Equipment
The biggest switch Justin Rose made this week…that no one will notice
Gold medal and a 99. Justin Rose has been in a 2017 TaylorMade TP ball with that stamping (or version) for almost five years. In following this compelling equipment story closely, I started to realize that there are certain markers to look at when a player like Rose switches anything.
Let’s be really clear here, besides Tiger Woods, there is no one on tour as in-tune with his equipment as Rose. I have had conversations with those who work with Rose, and the stories are very Tiger-like. Noticing minor grip size differences, RPM rates in the minutia, wedge flight windows down to the foot. It’s nuts. The reps on tour earn every nickel of their pay when they get a club in Rosey’s bag.
So here we are, the rumors of the switch are all over the place, speculation of the why and how is running wild. Let’s forget about the business side and just deal with the gear for a minute.
Knowing Justin’s equipment as I do, I know that there are things to track when big changes happen. In this case, I noticed new iron shafts, significantly different iron shafts. KBS C-Taper 130X to a Project X 6.5 in 4-PW, 52, and 56.
This tells me two things: He is trying to find controllable spin, and a golf ball switch might be going down.
Being the golf junkie that I am, I watched intently this morning to see if there was a close up of his golf ball. Low and behold, BOOM. As he stood up to his 5-wood chip off of the green I saw exactly what I was looking for: A 2019 TaylorMade TP5 ball.
As I mentioned before, I know exactly how hard it is to get anything in and out of Rose’s bag, let alone his security blanket. The 2017 TP ball is one he ascended to No. 1 with, won a gold medal, and for a good while, was arguably the best iron player in the game (until TW checked back in).
Justin Rose is a player who narrows ball performance down to the difference between a 10-footer and a 6-footer. It’s not a distance thing or even a wind thing. It’s down to his ability to shape all of his shots into a 6-foot bucket. Point is, the ball he had was doing that for him, so to switch into the TP5 ‘19 suggests that it’s not only better, but this ball—in combo with the new irons, shafts, etc.—Rose has found something that feels like home…but only better.
In this case, beyond ball speed increases across the bag (by nature of the new tech), my hunch tells me that he is cutting spin on mishits to tighten dispersion.
We have yet to hear from anyone on the ground or involved with his testing, so stay tuned to see what transpires, but this is the biggest switch he is making in my opinion.
Justin Rose WITB
Driver: TaylorMade SIM (10.5 degrees @ 8.5)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Kuro Kage XTS 70 TX
3-wood: TaylorMade SIM Max (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Kuro Kage XTS 80 TX
5-wood: Cobra SpeedZone Tour (16.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 X
Irons: TaylorMade P730 (4-PW)
Shafts: Project X 6.5
Wedges: TaylorMade MG2 (52, 56 degrees), Titleist Vokey Design Prototype K Grind (60 degrees)
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (52, 56), Proto Hi-Rev 135X (60)
Putter: Axis1 Rose
Grip: Flat Cat Svelte
Ball: TaylorMade TP5 ‘19 (No. 1)
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- 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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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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Pw
Mar 7, 2020 at 10:22 pm
Decent article until you said he was arguably the best player in the world until TW checked back in…. that’s hilarious.
Benny
Mar 7, 2020 at 7:40 am
Mr Coz is onto something. Peter Kostas tweeted PXG and Honma let go their players due to poor results. Not sure if this is true but when these outside OEM’s want to grow they need hungry players ready to fight tooth and nail. Maybe JR was let go from bad play after the first year?
Petercybulskipp
Mar 6, 2020 at 1:12 pm
Is this not just another TM fluff piece?
Matt
Mar 6, 2020 at 10:43 am
If he’s this particular about his equipment it makes one wonder why he would sign a big multi-club contract with a company like Honma that would seem to lack the resources necessary to meet his expectations. I’m honestly shocked there aren’t a lot more equipment free agents on tour, especially those who have plenty of money made and are particular about their equipment.
Tom Newsted
Mar 6, 2020 at 7:16 am
I do find it interesting that Honma got kicked out so quickly. This is clearly not a sponsorship issue but an issue of Justin wanting the absolute best tools for his game. I just wish I could be as exacting as he is and be able to tell the difference between spin rates and feel. Then again that is one of the reasons he gets paid to play and I still pay to play. The only thing I can say about his gear is those Project X shafts are the same shafts I play and they are fantastic.
bobbygolf
Mar 6, 2020 at 5:32 am
The difference is so minute it’s more about confidence and what’s going on in his head. I’d like to see a placebo test where the new ball is marked as the old one and vice versa and due to the many factors involved during play, he wouldn’t know the difference.
Kerk
Mar 6, 2020 at 2:06 am
Honma bits the dust…overpriced anyway….
Nate
Mar 5, 2020 at 7:13 pm
My hunch, project x spin a little more than c-taper for me = 2019 tp5 spin less and he is just trying to keep the same.
Curious
Mar 5, 2020 at 3:57 pm
Why does he have a 15 degree 3 wood and a 16 degree 5 wood?
James
Mar 5, 2020 at 3:32 pm
When is Adam Scott’s 2015 Pro V1 going to be talked about?
Jafar
Mar 5, 2020 at 2:14 pm
Nice to see the KuroKages, they work really well in fairways
William Boulton
Mar 5, 2020 at 1:42 pm
What happened to his contract with Honma?
Was it 1 or 2 years?
M.Coz
Mar 6, 2020 at 4:10 am
It is believed that he broke the contract as in mot complying with the agreement which likely just severed him from any monies that he was supposed to be paid. He may have to pay some back if he was paid in advance in some way. Sergio did something similar with Callaway. His problem started with the Callaway ball which went thru some very bad problems with inconsistencies in it’s manufacture some of which became public. As a producer they couldn’t deny the issue and Sergio was able to move on from the ball he was originally hired to promote. how his club deal disappeared could have had something to do with that. Apparently Callaway let me leave without any fighting. Interestingly these two guys 10 years ago was the backbone to the TaylorMade staff and they have both left within a short time of each other and then both backed out of the their next equipment deals in less than 6 months of each other.