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McIlroy to make equipment tweaks for U.S. Open

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This year’s U.S. Open could be one of the most intriguing of the USGA’s championships this decade, with Pinehurst’s redesigned No. 2 course playing nearly 7600 yards.

No. 2 will play very different than it did when it last held the U.S. Open nine years ago, however, with wider fairways and very little rough around its fairway and greens. That plays into the hands of U.S. Open favorite Rory McIlroy (8-to-1 at the time of publication), and will force many players including McIlroy to rethink their equipment makeups to best navigate one of famed course architect Donald Ross’ signature designs.

While McIlroy initially struggled with his transition to a Nike driver in 2013, he’s driving the ball as long and straight as he ever has since his change to the company’s Covert 2.0 Tour driver in late 2013, which GolfWRX selected as one of the best drivers of 2014 in its Gear Trials: Best Driver list. Throughout the year, he’s expressed how happy he is with the combination of that driver and Nike’s new RZN Black golf ball, calling it the best driver-ball combination that he’s ever used in his career, and his numbers back up those claims.

McIlroy is currently averaging 304.8 yards off the tee — 8th best on the PGA Tour — and is hitting more fairways than he did in his career-best season of 2012 in which he won four times on the PGA Tour including his second major championship title, the 2012 PGA Championship. With the Covert 2.0 Tour, his launch monitor statistics have also improved, as he’s launching the new driver almost a full degree higher and with more than 300 rpm less spin than he did in 2013, according to the PGA Tour’s statistics.

McIlroy told GolfWRX that he plans to play Pinehurst No. 2 more conservatively than he has majors in the past, however, to contend with the course’s firm and fast turtle-backed fairways and greens, which will funnel even the slightest mishits out of position and create awkward angles and touchy pitch shots that will test the field’s precision.

“I’m probably not going to go at a pin all week and hit it at the middle of the green every time,” McIlroy said. “Birdies will be at a premium, so you have to keep the big numbers off the card.”

To better combat the course’s length, McIlroy said he will change his iron and wedge composition. He’ll use his normal pitching wedge, a 47-degree Nike VR Forged, but remove his 52- and 56-degree wedges for a Nike VR Forged 54-degree. That gives him room in his bag to include a VR Pro Blade 3 iron in addition to the VR Pro Blade 4-through-9 irons that he’s used throughout the year.

McIlroy said he plans to use the 3 iron off the tee on a few of Pinehurst’s shorter par 4’s and might need to it reach the green on Pinehurst’s three longest par-3 holes, Nos. 6, 15 and 17, which will play between 202 and 219 yards, depending on how the USGA sets up the course.

When McIlroy won the European Tour’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth two weeks ago, he made another significant change to his bag, swapping his 59-degree VR Forged Dual Sole wedge for Nike’s radical-looking X3X Toe Sweep wedge, a design that removes nearly the entire heel portion of the wedge’s sole to make open-faced shots with the club easier to play. The club’s biggest advantage, McIlroy said, is that the grind limits the amount of friction on shots from the deep rough, allowing him to make cleaner, more predictable contact.

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Above: Rory McIlroy’s Nike X3X Toe Sweep wedge, photographed at the 2014 Memorial Tournament. 

“I knew going into Wentworth that any time I missed the green I was probably going to be in that deep rough,” McIlroy said. “And two weeks ago at Memorial, although I didn’t play as well as I would have liked, the Toe Sweep wedge was really helpful. It’s going to be a great tool for me on courses with deep rough going forward.”

Since there’s very little rough at Pinehurst No. 2, McIlroy will revert to his 59-degree Nike VR Pro Dual Sole wedge, which he said gives him a little more versatility on straight-faced shots on tight pitching surfaces, but even that wedge is slightly different than the model he used to win major championships in 2011 and 2012.

McIlroy played low-bounce wedges early in his professional career, but the time he has spent working with Nike’s wedge experts at the company’s R&D facility, The Oven, convinced him that he could get more performance from a model with more bounce, especially from the sand.

“I always stayed away from bounce, because I thought I didn’t need it,” McIlroy said. “But the [Nike wedge] has been much better out of bunkers.”

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Click here to see photos of the clubs McIlroy has used throughout the 2014 PGA Tour season.

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11 Comments

11 Comments

  1. Ronald Montesano

    Jun 11, 2014 at 7:42 am

    Not all of the greens are turtle-backed. Some are, especially the one John Daly twelve-putts. Ross blended a number of green types into this labor of love. Hopefully the viewing public will pay attention over the next two weeks.

  2. Ben

    Jun 9, 2014 at 4:28 pm

    This article brought to you by Nike Golf Inc.

  3. Ken

    Jun 9, 2014 at 1:30 pm

    Nice article from the Nike marketing team!

  4. MHendon

    Jun 9, 2014 at 11:40 am

    I wouldn’t think a single one of those par 3 lengths would be a 3 iron for Rory unless they’re into a strong wind and if he’s looking for a club to hold those Pinehurst greens from well over 200yds then why not consider a hybrid.

    • steve

      Jun 9, 2014 at 11:57 am

      Rory hits his long irons very high. Also he is not going to put a hybrid in the bag that he hasn’t had serious time with

    • Rep

      Jun 9, 2014 at 1:15 pm

      He’ saying he’s going to be play conservative. So I’m assuming that he’s going to be swinging smoother and easier rather than pummeling his irons. So, may be on a normal course he would use his 5 or 4 iron to the Par 3 distances here, but obviously he wants to hit more controlled shots in there smoothly.

      • Bean

        Jun 9, 2014 at 2:33 pm

        Conservative on club and shot selection, not swing mechanics. Less drivers, centers of greens, etc…

        • Andrew

          Jun 9, 2014 at 10:56 pm

          this. he even said a few years ago that he swings 100% on everything but wedges.

          • EZ

            Jun 10, 2014 at 3:29 am

            Obviously, he’s been advised against swinging 100% on everything, on account of his left knee being almost broken! So, the obvious choice to go for long clubs and swinging easy.

  5. ND Hickman

    Jun 9, 2014 at 10:43 am

    Should be interesting to see how well these changes work for him.

  6. Matt

    Jun 9, 2014 at 10:37 am

    I’d guess most guys will be tweaking their bag for Pinehurst. It’s going to be an interesting test. Can’t wait to watch it.

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Whats in the Bag

Chesson Hadley WITB 2024 (March)

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Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 70 TX

3-wood: Titleist TSR2+ (14.5 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX

Irons: Titleist T200 (3), Titleist 620 CB (4, 5), Titleist 620 MB (6-PW)
Shafts: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 105 X (3), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-PW)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60-K)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG 2-Ball
Grip: Odyssey

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Check out more in-hand photos Chesson Hadley’s clubs here.

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Whats in the Bag

Gary Woodland WITB 2024 (March)

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Driver: Cobra Darkspeed X (8 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TZ5 70 M5

  • The white circle that appears at the top of the face a removable sticker that’s used for launch monitor tracking, and Woodland removes it for competition!

3-wood: Cobra Darkspeed X (14 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TZ5 GW100 Prototype

7-wood: Cobra LTDx LS prototype (20 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TZ5 GW100 Prototype

Irons: Wilson Staff (18 degrees), Cobra King MB (4-PW)
Shafts: KBS Tour C-Taper Limited X

Wedges: Cobra SB (48), Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-08F, 56-14F), Cobra King (60)
Shafts: KBS Tour C-Taper Limited X (48 degrees), KBS Tour V-Ten 125

Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Tour 3.0P

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord

See more in-hand photos of Gary Woodland’s WITB in the forums.

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Equipment

Q&A: Martin Trainer on his Bobby Grace “Greg Chalmers” putter, 6.5-degree driver, and “butter knife” 2-iron

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As unbiasedly as I can put it, Martin Trainer has one of the coolest club setups in professional golf. (At some point soon, I’ll put together a top-10 list of “coolest club setups on Tour,” but I know that Trainer will be in the top-10)

What a lineup. He plays a 6.5-degree Wilson prototype driver, a 13-degree Wilson prototype 3-wood, a true blade Wilson Staff Model 2-iron, and a Bobby Grace “Greg Chalmers Commemorative” putter!

 

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A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx)

I mean, look at this 2-iron from address…

To quote the great author R.L. Stine: “Goosebumps.”

On Wednesday at the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open, I caught up with Trainer to learn more about his bag setup.

Here’s what he had to say:

You have the Internet going crazy over your bag setup, and your putter. Where’d you pick the Bobby Grace-Greg Chalmers putter up? How long have you had it?

MT: This was from when Bobby Grace came to my course in California: Cal Club. And for whatever reason, they just started having them in the shop. So then I took my buddy’s, started using it, and made, like, a million putts in a row, which is how every putter story begins, I guess.

And then, I bought a couple of my own, used it for years, got to the Tour with it, won on Tour with it (the 2019 Puerto Rico Open). Then, about a year later, started using another putter, did that for a couple years, but now it’s back in the bag.

When did it come back in the bag?

MT: December of this past year. So a few months ago.

What year would you say was the first time you threw that in the bag, or, like, when you bought it?

MT: God…Probably, 2016, maybe? 2018?

Do you remember how much you paid for it?

MT: I don’t know, actually. Maybe $100-150 bucks or something. I think that’s the only golf club I’ve bought between high school and now. Well, two, since I bought two of them.

The driver is interesting, too. What went into the prototyping process?

MT: That was a version of the current driver, but it was the prototype that they first came out with for Tour guys to try. And for whatever reason, I just never switched out to the new one.

It’s just 6.5 degrees, right?

MT: Yeah. Very low loft, yeah.

What kind of ball speed do you have with that these days?

MT: Like high 170’s.

Yeah, that’ll work. And then a 2-iron blade? We’re seeing fewer and fewer of those out here.

MT: Yeah. The butter knife.

Very cool thing to have in the bag. Have you done any testing with driving irons? 

MT: Yeah, I used to have a thicker one, but it was a little offset, and I never hit it that well. And then finally, I started messing around with the butter knife. And I remember the first time I looked down at it, I was terrified. And then I ended up getting used to it, putting it in play, and it’s been in place since. It’s a pretty good club for me.

How far do you carry that? 

MT: Like 235.

A good little wind club, I’m sure.

MTL Yeah, exactly. I can hit it very low. It’s great.

I love it. You have people shook looking at that. Thanks for the time, man. 

MT: Absolutely.

To see more photos and discussion of Trainer’s bag, click here.

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