News
The Dufner signing says a lot about Cobra
Editor’s note: Cobra Golf announced today Jason Dufner is signed to a multi-year full-bag deal.
In all honesty, if you have been following Jason Dufner over the past 9 months, this announcement may not surprise you. He spent 2 years living out every gear heads dream by being an equal opportunity player. He had some epic bags, most notably the drool-worthy National Custom muscle backs finished off with Auburn Tiger BB&Co Ferrules. It was amazing, but even he admits that yes it can be fun messing around but it’s still playing with career fire.
I think it needs to be pointed out that Dufner, believe it or not, is a tough nut to crack when it comes to his clubs. The guy is incredibly smart, precise and knows what he needs….and like Tiger, will not compromise. Those compliments can be a blessing and a challenge for companies all at once. The latter being a guy that is a hard switcher, a hard sell and won’t budge unless it’s perfect.
This critical eye isn’t reserved for only certain clubs, they all have to fit into a very thin pocket. For instance, Jason is a low launch, low spin, average distance player. His lofts are a nod to the late ’90s with a 28 Degree 5 Iron and 48 Degree Pitching Wedge but the guy has no interest in picking up 20 yards. His clubs need to go a certain number every time out of certain flight window. Yes, he looks at Trackman, but imagine selling a car to a guy that isn’t attracted to speed or gadgets but only the granular feel of making a right turn and how far his eyes track over the steering wheel. There are no Trackman numbers for feel and instinct.
But like TaylorMade getting Tiger into an iron he likes, Cobra signing Jason Dufner says more about the quality of work of the people behind the scenes than anything. As a Tour Truck junkie, I’ve gotten to know a bunch of the guys and in particular Ben Schomin of Cobra. As this process went on, I would text him questions about working with JD and I could literally feel his excitement around the process through text.
I can still remember the day late this summer that I saw Cobra wedges in Dufners bag. At that point I knew today was coming. Ben Schomin has become someone Jason trusts, trust that is earned at least equipment wise. Most of the stories around Dufner came around his wedges. The grinds, bounce, shaft, grips need to be perfect and if they are just a whisper off, it’s a non starter. I can only think of a few guys on tour that are like that. Guys that can tell you the yardage and spin numbers on a wedge shot before it even lands…that’s Jason.
So although this signing may seem typical for this time of year, for me it’s awesome. Jason Dufner is extremely interesting to follow, and when he’s playing well, it’s always a good time. But most importantly it’s a testament to the hard work of the folks at Cobra and in particular Ben Schomin. Well done Benny, very well done!
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Equipment
Spotted: Tommy Fleetwood’s TaylorMade Spider Tour X Prototype putter
Tommy Fleetwood has been attached to his Odyssey White Hot Pro #3 putter for years now. However, this week at the Wells Fargo Championship, we did spot him testing a new putter that is very different, yet somewhat similar, to his current gamer.
This new putter is a TaylorMade Spider Tour X head but with a brand new neck we haven’t seen on a Spider before. A flow neck is attached to the Spider head and gives the putter about a 1/2 shaft offset. This style neck will usually increase the toe hang of the putter and we can guess it gets the putter close to his White Hot Pro #3.
Another interesting design is that lack of TaylorMade’s True Path alignment on the top of the putter. Instead of the large white center stripe, Tommy’s Spider just has a very short white site line milled into it. As with his Odyssey, Tommy seems to be a fan of soft inserts and this Spider prototype looks to have the TPU Pure Roll insert with 45° grooves for immediate topspin and less hopping and skidding.
The sole is interesting as well in that the rear weights don’t look to be interchangeable and are recessed deep into the ports. This setup could be used to push the CG forward in the putter for a more blade-like feel during the stroke, like TaylorMade did with the Spider X Proto Scottie Scheffler tested out.
Tommy’s putter is finished off with an older Super Stroke Mid Slim 2.0 grip in blue and white. The Mid Slim was designed to fit in between the Ultra Slim 1.0 and the Slim 3.0 that was a popular grip on tour.
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
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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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Equipment
Details on Justin Thomas’ driver switch at the Wells Fargo Championship
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.
So, with a couple of weeks off following his latest start at the 2024 RBC Heritage, Thomas sought to re-address his driver setup with the remote help of Titleist Tour fitting expert J.J. Van Wezenbeeck. About two weeks ago, Thomas and Van Wezenbeeck reviewed his recent driver stats, and discussed via phone call some possible driver and shaft combinations for him to try.
After receiving Van Wezenbeeck’s personalized shipment of product options while at home, Thomas found significant performance improvements with Titleist’s TSR2 head, equipped with Thomas’ familiar Mitsubishi Diamana ZF 60 TX shaft.
Compared to Thomas’ longtime TSR3 model, the TSR2 has a larger footprint and offers slightly higher spin and launch characteristics.
According to Van Wezenbeeck, Thomas has picked up about 2-3 mph of ball speed, to go along with 1.5 degrees higher launch and more predictable mishits.
“I’d say I’d been driving it fine, not driving it great, so I just wanted to, honestly, just test or try some stuff,” Thomas said on Tuesday in an interview with GolfWRX.com at Quail Hollow Club. “I had used that style of head a couple years ago (Thomas used a TSi2 driver around 2021); I know it’s supposed to have a little more spin. Obviously, yeah, I’d love to hit it further, but if I can get a little more spin and have my mishits be a little more consistent, I felt like obviously that’d be better for my driving…
“This (TSR2) has been great. I’ve really, really driven it well the week I’ve used it. Just hitting it more solid, I don’t know if it’s the look of it or what it is, but just a little bit more consistent with the spin numbers. Less knuckle-ball curves. It has been fast. Maybe just a little faster than what I was using. Maybe it could be something with the bigger head, maybe mentally it looks more forgiving.”
Head over to PGATour.com for the full article.
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Dr Tee
Dec 16, 2019 at 7:26 pm
maybe the Dufner Cobra signing says something about Cobra…
but what does the butt wipe signing say about Dufner ??
Hoganben
Dec 4, 2019 at 10:07 pm
Bs about Tiger and his irons….all of Tiger’s irons have all been basically identical since he stopped playing eye 2s. Ps…. Patrick Reed’s new forged irons look like all the other forged blades too.
Scott
Nov 24, 2019 at 5:55 am
The dude sells butt wipes on his hat….WTF? No way would he represent my company.
Daniel
Nov 13, 2019 at 9:25 am
Love that the whole article is how serious he takes his clubs, but first thing you notice about the picture is the bryson troll stamped on to the wedges. Golf needs Duff.
Steve
Nov 12, 2019 at 7:30 pm
Maybe he should just go down to Golf Galaxy and get whatever’s on clearance because he can probably miss the cut with those too.
Pat MaGroin
Nov 13, 2019 at 11:08 pm
you owe me a new monitor after I spit up on it reading your post 🙂
well said…..
Cody Reeder
Nov 20, 2019 at 1:53 pm
Duff is an interesting guy but will not make much difference in the long run. No screen time.
Everyone
Nov 12, 2019 at 5:42 pm
MORE WRITING LIKE THIS!!
Digger Dave
Nov 12, 2019 at 6:40 pm
Thats the first thing that cane to my mind 1/2 way through the article!
Cobra also makes great gear that is just as good if not better than everything else out. I just sold a set of Cobra MBs bc i got a set of Mizunos and a set of the old TW Nike blades. Sad to say 2 months later im back to ordering another set of Cobras and done tinkering.
Benny
Nov 12, 2019 at 2:53 pm
Awesome mews and great article Johnny. Thanks as always Golfwrx.
Hope he wins. More and more I am turning back towards Cobra. Could be a great honeymoon.
Silverbackster
Nov 12, 2019 at 2:33 pm
As an engineer, Thats good with numbers and accuracy, but where is the RESULT? Where is the winning? Thats no one would sign, you put employees through hell dialing in perfect combination, but then can’t even make top 100 in the world past two years!?
event country week year Missed cut *RANKING*
Houston Open USA 41 2019 MC – 1 – 192nd
Safeway Open USA 39 2019 MC – 1 – 179th
Sanderson Farms Championship USA 38 2019 MC – 1 – 176th
A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier USA 37 2019 T57 – 1 – 167th
Wyndham Championship USA 31 2019 MC – 0.9783 – 167th
Barbasol Championship USA 29 2019 T18 1.74 0.9565 1.66 155th
John Deere Classic USA 28 2019 MC – 0.9457 – 161st
3M Open USA 27 2019 T66 – 0.9348 – 157th
Rocket Mortgage Classic USA 26 2019 MC – 0.9239 – 149th
U.S. Open MAJ 24 2019 T35 3.65 0.9022 3.29 136th
the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide USA 22 2019 T7 11.56 0.8804 10.18 146th
Charles Schwab Challenge USA 21 2019 T40 1.70 0.8696 1.48 194th
PGA Championship MAJ 20 2019 MC – 0.8587 – 194th
Wells Fargo Championship USA 18 2019 T4 11.50 0.837 9.63 183rd
RBC Heritage USA 16 2019 T63 – 0.8152 – 222nd
Valspar Championship USA 12 2019 MC – 0.7717 – 195th
THE PLAYERS Championship USA 11 2019 T74 – 0.7609 – 187th
Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard USA 10 2019 MC – 0.75 – 173rd
The Honda Classic USA 9 2019 T75 – 0.7391 – 166th
Genesis Open USA 7 2019 MC – 0.7174 – 162nd
Desert Classic USA 3 2019 MC – 0.6739 – 127th
Sony Open in Hawaii USA 2 2019 T73 – 0.663 – 125th
Aztec
Nov 12, 2019 at 6:51 pm
As an engineer, your grammar is terrible.
Martin
Nov 28, 2019 at 5:22 pm
But his comment is to the point;-)
No results lately,, just a drama on tour. Hope for better now but clubs are just clubs,
golfraven
Nov 24, 2019 at 5:01 pm
Hey, go easy on Duff. He is still recovering from his wife walking out on him. Not that she was a great asset but hey so is life at times.
John
Dec 2, 2019 at 12:34 pm
On his worst day he’d still beat you 10&8 playing one handed. As an engineer you must know this.