Opinion & Analysis
The top-10 biggest equipment changes of Tiger Woods’ career

No golfer’s equipment changes have been followed as closely, or with more scrutiny, than Tiger Woods. For some reason it just matters to us when he makes a change, and it influences the golf equipment world’s buying habits, too.
In his upcoming start in the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, Woods is expected to make some major equipment changes. After an extended period away from the game, and with Nike exiting the equipment business, Woods’ final decisions on golf equipment have been a frequent topic of conversation. The video below from a Sunday practice round for the event, however, all but confirms he will be using a TaylorMade M2 driver.
Related: Woods to use a Bridgestone B330S golf ball at the Hero
In honor of his return and expected equipment changes this week, we reminisce on the top-10 biggest equipment changes of Woods’ career.
10) A brief experiment

Woods with a TaylorMade R510 driver in 2003.
If Woods tees it up with a TaylorMade M2 driver at the Hero Challenge, it won’t be the first time he’s put a TaylorMade driver in play in competition. At the 2003 Deutsche Bank SAP Open in Germany, he used a TaylorMade R510 driver (7.5 degrees). Being that it lasted for only that week, it’s certainly one of the most surprising equipment changes Tiger ever made.
9) Swoosh in, Titleist “T” out

Tiger’s Titleist 681T irons, Vokey 200 Series wedges (58 and 60 degrees) and Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS putter.
When you think of Tiger in his prime, surely you think of 2000-2001. And here’s a look into his bag during that period. He was bagging Titleist “T” irons (the T stood for Tour, not “Tiger,” which was the cause of much confusion). Woods eventually moved on from the T’s, however, when Nike cooked up these beauties: the Nike Forged Blades.

Woods’ Nike Forged Blade irons.
Ask GolfWRXers what the best blade iron ever made was (join the discussion here), and someone will eventually mention (as easyyy did) the Nike Forged Blades that replaced Tiger’s Titleist irons. He went on to win a slew of majors with the swoosh-stamped irons, using variations of the Nike Forged Blades until he switched to the VR Forged irons in 2009.
Related: The Top-10 Best Nike Equipment Ever Made
8) Tiger drops the Titleist 975D driver

Tiger with a Titleist 975D driver (7.5 degrees) with a True Temper Dynamic Gold steel shaft
Not only was Tiger bagging Titleist irons in 2000-2001, but he also played Titleist’s 975D (7.5 degrees) through his most dominant years. He switched to a Nike driver in 2002, which he used to win the Masters and U.S. Open that year. He returned to the 975D in 2003, searching for more fairways, but like his one-week switch to a TaylorMade driver, it was just a brief experiment.
7) The Victory Reds, made to order

Tiger’s VR Forged irons. He used them during the 2009 and 2010 seasons.
Woods was initially reluctant to switch into the VR (Victory Red) Forged irons from the Nike Forged Blades that he used previously, despite the fact the new VR irons were developed with heavy input from Woods himself. He switched following his 14th major victory (and his left knee surgery), although conspiracy theorists claimed he never actually gamed the retail versions of the irons he designed. That would be a bit odd given they were designed for him, but just add it to the swirling conspiracies regarding Tiger and his golf equipment.
6) Tiger goes to Vapor, sends off Nike
In late 2010, Woods switched from Nike’s VR Forged irons to the company’s VR Pro irons, which are the irons we expect him to use this week at the Hero. He used the VR Pro irons to win five times in 2013, which made his switch to Nike’s Vapor Pro irons in late 2014 all the more shocking.
The Vapor Pro irons used what Nike called a “Modern Muscle Geometry” that moved weight toward the toe of the irons. According to Nike, it centered the sweet spot of the irons to improve performance… and they had a lime green swoosh.

The Nike Vapor Pro irons Woods last used on the PGA Tour.
The Vapor Pro irons were the final blade irons Nike released as a hard goods company, and Tiger never won a golf tournament with them in the bag.
5) A step down from steel

Woods last used Titleist’s 975D driver in 2003.
See all those “steps” in Tiger’s driver shaft in the picture above? He was one of the last professional golfers to switch to a graphite shaft in his driver. The one that stuck was a Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana Blueboard shaft, which is likely the first time you ever heard the Diamana name. We bet it’s not the last you’ve heard of Diamana either, as it remains one of the most popular shafts in golf today.
You can thank Tiger, at least in part, for the popularization of ultra-expensive, after-market graphite shafts.
4) Shaft switch-up

Woods used Graphite Design’s Tour AD-DI 7X shaft from 2010 to 2013.
Remember how we established that Tiger has supreme influence on the golf equipment world? Here’s another example. Before Tiger switched to Graphite Design’s Tour AD-DI 6X shaft in 2010, the company was mostly hanging its hat on the YS-series shafts. Today, the Tour AD series is available in more than a dozen models, and one of the most popular aftermarket shaft lines.
3) The putter before “the putter”

Tiger’s Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS putter.
Arguably golf’s most famous putter is Tiger Woods’ Newport 2 GSS Scotty Cameron, which Tiger used to win 13 of his 14 major championships.

Woods used a Scotty Cameron Newport Teryllium TEi3 putter to win the 1997 Masters.
But before that, Tiger employed a Newport Teryllium TEi3 putter from Scotty (a.k.a. “the one with the dots”), which was most notably in his bag to win the 1997 Masters.
2) Tiger tees up the swoosh

Woods’ Nike Tour Accuracy TW golf ball.
Tiger switched from Titleist’s Professional 90 (a wound golf ball) to a Nike Tour Accuracy golf ball in 2000 (a solid-core golf ball), and promptly won his next four majors… no big deal. Then in 2001, Nike released a Nike Tour Accuracy TW (and DD, for “David Duval”), capitalizing on the success of its two biggest stars.
Had he never teed up a Nike golf ball, this moment in sports history would have looked a bit different; and Nike would have been robbed of the ultimate advertisement for a product.
Some believe that Woods’ switch to a solid-core golf ball aided his runaway success in 2000-2001, as most Tour players were still playing wound golf balls at the time (Titleist’s Pro V1 wasn’t released to Tour players until October 2000).
1) The end of an era

Tiger with a Nike Method 001 putter.
After winning nearly every trophy available in the golf world with the Scotty Cameron Newport 2 previously mentioned, Tiger switched a new putter in 2010, the Nike Method 001. Many thought he would never switch, so it was huge news even to casual golf fans.
Tiger hasn’t won a major with the Method, but he did reel off five wins in 2013 to win PGA Player of the Year with it in the bag. Rumor has it, we might see the Scotty back in the bag at the Hero. Does it have any more magic left in it?
Surely we missed something on this list. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Equipment
Davis Love III was still using a persimmon driver in 1997?!

The revolution of metal drivers was happening quickly in the early-to-mid 1990’s, but Davis Love III was set on sticking with his Cleveland Classic Oil Hardened RC85 persimmon driver. He wasn’t oblivious to the emerging technology, though. He knew exactly what he was doing, and why.
“The Cleveland has been in my bag since 1985,” Love III wrote in his 1997 book, “Every Shot I Take.” “It was given to me by a good friend, Bob Spence. I experiment with metal drivers often; I find – for me, and not necessarily for you – they go marginally longer than my wooden driver, but they don’t give me any shape. I find it more difficult to create shape to my drives off the metal face, which is important to me. …I also love the sound my ball makes as it comes off the persimmon insert of my driver.
“I’m no technophobe,” he added. “My fairway ‘woods’ have metal heads … but when it comes to my old wooden driver, I guess the only thing I can really say is that I enjoy golf more with it, and I think I play better with it…golf is somehow more pleasing to me when played with a driver made of wood.”
Although his book came out in 1997, Love III switched out his persimmon driver for a Titleist 975D titanium driver in the same year.
It was the end of an era.
During Love III’s 12-year-run with the persimmon driver, though, he piled on four wins in the year of 1992, including the Kmart Greater Greensboro Open — now known as the Wyndham Championship.
Love III, who’s captaining the 2022 Presidents Cup United States team next month at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, N.C., is playing in the 2022 Wyndham Championship in nearby Greensboro. In celebration, we took a look back in the archives to see what clubs Love III used for his win in 1992 for an article on PGATOUR.com. We discovered he was using a Cleveland Classic persimmon driver, in addition to a nostalgic equipment setup.
In our latest Two Guys Talking Golf podcast episode, equipment aficionado and co-host Brian Knudson, and myself (GolfWRX tour reporter Andrew Tursky), discuss Love III’s late switch to a metal-made driver, and why he may have stuck with a wooden persimmon driver for so long.
Check out the full podcast below in the SoundCloud embed, or listen on Apple Music here. For more information on Love III’s 1992 setup versus his 2022 WITB, click here.
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Opinion & Analysis
Why the 2022 AIG Women’s Open is a momentous week for the women’s game

The 47th Women’s British Open, currently sponsored by AIG, is unquestionably historic.
Not only is the purse a record $7.3 million, but this week’s venue has a darker, less inclusive past than it would like to be remembered for.
Despite holding 16 Open Championships, the Ryder Cup, Walker Cup and a Curtis Cup, in 2016, the membership controversially voted against permitting women to join the club.
Having then courted controversy and after receiving a ban from hosting The Open, they predictably reversed the decision, and three years later allowed their first ever female members.
It’s been a long time coming but, from now on, things are definitely on the up.
Tournament director Zoe Ridgway told Women & Golf that, “Along with our partners at AIG, we have a real ambition to grow the AIG Women’s Open. We are creating a world-class championship for the world’s best players and, as such, we need to provide them with the best golf courses in Great Britain and Ireland to compete on.”
She continued, “Muirfield is certainly one of these and it will be a historic moment when the women tee off on the famed layout for the first time. That is a moment which we hope becomes iconic for golf and encourages more women and girls into the sport.”
2009 winner, Catriona Matthew, hit the historic first tee shot yesterday, the two-time winning Solheim Cup captain symbolically teeing off alongside another home player, 22-year-old Louise Duncan.
From one stalwart and veteran of the tour to the fresh face of Scottish golf, Duncan won the 2021 Women’s Amateur Championship before becoming low amateur at the Women’s British Open at Carnoustie, 12 months ago.
Duncan turned pro recently, missing her first cut at the Women’s Scottish Open last week, but bouncing back in today’s first round, a 4-under 67 leaving her in third place, just two off the lead.
There is something particularly special about links golf, and certainly when it hosts a major, but this week seems to have additional sparkle about it.
Yes, there are the practicalities. For example, this year will mark the first time the players have their own all-in-one facility, available previously to the male competitors.
Ridgway explained, “It will have dining, a gym, physio rooms, locker rooms, showers, and everything that they need to prepare for a major championship.”
This week is momentous in so many ways. It will be tough, windy and cold – links courses are – and there will be a very deserving winner by the end of the 72 holes, but the event is summed up by Visit Scotland CEO Malcolm Roughead:
“It sends the signal that the women’s game is being taken seriously.”
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Club Junkie
Club Junkie: My BIG guys golf trip WITB and building a custom TaylorMade Spider GT putter

This weekend is my big guys golf trip. We have a great group of 16 guys who play a mini Ryder Cup style tournament for a trophy and major bragging rights. Trying to put together the two full sets I will bring with me. I love custom golf clubs and the My Spider GT program from TaylorMade is awesome! I built a custom Spider GT that matches my custom Stealth Plus+ driver!
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Tom
Dec 1, 2016 at 11:29 am
puttin a lot of emphasis on one club…. not the guy using it.
Daniel
Nov 30, 2016 at 1:54 pm
The 983K and 905R were the best ever. I never understood why top level pros move on from Titelist.
Deep Pockets
Dec 14, 2016 at 5:54 pm
$$$
baudi
Nov 30, 2016 at 11:55 am
Don’t forget the very short adventure with the Grafalloy steel tip fairway wood shaft.
And the bent 3 iron (into a 2I) with a Pxi shaft.
Nike Forged Blades – super solid heads indeed. Although I remember Tiger’s model being named the Nike Proto. What I do know is the Tom Stites and Tiger took ±9 months to come the final result.
Gene
Nov 29, 2016 at 11:46 pm
The big omission was his Titleist pro trajectory (PT) 3 wood which he referred to as, “my baby.” Tiger had a bore through shaft in his which was aftermarket? Had a big cult following and Titleist later reissued with bore through shaft. When he switched to graphite shafted driver he said he needed to switch to a 3 wood with a graphite shaft.(Nike, either sq or ignite)
Tony Rich
Nov 29, 2016 at 11:10 pm
Tiger held onto the Vokeys for a while after the 2002 iron switch. It was a year or so later, word was that Vokey
forged those wedges and Tiger waited until he could match the feel and spin he had with the Voke’s. Would love to see some prototype Tiger SM6 blacks in his bag.
Azman Long Hamid
Nov 29, 2016 at 7:25 pm
The influence that he made to the golf industry is astounding, but I bet you he could actually play with any brand of equipment and still get away with it base on talent and skill that he has.
Markallister
Nov 29, 2016 at 5:58 pm
best driver ever: titleist 975j
Uvag
Nov 30, 2016 at 4:27 am
983K
Jdog
Nov 30, 2016 at 6:02 am
Nah, J all the way. Great driver.
Markallister
Nov 30, 2016 at 8:30 am
that was very good also.
Tyler Brown
Nov 29, 2016 at 4:12 pm
That 58 Vokey was bent to 56* with 6* of bounce. The 260.06/260.08 were great grinds from vokey. I think he won the 1997 Masters playing Cleveland 588 TG’s in 56 and 60.
Chunkie Buck
Nov 29, 2016 at 2:04 pm
Ahhhhh…..the 975D! Fond memories! That thing resembles a modern day 5 wood!
Yervag
Nov 29, 2016 at 1:05 pm
Shoes?
Justwellsy
Nov 29, 2016 at 12:55 pm
Great article, really enjoyed this. In my mind, if he regains his confidence with the Cameron back in the bag, everything else will fall into place. He was never an accurate driver of the golf ball and still dominated, so I don’t think he needs that part of his game. Especially since he’ll be nowhere near the top in driving distance these days.
ooffa
Nov 29, 2016 at 11:16 am
Did they all fit in his trunk
carlsheen
Nov 29, 2016 at 10:45 am
love this. The biggest was his putter change leaving the cameron. It was the last to go and for a reason. He was a monster with that cameron.
The Mad Bomber
Nov 30, 2016 at 1:03 am
$$$ is right. That was a shocker.
FSUBASEBALL21
Nov 30, 2016 at 3:01 pm
Everyone knows PXG is making superior equipment. If your not playing PXG’s your at a disadvantage. PERIOD, end of story.