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WRX Spotted: Ping Glide 3.0, Glide 3.0 Eye2 wedges

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Where there’s smoke there’s fire, and in the case of the golf world, we had been hearing rumblings of a new Ping Glide series for a while (since the introduction of the Blueprint irons, at least).

This week, at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, we now have an idea of exactly what’s coming with the beginning of Glide 3.0 wedges tour seeding.

Like a lot of initial releases, we don’t have the full tech breakdown, but I’ll make a few assumptions

  • Material: Based on the popularity of the i210s and the feel they offer golfers (so soft), the new Glide 3.0s are made from the same steel and utilize the same 50-percent softer Elastomer CTP.
  • Hydropearl 3.0? A finish designed to repel water and greatly improve consistency from the rough and wet conditions, its been working on irons and why stop there?
  • COG Shifting: Looking at the cavity, Ping engineers have been playing with a LOT of mass around this head. That is one of the cool things about wedges is, beyond the putter, they are the heaviest heads in the set. More mass equals more COG relocation. It’s noticeable in the comparison below.

Notice the back of the top line

There is a lot more mass higher in the LW vs PW

  • Sole grinds: This is where Ping continues to step up there game in the wedge category. And like previous families of wedges, there appears to be a lot of options in design. We should see some TS options in the bags for players at the Open Championship if it’s dry and firm.

Beyond grind options, we also have totally different head options with a Glide 3.0 Eye2. Let’s be honest, this makes a TON of sense since other companies have been borrowing design traits from the Eye2 for the last couple years for their wedges. Why wouldn’t Ping utilize its own already popular design and update it for modern turf conditions?

We will have to wait and see how close we are to what the tech specs will be but like with most things Ping, the release to tour is usually a tell-tale sign that you should be seeing these in store, on shelves and ready to pre-order very soon.

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Ryan Barath is a club-fitter & master club builder with more than 17 years of experience working with golfers of all skill levels, including PGA Tour players. He is the former Build Shop Manager & Social Media Coordinator for Modern Golf. He now works independently from his home shop and is a member of advisory panels to a select number of golf equipment manufacturers. You can find Ryan on Twitter and Instagram where he's always willing to chat golf, and share his passion for club building, course architecture and wedge grinding.

16 Comments

16 Comments

  1. Travisty

    Jul 16, 2019 at 1:33 pm

    Does this mean the iBlade’s are coming out with an update soon??

  2. Tony Load

    Jul 13, 2019 at 8:24 am

    Took a big sh*t this morning!

  3. James Sinclair

    Jul 12, 2019 at 8:41 pm

    Iam curious to see how many lofts they come out with the 3.0 eye 2 head

  4. Beau

    Jun 27, 2019 at 10:22 pm

    Really reminds me of the ISI nickels. Happy to see them go back to this sort of design.

  5. Jame223

    Jun 26, 2019 at 3:11 pm

    Can’t believe they haven’t remade the eye 2 irons with added modern day technology. Would be a gold mine.

    • Dan W

      Jul 9, 2019 at 3:36 am

      Ping will still make a set of Eye 2 irons if you want. They are a bit more expensive than the current irons but are available. Call Pings customer service. If you have an old set just give them the serial number on the hosel and they’ll duplicate them, or you can order a set custom. I think they’re $180 per iron.

  6. Alex

    Jun 26, 2019 at 7:43 am

    Pings PM grind.

    • Darrin Lygrisse

      Jun 26, 2019 at 3:16 pm

      So being that Phil had Callaway copy his old Ping wedge to make the PM grind I would say you have it backwards. How about Callaways Eye2 grind?

    • Travisty

      Jul 16, 2019 at 1:31 pm

      So many people have no idea when it comes to golf clubs. Phil had Callaway copy his old Eye2 wedge when it was deemed non-conforming. Ping was the original that was copied.

  7. DaveyD

    Jun 25, 2019 at 9:42 pm

    That Eye2 wedge is the Oyster’s Ice Skates.

  8. jon

    Jun 25, 2019 at 8:20 pm

    ive got all ping clubs except a PM lob wedge, they nearly got me with that eye2 wedge then they forgot to put the grooves all the way out to the toe.

    • HDTVMAN

      Jun 26, 2019 at 4:32 pm

      Exactly! I am all Ping except for my Callaway 54° & 58° 2.0 PM Grind’s which just replaced my original PM Grind’s. So many sand & lob shots hit out on the toe, and having the grooves extended is a savior. The angled grove in groove and second bounce on wide open shots is the “Cats Meow”! TM’s “Hi-Toe” is a copy and cannot be compared to the original PM wedges. If Ping extended the grooves they would go in my bag when they go on sale in August.

  9. Doug

    Jun 25, 2019 at 7:48 pm

    Eye2 = Swiss Army Knife

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Whats in the Bag

Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)

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Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX

5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX

Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)

Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4

More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.

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Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?

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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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Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird

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With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.

On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.

Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?

Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’

So that’s why I went back.

 

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A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx)

OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?

It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.

Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.

It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.

Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.

Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.

So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?

Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.

Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play? 

Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.

There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.

It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.

Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.

And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?

Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’

If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’

My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’

I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”

And you’re going with it this week?

Hundred percent.

Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week. 

Thanks, man.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

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