental Skills Coach Judy Goss, Strength and Conditioning Coach Jordan Foley and Athletic Therapist Andrew Hoermann.

“This is a very talented young group of players,” added Hayward. “We are trying to keep the momentum going from last year where we put two boys on the National Team. Hopefully we’ll place more players on the team for 2015.”

The players themselves already have many accolades to their name. Chun finished 11^th at the Ontario Junior Girls’ Championship in 2012 as an 11-year-old and was second at the event in 2013. St-Germain won the 2013 Ontario Juvenile Girls’ Championship and 2013 Ontario Junior Girls’ Match Play. McNulty was the 2013 Ontario Juvenile Boys’ champion and also won the Canadian Junior Golf Association Mizuno National Golf Championship. Ranton was the International Junior Masters champion and Sear captured the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) title.

The team has already attended one training camp in Arizona and will travel back there in February for their second. Ten of the team members will play in Can-Am matches in Myrtle Beach during March Break before they all attend a final spring camp in Ontario.

DURBAN, South Africa – Joost Luiten holed out for an albatross on the way to a 5-under 67 Friday and a share of the second-round lead with Louis Oosthuizen and Tommy Fleetwood at the Volvo Golf Champions.

The Dutchman holed his 7-iron from 248 yards for a two on the par-5 No. 10 at Durban Country Club. His shot pitched near the front fringe, took a couple of bounces across the green and rolled home.

“The ball just pitched exactly where I wanted it to, in front of the green and rolled right up to the flag and disappeared in the hole,” said Luiten, who turned 28 on Tuesday. “So, yeah, it was a good feeling. I’ve never had an albatross before and now at 7 under par I am in a great position for the weekend.”

Luiten is at 7-under 137 total alongside defending champion Oosthuizen (69) and Fleetwood (67).

There was only one albatross – or double eagle – on the European Tour all of last season. Chris Doak got it at the Madeira Islands Open in May.

Oosthuizen made four birdies and a bogey, while Fleetwood had six birdies and a single dropped shot. Victor Dubuisson (69) was alone in fourth at 6 under.

Luiten, who qualified for the elite 36-player field in Durban by capturing the KLM Open, was 3 under when he made his albatross and immediately jumped into a share of the lead at 6 under. He also birdied the last.

Oosthuizen is looking to successfully defend a European Tour title for the second time in his career after winning the Africa Open in 2011 and 2012.

“I’m delighted with my position and luckily it’s the type of golf course where you can get away with it by not hitting a lot of drivers or 3-woods,” the 2010 British Open winner said. “So I just need to keep it together for the weekend.”

Fleetwood earned his place in the field by winning the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles in September and he matched Luiten’s 67 to move into contention for a second tour title.

First round leader Raphael Jacquelin (73) remains in contention despite a slip into a share of sixth place with former British Open winner Darren Clarke (71).

Padraig Harrington shot a 71 after his caddie collapsed mid-round and was treated for dehydration. A photographer and then an Irish tourist stepped in to carry his bag.

TaylorMade is targeting highly skilled players with the launch of their new Tour Preferred MB, Tour Preferred MC and Tour Preferred CB irons.

“We don’t believe you can call yourself a great iron company unless you create irons that great players want to play. Irons that meet a Tour pro’s requirements for look, feel, sound and workability,” said Sean Toulon, Executive Vice President for TaylorMade. “That’s why these clubs bare the name Tour Preferred. The head has to look right from every angle. The leading edge and sole have to react a certain way with the turf. We’ve taken each of these things into careful account to make these irons especially appealing to better players.”

Tour Preferred MB is an authentic muscleback player’s blade, precisely forged of soft, 1025 carbon steel. The shape is classic and compact, with a thin topline and minimal offset. At the request of the many Tour pros TaylorMade consulted during the prototype phase, the sole has minimal camber.

Tour Preferred MC combines a player’s shape with a shallow “muscle cavity” to create a blend of beauty, feel, workability and stability. The 3- through 7-iron incorporate TaylorMade’s Speed Pocket™ technology to promote increased ball speed in the lower portion of the clubface for more consistent ball speed and launch conditions across the entire face. The head’s length, topline and sole-width are all slightly larger compared to the Tour Preferred MB.

Tour Preferred CB is a full-fledged cavity back that maintains the shape of a player’s iron and the elegant look of a blade when soled behind the ball. The Speed Pocket in the 3- through 7-iron features “micro-slots” to promote faster ball speed across the face and higher launch, which promote more distance. That helps make the Tour Preferred CB one of the longest player’s iron that TaylorMade has ever created. Short-iron heads are compact with minimal offset, while the long and middle iron heads are slightly larger with progressive offset for more stability and easier launch.

All three models are offered in 3-iron through PW, feature a hand-polished satin nickel-chrome finish and are equipped with KBS Tour steel shafts and tour velvet grips. Custom shafts and grips are available.

The Tour Preferred MB ($1,199 CDN), Tour Preferred MC ($1,099 CDN) and Tour Preferred CB ($999 CDN) irons are now available through Canadian golf retailers.