Matt Kuchar has returned to form over the past few weeks, and at this week’s Masters tournament, the 42-year-old will be implementing a new strategy on the greens.

The American will put a Bettinardi BB8 Tri-Plane putter in play for the year’s opening major and will be using a right arm lock technique to conquer the Augusta greens.

Putter Specs:

Model: Bettinardi BB8 Tri-Plane

Material: DASS

Face: F.I.T. Face

Shaft: LAGP

Length: 40.5

Lie: 71

Kuchar, who has been testing an array of putters over the past few months, gets his Masters’ campaign underway at 12.48 PM ET.

After the successful recent releases of the Icon blade iron and the larger GS53 Max driver, Ben Hogan Golf is again turning its attention to golfers looking for extra forgiveness with the release of the new Edge EX game improvement iron set.

The 2021 Edge EX is the newest iron to carry on the Edge name which was introduced in 1989 with the first forged cavity back from the Texas-based company. The new Edge EX’s are designed to be easy to hit while still maintaining the traditional look golfers have come to expect from Ben Hogan.

A big push for the direct-to-consumer equipment company is to show golfers that Ben Hogan equipment is made for every golfer and not just lower handicap competitive players, which was a conclusion made from a consumer survey conducted by the company.

“Some golfers who play the game just for fun felt that our products weren’t for them.  We continue to try to educate golfers that forged clubs are not reserved for only the best players in the world.  In fact, quite the contrary.  Edge EX irons will offer average golfers the playability, forgiveness, and feel that Ben Hogan once described as ‘… that blissful feeling that goes from your hands, up your arms, and into your heart.” -Scott White, President and CEO of Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company.

Technology

The Edge EX irons offer a deep undercut cavity and extreme perimeter weighting to increase launch and raise MOI. Along with the overall design, the actual iron head has been increased to create a larger effective hitting area to maximize forgiveness.

“We tested these irons more than any other product we’ve brought to market in recent years and golfer response and feedback has been exceptionally good throughout the development process.  Golfers of all ability levels, but especially those with double-digit handicaps told us that Edge EX irons were some of the easiest-to-hit irons they’ve ever played.” -Scott White

Price, specs, and availability

The new Ben Hogan Edge EX irons are available now for pre-order with products scheduled to ship in late April.

The Edge EX irons will be separated by consistent 4-degree gaps, and start at a 44-degree pitching wedge and going to a 20-degree 4-iron.

Seven-piece (4-PW) sets will be priced at $800.00 with a choice of premium steel and graphite shaft options.

Six and five-piece sets with also be available for $720 for 5-PW and $630 for 6-PW for golfers that would like to build a combo set with either the Ben Hogan UiHI utility or VKTR hybrids — priced individually.

Edge EX irons are available for purchase exclusively at www.BenHoganGolf.com.

In our forums, our members have been discussing a theory and strategy often employed by Phil Mickelson. WRXer ‘ExtraStiff’ kicks off the thread saying:

“In one of Phil Mickelson’s 2021 Masters interviews, he says he considers going game improvement irons around Augusta because high and spinny/attacking is usually the shot of choice. But he uses less forgiving clubs at a lot of other venues cause he is hitting ‘knock down shots’,… taking a couple of clubs extra, and taking some speed off it to keep trajectory and spin low so wind and such is less of a factor.

Anybody here playing two sets of irons for this reason, or have any thoughts? Are there any other pros that have suggested this philosophy?”

And our members have been sharing their thoughts on the strategy in our forum.

Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

• jvincent: “Phil is the ultimate WRXer. That said, he actually has the skill to pull this off. I’d say there may be a handful of guys on here who actually have enough skill to do this kind of thing.”
• acemandrake: “Ben Hogan said he always used more club on approach shots. That way, his swing never changed. He also liked to aim for the middle of the green.”
• PEI_Golfer: “This just seems like Phil being Phil and overthinking something. He is talented enough that if he wanted to hit it higher, he would just hit it higher. It is almost like trying to give yourself an excuse for poor play with the clubs he is supposed to be the most comfortable with.”
• cardoustie: “I have more success with smaller short irons (7-PW) … and I hit a load of knockdowns … it’s my preferred shot inside 155. I have 9 sets of irons right now but no full set of SG!”

Entire Thread: “The knock down bag”