Equipment
Houston Open Tour Truck Report: Scott in Ventus Red, driving irons aplenty, Tommy’s custom putter
A new shaft for Adam Scott, longer drivers, gapping at the top of the bag, and more this week…
Titleist
Adam Scott: Testing a Titleist TSi4 (8 degrees) with a Fujikura Ventus Red 6 X shaft (46 inches).
Ping
Viktor Hovland: Testing a 47 and 48 inch G425 LST all with Project X HZURDUS Black RDX
- 45 3/4 gamer @ 8.7 degrees
- 47 @ 8.3 degrees
- 48 @ 7.8 loft degrees
Callaway
Francisco Molinari: Switching to Ventus Black 6 X in the driver shaft and 8 X in the 3-wood.
Dylan Frittelli: Two new X-Forged UT irons (18, 24 degrees). He also went down in loft to a 3+ to close the gap after going to a longer driver shaft a few weeks back
TaylorMade
Not a TM staffer, but longtime user Hideki Matsuyama put a SIM UDI 3-iron in the bag. The new chicken stick has a Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shaft and a custom grind off the back to reduce bounce for the tight Augusta National fairways.
Free Agents
Tommy Fleetwood: Testing a Ping G425 7-wood as well as a Custom Kia Ma Taylor Made Truss putter.
Shane Lowry: Put a High Lofted SIM max 3-wood in with a Project X Hulk 70G 6.5
Champions Tour
Freddie Couples switched into a bunch of new gear…
Ping G425 LST (9 degrees) with MCA Tensei AV Blue Raw 65 TX (45.25 length)
Ping I210 (3-PW) with Aerotech Steelfiber I110 X CW
He also tested Ping Glide 3.0 wedges (54WS, 58SS and 60SS) with Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts.
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Equipment
Rory McIlroy spotted testing a new TaylorMade “PROTO” 4-iron at the 2024 Valero Texas Open
Update, 5:30 p.m.: Regarding his prototype iron, McIlroy offered this in his pre-tournament press conference:
“Yeah, I went out, spent a couple of days with the TaylorMade guys at the Kingdom. Yeah, they just produced these couple of proto, I guess like are they the MC replacements maybe…
“They performed really well. It’s just as fast as the 760 that I was using. Launch is a little higher actually, which was surprising, and it’s just sometimes I felt like when I hit my 5-iron in the blade and then the 4-iron in the 760 it was such a different feel. To go from a 5-iron now to that 4-iron, it feels a little closer to what I feel in the 5-iron. So just a little bit more responsive, but didn’t lose any performance from it, which is great. Yeah, it will be in the bag this week.”
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Now just what do we have here?
On Wednesday at the 2024 Valero Texas Open, GolfWRX.com spotted Rory McIlroy testing a new, mysterious TaylorMade “PROTO” 4-iron.
Clearly, the 4-iron is a prototype, but since it doesn’t say “Rors Proto” or “RM” on it, then maybe it’s a prototype for an upcoming iron release from TaylorMade. Or, maybe it’s an upgrade for a previous or existing iron model from the company.
For reference, the photo below shows what McIlroy’s previous P760 4-iron looks like…
If the new prototype was an upgrade on the former P760 design, that would certainly be a large design departure, aesthetically speaking. It’s not impossible, but the new proto definitely looks significantly different.
McIlroy’s new proto – aesthetically, at least – looks more similar to TaylorMade’s P7MC irons, a model that Collin Morikawa uses for his 5 and 6-irons, as pictured below.
The new proto is also reminiscent of TaylorMade’s old P750 and P770 irons:
So what could McIlroy’s new TaylorMade “Proto” be? Is it a one-off prototype for McIlroy? Is it a re-design of an older model? Is it a harbinger of a bigger release in the future?
What is it?!
Unfortunately, TaylorMade hasn’t yet commented publicly on the prototype iron, so for now, we wait. And enjoy the photos of McIlroy testing it on Wednesday in San Antonio.
Here’s what it looks like from address…
And here’s what McIlroy’s numbers looked like while testing it on the range…
Uhh, yeah. Those are pretty good 4-iron numbers.
Will McIlroy make the switch into the new prototype 4-iron this week? That remains to be seen, but it should be noted that it was the only 4-iron in his bag on Wednesday.
*We’ll update this post as further information becomes available
See what GolfWRX members are saying about the TaylorMade “Proto” 4-iron here, plus more photos!
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Whats in the Bag
Raul Pereda WITB 2024 (April)
- Raul Pereda what’s in the bag accurate as of the Texas Children’s Houston Open. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Titleist TSR2 (10 degrees, B2 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD VF 5 X
3-wood: Titleist TSR3 (15 degrees, B1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD IZ 7 X
7-wood: Ping G430 Max (21 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD IZ 8 X
Irons: Titleist T150 (4), Titleist T100 (5-9)
Shafts: True Temper AMT Tour White X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (46-10F, 50-08F, 54-08M, 60-08M)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Odyssey 2-Ball Ten Tour Lined
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy
Grips: Golf Pride ZGrip Cord
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x+
Check out more in-hand photos of Raul Pereda’s clubs here.
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Whats in the Bag
Rickie Fowler WITB 2024 (April)
- Rickie Fowler what’s in the bag accurate as of the Valero Texas Open. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Cobra Darkspeed X (9 degrees @7)
Shaft: Project X Denali Black 70 TX
3-wood: Cobra Aerojet LS (14.5 degrees @13.5 degrees)
Shaft: Aldila Tour Green 75 TX
5-wood: Cobra LTDx LS (17.5 degrees @18.5)
Shaft: UST Mamiya LIN-Q White M40X 8F5
Irons: Cobra King Tour (4-PW)
Shafts: KBS Tour C-Taper 125 S+
Wedges: Cobra Snakebite (54, 56, 58 degrees)
Shafts: KBS Tour 610
Putter: Odyssey Versa Jailbird
Grip: SuperStroke Tour 3.0 17-inch
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Tack
Ball: TaylorMade TP5
Check out more in-hand photos of Rickie Fowler’s clubs here.
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Paulo
Nov 7, 2020 at 12:57 am
And it’s No, Nay, never
No, nay never no more
Will I play the wild rover
No never no more
Joshua
Nov 6, 2020 at 10:59 am
It also looks like Adam Scott has either a 5 wood or hybrid in the bag this week when he usually has that 3 iron TMB utility iron. Probably gearing up for the Masters next week. Good old Getty Images haha
Craig Fulsin
Nov 5, 2020 at 10:01 pm
Scott was 30-40 yards past DJ today, his new driver is ridiculous….DJ could just smile.
Thomas A Zanarini
Nov 6, 2020 at 9:28 am
I saw that drive. I assumed DJ mishit because Scott’s ball first landed where DJ’s rested.
josh
Nov 5, 2020 at 12:03 pm
no pics of Tommy’s putter?
Cody
Nov 5, 2020 at 10:35 am
Some sweet set ups there.. Love the idea of a 7 wood. Lots of good stuff here…Thanks
Jeremy
Nov 4, 2020 at 9:29 pm
Any chance Freddie becomes a Ping staffer?
John Wunder
Nov 4, 2020 at 9:45 pm
No. Never.
Paulo
Nov 5, 2020 at 9:04 am
Why not ?
Paulo
Nov 6, 2020 at 3:14 pm
No way never, no no