Equipment
12 Revealing photos from the RBC Heritage and Lotte Championship
GolfWRX was live this week from the 2016 RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island, and we also had contributing photos (thanks tod071!) from the LPGA Lotte Championship at Ko Olina Golf Club on the Island of Oahu.
Make sure to catch up on all of the photos in the links below:
From South Carolina to Hawaii, GolfWRX was living the island life this week and providing some amazing photos from both the PGA and LPGA tours. Let’s throw those shaka fingas up and reveal some photos.
Jason Day’s preshot routine, gone awry
It appears that Jason Day’s preshot routine, featuring intense and long-lasting visualization, is sweeping the LPGA Tour. Except something tells me some of these ladies aren’t doing it right.
You’re not supposed to shut your eyes the entire round!
Ground control to Major Tom
Bryson DeChambeau working on the Air Traffic Controller drill to keep his head steady.
Looks about right.
The putter seen round the world
Surprisingly, Ernie Els is sticking with the same putter he used in his Masters 6-putt ordeal. Hank Haney was calling for him to putt lefty in his second round, so the fact he isn’t changing it up shows some gumption.
We can joke all we want, but that took guts from Ernie to not only continue playing, but actually taking a run at making the cut.
Those yips will forever give me nightmares, however.
Sea Pines vs. The Masters
Are the people at Sea Pines Montessori Academy trying to tell me their Pimento Cheese sandwich is $2.50 better than The Masters famous Pimento Cheese sandwich?! Blasphemous!
Actually, maybe they’re right.
The real Tour sauce
You don’t know Tour sauce until you literally have a graphic of pasta sauce on your golf bag.
Stayin fly on the links
Take notes, boys. This caddie rocking Baltimore Orioles’ mid socks and Nike Kyrie 2‘s in the White/Urban Lilac/Bright Mango/Hyper Jade colorway is how you bring the heat.
Michelle Wie has some decent kick game at the LPGA Lotte, as well. And her putting stance is looking more and more like Jack Nicklaus’ by the day.
She just needs to start wearing her glove.
Bro-in’ Out
Bro.
I don’t know what’s more chill, a man bun or 80 pounds of ice.
Tyga may have brought snapbacks back to the world, but Harris English is bringing cord hats back to golf. Nice lid, bro.
Bringing back the old style, I dig it.
LPGA Headcovers
PGA Tour players have some interesting head covers, like Tiger’s and whatnot. But the ladies on the LPGA Tour really go all out.
Check out the gallery below of awesome head covers, and some interesting club setups, too.
Is that a Callaway Steelhead X-14 iron? You can buy one here for $50… not one iron, the entire set!
Swag daddy
Someone smack me the next time they see me at golf course and I’m not wearing rainbow Skechers and skull socks, equipped with a ball retriever. Go hard or go home.
All corded up
Check out Jim Herman’s SuperStroke prototype cord grips.
So that’s how he held onto the lead so tight at the Shell Houston Open.
Harbour Town Golf Links
The course is diabolically tight off most of the tees.
But it’s an undeniably gorgeous track.
And I can’t remember the last time I saw someone make par on the par-3 17th (pictured below). I recall Jim Furyk making birdie last year in a playoff to win, but it seems as though everyone else just makes bogey or worse.
Zach Johnson’s PXG wedge is awesome
Wait. Why does Z. Johnson have Florida-Gators colored headcovers?
Wait. That’s not Zach Johnson’s bag.
Turns out Billy Horschel is playing Z. Johnson’s wedge? #PXGTroops stick together, including sharing weapons of mass par saves, apparently.
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Equipment
Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (4/18/24): Ping PLD Limited Anser – 1988 Open Championship – #2 of only 88 Made
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a Ping PLD Limited Anser – 1988 Open Championship – #2 of only 88 Made.
From the seller: (@DLong72): “Ping PLD Limited Anser – 1988 Open Championship – #2 of only 88 Made. ?: $1150. ?? 100% milled collectors item from the limited releases commemorating when Ping putters won every major in 1988 (88 putters made). This was the model Seve Ballesteros used to win the 1988 Open Championship. Condition is brand new, never gamed, everything is in the original packaging as it came. Putter features the iconic sound slot.
Specs/ Additional Details
-100% Milled, Aluminum/Bronze Alloy (310g)
-Original Anser Design
-PING PP58 Grip
-Putter is built to standard specs.”
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: Ping PLD Limited Anser – 1988 Open Championship – #2 of only 88 Made
This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules
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Equipment
Inside Collin Morikawa’s recent golf ball, driver, 3-wood, and “Proto” iron changes
As you probably know by now, Collin Morikawa switched putters after the first round of The Masters, and he ultimately went on to finish T3.
The putter was far from the only change he made last week, however, and his bag is continuing to change this week at the 2024 RBC Heritage.
On the range of The Masters, Morikawa worked closely with Adrian Reitveld, TaylorMade’s Senior Manager of Tour at TaylorMade, to find the perfect driver and 3-wood setups.
Morikawa started off 2024 by switching into TaylorMade’s Qi10 Max driver, but since went back to his faithful TaylorMade SIM – yes, the original SIM from 2020. Somehow, some way, it seems Morikawa always ends up back in that driver, which he used to win the 2020 PGA Championship, and the 2021 Open Championship.
At The Masters, however, Rietveld said the duo found the driver head that allowed “zero compromise” on Morikawa’s preferred fade flight and spin. To match his preferences, they landed on a TaylorMade Qi10 LS 9-degree head, and the lie angle is a touch flatter than his former SIM.
“It’s faster than his gamer, and I think what we found is it fits his desired shot shape, with zero compromise” Rietveld told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the RBC Heritage.
Then, to replace his former SIM rocket 3-wood, Morikawa decided to switch into the TaylorMade Qi10 core model 13.5-degree rocket head, with an adjustable hosel.
“He likes the spin characteristics of that head,” Rietveld said. “Now he’s interesting because with Collin, you can turn up at a tournament, and you look at his 3-wood, and he’s changed the setting. One day there’s more loft on it, one day there’s less loft on it. He’s that type of guy. He’s not scared to use the adjustability of the club.
“And I think he felt our titanium head didn’t spin as low as his original SIM. So we did some work with the other head, just because he liked the feel of it. It was a little high launching, so we fit him into something with less loft. It’s a naughty little piece of equipment.”
In addition to the driver and fairway wood changes, Morikawa also debuted his new “MySymbol” jersey No. 5 TP5x golf ball at The Masters. Morikawa’s choice of symbols is likely tied to his love of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team.
Not enough changes for you? There’s one more.
On Wednesday at the 2024 RBC Heritage, Morikawa was spotted with a new TaylorMade “Proto” 4-iron in the bag. If you recall, it’s the same model that Rory McIlroy debuted at the 2024 Valero Texas Open.
According to Morikawa, the new Proto 4-iron will replace his old P-770 hollow-bodied 4-iron.
“I used to hit my P-770 on a string, but sometimes the distance would be a little unpredictable,” Morikawa told GolfWRX.com. “This one launches a touch higher, and I feel I can predict the distance better. I know Rory replaced his P-760 with it. I’m liking it so far.”
See Morikawa’s full WITB from the 2024 RBC Heritage here.
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Equipment
Why Rory McIlroy will likely use the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper at the RBC Heritage
Although we spotted Rory McIlroy testing the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper last week during practice rounds at the Masters, he ultimately didn’t decide to use the club in competition.
It seems that will change this week at the 2024 RBC Heritage, played at the short-and-tight Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head.
When asked on Wednesday following his morning Pro-Am if he’d be using the new, nostalgic BRNR Copper this week, McIlroy said, “I think so.”
“I like it,” McIlroy told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday regarding the BRNR. “This would be a good week for it.”
View this post on Instagram
According to Adrian Rietveld, the Senior Manager of Tour at TaylorMade, the BRNR Mini Driver can help McIlroy position himself properly off the tee at the tight layout.
Here’s what Rietveld told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday:
“For someone like Rory, who’s that long at the top end of the bag, and then you put him on a course like Harbour Town, it’s tough off the tee. It’s tight into the greens, and you have to put yourself in position off the tee to have a shot into the green. It kind of reminds me of Valderrama in Spain, where you can be in the fairway and have no shot into the green.
“I’m caddying for Tommy [Fleetwood] this week, so I was walking the course last night and looking at a few things. There’s just such a small margin for error. You can be standing in the fairway at 300 yards and have a shot, but at 320 you don’t. So if you don’t hit a perfect shot, you could be stuck behind a tree. And then if you’re back at 280, it might be a really tough shot into the small greens.
“So for Rory [with the BRNR], it’s a nice course-specific golf club for him. He’s got both shots with it; he can move it right-to-left or left-to-right. And the main thing about this club has been the accuracy and the dispersion with it. I mean, it’s been amazing for Tommy.
“This was the first event Tommy used a BRNR last year, and I remember talking to him about it, and he said he couldn’t wait to play it at Augusta next year. And he just never took it out of the bag because he’s so comfortable with it, and hitting it off the deck.
“So you look at Rory, and you want to have the tools working to your advantage out here, and the driver could hand-cuff him a bit with all of the shots you’d have to manufacture.”
So, although McIlroy might not be making a permanent switch into the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper, he’s likely to switch into it this week.
His version is lofted at 13.5 degrees, and equipped with a Fujikura Ventus Black 7X shaft.
See more photos of Rory testing the BRNR Mini here
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blindkarma
Jul 23, 2016 at 10:05 pm
Andrew Tursky graduated with a bachelor’s in Journalism from Rutgers. Yet he writes casually racist jokes about Asian women golfers with their eyes closed. Way to crush it and make your alma mater and professors proud of your career. To the publisher and editors of Golfwrx, would Mr. Tursky make jokes about hair or skin color if he was covering the NBA or professional boxing? But Asian females in his own sport, sure why not.
Mike R
Apr 21, 2016 at 2:39 pm
What’s happened in the last 5-10 years with the whole over-sensitivity and the whole “somebody somewhere might be hurt”. I work with a lot of East Asians and have never even thought about eyes closed thing, and Asians blink just like everyone around the world (apart from the people with some disease preventing them from blinking whom I obviously don’t want to hurt by writing this comment).
I just thought that this was the girl’s reaction to a bad shot somehow. It’s a a very common reaction around the golf course, just like the more offensive reactions like swearing or throwing clubs around. So what, captured on a photo and put in a different perspective to attempt humour (it’s not very intelligent kind of humour, but still…). I really don’t see the problem.
All of a sudden, it’s an Asian thing.
I’ll write “photos of East Asians with eyes closed” on an every expanding list of things that offend people these day. Hopefully, I won’t forget before I use one get castigated for being a racist.
And for the Asians who wrote above, please consider that the people in West Asia (e.g. Pakistan) might get offended by your generalisations.
Jnak97
Apr 17, 2016 at 2:20 am
I feel like you people need to cool it with the racism card. Four different women being shown at four different times in the round that are not a pre-shot routine with their eyes closed was definitely not interpreted as racist by me.
ana
Apr 18, 2016 at 3:14 pm
>was definitely not interpreted as racist by me.
Well Jnak97, it was, by me – and i’m not even Asian.
blindkarma
Jul 24, 2016 at 12:33 pm
*was definitely not interpreted as racist by me* Why do racists or misogynists always think this is a defense?
Michael Lee
Apr 16, 2016 at 9:31 pm
Apology accepted, please think about what you said though. Some of your last comments really did hurt especially the last one.
Matt
Apr 16, 2016 at 7:56 am
Why are people so butt hurt about the eyes closed thing. You probably aren’t even Asian. Get over it. This is what’s wrong with America. Write what you want man !
Jack Nguyen
Apr 16, 2016 at 10:55 am
Hello Matt,
Just to let you know I am Asian and I came to America 6 years ago. When I attended middle school I got made fun of people would also ask me why were my eyes always closed and people said I would never pass my drivers test because Asians are bad drivers. So when you see a post like this it does hurt. Although this is America and free speech is allowed please be respectful about others. What if this post had something that offended you. You would feel exactly the same.
Cheers,
Jack
Matt
Apr 16, 2016 at 10:08 pm
I’m American. I don’t get butt hurt. I can call me what ever u want. Also theses women have their eyes closed so…..
Michael Lee
Apr 16, 2016 at 11:11 am
It does hurt sometimes Matt. Being Asian-American growing up a lot of those jokes do hurt over time, such as “open up your eyes” and you got the casual joke where someone goes “Ching Chong li long” to me it’s joke a I get it, but some people would get hurt even if they are not Asian because their looking at our point of view and find it offensive. I do agree this post is inappropriate but there is no racism at all in the post. Just a little editing would help! 🙂
Golfer1
Apr 16, 2016 at 6:00 pm
These comments are uncalled for and getting out of hand. The comment section needs to be deleted on this article and Andrew has some explaining to do.
Cyd2293
Apr 16, 2016 at 6:26 am
Will you metrosexual millennials quit with the cries of racism. Most of you spoiled, pampered brats don’t know what racism is.
12 may have been inappropriate but racist. No.
In other words lighten up ladies.
Dr Troy
Apr 16, 2016 at 9:53 am
110% agree. Lighten up Francis.
TMTC
Apr 16, 2016 at 10:25 am
I agree wholeheartedly.
Lighten up.
Schizo Smizzle
Apr 16, 2016 at 4:19 am
Clueless. Totally clueless. And not even funny. And no, none of your comebacks will even be as clever as those girls.
Jane
Apr 15, 2016 at 10:16 pm
12 is rascist. seriously.
Schizo Smizzle
Apr 16, 2016 at 4:18 am
Smizzle just doesn’t get it. He never will.
ATC
Apr 15, 2016 at 7:22 pm
The guy in #11 is a ramp agent. Not an air traffic controller.
cgasucks
Apr 15, 2016 at 4:44 pm
I wonder who’s bag had that X-14 3 iron?
mark
Apr 15, 2016 at 4:22 pm
asian eyes closed the entire round?! well done golfwrx in making fun of asian. what next? people with different colour? go ahead and i leave your website altogether.
Derek
Apr 15, 2016 at 2:41 pm
Asian women…eyes closed? Really?
JZ
Apr 15, 2016 at 12:47 pm
The Asian women with their eyes closed is completely inappropriate.
Mike Thomas
Apr 15, 2016 at 12:07 pm
#12 isn’t even funny… Please edit this post. I agree that the writer should have took 2 seconds to think about what he just wrote.
Mike Honcho
Apr 15, 2016 at 11:29 am
WOW!!! 4 pics all of Asian women with their eyes closed. I agree that the world has gone over the top with PC, but you gotta stop and think a second before you post something like that. Writer may have a Masters in Communications, but doesn’t even have a 2-year JUCO certificate in Journalism (sorry Rutgers).
Tyler
Apr 15, 2016 at 10:37 am
Lot of guys starting to play PXG. Horschel is a big loss for Ping.
Fred
Apr 15, 2016 at 2:31 pm
Two of the players using the PXG irons at the Masters (Zach Johnson (+8) and Chris Kirk (+9) didn’t even make the cut. Billy Horschel made the cut, but finished 17th at +4. Johnson wants us to believe that he gave up using the irons he won 10 tournaments with, because the PXGs are better. Will be interesting to see how many, if any, PGA and LPGA players win with these irons this year.
Mike
May 2, 2016 at 1:32 pm
Let’s be honest here – PXG wants you to think that’s what Johnson wants you to think.
But we all know Johnson switched because of the $$$$. That’s what drives 99.9% of equipment choices on Tour nowadays.