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Kevin Na: “I don’t see a reason why you’d want to play a blade” – GolfWRXers have their say

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4 years ago

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In our forums, our members have been reacting to Kevin Na’s recent comments that blade irons are too difficult to hit and that he last played one in his 20’s when he was “dumb”. Speaking on Golf.com’s Fully Equipped podcast, Na said

“I can’t play a blade. It’s too difficult, and I’m a pro golfer. I think a blade goes shorter. Off-center hits aren’t going to perform as well as cavity-backs. I don’t see a reason why you’d want to play a blade. I really don’t. I played blades in my early 20s, maybe one year — when I was dumb. But I’m wiser now and play a cavity-back.

In the longer irons, I even look for more — I don’t want to say a high-handicapper club — a more forgiving club.”

Our members have been sharing their thoughts on Na’s comments 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.

  • llewol07: “If you have not figured it out already, golf is all about playing the equipment that suits you, the game that suits you and really playing your own game. The thing I like about Kevin Na is that he seems a bit cocky and can hold his own as seen when watching him on television. That being said, most tour pros end up playing a combo set anyways and rarely do I see too many blade players. Even pros need an edge to make the game that much more easier to reproduce. Lesson here is to play what works.”
  • the bishop: “Na’s remarks need to be taken in context. He makes a living playing golf. If you gave him a set of Apex MB’s and an hour on the range and went out and played with him, you’d probably say he plays blades just fine. But for him, the difference between blades and cavity backs could mean a 25 place difference in his proximity to the hole from 150 yds ranking or something similar. As ThinkingPlus said, “he plays what makes him money”.
  • golfpros1: “Play the bag that fits the course and game you play. There are pros and cons with everything. Do what works for you. Most good amateurs can play blades well because they play courses that are 6500 or less with little rough. They have 7 iron or less into most greens. You don’t have to be a pro to get a short iron blade into a receptive green. Start playing 7500-yard course and hitting 4 irons into greens, and you’d be silly to play blades if you do it for any other reason than it makes you happy. It’s all relative. I’ve played blades, CBs, GIs… really didn’t make much of a difference. I found the closer to a blade, the better the short irons would be. The closer to game improvement, the better the long irons would be. So for most people, a mixed bag makes the most sense. Best of both worlds.”
  • mcc0819: “Kevin Na is a relatively straight ball hitter from what I’ve seen from him. So it makes sense that a cavity back would work best for him. But someone like Tiger has a blade, and he loves to shape his shots in every which way possible. So I think it depends on the player. If you are a low handicap/scratch golfer, your ball striking would be good enough to play blades especially if you shape your shots. Blades to me equal easier shot shaping but also easier to mishit. So the question is, are you willing to take the hit on the occasional bad strike? I’m a 3 handicap and still playing CB’s because I’ll take any advantage I can get. At the end of that day, that’s what I believe works for me. If you’re a 15+ handicap and want to play blades then, by all means, go get yourself fitted for some blades.”
  • soap1984: “I like Na generally, but he’s saying you’re dumb for playing blades which I’m not sure is fair. Like Tiger and Rory play them, and both mis-hit the ball the odd time, the idea is why give up “forgiveness” for no gain, even if you only mishit one shot a round. Blades shouldn’t even exist I guess in his world. If I stink with blades, I will for sure go back to the ap2, but my numbers were not statistically different on mis-hits. If Mizuno made the jpx 919 tour in lefty, I’d prefer to play those, but I want new sticks and just can’t play clubs with thick soles, so my options are limited.”

Entire Thread: “Kevin Na vs GolfWRX”

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Gianni is the Managing Editor at GolfWRX. He can be contacted at [email protected].

6 Comments

6 Comments

  1. Pingback: Do blades negatively impact performance? Or is it all in our heads? – GolfWRXers discuss – GolfWRX

  2. Pelling

    Apr 24, 2020 at 10:27 am

    I don’t think blades or cavity backs would have made much a difference when Na carded the 16 at the Valero Open…

    Reply Report comment

  3. Vas

    Apr 24, 2020 at 9:56 am

    I play a combo set of 785s and Z-Forged irons. Should I play all 785s? Probably, but I’ve found very little performance difference between the 7-PW in both models… and the blades look and feel better and are more fun. If I have a great weekend, the difference (if any) may be a $350 pro shop gift certificate instead of a $500 gift certificate. Eh… whatever. My old MP-29s were blades. These Z-Forged are “blades”. The performance these days is really pretty close to the player cavities anyway.

    Reply Report comment

  4. Alex

    Apr 23, 2020 at 10:30 am

    Kevin Na is a tool, but I couldn’t agree with him more on the blade thing.

    Reply Report comment

  5. drkviol801

    Apr 23, 2020 at 8:40 am

    Lmao will you look at that, golfwrx braniacs arguing with a tour pro who’s won. What does Kevin Na know about golf?

    Reply Report comment

    • Dave r

      Apr 24, 2020 at 11:07 am

      Could not agree more. I never thought I was good enough or had anything to prove to hit ” blades”. Tried them once my fingers are still numb.

      Reply Report comment

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Whats in the Bag

Richy Werenski WITB 2024 (May)

Published

9 mins ago

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May 2, 2024

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  • Richy Werenski what’s in the bag accurate as of the CJ Cup Houston Open.

Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana PD 60 TX

3-wood: Titleist TSR2 (15 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Red 8 X

Hybrid: Titleist TSR3 (19 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White Hybrid 90 TX

Irons: Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 Tour 105 S

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (46-10F, 50-12F), Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks Proto (54-M, 58-L @60)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 Onyx (46-50), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 Onyx (54-60)

Putter: Scotty Cameron prototype

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Left Dash

Grips: Golf Pride ZGrip Cord

Check out more in-hand photos of Richy Werenski’s clubs in the forums.

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Equipment

Adam Scott testing green “Masters Use Only” putter + 6 interesting equipment photos from the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson

Published

31 mins ago

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May 2, 2024

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Welcome to the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson event at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas, which, for your geographical reference, is about 25 minutes from Dallas.

In early-week equipment news, we saw some interesting putter testing from Adam Scott, a Maxfli golf ball signing on the PGA Tour, a 16-year-old’s WITB, a PGA Tour player using another PGA Tour player’s backup putter, and Jordan Spieth weighed in on why he recently switched out just his 7-iron (and then made a hole-in-one with it).

With so much to report and so little time to waste on the intro, let’s get right into this week’s equipment rundown from the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.

See all of our photo galleries from the week here 

Adam Scott’s new L.A.B. putters

Before we get into a couple of the new prototypes Scott has been testing, above is a photo of the L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Max prototype putter that he’s been using, and will likely continue to use this week in Texas.

That being said, following the Masters, Scott was looking to try a couple putters with a slightly lighter weight to help with his feel on fast greens.

One of the new prototypes we spotted on Tuesday was a L.A.B. Golf DF3 “Proto 2.1”, custom-built with Scott’s preferred blue colorway, and an Australia-inspired Kangaroo laser engraving…

We also spotted him with a green-colored “For Masters Use Only” Mezz.1 Max prototype…

While it’s unlikely Scott will make a switch this week, it’s certainly something to keep an eye on going forward, especially on courses with faster greens.

We also got a peek into Scott’s full WITB this week, which consists of a super-mixed set of Srixon irons, including a ZX Utility 3-iron, a ZX-5 MkII 4-iron, ZX-7 MkII mid-irons (5-7) and Z Forged II short irons (8-9).

See Scott’s full WITB from the CJ Cup here

An update on Daniel Berger’s Odyssey Jailbird

Last week in New Orleans, we highlighted Daniel Berger’s Ai-One Jailbird Mini putter because of its unique sightlines.

Well, we have an update.

According to Callaway Tour Manager Joe Toulon, who spoke with GolfWRX.com this week, Berger’s Jailbird Mini is actually from fellow Tour player Tom Kim’s stash. Kim is a prolific putter tester, and the exact putter Berger is currently using was actually originally made for and tested by Kim. The putter didn’t make it into Kim’s starting lineup, however, so he gave the putter back to Odyssey, and it eventually made it’s way onto Berger’s gamer roster.

Jordan Spieth’s new 7-iron

As the story goes, Jordan Spieth changed out his Titleist T100 7-iron on Wednesday before the 2024 Valero Texas Open, and then on Thursday, he used the 7-iron to make a hole-in-one from 199 yards on the 16th hole.

Good timing on that switch, Jordan.

On Tuesday at the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson, GoflWRX.com caught up with Spieth to get the full story on why he switched just the 7-iron.

Our full story is over on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, but here’s a snippet of what Spieth had to say:

“I hit my 7-iron a lot, especially on my own. The spin rates, relative to my 6-iron and my 8-iron, were lower, so it was going too far. I was trying to figure out why, if it was something in the makeup of the iron. I got the lies and the lofts checked, and everything was fine. So finally I was like, ‘Can I just get a new one and see if it fixes it?’

“Maybe there was one other time throughout my career where I changed just one iron, so it’s very unusual. I think it’s just because the grooves were worn down from hitting it too much.”

Ben Griffin signs with Maxfli to play the golf ball

At the beginning of the year, LPGA Tour star Lexi Thompson signed a deal with Maxfli to play the company’s golf ball, and now, Griffin has officially joined team Maxfli, as well, thus expanding the company’s Tour presence.

GolfWRX.com caught up with Griffin on Wednesday in Texas for a video interview about his new golf ball of choice, and how he marks it…

 

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A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx)

A 16-year-old is playing on the PGA Tour this week, using a 2-iron!

Amateur golfer Kris Kim, at just 16 years of age, is making his PGA Tour debut this week after receiving a sponsors exemption into the event. In 2023, Kim won both the R&A Boys’ Amateur Championship and the European Boys’ International Championship.

On Tuesday in Texas, we got a look into Kim’s bag, which revealed that he’s currently playing a TaylorMade P-770 2-iron, and a bag full of TaylorMade clubs.

Check out Kim’s full WITB here

A smart golf ball stamping

I’m not going to sit here and pretend to be a big math guy, because I’m not. However, I do recognize David Nyfjall’s purple ball marking as a square root symbol.

While I don’t know the particular significance of the square root symbol for Nyfjall, I do know you have to be fairly intelligent to even consider using a marking like that. Pretty cool stuff from the Northwestern alum, and 2023 Byron Nelson Award winner.

And, with that, we say goodbye to Texas and TPC Craig Ranch. We’ll see you next week at the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte for more insider equipment news and storylines.

For now, don’t forget to check out all of our photos from the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson

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Whats in the Bag

Wesley Bryan WITB 2024 (May)

Published

3 hours ago

on

May 2, 2024

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  • Wesley Bryan what’s in the bag accurate as of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.

Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Max (9 degrees @10)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana GT 50 TX

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth Plus (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana GT 60 X

Hybrid: TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus Rescue (19.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus HB Blue 8 X

Irons: Titleist T200 (4), Takomo 101U (4), Takomo 101T (5), Takomo 301 CB (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (46-10F, 52-08F, 56-14F), Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks Proto (58-A)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: L.A.B. Golf DF3

Grips: SuperStroke, Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

More photos of Wesley Bryan’s WITB in the forums.

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