Equipment
That one time Tiger switched driver shafts and NOBODY noticed
It seems like pretty much everyone on the planet has an idea of what clubs Tiger has in play at any given moment. Especially now in the age of social media. However, his bag was still analyzed and tracked immensely from the beginning of his arrival on the golf scene. Point is, when the guy switches anything out, the world will know.
But did you know that, during the 2002 and into the 2003 season, he switched driver shafts? It was a pretty substantial switch too, but it fell completely under the radar. As a Tiger junkie myself, I noticed it, but in those days 1) The internet wasn’t what it is today and 2) I was bartending in Newport Beach and didn’t have access to info like I do today. So, it went in my Tiger vault…until now.
Always known to have a True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 shaft in his driver, Tiger and the Nike team wanted something a bit lighter, all while maintaining the stiffness profile of his X100.
We now introduce you to the 118-gram DGSLX100 Tiger Proto (a stock Dynamic Gold X100 shaft is 130 grams).
UNITED STATES – OCTOBER 28: Tiger Woods (Photo by Stan Badz/PGA)
A complete one-off made specifically for Tiger Woods. If you look at the pictures you will see an unfamiliar step pattern that starts off a bit wide towards the handle but gets progressively closer down towards the tip section. Basically, the step pattern (diameters) dropped lower to keep stiffness across the board.
“That’s the shaft we used to get him out of Titleist 975D and into Nike Blue 275cc driver in 2002.” – Anonymous Nike source
In theory, this was Tiger accepting the fact that he was going to have to get used to the feeling of a lighter shaft to begin the inevitable transition into graphite, which ultimately happened for good in 2004.
With the mystery of his bag completely gone these days with minute-to-minute reporting, I thought it kind of nice to still have a couple of nuggets to discover.
- LIKE127
- LEGIT25
- WOW21
- LOL14
- IDHT3
- FLOP4
- OB5
- SHANK62
- Rasmus Højgaard what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic.
Driver: Callaway Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Blue 60 TX
3-wood: Callaway Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Prototype (16.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX
Utility: Callaway Apex UW (21 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw White 85 TX
Irons: Callaway Apex Pro (3), Callaway X Forged (4-PW)
Shafts: KBS $-Taper 130
Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (52-10S, 56-10S, 60-06C)
Shafts: KBS Tour 130 X
Putter: Odyssey Ai One Milled Eight T DB
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Check out more in-hand photos of Hojgaard in the forums.
- LIKE2
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
- Rory McIlroy what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic.
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X
5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9 X
Irons: TaylorMade Proto (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9)
Shaft: Project X 7.0 (4-9)
Wedges: TaylorMade MG4 (46-09SB, 50-09SB, 54-11SB), Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks (58-K @59)
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46-54), Project X 6.5 Wedge (60)
Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour X3
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Pistol Tour
Ball: 2024 TaylorMade TP5x
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Check out more in-hand photos of Rory McIlroy’s WITB in the forums.
- LIKE2
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK1
Ping PLD putters have been a very common site on profesional tours. Pros seem to gravitate toward the PLD line’s custom options and precision milling. We have seen the PLD line expanded over the years, but we haven’t seen too many, if any, large mallets.
This week we spotted a PLD putter in Nate Lashley’s bag that has a similar look to the old Ping Wolverine head shape. This putter is a large mallet with the famous “claws” on the outside and oval center that housed the alignment aid.
Nick’s putter has the PLD logo on the back but also looks like it might have an insert installed on the face. It is hard to tell but at the address picture, it looks like the face is a lighter material than the rest of the putters. The putter is center-shafted and should be face-balanced with a high MOI for stability and forgiveness on mishits. The sole is completely milled and has no markings of name or technologies that might be present in the head. A single white site line is on the top of the putter for alignment.
Nick’s putter is finished off with a chrome steel shaft and a Super Stroke Zenergy Flatso 2.0 grip in black and white.
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Zurich Classic
- LIKE3
- LEGIT2
- WOW1
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB2
- SHANK2
-
19th Hole2 weeks agoDave Portnoy places monstrous outright bet for the 2024 Masters
-
19th Hole2 weeks agoTiger Woods arrives at 2024 Masters equipped with a putter that may surprise you
-
19th Hole2 days ago‘Absolutely crazy’ – Major champ lays into Patrick Cantlay over his decision on final hole of RBC Heritage
-
19th Hole2 days agoJustin Thomas on the equipment choice of Scottie Scheffler that he thinks is ‘weird’
-
19th Hole3 weeks agoReport: Tiger Woods has ‘eliminated sex’ in preparation for the 2024 Masters
-
19th Hole1 week agoTwo star names reportedly blanked Jon Rahm all week at the Masters
-
19th Hole1 week agoReport: LIV Golf identifies latest star name they hope to sign to breakaway tour
-
19th Hole1 week agoNeal Shipley presser ends in awkward fashion after reporter claims Tiger handed him note on 8th fairway
Ronaldleacy
Feb 20, 2020 at 7:42 pm
i recommend to visit new service for download instagram stories- https://dis.im
Dill Pickelson
Feb 18, 2020 at 7:31 am
I changed shafts last Thursday. I’ll check back in 2038 for you all to recollect.
dixiedoc
Feb 17, 2020 at 10:00 am
So much for the promoted fallacy that the public can play the same equipment as the pros.
Benny
Feb 16, 2020 at 4:59 pm
Great indo JW. Thanks for sharing and awesome comments fellas. Crazy!
MCoz
Feb 16, 2020 at 2:49 am
I noticed this back then. I reported it on another older golf site back then.
I was in LV at Butch Harman’s place at Rio Secco with he and Adam Scott. Butch told me about it and showed it to me. He had a duplicate set of TW’s clubs in his office. The stepdowns were closer together very similar to the old Rocket shafts of the 60’s/70’s. Butch wanted one for Adam Scott’s Titleist driver. True Temper insisted that TW give his okay for Scott to use one. At that time most had gone to graphite, but TW and AS continued to prefer steel, at least this shaft. Interestingly Scott seemed to hit a lot of drivers that drifted quite a bit to the right when I was with them.
MCoz
Feb 16, 2020 at 1:58 am
I can confirm this shaft. Butch Harmon told me about it and showed it to me. To everyone else it was just pushed off as an X-100 Dynamic. But in reality the stepdowns were more similar to the old Rocket shafts of the 60’s/70’s. I reported it on another old golf site about 15 yrs ago. Butch introduced me to Adam Scott in LV at that time. it was just the three of us and Adam was hitting his Titleist driver with that same “tiger” driver shaft. Butch told me that True Temper insisted that TW gave the okay for them to get that shaft for Adam Scott to use.
Mike Honcho
Feb 17, 2020 at 5:32 am
True story MCoz. I remember like it was yesterday! Tiger asked me if he should let Adam use it. I said to Tiger “who cares bro?” but we all know Tiger, ever the competitor, lol. Who really knows what the golf world would be like if it wasnt for me convincing Tiger to let Adam put it in play. So, Tiger threw me his phone and called True Temper to give the ok. Tiger and I still laugh about it to this day.
Ahh the good ol’ days..
Mike Honcho
Feb 17, 2020 at 6:00 am
True story MCoz. I remember it like it was yesterday. Tiger was asking me if he should let Adam try the shaft out and I said “sure, why not” so Tiger threw me his phone and I called True Temper and told them it was ok. Tiger and I laugh about that to this day. I can’t remember what we did after that. We may have went car shopping or something. Those were the good ol’ days!
TacklingDummy
Feb 16, 2020 at 1:00 am
Tiger has switch driver shafts many times the last few years. He was using a Graphite Design Tour AD DI, Tensi shaft, and probably several others. However, he keeps going back to the Diamana Whiteboard.
Christopher
Feb 15, 2020 at 7:47 pm
I think a lot of WRXers remember this, but I can’t remember if this one was linked to MacGregor, wasn’t there a steel shaft pulled or designed for one of their clubs?
Bruce
Feb 15, 2020 at 4:58 pm
One has to wonder if True Temper went ahead and marketed the DG 118g, or even a 105g steel. But then, I guess the writing on the wall with graphite.
Jo
Feb 15, 2020 at 3:15 pm
A lot of people noticed this.
Ty Webb
Feb 15, 2020 at 11:52 am
Other Nike staffers had that shaft in play to mostly in fairway woods. I personally built a Sonartec 3 wood for a staffer with that shaft.
Jbone
Feb 15, 2020 at 10:52 am
USGA and R&A clowns should reduce the head size and not mess with the ball. The 975J or D would be a good size to revert back to
Bacon Pants
Feb 15, 2020 at 6:22 pm
Not disputing your idea but these guys can still hit strong lofted 3 woods over 300 yards so IMO it wouldn’t do a whole lot just shrinking driver head size
Jbone
Feb 16, 2020 at 8:47 am
Maybe the elite distance guys get it out there 300 but not many. Crank the loft down and that size head gets a lot less forgiving.