Equipment
GolfWRX Insider: Viktor Hovland dials in his Ping i210 irons
The best players in the world are at “Jack’s place” this week, and coming into the Memorial very few players are as hot as Viktor Hovland. With top 25 finishes in every event since the return to play and a solo third last week at the Workday Charity Open, the Oklahoma State Cowboy is on the cusp of a win—maybe even multiple wins fast—if this pace keeps up.
However, the tweaking never stops on tour. This week, Viktor was looking for a “bit more height” and “a bit more” spin without sacrificing any distance. That means “I want to hit this i210 7-iron 174 yards, with this shaft, and this loft, BUT I want a bit more height and a bit more spin.” Not a ton of areas for adjustment in that scenario. So you want it to spin more, go a bit higher, but we can’t change anything? OK. Challenge accepted.
Why? is probably your next question. I mean, the guy is red hot.
The fact that he is red hot is the reason. In this case, with as well as Hovland is hitting the ball, he feels like new opportunities (i.e. birdies) could become possible if the ball could stop a little quicker when it hits the green. Crazy how dialed these guys get. He’s hitting it so well that the ball stopping even two feet quicker is the difference between 17 and 20 under.
For Ping tour rep Kenton Oates, this ask requires some serious savvy. Viktor is a shallow path “picker” of the golf ball. Not only does he not put a ton of spin on the ball, but he also doesn’t interact with the ground all that much. It’s in that turf interaction (or lack thereof) that Kenton found the answer.
“Viktor came to us wanting to add a slight about of height and spin. We discussed our options and decided to try to get the club into the ground more to create more height was the best option as we were not too keen on changing major variables (length, shaft, or loft).
“Our hope was he would see an increase in launch and spin due to the reduced bounce/camber of the sole (four degrees of bounce taken from each iron) and after testing for a few hours on TrackMan, that is exactly what happened (gained approx 1 deg launch 150-250 mph of spin and a 1.5-2 [degree] steeper landing angle) and an added bonus it improved the feel of the irons for Viktor giving him even more confidence.“
These guys are so good.
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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 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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- Akshay Bhatia what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. Bhatia is deciding between drivers. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Callaway Rogue ST Max LS (9 degrees @7.2, 2 grams lead tape heel, 4 grams toe)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X (44 7/8 inches, tipped 1 inch)
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max D (9 degrees @7)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max (15 degrees @13.9)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X (43 inches, tipped 1.5)
Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW Prototype (19 degrees @17.8)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 10 X
Irons: Callaway X Forged UT (21 degrees) Buy here, Callaway Apex TCB Raw (5-PW)
Shafts: KBS $-Taper 125 S+
Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (50-10S @49, 54-10S, 60-08C @61)
Shafts: KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 135 X
Putter: Odyssey Versa Jailbird 380
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Split
Grips: Iomic
Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour
More photos of Akshay Bhatia’s WITB in the forums.
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- Emiliano Grillo what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (9 degrees @10)
Shaft: Project X Denali Blue 60 TX
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (15 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Blue RDX 70 TX
5-wood: Cobra LTDx Prototype (18.5 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Blue RDX 70 TX
Irons: Callaway Apex TCB (4-9)
Shafts: Project X 6.5
Wedges: Callaway MD3 Milled (46-08S), Callaway Jaws Raw (50-10S, 54-10S, 60-08T)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Flatso 1.0
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Check out more in-hand photos of Emiliano Grillo’s clubs here.
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Chuck
Jul 16, 2020 at 10:54 pm
That is an astonishing number; removing 4 degrees of bounce. That has to have been fully half, of more, of the total bounce angle per each iron. And what; it was ground off like working with wedges? What happened to all of that swingweight?
I am not doubting what was done; I am just wondering about the explanation of it.
KO
Jul 17, 2020 at 8:35 pm
Hand ground each head. About 80% of longest iron down to about 33% of pw. Head weight easily restored with CTP weight in back cavity.
Hope this helps
jgpl001
Jul 16, 2020 at 6:08 am
I can believe there is 4 deg bounce taken off these soles?
The soles are clean, but wow they are wideee
Personally, as a sweeper and picker of the ball the soles I would have a mental block looking at the width of these, you could land a 747 on them…
Still great article and insight on how these great players think and work, more of these articles please
Nick
Jul 16, 2020 at 3:36 pm
I feel the same way. I’m a picker and I have a hard time playing the I series. I had i25s and went into the i500 because of the thinner sole as I could actually take a divot and get better numbers
Evan
Jul 16, 2020 at 5:39 am
Why would less bounce = higher launch and spin?
Dave
Jul 16, 2020 at 6:37 am
Evan – the ball will usually strike the face a touch higher with less bounce, popping the ball up a bit more. With the club going into the ground a bit steeper the ball will likely stay on the face a bit longer too, getting that extra friction and spin.
Evan
Jul 16, 2020 at 5:36 pm
Thanks, that makes sense.
matt
Jul 16, 2020 at 9:41 am
it shouldn’t. yes it should increase launch, because the club is sliding lower under the ball. Impact (or exit point)will come a bit higher on the face due to more skidding up the face. This will reduce spin though. Something else was going on in that fitting. Less bounce almost always equals higher launch and less spin
I’d also say I think playing with turf interaction is a pretty massive variable..
Karsten's Ghost
Jul 16, 2020 at 5:31 am
Now THAT is a classy looking iron.
Maybe you can order them “Hovland-style” from PingWRX?
Josh
Jul 15, 2020 at 9:31 pm
Pretty clean soles (ie no iron #) now that they ground the bounce off. Nice touch adding the iron # on backside of each club.