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#TigerTuesdays: Every 2-iron Tiger Woods has ever used

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A lot of golfers can hit the stinger, but when Tiger Woods was in his absolute prime there wasn’t a golfer on the planet that did it better. It’s part of the reason many still refer to the shot as “The Tiger Stinger” because of the way it took off and the trajectory it produced.

Beyond The Open Championship, the 2-iron has become a thing of the past in Tiger’s bag, and it has since been replaced with a much more user-friendly and versatile 5-wood. But over the years, Tiger used a number of different clubs to execute the shot. Here’s a look back at every 2-iron Tiger ever played.

Ping Eye 2 (1-iron )

Naturally, the very first 2-iron isn’t a two-iron at all, although the argument could be made about modern lofts and hotter club faces. During his junior career, Tiger used Ping Eye 2 irons and with that carried the matching 1 and 2 iron from the set. In this piece; History of the stingerTiger explains the origin of the club and how he learned to hit the now-famous shot.

Mizuno MP-29

5101543P BAY HILLS INVIT''L

Through college and leading up to his first Masters win, it is well documented that Tiger played a mixed set of Mizuno MP-29 and MP-14 irons split 2-4 (MP-29) and 5-PW (MP-14).

The MP-29’s were included in our Greatest Mizuno Blades of all time, and compared to the MP-14’s, offered lower offset to help with trajectory control.

Titleist 681 T

Once Tiger signed an equipment deal with Titleist he set to work to build his ideal set with their club maker Larry Bobka. The set became the Titleist 681 and the story behind them is quite fascinating: The real story behind Tiger’s 681T irons. This is right around the time the “stinger” started to gain real notoriety as Tiger used it to help rack up major wins.

To be fair, the shot featured in the video below isn’t a stinger, but it still makes for a great excuse to show Tiger hitting a 260-plus yard 2-iron.

Various Nike Blade 2-irons

Once Tiger made the switch to Nike equipment, things is his bag began to change, but the one constant was still a 2-iron and it came in many shapes and forms over the years. There were the original blades (pictured above) and then all of the following models including the VR TW and VR Pro Forged.

(VR Pro 3-iron pictured)

It was also with Nike that Tiger began to really experiment with 5-woods, which ultimately led him to make the permanent switch, with the first being the Nike T40, but as you will see next the 2-iron did go through a technology upgrade.

Nike VRS Cavity

I can’t imagine the team at Nike expected their most forgiving forged iron to end up in Tiger’s bag, but that’s exactly what happened when he decided to use the VRS Forged (from a spec note it was a black sole 3 iron bent to 2 iron loft). It was one of the only Nike cavity back irons that Tiger ever put into action.

TaylorMade UDI

When Tiger made the switch to TaylorMade, golfers got very excited to see what would eventually end up in his golf bag. He was experimenting a lot before settling since the above picture was taken at a clinic not long after he officially signed the deal, but the one club that stuck around was the UDI (Ultimate Driving Iron).

TaylorMade GapR LO

It was shorted lived, but a short life well lived, is better than no life lived at all – right?

It was the 2018 Open Championship at Carnoustie where Tiger Woods was spotted testing a TaylorMade GAPR LO long iron replacement. The GAPR series was available in HI, MID, and LO, and the one Tiger used was a tour only prototype with a fixed hosel compared to the eventual retail versions that offered adjustability.

TaylorMade P790

The Open Champion is where a number of OEM generally launch driving irons and 2019 was no different. The TaylorMade P790 UDI was launched and Tiger was spotted testing one early in the week at Royal Portrush. He had it in and out of his bag the remainder of the season but mostly stuck to his trusted 5-wood.

 

 

 

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Ryan Barath is a club-fitter & master club builder with more than 17 years of experience working with golfers of all skill levels, including PGA Tour players. He is the former Build Shop Manager & Social Media Coordinator for Modern Golf. He now works independently from his home shop and is a member of advisory panels to a select number of golf equipment manufacturers. You can find Ryan on Twitter and Instagram where he's always willing to chat golf, and share his passion for club building, course architecture and wedge grinding.

6 Comments

6 Comments

  1. Pingback: 2 Iron Golf Club - Golfible

  2. Pingback: 2 Iron Golf Club - Golfible

  3. Delbert

    May 20, 2020 at 12:46 pm

    Lord I wish I could still hit my Apex II 2 iron!

  4. Give it break please

    May 19, 2020 at 8:34 pm

    Wow another Daily Tiger Woods story ????

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Vince Carter WITB 2024 (March)

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