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Don’t get AMP’d up. Rickie is just testing shafts, y’all

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As you may have seen in our tour photos this week, Rickie Fowler has a new/old set of irons in the bag. Specifically, Fowler is gaming a set from 2013: the Cobra AMP Cell Pro.

But WHY?! Didn’t we just hear all the buzz about his self-designed Rev33? Well yes, we did.

Although the rumors and conspiracy theories may run wild, in this case, it’s a nothing burger.

He’s testing shafts folks, Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100, specifically, to get ready for major season.

DETROIT, MICHIGAN – JULY 02: A detail of the bag and clubs of Rickie Fowler of the United States during the first round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic on July 02, 2020 at the Detroit Golf Club in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

But why didn’t he put them in the Rev33?

That’s a simple one as well: time and economics. Rather than pull apart his gamers or have a set chauffeured in from Carlsbad, Fowler, who was messing around with the AMP’s at home and who doesn’t have Rev33’s with X1oo’s hanging on his wall, brought them to Detroit this week to test.

If all goes well, we can count on a set of Rev33’s with X100’s to be built at HQ. If not, no harm, no foul, and we go back to the Rev33 with his normal KBS C-Taper 125 S+ shafts.

If anything, I find the coolest thing here is Rickie’s instinct to not be wasteful. That’s a good thing right?

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17 Comments

17 Comments

  1. Tdawg

    Jul 4, 2020 at 11:30 pm

    Im just confused as to why dabble in a tournament??? All these guys have the best of the best in home sims with all the data and the best facilities to test equipment.

  2. Shane

    Jul 4, 2020 at 4:06 pm

    I can see the testing of the shafts, but why at an event where you’re playing for a living instead of just testing at home? Thanks for the article!!

  3. jmho

    Jul 4, 2020 at 10:43 am

    IF this is true, this seems stingy on behalf of Cobra. But I am gonna assume that he’s trying different irons altogether but they want to keep pushing the 33’s and it’s harder to do that when Rickie is playing something else.

  4. Chip2win

    Jul 3, 2020 at 7:38 pm

    Uh…I hate to say it, but he’s not just testing shafts. After he hit a shot today on TV, you could clearly see he’s got the AMP Cells in the bag this week. They are pretty cool looking blades.

    • Mr C

      Jul 4, 2020 at 11:19 am

      Of course he’s using the Amp Cell Pro this week. It’s the entire point of this article. He using a set of Amp Cell Pro with X100 so he can test the X100 shafts as he doesn’t want to pull the shafts from him current gamers and replace them with the X100.

      • gwelfgulfer

        Jul 4, 2020 at 8:11 pm

        Although its a bit of a weak argument. If the ‘gamers’ were working so well, why not just use them. It takes them nothing to build/rebuild a set of irons.

  5. Brandon

    Jul 3, 2020 at 9:38 am

    Might want to stick with the amps as he actually played well for the first time in a while yesterday.

    • Mr. C

      Jul 4, 2020 at 11:21 am

      The Amp Cell Pro are the best blades Cobra has ever produced in my opinion. I’m not surprised he played well with them.

  6. Jack

    Jul 2, 2020 at 11:43 pm

    This story is so shallow and lacking in research ! Waste of space..

    • John Wunder

      Jul 3, 2020 at 12:18 am

      How exactly? The point to the story is there is to inform that 1) He’s just testing shafts 2) This was the easiest way to do it 3) He isn’t planning on switching out of his Rev33’s . Lacking in what research? It’s straight from the person who builds his clubs.

  7. matt

    Jul 2, 2020 at 11:12 pm

    makes absolutely no sense… what does he learn from testing a shaft in a completely different head? I mean sure he might love this combo – but doesn’t mean squat for the performance in different iron. I think the rev is done – that club is ugly as sin and I think Rickie is coming to grips with his ill-conceived thoughts for that club.

    • John Wunder

      Jul 3, 2020 at 12:25 am

      Makes sense to him and the people that work with him. Unless I’ve been talking to a Cobra Tour Truck Catfish that is obsessed with golf club cover ups and conspiracies . That would actually be a fun reality show. Anyway thanks for reading;)

      • Nack Jicklaus

        Jul 3, 2020 at 1:48 am

        I’d watch Tour Truck Catfishing the reality show.

        • John Wunder

          Jul 3, 2020 at 7:11 am

          Right!!?? So would I

          • Brandon

            Jul 3, 2020 at 9:41 am

            Did you happen to ask the tour truck guy why Rickie prefers the F9 to the SZ? He seemed to take the SZ out of the bag really quickly at the beginning of the season.

          • Geo P

            Jul 3, 2020 at 12:32 pm

            Cool story, John! All these clowns saying negative stuff are just keyboard warriors that can’t break 100…..so their useless drivel means nothing! Keep up the great work ????

      • matt

        Jul 3, 2020 at 8:27 am

        love your content Johnny… I don’t doubt that’s what you were told. honestly I’m an iron shafts nerd – i think its a good story unto itself. Wonder what Rickie is after with the switch? He had that cup of coffee with S400s last year and got back into the the C-tapers. My guess is its a stats thing – probably sees how great his driving and putting is and thinks maybe the irons aren’t quite right somehow.

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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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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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