Equipment
Revealing photos from the Frys.com Open
GolfWRX was live this week from the 2015 Frys.Com Open at Silverado Country Club’s North Course in Napa, Calif — the heart of Wine Country. If you missed any of the photos, browse through the galleries below:
It’s an exciting time here at GolfWRX. The new 2015-2016 PGA Tour season is starting, players are changing clubs and shafts, and new equipment is being released. You know what that means? Let’s reveal some photos…
Blayne Barber’s Bambi wedge
His custom wedge stamping shows the “Browning Arms Company” logo, a company that sells firearms and other weapons for fishing and hunting. The message “shoot one” isn’t comforting for all the — as Mona Lisa Vito in My Cousin Vinny would call them — sweet, innocent, harmless, leaf-eating, doe-eyed little deers out there.
But Master Instructor Dennis Clark’s recent article may give the animals, and Marisa Tomei’s character peace of mind. A snippet from his article says: “… I’d hate to be at a rifle range with a bunch of golfers. That’s because they tend to have the most crooked aim of players in any sport.”
Barber would have had an easy chance to “shoot one” at Spyglass Hill Golf Course in this recent deer fight video that has gone viral, however.
He probably could have have just chipped a golf ball at one of them with his Browning-stamped wedge.
It appears Barber has a few other, more animal-friendly goals stamped on his wedges, as well.
Like, getting better at the guitar…
And winning a few trophies.
See what GolfWRX members are saying about Barber’s new wedges here.
Jarrod Lyle’s custom “Leuk the Duck” putter cover
Leuk the Duck is the mascot for Challenge, an organization that supports children living with cancer, and their families. Jarrod Lyle can often be seen with Leuk the Duck head covers, pins and commonly wears a yellow bucket hat to support the cause.
A slew of new shafts at the season opener
Rory’s new Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana shaft spotted
See what GolfWRX members are saying about Rory’s new shaft here.
UST Mamiya Elements Chrome prototype
See what GolfWRX members are saying about Elements Chrome’s new shaft.
Matrix “Speed Rulz”
See what GolfWRX members are saying about Matrix’s new “Speed Rulz” shafts in the forums.
Graphite Design Tour AD-GP shafts
See what members are saying about the new Tour AD-GP shafts here.
Danger: High Voltage
Russell Henley’s Nike Vapor Pro Combo 6-iron has a hole burned right through the back cavity — maybe there’s more Voltage in that Volt Swoosh than we thought.
Justin Rose is about that tinker life
This week’s episode of “Justin Rose: Tinker til I die,” shows him switching back to a TaylorMade blade putter from the “Jason Day mallet prototype,” which he switched to from a TaylorMade blade, just after he switched from a TaylorMade Ghost Spider mallet.
And he also put the new TaylorMade PSi Tour irons in the bag for the week.
Tune in next week to see what Rose is tinkering with next.
WITB: Splash Brother No. 1
We spotted “Splash* Brother” and 2015 NBA League MVP Steph Curry of the NBA Champion Golden State Warriors playing in the Frys.com Open Pro-Am with Justin Thomas and teammate Andre Igoudala.
Curry is rumored to be a 2-handicap, and we caught a glimpse of some of the golf clubs he has in his bag — PXG 0311 irons and wedges, and a Titleist 915D4 driver with a Graphite Design Tour AD-DI shaft. He’s also reppin’ for his squads with a Davidson Wildcats head cover on one of his woods, which is where Curry played college basketball, and a wedge stamped “Go Warriors.”
*Refers to “Splash” as in swishing a basketball into a hoop, not hitting a golf ball into a pond.
Camilo Villegas’ irons are lofted up
Assuming the numbers written in marker on his irons are lofts, Villegas’ TaylorMade RSi 2 prototype irons have much different lofts than your typical RSi 2 irons. The RSi 2’s stock 7-iron is 31 degrees, 8 iron is 35 degrees and 9-iron is 40 degress; but Villegas’ irons are pictured as having 36, 40.5 and 45 degrees, respectively. That means Villegas’ short irons are about 5 degrees weaker!
Ollie Schneiderjans’ Georgia Tech wedges are buzzing
His black-and-yellow wedges honor the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The “Ramblin’ Wreck” stamping refers to a 1930 Ford Model A Sport Coupe that serves as the school’s mascot.
As the story goes… Ramblin’ Wreck was a name given to the 1916 Ford Model T that a Georgia Tech dean and president drove in the 1900s. The name stuck, and in 1961, the 1930 Ford Model A Sport Coupe — painted in Georgia Tech’s colors — became the school’s mascot.
The “Ramblin Wreck from Georgia Tech,” is also Georgia Tech’s fight song.
A Mizuno T-Zoid fairway wood
Think you need to play the newest, most expensive clubs to score well? This Mizuno T-Zoid fairway wood in Brett Stagmaier’s bag is available here for $20.99.
Please don’t show this photo to Phil Mickelson
As we’ve previously established, Mickelson has a serious problem. This photo of lead tape just wasting away on the turf and not on a golf club may be too much for him to handle. And a message to golfers everywhere, please be careful where you leave your lead-tape scraps, you don’t realize the dangers it may cause to others.
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Whats in the Bag
WITB Time Machine: Rory McIlroy’s winning WITB, 2015 Wells Fargo Championship
Then-No. 1 player in the world Rory McIlroy began the week at the Wells Fargo Championship at 3-1 odds, if that gives you any indication of how well the Ulsterman was playing at the time. All he did at Quail Hollow was set the course record during his third round (61) and win the tournament by seven strokes.
Check out the gear Rory had in play nine years ago below.
Driver: Nike Vapor Pro (8.5 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana S+ 70 X
3-wood: Nike Vapor Speed (15 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Fujikura Rombax Pro 95 X
5-wood: Nike Vapor Speed (19 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Fujikura Rombax Pro 95 X
Irons: Nike VR Pro Blades (4-9) Buy here.
Shafts: Project X 7.0
Wedges: Nike VR Forged (46, 52, 56) Buy here, Nike Engage (58 degrees @59) Buy here.
Shafts: Project X 6.5
Putter: Nike Method 006 Buy here.
Ball: Nike RZN Black
WITB Time Machine is presented by 2nd Swing Golf. 2nd Swing has more than 100,000 new and pre-swung golf clubs available in six store locations and online. Check them out here.
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Equipment
Rickie Fowler’s new putter: Standard-length Odyssey Jailbird 380 in custom orange
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.
…The Jailbird craze hasn’t really slowed down in 2024, either. According to Odyssey rep Joe Toulon, there are about 18-20 Jailbird putter users on the PGA TOUR.
Most recently, Akshay Bhatia won the 2024 Valero Texas Open using a broomstick-style Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter and Webb Simpson is switching into a replica of that putter at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Now, Fowler, who essentially started the whole Jailbird craze, is making a significant change to his putter setup.
Fowler, who has had a couple weeks off since the 2024 RBC Heritage, started experimenting with a new, custom-orange Jailbird 380 head that’s equipped with a standard 35-inch putter build, rather than his previous 38-inch counter-balanced setup.
According to Fowler, while he still likes the look and forgiveness of his Jailbird putter head, he’s looking to re-incorporate more feel into his hands during the putting stroke.
He told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Championship that the 38-inch counterbalanced setup “served its purpose” by helping him to neutralize his hands during the stroke, but now it’s time to try the standard-length putter with a standard-size SuperStroke Pistol Tour grip to help with his feel and speed control.
Although Fowler was also spotted testing standard-length mallets from L.A.B. Golf and Axis1 on Tuesday, he confirmed that the custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 is the putter he’ll use this week at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Head over to PGATour.com for the full article.
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Whats in the Bag
Akshay Bhatia WITB 2024 (May)
- Akshay Bhatia what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. Bhatia is deciding between drivers. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Callaway Rogue ST Max LS (9 degrees @7.2, 2 grams lead tape heel, 4 grams toe)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X (44 7/8 inches, tipped 1 inch)
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max D (9 degrees @7)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max (15 degrees @13.9)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X (43 inches, tipped 1.5)
Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW Prototype (19 degrees @17.8)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 10 X
Irons: Callaway X Forged UT (21 degrees) Buy here, Callaway Apex TCB Raw (5-PW)
Shafts: KBS $-Taper 125 S+
Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (50-10S @49, 54-10S, 60-08C @61)
Shafts: KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 135 X
Putter: Odyssey Versa Jailbird 380
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Split
Grips: Iomic
Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour
More photos of Akshay Bhatia’s WITB in the forums.
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jcorbran
Oct 16, 2015 at 6:34 pm
why bend the 9 iron 5 degrees when you could jut extend the pw?
Mat
Oct 16, 2015 at 7:28 pm
Bounce.
Track Man
Oct 17, 2015 at 12:21 pm
why would you want that much bounce on your irons
Greg Moore
Oct 16, 2015 at 3:47 pm
Thought you’d like that photo of the lead tape on the ground. I thought about saving it and listing it on e Bay cuz it is “Tour used” lead tape. Could have been a big seller.
Nice job AT.
Mark
Oct 16, 2015 at 12:01 pm
Thoughts on what was going on with Henley’s 6-iron there?
Mike
Oct 16, 2015 at 2:39 pm
removing some weight…
Tom
Oct 16, 2015 at 2:58 pm
Bag chatter
Loser
Oct 16, 2015 at 10:47 pm
Iron head cover wear
OCD
Oct 17, 2015 at 2:47 am
OCD. Couldn’t help picking at it
Merlin
Oct 17, 2015 at 10:14 am
Practicing left-handed backwards-head escape shots?