Notebook: Cobra starts season strong

By Jennifer Gardner
GPA Equipment Editor

Cobra Golf may have cut its PGA Tour staff, sending Geoff Ogilvy over to sister Acushnet company Titleist, but its players have had a great 2010 so far.

At the Honda Classic, Cobra staffer Camilo Villegas used a Cobra driver, fairway woods and irons for his third title, following up Ian Poulter's victory at the Match Play two weeks ago, also using a Cobra driver and irons.

And another Cobra player, J.B. Holmes, tied for 12th in the first tournament he'd used a new Cobra S2 driver. His big stick had 9.5 degrees of loft and was set to Neutral; using it, he averaged 303.5 yards off the tee.

Now the three are all in the top 10 for FedEx Cup points: Villegas is third, Poulter fifth and Holmes ninth.

VOODOO LONG PAYING OFF: Vijay Singh has been using a long putter this season, and it is starting to pay off.

Coming off one of his worst years, mainly because of injuries, the 47-year-old is looking to improve on his putting so he can return to the winner's circle. His flat stick of choice is a Never Compromise VooDoo Daddy Long.

"There's a lot of positives on the putter. I think I feel really comfortable with it," Singh said after finishing in a tie for fourth at the Honda Classic. "That's the best I've felt on the putting green for a long, long time this week."

Singh averaged 29.3 putts per round (T29) and 1.811 putts per GIR (41) - not stellar, but an improvement over his 158th and 114th place standings, respectively, for the season.

GETTING ROCHA READY: Monday qualifier Alex Rocha didn't have much equipment when he arrived at the PGA National Champion course for the Honda Classic. He'd signed an agreement with TaylorMade just a couple of weeks before to play that company's equipment, but he only had Nike apparel when he showed up to the tournament. A trip through the TaylorMade tour van yielded balls, hats, gloves and clothing for the Brazilian native.

"I changed my managing group. I changed my instructor. I changed my company, my equipment, which by the way happened just very recently. And how I go about practice and how I go about planning everything that I do; that's all very new," he said after shooting a first-round 66.

TaylorMade also built a new R9 SuperTri driver and new 54- and 60-degree xFT wedges for Rocha, who made the cut and ended up T59 for the week.

ODDS AND ENDS: Yellow keeps gaining momentum - Srixon Tour Yellow golf balls, that is. Tim Clark and Jerod Turner both used the ball at the Honda, and three Nationwide Tour players put the ball in play. Vijay Singh tested it on Tuesday and is said to be considering it for tournament play. Srixon says the ball is easier to see and its greenish-yellow hue is designed to be stress-reducing. ... Anthony Kim finished second at the Honda using a Nike VR driver. Paul Casey (T4) used the same driver, as did Amanda Blumenherst (T8) at the Aussie Masters. ... Tom Watson, who tied for fifth at the Champions Tour's Toshiba Classic, has new Adams irons in the bag. Called the CB1s, the irons are still under wraps by Adams. Watson commented specifically on the ease of hitting the long irons, hinting that they'd be in play when he tees off at Augusta next month. ... Ping staffer Chris Tidland earned a top-10 at Honda after switching to G15 irons two weeks ago. He hit 72 percent of greens in regulation in the final round. ... Two Monday qualifiers at Honda, Perry Moss and Andy Matthews, used Rife's Aussie and Aussie Mallet, respectively, to get in. Another Rife Aussie player, Matt Every, finished T26. He's made four of six cuts in his rookie season so far.