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The wedges the top short-game players on Tour are using

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What wedges are the PGA Tour’s best short-game players using?

To answer that, we have to define “best short game players.” We’ll use scrambling percentage from 2014-2015. The Tour defines scrambling as “The percent of time a player misses the green in regulation but still makes par or better.”

In this story, we’ll take a look at the specific wedges the five best scramblers from last season were using, as well as their scrambling percentages.

5. Jonathan Byrd

JByrd jbyrd2

Wedges: Callaway Mack Daddy 2 Tour Grind
Lofts: 54-11, 56-11 (bent to 58)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 Tour Issue
Scrambling percentage: 64.92

4. Jordan Spieth

spieth56 spieth60

Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM6
Lofts: 46-08 F Grind, 52-08 F Grind, 56-10 S Grind, 60-04 L Grind
Shafts: True Temper Project X 6.0
Scrambling percentage: 65.03

3. Steven Bowditch

Steven_Bowditch_50Steven_Bowditch_54 Steven_Bowditch_60

Wedges: Cleveland 588 Forged Custom
Lofts: 50-08 (two dot), 54-12 (two dot), 60-08 (one dot)
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro WV 125 (50), True Temper Project X 7.0 (54, 60)
Scrambling percentage: 65.19

2. Jason Day

Jason_Day_clubs_2015

Wedges: TaylorMade Tour Preferred EF
Lofts: 47-09 Tour Grind, 52 ATV Grind, 58 ATV Grind
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 Tour Issue
Scrambling percentage: 65.34

1. Chad Collins

collins1 collins2

Wedges: Fourteen MT28 V5 ForgedFourteen RM-12
Lofts: 48-06, 50-08, 56-08, 60 (RM-12)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S400
Scrambling percentage: 66.18

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24 Comments

24 Comments

  1. Dan F

    Dec 30, 2015 at 8:13 pm

    This looks like a True Temper endorsement.
    All but one of the wedges uses a TT shaft.

  2. SeanM

    Dec 30, 2015 at 6:00 pm

    As with the recent article on drivers, this shows the club brand is insignificant. Five top scramblers using 5 different companies. These 5 guys could use a garden rake and still be among the 5 best.

  3. Magnus

    Dec 30, 2015 at 5:54 pm

    Ie you can play almost any wedge you want as long as you find a fitter/club builder to make them fit your game.

  4. Lee

    Dec 30, 2015 at 5:38 pm

    What a total load of Bull Sh*t, the way the Pro’s have their wedges/clubs setup is so personal (forget the advertised so called loft/bounce/grind) that this forum will never have a clue.

    • Tom

      Dec 31, 2015 at 10:32 am

      I just p/u an L grind to my specs…I’m no pro.

    • KK

      Jan 3, 2016 at 11:24 pm

      A lot of the grind customizations are tweaked until they fit the eye and feel of the pros. Really can’t accurately describe them in a sentence or two so why complain about it?

  5. tiger168

    Dec 30, 2015 at 2:24 pm

    Most of them has custom grind and wieght and loft, thus, can’t take any face values of the stamps.

    Where is Michaelson’s?? Z. Johnson?? Stricker?? S. Garcia?? Oossie?? Are they “the top short-game players…” anymore??? Or they belong to “the Magicians…” category??

    I thought really hard about Tiger, and then… I back spaced….

  6. Justin

    Dec 29, 2015 at 9:58 pm

    interesting, do they use the high loft wedges — J. Bird? for bunker play. i have a similar set up – used 56* with high bounce to get out of deep bunkers.

  7. tom

    Dec 28, 2015 at 11:12 pm

    As good as these guys are they don’t need high bounce wedges. Neither do most amateur guys who have really good short games. Higher bounce was created for higher handicappers.

  8. DK

    Dec 28, 2015 at 1:21 pm

    So out of 16 wedges only 4 have a bounce of 10 degrees or higher, yet in the instruction forum all the ‘experts’ preach high bounce. WTF?

    • Matt

      Dec 28, 2015 at 1:49 pm

      You gotta remember that the fairways they play on are pretty durn tight! Lower bounce deflects better and won’t dig as much.

      • Callaway Guy

        Dec 28, 2015 at 2:57 pm

        That is 100% false information. Lower bounce wedges dig more…

      • alexdub

        Dec 28, 2015 at 3:51 pm

        Matt… high bounce = less dig. Low bounce = more dig.

        • Tom

          Dec 29, 2015 at 12:26 am

          depends on your am
          depends on your angle of attack.

    • Stephenj2891

      Dec 28, 2015 at 4:20 pm

      That’s because pros typically play courses with very tight fairways and especially around the greens. Most of them will use 12 degree opf bounce only on the sand wedges, so do I.

    • Crono

      Dec 30, 2015 at 12:04 pm

      Maybe, just maybe, because the PGA Tour guys are better golfers and have better short games than non pros?

    • David Ober

      Jan 1, 2016 at 6:01 pm

      Makes sense due to the firm fairways they play on week in and week out. In the summer at my club, I play wedges with plenty of bounce due to how wet we have to keep the course to keep the grass alive, and then in the winter, when our fairways and surrounds get firmer and tighter, I switch to lower bounce wedges.

  9. Casey

    Dec 28, 2015 at 1:02 pm

    So which ones of the top 5 are not endorsed by the company whose wedges they use?

    • Josh

      Dec 28, 2015 at 2:06 pm

      pretty sure Steven Bowditch is a TM tour player… the Cleveland wedges threw me off

  10. Benny

    Dec 28, 2015 at 12:59 pm

    Not only is it cool to see what brand they are playing but what loft and grinds. Do they play 4 or 3 wedge sets and how they break their lofts down. Just crazy to think these guys can get up and down 70% of the time. It’s probably much more often than this if you could remove their bad rounds that shouldn’t count but its their average so it has to be counted. Just shows why this site is better than all others. Thx WRX! 😉

  11. Justin

    Dec 28, 2015 at 12:07 pm

    Impressive that 5 different companies are represented

    • Ronald Montesano

      Dec 28, 2015 at 12:10 pm

      Precisely my thoughts…the secret is…find your own secret!!

    • West

      Dec 28, 2015 at 12:24 pm

      Wedges are virtually the same…Most important thing is to find the right loft and bounce/grind.

      • Jack

        Dec 31, 2015 at 1:50 am

        loft, bounce, and make sure that they are not all worn out.

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Whats in the Bag

Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)

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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

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)

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.

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Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?

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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 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.

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

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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.

 

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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

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