Equipment
WRX Insider: Top 5 equipment stories at the PGA Championship
This week at Harding Park had a few key stories to track from a WITB standpoint. Some were huge, some were subtle. All are interesting.
Here are the top five equipment stories from the PGA Championship.
#5. Fleetwood goes to Ventus
Tommy Fleetwood has one of the most eclectic bags on Tour. The Englishman is the epitome of finding the right 14 sticks no matter what. This week at Harding Park, he made what I would call a pretty substantial change to his driver set up. Being a player that has trusted the Mitsubishi Kuro Kage XTS 70 TX for a while now, Tommy not only switched shafts but switched companies going into the ever-popular Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X.
According to my source, Tommy was fighting a left miss with the normal setup and was searching for a way to stabilize the head a bit. The Ventus not only helped that but also kicked up the ball speed a touch. Obviously it helped, at the time this article was written he was two back of the leaders having put on a ballstriking display with a Friday 64.
#4. Fleetwood swaps in TM Proto 4 and 5-irons
Tommy also swapped out his Srixon Z785 4 and 5-irons for two TaylorMade prototypes. The switch was in an effort to bridge the gap between his 5-wood and 4-iron. In past weeks, he had tested a TaylorMade SIM Max 4 Rescue. The switch required him to strengthen his 5-iron to gap properly, but ultimately that recipe wasn’t the right fit.
#3. Koepka goes back to his M5
If anything has been holding Brooks Koepka back this year, it has been his driver. Notoriously an intimidating player off the tee (especially on tough golf courses), Koepka had been struggling in 2020.
He started the season with SIM Max and quickly swapped that for the Callaway Mavrik he used up until early this week. According to my source, BK liked the ball speed and feel from the Callaway but felt going back to the M5 he used in 2019 put him back in a comfortable pocket, and as you can see, he is right at the top of the leaderboard again.
Another interesting nugget is the M5 switch required no tweaks, straight into the bag. When no wrenching is needed, you know that club is dialed.
Koepka has also gone back to his trusty Nike Vapor Pro 3-iron. Previously, BK had the TaylorMade P790 UDI in play, but this return comes as no surprise—that particular club draws strong affections from certain players, namely Koepka and Tony Finau.
#2. DJ lands on a 7-wood
Height, spin, and gapping have become a huge theme in the past weeks—especially in that no man’s land between 3-wood and 5-iron. Dustin Johnson is a player who is not afraid to experiment, and he has checked off every possible box.
At any given point this year he has had a 3-iron, 4-hybrid, utility, and now a 7-wood. Although these changes will be course-specific, the trend I’m seeing is players are looking for spin and versatility wherever they can find it. Most clubs in that range tend to be low spin, so if there is a way to find 400-500 RPMs flying out of the same window, its a bonus.
#1. Tiger ditches the “Elder Wand” (it won’t last)
At this point, I think the story even made it to CNN. When Tiger switches anything its world news, especially his trusty Scotty Cameron. In this case, he moved into a Scotty Cameron “Timeless Prototype,” which is a lead into the 2020 Studio Select collection at retail.
Two things going on here
- Ability to manipulate head weight to match up with green speed. Tiger’s gamer is, by today’s standards light at 327 grams. This experiment allows him to add subtract weight out of the head via weight ports in the sole.
- Added length to take the pressure off his back. Not the first time a player has done this. Freddy Couples, Rocco Mediate, and many others have gone to longer putters to encourage more upright posture.
At posting time, Tiger putted it all over the place on Friday, so although this switch is newsworthy, it won’t last. He’s just putting the Elder Wand in the reflection chair as I do with my kids.
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Equipment
Jason Day on his recent switch into Srixon ZX5 and ZX7 MK II irons
Over the past year, equipment free agent Jason Day has played a number of different iron sets looking for his right match.
In May 2023, he was using a TaylorMade P770 4-iron to go along with a set of P7MC irons (5-PW).
In August 2023, he had switched to a set of TaylorMade P7TW irons (5-PW) to go with his P770 4-iron.
Then, in February 2024, he was into a full set of P760 irons (4-PW).
Now, Day has switched it all the way up, and he’s currently using a new set of Srixon ZX5 MK II long irons (3 and 4), and Srixon ZX7 MK II mid-to-short irons (5-PW).
On Tuesday at the 2024 RBC Heritage, Day told GolfWRX.com that he made the switch before the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open, because he was looking to reduce spin.
“For me, they spin a little bit less,” Day said. “They’re very good out of fairway bunkers, too. I haven’t played too much in the rough yet, so I still need to get an understanding of how the come out of the rough, but for me, it was all about spin control.”
“I had tested the previous model to these [Srixon ZX7’s], but I only had one club. And I was getting some inconsistent spinny with my previous irons, so I just decided to at least give them another shot. My biggest thing was to take spin off, because I was spinning it like crazy.”
The Srixon ZX7 MK II irons are known for producing low spin numbers, and pairing them with Day’s typical ultra-stiff True Temper X7 shafts make them certified spin killers.
If it’s spin he wanted to reduce, then Day may have found his match with the new Srixon irons.
See what else Day has in the bag at the 2024 RBC Heritage here
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Whats in the Bag
Jason Day WITB 2024 (April)
- Jason Day what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage.
Driver: Ping G430 LST (9 degrees @10)
Shaft: TPT Driver 15 Lo
3-wood: TaylorMade SIM Max (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Kuro Kage 80 X
7-wood: TaylorMade Stealth (21 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Kuro Kage 80 X
Irons: Srixon ZX5 Mk II (3, 4), Srixon ZX7 Mk II (5-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X Seven
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-08F, 56-10S, 60-04T), Cleveland RTX 6 ZipCore Tour Rack (56-10 MID, 52-10 MID)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X Seven
Putter: TaylorMade Itsy Bitsy Spider Limited
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
Ball: Bridgestone Tour B X (with Mindset)
Check out more in-hand photos of Jason Day’s WITB here.
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Whats in the Bag
Ludvig Åberg WITB 2024 (April)
- Ludvig Åberg what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage.
Driver: Titleist TSR2 (9 degrees, D4 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 X
5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 X
7-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 9 X
Irons: Titleist 718 TMB (2), Titleist T200 (2), Titleist T100 (4-PW)
Shafts: KBS Tour Hybrid 105 X (2), KBS Tour 130 X
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (50-08F, 54-10S, 60-08M, 60-04T), WedgeWorks Proto (60-10V)
Shafts: KBS Tour 130 X
Putter: Odyssey White Hot Versa #1
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Check out more in-hand photos of Ludvig Aberg’s clubs in the forums.
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RJH
Aug 9, 2020 at 1:05 pm
Tommy changed from z785 long irons not z765.
Micela Simpliciano Medina
Aug 9, 2020 at 11:01 am
You put the Elder wand in your kids?
Benny
Aug 8, 2020 at 4:19 pm
Seriously Tiger comes into 2020’s first major with a new Tour Scotty and says its his back?
Give me a break. This is all about marketing and for the best thing that ever happenned to Scotty Cameron…. Tiger Woods!
Jj
Aug 8, 2020 at 5:35 pm
And during an election year!