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Jon Rahm joins Callaway tour staff in multiyear deal

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Today, Callaway Golf announced that Jon Rahm, the number two ranked player in the world, has joined its tour professional staff in a multiyear agreement.

Rahm worked extensively with the company’s tour department to dial in the specs for each of his new clubs, and will officially make his Callaway staff debut this week at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

For the year’s opening event, the Spaniard will use Callaway prototype woods and irons. He will eventually use the brand’s MD5 Jaws wedges, but they may not be in the bag in Hawaii. Rahm will also be gaming a Callaway Chrome Soft X golf ball. While he’ll still have his TaylorMade Spider X putter in the bag, Rahm will move to an Odyssey putter in 2021.

Speaking on joining Callaway, Rahm, who shot a course record 59 at Silverleaf with his new clubs, said

“I’m so happy to be joining Callaway, and I can’t wait to start the year. The equipment is already performing well for me, and in my first round with the new setup,

“I shot a course record 59 at Silverleaf. I have confidence in my new Callaway clubs – and especially the golf ball, which has really impressed me during the testing process.”

Rahm used Callaway and Odyssey equipment at Arizona State University, where he won 11 tournaments while playing for Head Coach Tim Mickelson. The 26-year-old has the second-most wins in school history, behind fellow Callaway staffer Phil Mickelson.

On the new signing, Callaway President & CEO, Chip Brewer said

“We’re proud to welcome Jon Rahm as the newest member of our Tour Staff. He’s one of the very best players in the world, and he’s a proven winner on golf’s biggest global stages. We’ve admired Jon for many years, going back to his college days when he first used our equipment. We’re excited to see him playing Callaway and Odyssey again, as he looks to take his game to yet another level.”

In addition to using Callaway and Odyssey equipment, Rahm will wear apparel from TravisMathew throughout 2021.

Editor’s note: We will follow up this piece with a full Rahm WITB and details from the tour truck when the Spaniard’s club and shaft recipe is fully cooked.

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

16 Comments

16 Comments

  1. Dennis Beach

    Jan 4, 2021 at 10:37 pm

    Maybe its not even about the equipment. TM just didn’t want to give him what he thought he was due. There is no loyalty to one brand anymore. Players in the past would play the same equipment(clubs, ball) brand forever. If it is equipment, he could do worse.

  2. Jack Nash

    Jan 4, 2021 at 4:39 pm

    I fully expect that other than the “look” the irons won’t be any different than his TM’s. As someone said earlier none of Rahm’s equip will be in my bad anytime soon.

  3. Dennis Beach

    Jan 4, 2021 at 2:03 pm

    Nothing he plays helps me. Did my own research on everything I play in my bag. Ping g410SFT driver,older Cally Diablo 3 wood, 2 Snake Eyes hybrids(18-21), a full set of hybrid irons(24-46),from a company not so many people have ever heard about. 2 Cleveland CBX2 wedges, and a Cleveland putter. I play a Cally 2-piece ball. Not one club that a pro uses, will ever find its way into my bag, because they want it that way.

  4. Imafitter

    Jan 4, 2021 at 2:03 pm

    I wish him luck as I like watching Jon play. Not surprised based on his relationship with the Mickelson family. Some do well and some don’t when they change equipment, but I hope he is successful.

  5. Dave r

    Jan 4, 2021 at 1:28 pm

    None of them use retail anything.

  6. Tank

    Jan 4, 2021 at 11:56 am

    I really didn’t expect him to say anything but give glowing comments about his NEW SPONSOR!

  7. Dyson Bochambeau

    Jan 4, 2021 at 10:15 am

    He will struggle like most guys who switch equipment

    • Funkaholic

      Jan 4, 2021 at 12:04 pm

      What a ridiculous comment.

      • gunny

        Jan 4, 2021 at 12:15 pm

        No it’s really not at all. Look at players who switch 14 clubs and the ball while at their peak. There’s almost always a long drought period and some don’t ever get back to where they were. Think Lydia Ko and Graeme McDowell. Lydia made things worse by moving away from her Coach as well, but her fall has been significant.

    • Blades Forever

      Jan 4, 2021 at 6:07 pm

      Agreed, An other example is Justin Rose.

  8. Smith

    Jan 4, 2021 at 9:27 am

    I’m just glad the headline didn’t reference the 59. Guy made it to #1 in the world with TM – not saying they’re any better than Callaway, but not sure there’s a ton of improvement that can be offered be the change.

  9. Brandon

    Jan 4, 2021 at 9:17 am

    Sounds like he has the new Apex pro in the bag along with the Epic Max. If so, we should see those hit the conforming list this week.

  10. JT

    Jan 4, 2021 at 9:10 am

    The newest gen chrome soft x at retail is legit, I put it head to head with PV1x and loved it. Was an easy change. Not surprised to see JR go with it right away and give it so much positive feedback.

    • Jacon

      Jan 4, 2021 at 10:46 am

      Almost none of the staffers play the retail ball; there are something like 40 tour-noyl variations.

      The most common ones I see from low-level tour players are the Diamond CS-X and the Star CS-X, which are firmer and more spinny, respectively.

      • JM

        Jan 4, 2021 at 11:14 am

        That’s correct. None use retail ball.

        • Benny

          Jan 4, 2021 at 5:10 pm

          All the Tour gear comes off the exact same manufacturing line as the retail stuff guys. You’d be suprised to know we do play the same. The Pros just receive more definied and specified gear with specific perameters which each OEM pull from the same bucket of goods. Only time its “different” is when they do Prototypes. Acushnet was a customer of mine. I also knew a couple who worked on the ProV line. There is no magic Tour Only plant or line except at Cameron, or the company Cameron uses.

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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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