TPC Twin Cities is one of the most water intensive golf courses that the professionals will face all season. 15 of the 18 holes on the course have water that comes into play. I don’t agree that this is the best way to test and penalize professional golfers but here we are.

Here are the top 12 players in the field that have gained the most total strokes on water-heavy golf courses:

There has been a lot of attention recently thrown in the direction of Michael Thorbjornsen, and I totally understand this and believe it’s justified. Thorbjornsen has been playing better golf than Clanton over the last month (really over all of 2025), and the market and his DraftKings price will reflect this. Yet my numbers happen to prefer Clanton, and that has everything to do with his superior long iron play.

Both Thor and Clanton are excellent drivers of the ball, yet where Clanton finds his edge are with his middle to long irons. The former Florida State standout ranks top-10 in both proximity 175-200 yards and 200 yards plus, and he is coming off a 65th at the Scottish Open where he gained strokes in both ball-striking categories (shocker) and lost over four strokes putting. Clanton now finds himself on familiar territory again, and given the importance of ball-striking at this design, this is a much better fit for the young stud than any of the previous Bent-grass birdie-fests we have seen.

I know the spotlight is on Thor at the moment, but this is where Clanton breaks through.

Tyrrell Hatton let us down after a miserable final round at the Open Championship to finish T16, after starting the round inside the top 5. There’s not much juice to the 3M Open this week, considering it’s an non-elevated event with a small purse. Since we are counting down the days until the OAD season is over, this tournament could be a big difference.

My pick this week is Maverick McNealy, who is arguably the best player in the field this week. I like the course fit this week for him because of the way he is hitting his driver, as off-the-tee play is crucial at TPC Twin Cities. Mav ranks 7th in the field in recent off-the-tee play and ranks 22nd in strokes gained off-the-tee on water heavy golf courses.

This is a tournament where you will need to make a bunch of putts with anticipated scoring. Mav ranks 3rd in the field in strokes gained putting on bent-grass greens.

I believe Mav will be highly motivated to perform well to bolster his Ryder Cup resume for captain Keegan Bradley and staff.

If you are looking for options that are projected low owned, I love Emiliano Grillo and Michael Thorbjornsen.

Josh Segal

Is Scottie Scheffler switching his putter in 2024 the most impactful equipment decision in the last 25 years?

After listening to our Open Championship preview Sunday night, Andy brought up a very interesting question. I’m paraphrasing here, but Andy essentially asked if Scottie Scheffler switching from a blade to the TaylorMade Spider Tour mallet was the most impactful equipment decision in the last 25 years.

Scottie Scheffler’s early struggles early in his career honestly became a funny bit in the golf universe. The man would continually lead a tournament in strokes gained tee-to-green, but would rank in the bottom half with the putter that same week. 

According to the PGA Tour website, in the 2022-2023 season, Scottie Scheffler ended the year 162nd in strokes gained putting. During that season, Scheffler would go on to win the WMPO, the API, the Players Championship, and the Masters. Without an effective putter, he still managed to win four times.

Around the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome, Scheffler hired putting guru Phil Kenyon to try and help solve his putting woes. Phil Kenyon is one of the most well respected coaches in the sport, notably working with the likes of Matt Fitzpatrick, Keegan Bradley, Max Homa, Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka and many more greats at points in their career. 

To start the 2024 season, Scheffler lost strokes on the greens in four of his first five tournaments, notably showing much frustration at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera. 

During the Genesis, Rory gave some advice to Scottie:

“For me, going to a mallet was a big change. I really persisted with the blade putter for a long time, but I just feel like your stroke has to be so perfect to start the ball on‑line, where the mallet just gives you a little bit more margin for error. So, I’d love to see Scottie try a mallet. But selfishly for me, Scottie does everything else so well that he’s giving the rest of us a chance.”

Scheffler took Rory seriously and debuted the mallet putter at the API weeks later. I remember being on property that week noticing on the practice greens the new change and the amount of work he was putting in. 

From there, the rest is history. Since the 2024 API, Scottie has 12 wins, which consist of 3 major championship wins, 2 Players, and one Olympic gold medal. Over that span, Scheffler ranks 79th in strokes gained putting.

Specifically in the 2025 year so far, Scheffler ranks 23rd in strokes gained putting.

It’s truly remarkable and generational that Scottie Scheffler has improved this much with the putter while staying consistent as the best ball striker in professional golf. He was able to squeeze more juice out of his golf game. A trait that was once a major embarrassment is now a strength. 

It’s hard to keep up with notable equipment changes from players, however, considering that Scheffler’s putting woes were well documented and was holding him back from even greater heights, it’s hard to argue that it's not the biggest impactful equipment decision.

My 5 Favorite Shots from the 2025 Majors

#5: Scottie Scheffler from the bush

If you gave me 100 chances to pull off this shot or even get inside Scottie, I am not sure if I could. I have watched this clip over a couple times and I am still flabbergasted. Just filthy stuff from Schef.

#4: Maxwell Moldoven HOLE-OUT

Maxwell Moldovan started his fourth US Open appearance with a BANG, as he holed out from 189 yards for eagle. Maxwell qualified his way to the US Open at one of the qualifiers in Springfield, Ohio. There’s really not a better way to start a major championship then this.

#3: JJ Spaun’s Drive on 17

The caption to this video says it all. The drive of his life. Collin Morikawa at Harding Park vibes. Stone cold killer.

#2: Rory’s 7-Iron from 207 yards

“OH HERE IT COMES…A SHOT OF HIS LIFETIME” - Jim Nantz

#1: JJ Spaun’s Final Putt

“HOW ABOUT ONE” - Dan Hicks.

This video inspired me to eventually rank the best putts of all time. This one is certainly up there, especially with an all time celebration and ending to a major championship.