Equipment
Tiger Woods opts for lead tape on his Newport 2 rather than a heavier putter: Here’s why it makes sense
After days of speculation about which putter Tiger Woods might end up with an attempt to tame the greens at Royal Portrush, we now officially know he settled on his old faithful GSS Scotty Cameron but with a twist—some added lead tape.
The whole reason the speculation was in high gear early in the week was because of Tiger was spotted with a new custom Scotty that had the Studio Select weights in the sole to increase head weight to help with slow greens, something Tiger has talked about in the past—especially when it comes to the greens at The Open Championship.
We can even look back a few years ago when Tiger finally put a Nike putter in play, the original Method (those were nice putters) and talked about both the increased head weight and the grooves on the face to help get the ball rolling on slower greens.
The decision to stick with the old faithful with added lead tape goes beyond just a comfort level, even if the two putters look the same at address, it’s about feel and MOI around the axis.
Let me explain. Sure the putter heads weight the same, but depending on where the mass is located it will change the MOI. The putter with the Select weights vs. lead tape in the middle will have a higher MOI because there is more weight on the perimeter of the head—it’s like a blade vs. cavity back iron. Sure, two 7-irons can weigh the same but the performance will vary significantly.
For a player with such deft feel like Tiger Woods, any change like that can could cause doubt. Tweaking an already great putting stroke and on the eve of the last major of the year is not really something you want to do, which is why it isn’t surprising he stuck with his legendary Newport 2.
Lead tape in the middle allows Tiger to increase the head weight with very little change to the natural rate of rotation for hit putter and hopefully manage the slower Portrush greens better.
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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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- 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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What are the driver and shaft combinations of the best golfers in the world? For gearheads, it’s an endlessly interesting question — even if we can only ever aspire to play LS heads and 7 TX shafts.
At this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, GolfWRX got in-hand looks at the driver setups of a wealth of players.
Check out some of the most interesting combos below, then head to the GolfWRX forums for the rest, as well as the rest of our galleries from New Orleans.
Rory McIlroy
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees @8.25)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride MCC
Alex Fitzpatrick
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride MCC
Daniel Berger
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees @9)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Wrap
Rasmus Hojgaard
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Blue 60 TX
Grip: Golf Pride MCC
Alejandro Tosti
Driver: Srixon ZX5 Mk II LS (9.5 degrees @10.5)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS T1100 75 6.5
Grip: Golf Pride MCC Plus4
James Nicholas
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (8 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Kevin Streelman
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Sang-moon Bae
Driver: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond (9+ @8)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Russ Cochran
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke (9 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD TP 6 X
Grip: Golf pride MCC Align 
MJ Daffue
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max (10.5 degrees @9.5)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green RDX 65 TX
Grip: Golf Pride ZGrip Cord Align
Check our more photos from the Zurich Classic here.
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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:...
Rasmus Højgaard WITB 2024 (April)
Rasmus Højgaard what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic. Driver: Callaway Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees)...
Rory McIlroy WITB 2024 (April)
Rory McIlroy what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic. Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus...
Sam Burns WITB 2024 (April)
Sam Burns’ what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage. Driver: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond S (9 degrees...
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19th Hole2 weeks agoDave Portnoy places monstrous outright bet for the 2024 Masters
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19th Hole3 days agoJustin Thomas on the equipment choice of Scottie Scheffler that he thinks is ‘weird’
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19th Hole2 weeks agoTiger Woods arrives at 2024 Masters equipped with a putter that may surprise you
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19th Hole3 days ago‘Absolutely crazy’ – Major champ lays into Patrick Cantlay over his decision on final hole of RBC Heritage
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19th Hole2 weeks agoTwo star names reportedly blanked Jon Rahm all week at the Masters
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19th Hole1 week agoReport: LIV Golf identifies latest star name they hope to sign to breakaway tour
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19th Hole1 week agoNeal Shipley presser ends in awkward fashion after reporter claims Tiger handed him note on 8th fairway
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19th Hole1 week agoBrandel Chamblee has ‘no doubt’ who started the McIlroy/LIV rumor and why
Jon
Aug 7, 2019 at 3:36 pm
Why would the rate of closure change between the two options? That closure relates to toe hang which is determined by the CG location along the heel – toe plane and the shaft axis. If you have lead tape in the cavity or equal weights placed on the heel and toe, the CG in this plane hasn’t shifted. MOI would increase with the latter but the toe release shouldn’t change.
bobbyg
Jul 29, 2019 at 9:30 pm
Method 001 is a great putter. Wish Nike was still making clubs. There player stuff was clean and performed.
s
Jul 24, 2019 at 12:06 am
For me heavier the putter, less worried about putting yips. All the blade putters these days feel very light in my hands yet most average golfers like me don’t have access to those professional grade fast greens. Do lighter putters have any distinctive advantages over heavier ones, besides they “may” work better on the very fast greens?
Dave r
Jul 22, 2019 at 9:23 pm
I see it worked real well.
s
Jul 24, 2019 at 12:07 am
Ouch,, lol
geohogan
Jul 22, 2019 at 8:01 pm
I can’t imagine there being a huge amount of difference considering..
impact of a putt is 1/1000 second.
Bruce
Jul 21, 2019 at 10:15 am
The putter head probably weighs in excess of 300 g. Adding lead tape – even the heavy 1 g per inch is a painfully slow at to adjust weight. He could add few grams at best so we are talking 1%. You won’t feel that change, but it may adjust your head so you think it’s heavier and gain confidence.
Also, Tiger knew his game was lacking and he was going home so why make permanent changes.
Tiger
Jul 20, 2019 at 11:12 pm
Can’t even make the cut, he needs to be worried about more than lead tape!
Pelling
Jul 20, 2019 at 7:48 pm
Tiger seems to put the lead tape in different places. Most of the time it’s on the sole, but here it is behind the face.
Greg C
Jul 20, 2019 at 3:08 pm
I own three Macgregor Bobby Grace putters, 2 M5s and one M5K with the accessory weight sets. I’m good without the lead tape.
hardpan1
Jul 19, 2019 at 9:29 pm
I’ve always heard heavier putter for fast greens, lighter putter for slow greens…hmmm
Putt Stuff
Jul 20, 2019 at 9:50 pm
This!!!!!
Christopher
Jul 19, 2019 at 6:47 pm
I can’t imagine there being a huge amount of difference considering the head is solid stainless steel. The reason MOI and COG change with irons is due to the differing materials. There isn’t a huge difference between something like Titleist MBs and CBs, it’s far greater between MBs and say the Titleist AP1 (which can move extremes around due to their construction) irons. We know that movable weights on drivers (which have the biggest difference between the weight of their head components) only move the COG millimeters.
It would be a coin-toss between different MOI and what Tiger feels and hears with a heavier putter. I imagine it’s down to Tiger wanting to use (and look down on) old-faithful and the feel of his Ping grip and the familiarity of it’s shaft.
DB
Jul 19, 2019 at 2:43 pm
I find it amusing that some people say use a heavier putter for slower greens and others say a heavier putter is for faster greens. Nobody can agree.
Also his Nike putter did not have grooves cut into the face, you can even tell on the picture posted. Yes there are black lines obviously, but no actual grooves cut onto the face like the retail version.
Doug
Jul 19, 2019 at 8:59 pm
Hot dang if you’re not right about the fake grooves. You can see the milling lines going through the black.
MKPAPA
Jul 25, 2019 at 2:52 pm
The grooves were filled totally with rzn and whole face was milled. As is the case with most of the Tour Stock Method’s.