Equipment
Charles Howell III’s winning WITB: 2018 RSM Classic
Driver: Titleist TS3 (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei AV Blue 65
Fairway woods: Titleist TS2 (15, 21 degrees)
Shafts: Fujikura ATMOS Tour Spec Black 8X, Fujikura ATMOS Tour Spec Black 9X
Irons: Titleist 718 T-MB 4-iron, Titleist 718 AP2 (5-7), Titleist 718 CB (8-PW)
Shafts: Project X LZ 6.5 (hard stepped)
Wedges: Vokey SM7 (52, 56, 60 degrees)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S400
Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour Red
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align
Ball: Titleist Pro V1 (proto)
RELATED: See what members are saying about CH III’s equipment in the forums.
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Whats in the Bag
Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)
- Kevin Tway what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX
5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX
Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)
Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4
More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.
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Equipment
Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?
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 timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?
Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.
When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.
To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.
Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.
“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.
“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”
Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.
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Equipment
Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird
With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.
On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.
Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.
See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here
GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?
Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’
So that’s why I went back.
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OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?
It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.
Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.
It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.
Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.
Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.
So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?
Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.
Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play?
Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.
There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.
It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.
Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.
And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?
Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’
If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’
My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’
I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”
And you’re going with it this week?
Hundred percent.
Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week.
Thanks, man.
See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here
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Ryan Michael
Nov 21, 2018 at 11:50 am
Missing the days when GolfWRX had pictures of winning WITB.
Fred
Nov 20, 2018 at 4:20 pm
Pxg def pays their players, not a whole lot though. There drivers and woods are not great, but there irons are very good clubs. What they charge us up to them and can’t knock A company for great marketing and sales. Pretty much any Titleist and Tm club iron etc these days are 200-249 pr club with custom shafts. I love Howell, but not a whole lot of competition in this filed. If the club switch is not a fluke, he should be in the winners circle a lot more in the near future! I
Bert Gwaltney
Nov 20, 2018 at 10:30 am
I remember watching him play at the Future Masters in Dothan, AL, and him spending many hours practicing his short game at Olympia Spa. A young kid, perhaps 10-12 in knickers, and so dedicated. So glad for him, a great kid then and a great representative of this game now. Play on Charles!
Jack Nash
Nov 19, 2018 at 11:40 am
He started to play a lot better when he stopped playing the overpriced & overhyped PXG’s. WTG Charles III. You deserved the win.
bogeyorbust519
Nov 19, 2018 at 10:02 am
I am happy for Chucky 3 Stix!! He has been around for a long time and its great to see him finally back in the winners circle. Once he got rid of that PXG (Parsons Xtreme Garbage) his game turned around, imagine that!! Good for you Chuck!
Chris
Nov 19, 2018 at 9:43 am
You left out the Orange whip. Does he also have a round grip on his putter?
golfraven
Nov 19, 2018 at 8:17 am
Titleist baby – switching did him well. The clubs of a player.
Teats
Nov 19, 2018 at 3:10 am
Awesome putter! Throw out the rest. But, hey, at least he realized PXG was junk.
Padre
Nov 19, 2018 at 3:00 am
Funky setup. MB in 4 iron and then AP2 to CB. One would have suspected the other way round, MB in short irons, AP2 in mid and CB in long irons. Goes to show, go with what works.
Pete Daniels
Nov 19, 2018 at 2:25 am
Chucky switches to Titleist and now 33% of his wins come with the big T. He drove that driver so straight and flushed his irons. Solid striker who hit 88% of his greens!
He said he loved the feel of his new clubs in the bag. Based off the hollow of the PXG’s, who could blame him? Overpriced gimmicks that he was stuck with last few years.
Chucky 3 sticks, we love you man!
Chuckster Barkles
Nov 18, 2018 at 10:15 pm
Yes, cheers to you CH, well done! Hits the ball wicked fah for a skinny guy like me!
Jamie
Nov 18, 2018 at 9:31 pm
The PX LZ’s are bitchin’ shafts with the V1. Find the right flex and the spin and trajectory are great for most amateurs. A deep face 10.5 low spin driver with the V1 is also a good combo. Good for him.
aga
Nov 18, 2018 at 7:38 pm
Wicked weapons of golf destruction in Chuck’s WITB arsenal of winning clubs… 😮
1488 is coming
Nov 18, 2018 at 7:24 pm
Congrats CH3! So nice to see him win again. Hard work pays off!
Mannyv
Nov 18, 2018 at 6:52 pm
I was pulling for him. It was nice to see him come away with the win
Miuralovechild
Nov 18, 2018 at 6:52 pm
Three Sticks is back!! I like those cb’s in the short irons. Reminds me of my Miura cb 202. See ya at Augusta!
Tim
Dec 1, 2018 at 1:41 am
triple sticks, his nickname is chuckie triple sticks
The dude
Nov 18, 2018 at 6:18 pm
“Great Diving and iron play this week Charles!”
– Bob Parsons
Kyle
Nov 19, 2018 at 1:10 pm
Dudeeeeee….
Kyle
Nov 19, 2018 at 1:10 pm
Dudeeeeee….
Bob
Nov 18, 2018 at 6:10 pm
Good to see Charles win again such a down to earth guy with a lot of talent
Benny
Nov 18, 2018 at 6:08 pm
Love seeing this. He just got this bag too. I believe I saw him pulling plastic off his wedges the first day. PXG who? Is that the seriously over priced gear that has literally taken the worlds best off the map?
Run while you can guys… run!
Roy McAvoy
Nov 18, 2018 at 7:36 pm
It must be the clubs! Immediate switch and he wins in 11 years. Imagine if you change clubs before every single tournament. You’ll probably win every single one!
Roy
Nov 18, 2018 at 8:38 pm
Would have expected the “worlds best” to have more that 2 PGA wins entering the week??