Equipment
GolfWRX Exclusive: Patton Kizzire speaks on first PGA Tour win, WITB, new 718 irons
Patton Kizzire nabbed his maiden PGA Tour win at last week’s OHL Classic, outlasting a late charge from Rickie Fowler. He raised his first Trophy with a bag full of Titleist equipment and a Titleist ProV1x.
Following the event, our Andrew Tursky had a revealing chat with Patton about the win and the clubs he used to do it.
GolfWRX: When you’re leading down the stretch, are you leaderboard watching? Does a big name like Rickie Fowler chasing you have any effect on your mentality/gameplan?
Patton Kizzire: For most of the tournament, I try not to look at the leaderboard. I took a long look on 15…and I just wanted to make sure nobody was ahead of Rickie and closer to me, and I just went from there.
GolfWRX: Do you get defensive or less aggressive down the stretch? Are you aiming away from pins, or are you ‘head down, keep it going’?
PK: It’s all situational. On difficult holes, maybe [I] play a bit more conservatively. I certainly wasn’t willing to take any chances with a three-stroke lead. I was playing the percentages. I maybe didn’t hit the best shots of the tournament there toward the end. The beginning of the back nine — 12, 13, 14 — were not my best tee shots. But I certainly wasn’t trying to play defensive. I was trying to play aggressively to conservative targets.
GolfWRX: Were there a lot of nerves coming home down the stretch?
PK: It was a little nerve wracking, but it wasn’t my first time in contention. I was able to draw on some of my near-misses, especially the Safeway Open last year. I was in a very similar spot on the weekend on Sunday, and I didn’t get it done, but I was able to look back at that and learn a little bit.
GolfWRX: It looks like you don’t do a whole lot of switching. You’ve still got a 913 Hybrid in the bag and a putter that’s been in the bag for years, too. What does your testing process look like when Titleist comes out with new equipment?
PK: Titleist has been really consistent for me since I was 15…I’ve played Titleist equipment almost exclusively since I was 15 or so. Every year it seems they come out with something new, and I have so much trust in it. It’s a pretty seamless transition. I don’t switch much. I try to put the new irons in play, the new driver, the new woods.
But something like a hybrid, you kind of have a club you fall in love with over the years, and I’ve been a little bit hesitant to switch that. The new balls, the new woods, the new irons are pretty easy for me to get into. And the Vokey team…have done such a great job with wedges”
And I have to mention the putter. The Scotty Cameron GoLo putter has been in my bag for about five years. And I owe a lot of my success to putting.
GolfWRX: Do you ever look to switch out your putter, or do you just kind of love that one and it works for you?
PK: I’ve toyed around with other putters here and there, but I always go right back to the GoLo. For whatever reason, maybe because I’ve used it so long, it just seems like what a putter should be. I feel really comfortable with it. I always gravitate back to the GoLo.
GolfWRX: What makes the wedges a good fit for you?
PK: The way they go through the turf. I like to have a strong leading edge to go through the turf. And the lob wedge needs to perform well around the greens and in the bunker. I’ve really been hitting my bunker shots well with my new 60 degree. I have different versions of the same wedges. Aaron [Dill] does great work in the truck. He kind of tweaks it here and there for me, and they perform like expect them to.
GolfWRX: How often do you switch out wedges?
PK: I get a new 60 degree the most…every four or five tournaments. New 56 and 52 every six to eight tournaments. I try to keep that 60 degree sharp. If we get to a course with firm greens and my wedge doesn’t have the bite that I want it to have, I’ll definitely give the Titleist guys a call.
GolfWRX: What kind of grind do you have on that 60?
PK: We call it the “Dufner grind.” I saw Jason Dufner had one like that about a year ago, and I told Aaron, “I want one like that.” I don’t know what the grind is, but it’s really good for me. [Note: The grind is a modified K grind.]
GolfWRX: One last question… How do the 718 irons look and feel different than the 716 irons?
PK: They don’t look a whole lot different. They’ve been holding their flight better in the wind. I’m able to get the long irons up in the air a little bit. That’s something I look for, being able to control the trajectory. I kind of imagine the shots that I want to hit, and the 718s are coming out on the flight that I want them to.
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The good folks in New Bedford, Massachusetts, were kind enough to furnish us with some details about Kizzire’s setup.
Titleist tells us Kizzire switched to from the 915D4 driver to the 917D3 the first week it was available at the Quicken Loans National last year. He switched to the 718 irons to start the 2017-18 season at the Safeway. After missing the cut at in Napa, he has finished T10 (Sanderson Farms), 4th (Shriners Hospitals Open for Children) and then won the OHL Classic.
Titleist Tour Rep J.J. Van Wezenbeeck had this to say about working with Kizzire.
“Patton likes traditional look throughout his bag but needs vertical help with his angle of attack. A 10.5 degree 917D3 helps him with launch but still controls his swing. The shaft is based on a platform he had success with us early in his career and he really loves the feel.”
“The 917 F2 was a perfect fit for Patton early on. He loved the ball speed and having a 16.5 allows him get great launch out of a club he has had trouble with in the past. Titleist Tour Rep Jim Curran worked extensively on finding him a shaft that felt good, was the proper weight, and yet still launched the way Patton wanted. Tour Blue 95 fit the bill – and Patton has been in it for a year.”
“Patton loves the look of traditional irons and the 718 MB fit the bill for his look and his desire to control flight. Now, as he moves up through his bag, he has multiple options in 718 which really helps his game. He moves to 718 CB at his 5 and 6 irons, and then carries the 718 T-MB at 4-iron which helps gapping and ball flight at the top of his set.”
Vokey Design Wedge rep Aaron Dill regarding Patton’s wedges:
“Patton has a old school approach to wedge selection. When he finds a wedge he likes he will rarely make a switch. He doesn’t blame the wedge for poor or mishit shots. His technique is smooth and accurate with mid to high ball flight. His 52 and 56-degree wedges have been in the bag for a while now, and his 60 has changed a little keeping the width but changing the bounce angle for conditions. He likes an old school look which is why we add offset to his 60.”
Kelley Moser on Kizzire’s Cameron GoLo:
“Patton has been using a Scotty Cameron GoLo model since his mini tour days. The one he is currently using was a backup that was made for him when he first earned his PGA TOUR card. He had a stock shaft and silver head version that he used for a long time, but he wanted to shake it up a little so we made him one with a black shaft and a dark finish. He loved it and after his victory said he’s pretty sure this one is in the bag permanently.”
Many thanks to Patton for the talk and the folks at Titleist for sharing some insights on the newly minted PGA Tour winner’s WITB.
You can see Kizzire’s full WITB here.
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Whats in the Bag
Xander Schauffele WITB 2024 (May)
- Xander Schauffele what’s in the bag accurate as of the PGA Championship.
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees @10.1)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana PD 70 TX (45.5 inches)
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana PD 80 TX
Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW (21 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX
Irons: Mizuno MP-20 (3), Callaway Apex TCB ’24 (4-10)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Mid X100 (3), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-10)
Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (52-10S), Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (56-10S @57), Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks Proto (60-K @61)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Putter: Odyssey Toulon Design Las Vegas Prototype 7CH
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Tour 2.0
Grips: Golf Pride MCC Align
Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour
Check out more in-hand photos of Xander Schauffele’s clubs in the forums.
More Xander Schauffele WITBs
- Xander Schauffele WITB 2023 (August)
- Xander Schauffele WITB 2022 (July)
- Xander Schauffele’s winning WITB: 2022 Scottish Open
- Xander Schauffele’s winning WITB: 2022 Travelers Championship
- Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele’s winning WITBs: 2022 Zurich Classic
- Xander Schauffele WITB 2022 (January)
- Xander Schauffele WITB 2021 (October)
- Xander Schauffele WITB 2021 (September)
- Xander Schauffele WITB 2021 (May)
- Xander Schauffele WITB 2021 Masters
- Xander Schauffele WITB 2020 (October)
- Xander Schauffele WITB: 2020 Tour Championship
- Xander Schauffele’s winning WITB: 2020 Olympics
- Xander Schauffele WITB 2020
- Xander Schauffele WITB: 2020 Sentry Tournament of Champions
- Xander Schauffele’s winning WITB: Sentry Tournament of Champions
- Xander Schauffele’s winning WITB: 2018 WGC-HSBC Champions
- Xander Schauffele WITB 2018
- Xander Schauffele’s winning WITB: 2017 Tour Championship
- Xander Schauffele WITB 2017
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Whats in the Bag
Cam Smith WITB 2024 (May)
- Cam Smith what’s in the bag accurate as of the PGA Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, D4 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 6 X
3-wood: Ping Max G430 Max (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Red 7 X
7-wood: Titleist TS2 (21 degrees, D4 SureFit setting)
Shaft: UST Mamiya Elements Proto 8F5
Irons: Mizuno Pro Fli-Hi (2, 3), Titleist T100 (5-9)
Shafts: KBS Tour 130 X Custom Series
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (46-10F, 52-08F, 56-08M, 60-04T)
Shafts: KBS Tour 130X (46, 52, 56, 60)
Putter: Scotty Cameron 009M
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Tack
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Check out more in-hand photos of Cam Smith’s gear here.
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Whats in the Bag
Patrick Reed WITB 2024 (May)
- Patrick Reed what’s in the bag accurate as of the PGA Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G400 (8.5 degrees)
Shaft: Aldila Rogue Silver 125 MSI 70 Tour X
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (15 degrees)
Shaft: Aldila Rogue Silver 125MSI 80 Tour X
Hybrid: Callaway Apex Pro (18 degrees)
Shaft: Aldila RIP Phenom Hybrid 100 TX
Irons: Titleist 716 TMB (2), Grindworks PR-202 (4), Grindworks PR-101A (5-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore (50-10 Mid), Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (56-08M @55), SM10 (60-04T)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Odyssey White Hot RX Pt Customs No. 2
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
More photos of Patrick Reed’s WITB in the forums.
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