Equipment

33 Revealing Photos from The Players Championship

Published

9 years ago

May 7, 2015

Last week, GolfWRX was live from the LPGA North Texas Shootout, but we’re back on the PGA Tour this week for The Players Championship at the world-renowned TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course — where golf balls go to swim. All the big guns are in the tournament, including 50 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Rankings.

If you haven’t checked out our photos from this week, you can see them here. They’re awesome. But for now, let’s see what the photos showed us in this week’s edition of Revealing Photos.

Slippery grips? Rub ’em with a brick

Actually, it’s a manicure buffer. Keep the nails smooth and the grips tacky… tough to argue with practicality.

Furyk going super casual on the putting green

No hat, showing off the full scalp, wearing flip-flops and using what looks to be a Stimp meter as a training aid? I know you live nearby, but jeez Jimmy, you’re in public!

And what’s the word with your toe nails, man?

Jimmy Bones does know how to roll the rock with the Odyssey Versa #1 Wide (WBW), however, as seen during his win at the 2015 RBC Heritage where he made multiple clutch putts to claim his first victory in five years.

Show ’em the fist pump!

Here it is; this is what all the hype is about

Tiger and swing coach Chris Como appear to be working on his infamous release pattern. Maybe their working on “traj” and “release pattern” simultaneously?

This is GolfWRX, not National Geographic, but…

Is this Osprey flying around with half of a fish in his claws? Amazing (and gruesome) photo.

Fowler on the range cracking jokes

He even got his teacher Butch Harmon to laugh.

The star of this photo is the guy on the left, who truly epitomizes #BucketHatLife — hands in the pockets, pink shirt with the collar popped, casually laughing at a Rickie Fowler joke on the range of a PGA Tour event. Just living the Bucket Hat dream.

Odyssey’s new “Big T” putters spotted at The Players

And why they’re called “Big T,” I have no idea. That’s sarcasm, by the way.

See more photos of Odyssey’s new Big T putters in our forums.

Jason Day messing around hitting some shots lefty

Weight shift looks like it needs some work. Keep working on it.

OK. Getting to your right side a little better here. Something’s still off, so maybe you should switch back to righty for now?

Looks like you made decent contact based on the divot, and the release looks more balanced. You should switch back to righty now, though.

No? Still working on your lefty swing, huh? If we’re being honest, the move is getting there — a nice full finish. Well done. Seriously, can you go back to right-handed now? The Players Championship is this week. You’ve gotta tournament to prepare for.

NSFW (this photo gallery will end all work productivity)

Impeccable craftsmanship from T.P. Mills.

Bernhard Langer’s bag: like a true GolfWRXer

A collection of different clubs from different OEM’s, and just about all the wedges and irons are dripping in lead tape.

Luke Donald was testing new Mizuno Prototype drivers, fairway woods and irons

It looks as though Donald does have the new driver in play this week, but we have yet to confirm the fairway woods or irons. Regardless, Mizuno fanatics are surely licking their collective chops over these photos for the time being.

Justin Rose is testing a Callaway Mack Daddy PM Grind wedge

Then again, Rosey has probably tested every wedge on Tour by now. That’s commitment.

Mickelson is carrying three PM grind wedges (56-13, 60-10, 64-10)

And it looks as though he’s switched into Callaway’s new Apex MB irons from the Callaway X Forged ’13 irons this week — while still holding onto the 4-iron from his old set — he’s had in the bag in recent years.

Geoff Ogilvy’s putter has a nice patina

And by nice patina, I mean it’s probably been laying outside for last decade, has weathered hundreds of rain storms, and has never seen the inside of a head cover. Impressive.

A bag full of bent golf clubs?

Or Henrik Stenson’s bag of irons and wedges after a typical 18-hole round?

The DST Compressor training aids have been popping up everywhere in Tour bags of late. The slight bend helps players get the feeling of compressing the ball at impact.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hK_gcEfSW4

Stenson, on the other hand, has a tendency to compress the actual golf club itself.

Luckily this isn’t a minimum height for the actual tournament

Rory and Rickie may not have qualified.

#ReleaseTheKeegans

Please?

Keegs already took down Jimenez, now he’s going after Phil?

Calm it down, dude. You’re on a golf course.

Keegan and Phil are good friends, so this is obviously just an ill-timed photograph. Keegan recently addressed his scuffle, and admitted Jimenez “schooled” him.

Is this kid giving Spieth the cold shoulder?

He must be a Rory fan. I hear they’re rivals now.

The PGA Tour guys are so pampered

Us miserable hacks have to choose from white or yellow limited-flight range balls. That’s probably the only reason we’re not all out on Tour, too.

Looks like we’re not in Augusta anymore.

At The Masters, you can get Augusta National’s famous Pimento Cheese sandwich for the same price as a coffee at The Players. I mean, $12.50 for the Skinny Turkey Sandwich?

Charley Hoffman’s Titleist MB irons suffer from road rash

I’m not sure what the real explanation here is, but it looks like Hoffman’s iron got ran over by a car. Maybe he’s giving himself an excuse to put the new Titleist MB prototypes in the bag?

A good look at Spieth’s half interlock grip.

Just goes to show that there’s more than one way to skin a cat.

This is Robert Streb’s wedge.

I don’t even need to fact check this one. A Step Brothers quote in red writing on a Titleist SM5 wedge? He’s the king of the Step Brothers quote. Morgan Hoffmann has been dethroned.

Rickie Fowler’s Cobra Tour Trusty wedges are toe heavy

His wedges, much like his irons, have tungsten plugs in their toe to push the center of gravity away from the heel and add back some of the swing weight he loses by playing his clubs 0.25 inches shorter than Cobra’s standard.

I’d make a comment about this photo…

But I can’t figure out who’s bag it is. Oh well.

“Calls may be placed or received only in areas away from play”

…or during a crucial bunker shot on the 73rd hole in a three-way playoff. Either one.

Note: That’s a Jordan Spieth/Shell Houston Open joke for those that don’t keep up with Tour events.

Jordan Spieth starring as Daniel-son at The Players

The 21-year old 2015 Masters Champion is the Karate Kid of the PGA Tour. Get it?

Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth had “Non Splash Brothers” matching stampings in their bags on Wednesday

The Splash Brothers are the NBA’s Golden State Warriors duo of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson — known for making it rain, or “splash” from beyond the arc.

Making it “splash” in golf usually takes on a different meaning, like dunking a golf ball in the water. Nothing to celebrate there.

Upon clarification, the matching wedges were in the bags of Spieth and Thomas for their caddies to use in the caddie contest held at No. 17 (The Island Green). Obviously, neither caddie would want to splash the ball on that particular hole.

G-Mac is using a Cleveland prototype putter

Is that felt from a tennis ball on the face (surely it’s not, but that would be pretty cool, no?). Looks like McDowell may have finally ditched the Odyssey White Hot Mallet #7 prototype he’s had in the bag for years.

We’d show you some photos of K.J. Choi when he’s not working out on the range

But he’s never not working out on the range.

Webb Simpson on the range with a throwback hickory-shafted iron

“Hey, what’s this wooden thing?”

“It’s a putter right? You set up like this?”

Jerry Kelly’s Cleveland wedges are printed with $100 bills

Here’s a fun fact: With only three PGA Tour wins, Kelly has made over $26 million in career earnings.

Show me the money, Jerry.

PGA Tour caddies have a serious gripe with their treatment at Tour events

But with a caddie’s own reserved parking spot at The Players, maybe this isn’t the best week to hold a protest.

Your Reaction?

LIKE90
LEGIT3
WOW1
LOL4
IDHT1
FLOP2
OB0
SHANK6

Whats in the Bag

Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)

Published

7 hours ago

May 10, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Kevin Tway what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.

Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX

Check out more in-hand photos of Kevin Tway’s clubs here.

5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX

Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)

Check out more in-hand photos of Kevin Tway’s clubs here.

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)

Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4

More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.

Your Reaction?

LIKE0
LEGIT0
WOW0
LOL0
IDHT0
FLOP0
OB0
SHANK0

Equipment

Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?

Published

8 hours ago

May 10, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

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 timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?

Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.

When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.

To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.

Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.

“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.

“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”

Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.

Your Reaction?

LIKE0
LEGIT0
WOW0
LOL0
IDHT0
FLOP0
OB0
SHANK0

Equipment

Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird

Published

11 hours ago

May 10, 2024

Andrew Tursky

With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.

On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.

Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?

Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’

So that’s why I went back.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx)

OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?

It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.

Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.

It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.

Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.

Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.

So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?

Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.

Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play?

Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.

There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.

It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.

Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.

And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?

Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’

If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’

My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’

I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”

And you’re going with it this week?

Hundred percent.

Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week.

Thanks, man.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

Your Reaction?