Equipment
Ben Kern WITB: 2018 PGA Championship (only PGA Club Pro to make the cut)
Driver: Titleist TS3 (9.5 degrees)
Shaft: UST Mamiya Attas G7
3 Wood: Titleist TS2 (16.5 degrees)
Shaft: Aldila Rogue Black 95 MSI 80X
Driving Iron: Titleist 718 T-MB (3 iron)
Shaft: KBS Tour Hybrid Prototype 95X
Irons: Titleist 718 AP2 (4-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM7 (50, 54 and 60 degrees)
Shafts: KBS $-Taper 120
Putter: Scotty Cameron T5.5M
Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1
WITB Notes: We photographed Kern with an Odyssey O-Works Red Marxman putter early in the week, but based on photos during the event, he switched into a Scotty Cameron for competition.
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Equipment
Putter Roundup: 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans
We always get some great photos of some phenomenal putters at tour events and love to share them. Here are a few from the 2024 Zurich Classic that caught our eye and seemed interesting. (And as a reminder, you can check out all our photos from New Orleans here)
MJ Daffue’s Scotty Cameron T-11 Prototype
MJ is going with the new Scotty Cameron T-11 Prototype this week. The putter is a multi-piece mallet that puts an emphasis on stability with the wings on the back. Daffue’s putter does have a design that differs from retail with a monotone finish, which eliminates the black paint on the aluminum parts that we see at retail. He also has a half siteline milled into the top and an L-neck welded on for some additional toe hang. The face features a deeper milling that should offer a softer feel and slightly quieter sound.
Scotty Cameron T-7.5 Prototype
We spotted a few different Scotty Cameron Phantom models with modified rear flanges. It looks like the straight black flange was cut into a half circle for a little softer look at address. On this T-7.5, you can still see the raw aluminum from the back view, so this might have been a last-minute job to get them out on tour. The semi-circle also has a white line on it, maybe to frame the ball differently.
Alex Fitzpatrick’s Bettinardi SS16 DASS
Alex’s SS16 is made from Bettinardi’s famous D.A.S.S., or double-aged stainless steel, for a softer and more responsive feel. The face has a unique diamond pattern milling and features a logo that I feel like I have seen before, but can’t put a name to. The putter is a classic mid-mallet style with a simple, single white siteline on the top. The sole is clean with just the SS16, DASS, and a green triangle logo on it.
Steve Stricker’s Odyssey White Hot No. 2
This putter has made some amazing putts in its long career! Stricker’s White Hot No. 2 might be in the top 10 of most famous putters in golf. When you see all the dents and lead tape, you know the heel will be up and it will be sinking putts! The soft White Hot insert looks to be in good shape and has less wear on it than the rest of the putter. We don’t know how much lead tape is on the sole, but it has to be multiple layers compacted down over the years.
Doug Ghim’s Scotty Cameron T-7 Prototype
This T-7 should win the award for “best color finish” in this list with its deep chromatic bronze. It looks like Scotty added a cherry bomb dot to the heel of the deep-milled face and filled it with a very dark blue paint. The rest of the putter looks pretty stock with its single site line on the topline and twin site lines down the “fangs” of the putter. Twin 5-gram weights are installed in the sole and the putter is finished off with a gloss black double bend shaft with a fill shaft offset.
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Zurich Classic
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Equipment
Spotted: Project X Denali hybrid shaft
Project X’s Denali wood shafts have been seen in more and more golf bags this year as we start off the season. As a refresher, Denali Blue is the mid-launch and mid-spin model while Denali Black is for players seeking lower launch and spin.
Denali combines great feel with stability and increased ball speed. Currently, Project X only offers Denali Blue and Black in wood shafts, but we spotted a hybrid shaft in Daniel Berger’s bag at the 2024 Zurich Classic.
The shaft looks to be a Denali Blue 105G – HY in TX flex. No word on details from Project X yet but we can assume that this is a mid-launching shaft that weighs around 105 grams in Tour X-Stiff flex.
Berger has this shaft in his TaylorMade P770 3-iron, likely for some added launch and spin to hold the green from longer distances.
Hopefully, this means we will see some more shafts coming under the Denali name in the future, as I think many of us would like to try one in a hybrid or utility iron!
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Zurich Classic
- Check out in-hand photos of Daniel Berger’s full WITB here.
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Whats in the Bag
Daniel Berger WITB 2024 (April)
- Daniel Berger what’s in the bag accurate as of the Farmers Insurance Open. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X
6-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 Tour (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X
Irons: TaylorMade P770 (3), TaylorMade Tour Preferred MC 2011 (4-PW)
Shafts: Project X Denali Blue 105 TX (3), Project X 6.5 (4-PW)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (50-12F), Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (56-14F), Callaway Jaws Raw (60-08C)
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (50), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (56, 60)
Putter: Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Mini DB
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy PistolLock 1.0
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Wrap
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Check out more in-hand photos of Daniel Berger’s clubs in the forums.
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Pingback: Ben Kern WITB 2022 (March/April) – GolfWRX
Jason
Nov 17, 2018 at 1:00 am
Not to be that guy but 16.5* is a 4 wood
Mat
Aug 28, 2018 at 4:48 pm
I love when guys take the time to paint their gear.
Francis
Aug 13, 2018 at 2:45 pm
Do most club pros have access to proto/unreleased clubs?
Billy Bob
Aug 13, 2018 at 4:25 pm
For big events like this, yes.
MnPro
Aug 28, 2018 at 5:49 pm
Depending on your relationship with the rep normally we do. We have had the TS2 and TS3 stuff for about a month now
steve
Aug 13, 2018 at 1:39 pm
Re horizontal strips of lead tape on wedges… probably 2-3 strips at the flange. The lead would nominally raise the CofG to reduce the height trajectory. Since lead is about 30% heavier than steel the added mass would be insignificant where it is located. To effectively raise the CofG Kern should have put the lead tape on the top line.
Robert B
Aug 13, 2018 at 3:57 pm
Ny guess is he was just adding weight to the head to change swing weight. I’ll ask, when I see him.
Gordo
Aug 28, 2018 at 10:47 pm
Need a ton of lead tape to change the flight. Prob so much it would be detrimental to the shaft performance. It’s purely to get the swing weight to his personal preference.
Lefty tx pro
Feb 23, 2019 at 9:44 pm
As a guy who has played a lot of golf with Ben. I can tell you it is there purely for weighting and it helps create a certain feel that he likes