Inside The Ropes at the 2022 Pro Championship with Tour Rep Mark Thistleton

With several of our young up and coming European Staff players making strides up the world rankings, it is becoming more common seeing them make appearances on the PGA Tour and even Major Championships.

With that, from familiarity point of view and to provide the best possible service to our players it’s a great opportunity to travel to the US, connect with our team out there and service our guys on the biggest stage. Plus its always cool to work a Major Championship and experience the best in the world up close and ‘behind the ropes’.

From a fitting perspective, Majors are typically quieter weeks for us with less switching going on. Players want to keep as much consistency in their bags as they possibly can and only if the course demands it are they likely to add a new club.

Below I’ll take you through my week from start to finish at this week’s USPGA Championships at Southern Hills CC.

The real preparations for a week like this begin on Friday in the office, where I go over everything and anything my players might need. The European’s are my responsibility so I pack up everything- I take a spare shaft for all of their woods, pack their particular gloves and any custom balls, grips, plus left-handed heads for Bob!

Usually on a long haul trip we are travelling to South Africa or the Middle East so our travel day is on a Saturday, but with the US time zone behind ours I could afford to book my flight on Sunday and still land and get to the hotel in plenty of time…. At least that was the plan!

I took off early afternoon from Heathrow Terminal 5 heading to Tulsa via a connection in Dallas. For whatever reason we sat on the runway a little longer than usual and took off and landed 30 minutes late. Not ideal when you have to clear immigration on touchdown in the US, collect your bags and re-check them prior to the connection. Immigration actually was smooth and fast but the bags seemed to take an eternity to arrive at the belt and by the time I had them in hand there was only 15 minutes to the next flight- No chance of making it!

First in the queue to re-book was none other than Robert MacIntyre! Who booked the last remaining seat on the 20:40! After a discussion with his team- his caddy, coach and agent were also on the flight, they decided to rent a car and drive the 4 hours to Tulsa so Bob kindly gave his seat on the 20:40 to me. So I checked in, headed to the airport lounge with one of the caddy’s who was also on the 20:40. Our flight then started showing up with an hour delay, meaning we did not take off from Dallas now until 21:30, landing in Tulsa at 22:30.

After collecting bags, picking up the rental and heading to the hotel it was now midnight, and speaking to Global Tour Manager Adrien Rietveld, he informed me he wanted me to collect him from his hotel at 6am to head to the course! At this point I was starting to wish I had travelled on the Saturday…

We arrived at the course by 6:30am, found our parking lot and shuttled to the course. First thing I noticed was the incredible short game facility on the right hand side, it was as pure as it comes! The venue is huge and driving in you really take in the size and stature of the operation, only really comparable to an Open Championships on our side in terms of set up. Security is always much tighter so first thing we have to do is collect our credentials for the week which we did and were on the truck making coffee by 7am.

First SOS came in and the thing as a player you always dread….. Nicolai Højgaard’s clubs have not arrived, getting stuck in London from his original flight in Denmark. We went straight to work, pulling up his spec and placing an order for a full bag of clubs so he can get practicing. As luck would have it, he changed irons at a PGA Tour event just 2 months prior and the guys had kept his old irons in a box under the truck so we only needed to prepare wedges, woods and a putter. As Shane the technician went to work on these, I went through his old irons loft & lies checking they were perfect and in line with his spec. We had Nicolai’s full bag prepared and ready to deliver to him by 9am Monday morning!

After this I took a walk down to the driving range which was honestly around 1km from where the trucks were parked (though there were running a shuttle service back and forth). Word was out that Tiger Woods was on site which always creates an air of excitement on the range.

Bob Mac showed up on the range so I spent some time with him discussing his drive to Tulsa the night before, driving through a storm they had to stop so we actually arrived in Tulsa around the same time. Bob and team headed to the course for an early 9 so I walked out with him to get my first impressions of the course.

Bob appeared to be straight in the swing of things, despite a few days off prior to his trip there was no sign of rust, he was hitting the centre of the face and hitting it exceptionally well. We were discussing how many majors he had played and whether it was 8 or 9….. either way he has made every cut to date and talked of how he loves the big occasion and difficult course set ups which is exactly what this appeared to be- Its long, par 5’s over 600yds and the 16^th is a 527yd par 4! Bob striped a drive and a 5 iron in to 16, and came off the course feeling good about his game and the course.

Greens are small and very slopey. Position below the hole is going to be key and with the greens being small naturally there will be missed greens so a premium on getting up and down will be key to a good week.

I headed back to the truck which was crazy busy! There were reps buzzing about with clubs in hand and people waiting. I helped out with some re-grips and just done what I could to help the team with their work load so they could get back down the range and clear the people on the truck. The Major headcovers had arrived and so one of the team headed to the locker room to distribute these in all the players lockers.

I went back down to spend some time with Nicolai who was nearing the end of his range session. He seemed pretty happy with the new clubs, though naturally a little frustrated at the situation. We headed to the amazing short game area to get some good work done there and test out the turf and sand. Ended up having a really good conversation with Nicolai about his experiences in the US so far and what he has learned and how he feels it differs from life on the DP World Tour. This is also great information for me as it helps me help other players down the line who are gearing up towards the PGA Tour. We bumped in to one of Tommy Fleetwood’s coaching staff who I know well and I asked his opinion on the course and also how Tommy would be preparing. He shared some fascinating insights which I think Nicolai appreciated and I think will help him in his preparations.

I woke up at around 4:30am which is pretty usual for me in America but felt fully re-charged after a 9 hour sleep. Had time to do a few emails and messages and even went to the gym for 30 minutes. Again picking Adrian up at 6am, we were on the truck and doors open by 6:45am.

Nicolai wanted to head out to play early so we were on the first tee at 7:30am, I walked with them and had my first chance to look at the front 9. The thing I mainly remember from this 9 was being on the par 5 5^th tee, the hole is 656 yards long, Nicolai and his caddy were discussing the line off the tee and decided to hit driver taking it over the bunker on the left. I asked what the carry was to cover that bunker….. ‘294 metres’. That’s over a 320yard carry and he was taking it on, a bit downhill but he carried it with relative ease and was on the green in two. Very impressive and powerful young player!!

The wind was really getting up this morning making conditions much tougher than the previous day- if the wind gets up like this later in the week it will offer a much harder challenge for the players, having to control trajectory and ball flight.

After 9 holes I headed down to the range, none other than Tiger Woods himself was there with about 15 photographers right behind him capturing his every move. I watched him warm up for 10 minutes, he was hitting it extremely well really compressing the ball and he appeared to be moving well. He left the range and headed to the putting green where you heard the ‘TIGER’ chants and could hear the crowds and excitement within the crowds growing. He has an aura like no man I’ve personally known and to have the chance to watch him up close is a privilege.

Last week’s DP Tour winner came on the range so I congratulated him and talked through his TaylorMade woods set up and how good his new Stealth 3 wood was that my colleague Sam Day had produced for him last week in the build up to his win! I then saw Lucas Herbert on the 6^th hole which runs parallel to the range so headed out to say hi and check in with him. Lucas is a full time PGA Tour player now but still a great friend of the team in Europe and we miss having him around on our tour. He talked me through the equipment tweaks he’s made since being full time in America which was interesting to hear.

Lucas was playing with TM staffer Harry Higgs who I’d personally not met before. I introduced myself to him and right away he was asking me about bounce on wedges and if there was something we could produce to help him with the course sand in this week’s bunkers which he was really struggling with.

So, I was back to the truck and talking with wedge expert Greg Cesario and Tour Technician Shane about producing Harry a new lob wedge. We went with a wide sole low-bounce 60*, grinding down the rear flange to bring contact point forward on the sole and with heel and toe relief to minimise resistance. The wide sole / low bounce should help him slide under the ball easier as opposed to bounce which is what was happening. We tested this with him at the end of the day, walking out to the 6^th green to test and it seemed to be helping with his strike and flight out of the sand, able to produce a higher softer flight than he was getting with his gamer.

Other work for the day included re-grips and loft and lie check-ups for Martin Kaymer’s wedges, and running some numbers with Nicolai on the range. He was actually really liking his new 3w and 5w and was talking of using these over his gamers so just wanted to be sure the numbers were as they should be.

The day wrapped up at 6pm, was back to the hotel for a quick 20 minute turn around meeting the team for dinner at 7pm. Got to bed on Tuesday around 11:15pm.

Wednesday is usually the quietest day for us as reps, mostly focused to follow ups and checking in with any work you have done that week. Nicolai’s clubs were finally in hand and he turned up a little more relaxed but gaming the new wedges, 3w and 5w that he had used so far that week.

The truck was much quieter Wednesday than it had been the two previous days which is a good sign all players are settled and going about final preparations. A couple of runs to the locker room with caddy requests; extra towel for Bob and some major headcovers for Nicolai’s caddy.

I found time on Wednesday to walk around the many tour trailers they have on the PGA Tour, I counted 11 where as in Europe we usually have 6 on a typical week. I went on several of them, meeting the various teams and getting any inspiration for how they set up. Some of the shaft manufacturers have a trailer so I met all of these guys, most of who I know anyway, but we talked about new product and what’s coming and what shafts in particular might work well in Europe.

Stepping back on the truck, World No.1 Scottie Scheffler was on board with his girlfriend and coach, getting some help from the team producing a training aid. So that was my first time meeting Scottie and his team. I remember watching him up close on the range at The Open last year and commenting to the team that he was the most impressive player I watched that week, turned out to be a good prediction that!

Finally, headed back down the range where Rory was preparing for an afternoon 9 holes, I asked if I could walk out with him and this turned out to be the highlight of the week for me. I walked 4 holes with Rory, chatting with him about the driver, the ball, his Masters performance as well as various other things. But the golf he produced in that few holes I walked was absolutely sublime! As good as I’ve ever seen. Perfect strike, perfect flight, holed a couple of putts. He was holing out too playing only one ball and finishing the hole I guess as his way of final preparations for the week. It was as relaxed and as good as I’ve seen Rory so really hope this is his week!

I had to leave after 4 holes to help pack up the truck which pulled out at 2pm, quite something seeing 11 tour trailers leaving in a line by police escort! The day was wrapped up by 3pm so was able to head to the merchandise tent and buy a few souvenirs for family and for the team back home. All in all a great week at an amazing venue. Connecting with our US colleagues is always so valuable!

I fly home Thursday and will even have time to head to the course for a few hours tomorrow to follow members of #TeamTaylorMade before I head back to the airport for lets a hope a less stressful journey back to the UK!