News
Why the R&A tested 30 players’ drivers at The Open
Yesterday in the Morning 9, we discussed Tim Rosaforte’s report that the R&A randomly tested 30 players drivers for COR conformance at the British Open.
It seems, however, that while the drivers were randomly chosen, players knew the testing was coming. According to Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard, both players and OEMs were notified three weeks ago that the R&A intended to check drivers.
Traditionally, the R&A and USGA test COR on clubs from manufacturers, not players’ gamers.
“We take our governance role very seriously, not just on the Rules of Golf and amateur status, but also equipment standards, and we felt it was an appropriate next step to more actively seek to test players’ drivers straight out of the bag,” Martin Slumbers, the R&A’s chief executive, told Golf Channel.
Paul Casey, Brooks Koepka, Jason Day, and Henrik Stenson were among those tested (should’ve tested Stenson’s 3-wood!). No violations were reported at the practice range test center.
Interestingly/conspiracy alert: Rory McIlroy floated the idea that TaylorMade (his equipment sponsor, was “singled out a bit more than anyone else.”
“A manufacturer is always going to try and find ways to get around what the regulations are. It’s a bit of an arms race,” McIlroy said.
That said, randomness or the size of TaylorMade’s market share could account for number of M3 and M4s tested, rather than being “singled out” as McIlroy suggested.
While this is the first such testing at The Open, the R&A apparently tested drivers at a Japan Golf Tour event earlier this year.
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Equipment
Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?
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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Equipment
Spotted: Tommy Fleetwood’s TaylorMade Spider Tour X Prototype putter
Tommy Fleetwood has been attached to his Odyssey White Hot Pro #3 putter for years now. However, this week at the Wells Fargo Championship, we did spot him testing a new putter that is very different, yet somewhat similar, to his current gamer.
This new putter is a TaylorMade Spider Tour X head but with a brand new neck we haven’t seen on a Spider before. A flow neck is attached to the Spider head and gives the putter about a 1/2 shaft offset. This style neck will usually increase the toe hang of the putter and we can guess it gets the putter close to his White Hot Pro #3.
Another interesting design is that lack of TaylorMade’s True Path alignment on the top of the putter. Instead of the large white center stripe, Tommy’s Spider just has a very short white site line milled into it. As with his Odyssey, Tommy seems to be a fan of soft inserts and this Spider prototype looks to have the TPU Pure Roll insert with 45° grooves for immediate topspin and less hopping and skidding.
The sole is interesting as well in that the rear weights don’t look to be interchangeable and are recessed deep into the ports. This setup could be used to push the CG forward in the putter for a more blade-like feel during the stroke, like TaylorMade did with the Spider X Proto Scottie Scheffler tested out.
Tommy’s putter is finished off with an older Super Stroke Mid Slim 2.0 grip in blue and white. The Mid Slim was designed to fit in between the Ultra Slim 1.0 and the Slim 3.0 that was a popular grip on tour.
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
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Equipment
Rickie Fowler’s new putter: Standard-length Odyssey Jailbird 380 in custom orange
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 Jailbird craze hasn’t really slowed down in 2024, either. According to Odyssey rep Joe Toulon, there are about 18-20 Jailbird putter users on the PGA TOUR.
Most recently, Akshay Bhatia won the 2024 Valero Texas Open using a broomstick-style Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter and Webb Simpson is switching into a replica of that putter at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Now, Fowler, who essentially started the whole Jailbird craze, is making a significant change to his putter setup.
Fowler, who has had a couple weeks off since the 2024 RBC Heritage, started experimenting with a new, custom-orange Jailbird 380 head that’s equipped with a standard 35-inch putter build, rather than his previous 38-inch counter-balanced setup.
According to Fowler, while he still likes the look and forgiveness of his Jailbird putter head, he’s looking to re-incorporate more feel into his hands during the putting stroke.
He told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Championship that the 38-inch counterbalanced setup “served its purpose” by helping him to neutralize his hands during the stroke, but now it’s time to try the standard-length putter with a standard-size SuperStroke Pistol Tour grip to help with his feel and speed control.
Although Fowler was also spotted testing standard-length mallets from L.A.B. Golf and Axis1 on Tuesday, he confirmed that the custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 is the putter he’ll use this week at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Head over to PGATour.com for the full article.
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max
Jul 19, 2018 at 1:13 pm
On a week where hardly anybody is actually hitting driver….
iye
Jul 18, 2018 at 10:09 pm
FBI/CIA/NSA…. planning elimination of POTUS…. believe it!
Geohogan
Jul 19, 2018 at 8:41 am
FBI/CIA/NSA…. planning elimination of POTUS…. believe it!
lye,
Wouldnt, not believe but of course its true but then there are a lot of truths out there, so no, I believe, yes.
Caroline
Jul 18, 2018 at 8:09 pm
So funny, guys get over it, Pro golfers are just better then you or I…there is no secret clubs or balls on tour…maybe better balance and set up of clubs, but just as the players as good as they can be……You want to play the best set up top line clubs….work hard and get yourself on tour…
Geohogan
Jul 18, 2018 at 4:32 pm
What kind of random test lets golfers and mfg know in advance that tests will be performed at a specific event?
Once again the USGA is exposed for what it is .. or isnt.
Joshua
Jul 18, 2018 at 5:20 pm
Wasn’t the usga bub…
2putttom
Jul 18, 2018 at 12:03 pm
would of been nice to see the name s of all the players involved.
MCoz
Jul 18, 2018 at 10:52 am
All of the club heads that go the tour department from TMinnesota are each individually tested and marked as a regular course of action. They will have a small grayish Mark in the center.
larrybud
Jul 18, 2018 at 10:11 am
Do we know the results?
Thomas A
Jul 18, 2018 at 10:26 am
“No violations were reported at the practice range” per the article above with words in it.
tom
Jul 18, 2018 at 3:06 pm
hahaha
James T
Jul 18, 2018 at 8:35 pm
What words? I just read the photographs.
Geohogan
Jul 18, 2018 at 10:58 pm
the players and manufacturers were given advance notice of the “random” tests and your asking if anyone failed the test? You have to be kidding!