Equipment
Brooks Koepka spotted with TaylorMade SIM driver in Abu Dhabi
When it comes to golf equipment, Brooks Koepka is a man who doesn’t change things unless he wants to. That’s the beautiful thing afforded to any golfer who is an equipment “free agent.” So, when the world’s number one golfer changes something in his golf bag, we take notice.
This week in Abu Dhabi, there were a couple of big changes to some favorite clubs for Koepka, who is coming back from season-ending knee surgery and playing for the first time since October 2019.
The first, and potentially most notable change, is a TaylorMade P790 long iron replacing the Nike Vapor Fly 3-iron that had been a staple in Koepka’s bag for the better part of four years. Four years is easily considered a long-term relationship for any club. He even switched full iron sets in that same time period—from Mizuno JPX 900 Tours to the 919 Tours—all while keeping the Nike in the bag. When talking to any professional, a full-scale iron change is on the biggest hurdles, but for Koepka, it appears to be less of an issue. There is one older model club that continues to have staying power, his Titleist Vokey SM4 TVD- L Grind 60 degrees.
The other big change relates to the driver. Brooks switched from the TaylorMade M5 to the all-new TaylorMade SIM standard model with adjustable front weight track. Although we don’t have a confirmation of specs yet from TaylorMade or Koepka himself, it appears as though it is shafted with his reliable and trusted Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 70TX.
Interestingly, even though this has been his go-to shaft and head combo for the past few years, he was spotted testing what looked to be a Fujikura Ventus along with the new Mizuno ST200g driver on the range before the event this week on the European Tour (see below). However, when the starter announced his name Thursday, the SIM was in the bag.
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Equipment
Why Rory McIlroy will likely use the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper at the RBC Heritage
Although we spotted Rory McIlroy testing the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper last week during practice rounds at the Masters, he ultimately didn’t decide to use the club in competition.
It seems that will change this week at the 2024 RBC Heritage, played at the short-and-tight Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head.
When asked on Wednesday following his morning Pro-Am if he’d be using the new, nostalgic BRNR Copper this week, McIlroy said, “I think so.”
“I like it,” McIlroy told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday regarding the BRNR. “This would be a good week for it.”
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According to Adrian Rietveld, the Senior Manager of Tour at TaylorMade, the BRNR Mini Driver can help McIlroy position himself properly off the tee at the tight layout.
Here’s what Rietveld told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday:
“For someone like Rory, who’s that long at the top end of the bag, and then you put him on a course like Harbour Town, it’s tough off the tee. It’s tight into the greens, and you have to put yourself in position off the tee to have a shot into the green. It kind of reminds me of Valderrama in Spain, where you can be in the fairway and have no shot into the green.
“I’m caddying for Tommy [Fleetwood] this week, so I was walking the course last night and looking at a few things. There’s just such a small margin for error. You can be standing in the fairway at 300 yards and have a shot, but at 320 you don’t. So if you don’t hit a perfect shot, you could be stuck behind a tree. And then if you’re back at 280, it might be a really tough shot into the small greens.
“So for Rory [with the BRNR], it’s a nice course-specific golf club for him. He’s got both shots with it; he can move it right-to-left or left-to-right. And the main thing about this club has been the accuracy and the dispersion with it. I mean, it’s been amazing for Tommy.
“This was the first event Tommy used a BRNR last year, and I remember talking to him about it, and he said he couldn’t wait to play it at Augusta next year. And he just never took it out of the bag because he’s so comfortable with it, and hitting it off the deck.
“So you look at Rory, and you want to have the tools working to your advantage out here, and the driver could hand-cuff him a bit with all of the shots you’d have to manufacture.”
So, although McIlroy might not be making a permanent switch into the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper, he’s likely to switch into it this week.
His version is lofted at 13.5 degrees, and equipped with a Fujikura Ventus Black 7X shaft.
See more photos of Rory testing the BRNR Mini here
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Equipment
Spotted: TaylorMade P-UDI driving iron
It seems like the RBC Heritage is full of new gear to be spotted, and you can add TaylorMade’s P-UDI utility irons to that list.
We spotted a 17-degree P-UDI 2-iron in Nick Dunlap’s bag yesterday, and now have some photos of both the 3- and 4-irons. Nick has his P-UDI 2-iron setup with a Project X HZRDUS Black 4th Gen 105g TX shaft.
From what we can tell, this new P-UDI utility iron looks to have some of the usual TaylorMade technology as we can see the Speed Slot on the sole of the club for additional face flexibility. A toe screw is usually used to close off the hollow body design that will probably be filled with a version of TaylorMade’s Speed Foam that is present in the current iron lineup. This hollow body, foam-filled design should offer additional ball speed, soft feel, and sound, as well as an optimized CG for ball flight.
“Forged” is etched into the hosel, so we can assume that either the face, body, or both are forged for a soft and responsive feel. The club looks good from behind and at address, where we can see just a little offset and a topline that I would consider medium thickness. We don’t have the full details on what is under the hood or how many loft options will be available yet.
TaylorMade P-UDI 3-iron – 20°
TaylorMade P-UDI 4-iron – 22°
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 RBC Heritage
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Whats in the Bag
Collin Morikawa WITB 2024 (April)
- Collin Morikawa what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage. More photos from the event here.
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 LS (9 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 60 TX (45 inches)
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (13.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 80 TX
5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 80 TX
Irons: TaylorMade P770 (4), P7MC (5-6), P730 (7-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Mid 115 X100 (4-6), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (7-PW)
Wedges: TaylorMade MG4 (50-SB09, 56-LB08), TaylorMade MG4 TW (60-TW11)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: TaylorMade TP Soto
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Tour 2.0
Grips: Golf Pride Z-Grip Cord
Ball: TaylorMade TP5x
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J Dawwwwwgggggg
Jan 16, 2020 at 10:32 pm
Mustve been a slow day at the office if this is worthy of an article.
Joe
Jan 16, 2020 at 4:01 pm
It says SIM Max in the picture
David Montgomery
Jan 16, 2020 at 5:56 pm
Definitely says SIM Max.
Joe
Jan 16, 2020 at 11:14 pm
Do we get a job at wrx since we can read? I’m interested if so lol love the site but good lord some of these guys can’t get some simple stuff correct. Like the fact you could tell Brooks has a Tensei white in the new 790 if you were watching the tournament
19_Majors
Jan 16, 2020 at 3:50 pm
The driver change is not “big news”. BK has switched to the newest Taylormade driver every single year since Nike exited the equipment business…
Wyatt Ramsey
Jan 16, 2020 at 2:58 pm
Is it 790p 3 iron or the UDI? He still rocking a 10.5 degree driver?