Equipment
GolfWRX Insider: Inside the development of Rickie Fowler’s Cobra irons (plus full specs)
It’s been nearly 10 years since Rickie Fowler showed up on a PGA Tour driving range with Cobra blades in the bag. He was coming off of a 2010 rookie campaign that immediately put the young Californian into every big golf conversation there was to be had. Its been fun looking back at the work that has been done thus far, but oh my, did they go into a rabbit hole on this project.
On Sunday, Fowler will debut a set of the most unique forgings I’ve seen in a long time…maybe ever. The Cobra Golf Rev33 (33rd revision) muscleback irons are the brainchild of Cobra R&D, Director of Tour Operations Ben Schomin and Rickie Fowler. As you can see in the photos, getting here took some serious engineering chops and a lot of Rickie’s imagination.
The development process of the Rev33 took place over a year, from late 2018 to late 2019, and in that time Cobra R&D, Fowler, and Schomin had one goal in mind—make an iron designed with Rickie Fowler that inspired confidence in Rickie Fowler.
I had a chance to chat with Cobra’s Director of Tour Operations Ben Schomin on the development of the Rev33, and this is what he had to say.
JW: This isn’t the first time you have collaborated with Rickie on a Cobra iron. What made this experience feel different?
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Whats in the Bag
Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)
- Kevin Tway what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.
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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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
Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird
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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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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Pingback: You can (finally!) buy Rickie Fowler’s Rev33 irons: Cobra releasing limited RF Proto irons – GolfWRX
VINICIUS COSTA
Sep 20, 2020 at 5:38 pm
Any word on the release date for these irons?
Wilson
May 16, 2020 at 5:28 am
Stainless steel? Why not 1020 or S20C?
Kevin
May 15, 2020 at 11:21 pm
FINALLY we get an answer on when Cobra is releasing a new MB. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the current MBs but as a gear junkie ever since they had this new “Rickie Proto” ive been wanting a set. Gonna have to order a set of the new ones and probably an extra set of the current model if they drop the price to move old stock. Thank you for this article!!
Jeff
May 15, 2020 at 6:54 pm
Kevin Na would be so upset
Mike Rowe
May 15, 2020 at 3:24 pm
Remember when Rickie switched iron shafts and it was a huge story, but when he switched back no one said a word? Pretty weird.
stanley
May 15, 2020 at 10:59 am
for the first time in my life, “those cobra irons are amazing.” there are some mean curves on those cobras!!!
Cody Reeder
May 15, 2020 at 10:42 am
I am getting a set….
Mike Honcho
May 15, 2020 at 10:39 am
It took cobra a year to rip of the p7tw? From the inspiration (mp14/29), look, to the milling, to the tungsten plugs? You would think in a year you could have came up with something unique. I would label this a shank but it’s really more just diarrhea.
Guy who actualy pays attention to detail
May 15, 2020 at 11:01 am
Ricky has had a tungsten plug in his irons for many years, so nothing new there. Tungsten in irons has been going on for quite a while in general (Ping S56 from 2011, first Ap2 irons from way back). Also, how is it ripping off when they are both ripping off older irons? This iron honestly looks nothing like the P7tw. Your “Shank” comment, Ironically, these would be the first irons ever made that could shank relatively straight because they milled the par area and hosel flat to remove the offset look. I’m not even sure what would happen on a hosel shot.
Craig
May 15, 2020 at 10:23 pm
Um, no. It is well known Tiger likes a little bit of offset and longer blade. These are almost the opposite, zero offset and tiny blade.
Troll Hunter 18
Jan 25, 2021 at 12:13 pm
Troll
Shallowface
May 15, 2020 at 9:55 am
The 304 Stainless is interesting. I’ve heard they need to be checked frequently as they go out of spec for loft and lie very easily with use. No problem for Fowler, but it could be an issue for the consumer.
chip75
May 17, 2020 at 3:34 pm
I’m sure those that are inclined will get them checked, otherwise they’ll be just like other clubs that “wander” around though use.
Pelling
May 15, 2020 at 9:35 am
Do they keep Rickie from putting big numbers on the card?
dat
May 15, 2020 at 9:23 am
These are amazing clubs. Hope they bring something like them to retail. What’s the deal with the grips? (non-brushed RF style)