Kevin Tway wasn’t supposed to win the Safeway Open. That honour, at least for most of Sunday, appeared to be solidly in line for Brandt Snedeker, who entered the day with a three-shot lead and still held the lead with three holes to play. But Tway and Ryan Moore hung around, and when Moore birdied 18 and Tway the 17th and 18th, the three went to extra holes to decide the matter.
That’s where Tway was flawless. After another two birdies on the par-5 18th, Tway ended things with another birdie on the par-4 10th hole. Count the birdie on the 17th hole in regulation and Tway finished with five straight.
”It was nice to get hot at the end,” Tway said. ”I was kind of right there, but kind of hanging around. I birdied 17 and 18 to get into the playoff and then kept it going in the playoff… and here I am.”
One of the reasons he got there was a mixed set of irons comprised of four different models of Mizuno clubs. Tway uses the company’s MP H5 2-iron; JPX 919 Forged in his 3 and 4-irons, JPX 919 Tour in the 5-iron through 9-irons and a MP T7 pitching wedge – all with Golf Pride’s Tour Velvet grips. The combination worked well as Tway ranked third in strokes gained/tee-to-green, picking up more than eight strokes on the field.
And he needed every one of them.
What Kevin Tway had in the bag at the Safeway Open
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Driver: TaylorMade M2 2017 (Mitsubishi Tensei CK White 70TX), 9.5 degrees
3-wood: TaylorMade M2 2017, 15 degrees
Irons (2): Mizuno MP H5; (3-4): Mizuno JPX 919 Forged; (5-9): Mizuno JPX 919 Tour; (PW): Mizuno MP T7
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM7 (54, 60 degrees)
Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour
