Equipment

Interesting photos from Tuesday at the RBC Heritage – Part 2: Action around the course

Published

3 years ago

Apr 14, 2021

This week, the PGA Tour is decompressing in Hilton Head for the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town and GolfWRX was on-site Tuesday to spy a glimpse into the bags of some of the world’s top golfers. The field of 134 is getting ready to battle starting Thursday on the tight treeline Pete Dye designed course, for the $7.1 million purse with $1.28 million going to the winner.

In part one of this week’s “most interesting photos”, we covered putters, and for part two were covering everything else we spotted around the practice area and on the course.

Don’t forget you can check out all our image galleries in the GolfWRX Tour Equipment forum.

We’ve all made that look

After hitting a drive off the first tee Tuesday during a practice round, (with his Titleist TSi3, and Patriot Editon Fujikura Ventus) Rory Sabbatini made the look saying either “kinda missed that one and it still got away with it” or “I smoked that!.”

Speaking of Rory, it looks like he has opted for a lighter-weight vessel carry bag this week, which, with a sponsor like Centinel Spine, is probably a great thing for his caddie’s back too.

Maverick is back to the Nikes

After some serious testing, of his Top Gun Proto Apex MB irons, including putting them into play during The Players, Maverick McNealy has gone back to his trusted Nike VR Blades for the RBC Heritage this week. It doesn’t mean he won’t continue testing, but for now, the VR’s are staying put.

Prototype PXG Gen4 irons spotted

It wasn’t that long ago PXG unveiled its Gen4 line of irons, but the one set that was missing compared to the previous generation was a new “ST” or Super Tour milled blade. The ST is a unique club in the PXG line since it doesn’t offer a hollow structure, and the only new blade currently is the 0211 ST, which doesn’t offer the adjustable weighting in the back and also comes at a much lower price point.

Based on the centrally positioned weight and the thin body of the irons we spotted in Wyndham Clark’s bag, it looks like some Gen4 0311 ST irons could be on their way.

Use them until the grooves are gone

Even into his 40’s, Paul Casey is playing some of the best golf of his life, and one of his biggest strengths continues to be his iron play. Paul is currently ranked 17th in strokes gained: approaching the green., and based on that stat alone I don’t think his Mizuno MP-5 irons are going anywhere soon.

Is Daniel Berger ready to move on from his 10-year old irons?

Although they are still in the bag based on this image, it looks like Daniel Berger’s 2011 TaylorMade MC irons could be on a short leash, since he was spotted with a new set out for testing.

Checking in on some cool old stuff

Consider this a regular check-in on Chris Kirk’s Callaway Big Bertha driver from 2016, and Jason Dufner’s Titleist 915F 21-degree 7-wood. Keep on keeping on!

I spy a Banksy

Based on his alignment stick cover, English golfer Tom Lewis is a Banksy fan.

Wait! Is Tom Lewis Banksy, and he just plays professional golf as a way to globetrot and cover the world in graffiti? Pretty clever if true…

Nick Watney

Like quite a few players on tour this week, it looks like Nick Watney is lightening the load for his caddie by swapping in a “tour” stand bag for the full-blown staff bag. I mean, if it was up to me as a caddie, I’d be throwing everything into a Sunday bag—it’s not like your player is gonna lose a dozen balls, right?

Bill Haas looks like the sneaky +4 at your club

Bill Haas has won over $30 million, on the PGA Tour in his career, but with the Titleist hat, RLX shirt, and his glasses, he also looks just like “Steve” from the club that never practices and somehow never shoots over 70 in the scratch events around town.

Anirban Lahiri is testing some irons

We spotted these Proto irons a little while back: ProTo Concept woods, irons & wedges – 2021, and it looks like they have made their way into Anirban Lahiri bag this week again for testing. Anirban is one of the last holdouts on tour using the Srixon Z945, and it could be that getting a replacement set isn’t in the cards based on their age.

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Equipment

A shocking Backstryke putter appearance + 7 interesting gear photos from the Zurich Classic

Published

9 hours ago

Apr 25, 2024

Andrew Tursky

Welcome to New Orleans, where TPC Louisiana plays host to the 2024 Zurich Classic. In between breakfast beignets and nightly Creole feasts, PGA Tour players are also competing in the unique two-man format at the Zurich this week.

Although the vibes in Nawlins are a bit lighter-fare than the recent back-to-back competitions the Masters and the RBC Heritage signature event), the gear news was no less serious this week.

We spotted some recent changes from Rory McIlroy, a very rare Odyssey Backstryke putter, dove into the bag of legendary New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, and spotted Patrick Cantlay continuing to test new equipment.

Get your beads out and crack your crawfish, because it’s time for an equipment rundown from The Big Easy (meaning New Orleans, of course, not Ernie Els).

See all of our photos from the Zurich Classic here

Rory’s on-and-off lob wedge

Since the end of 2023, Rory McIlroy has had an on-again, off-again relationship with a Titleist Vokey K-Grind lob wedge. In his last start, it was on, and the wedge is back in the bag again this week. We got a great look at the complicated grind that McIlroy uses.

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A full look into McIlroy’s bag above also shows that he switched out of the TaylorMade BRNR Mini Copper that he used at the RBC Heritage, and he’s back into the Qi10 core 3-wood. As we discussed last week, McIlroy will likely keep the BRNR around as a course-specific club, trading it in and out for the 3-wood.

See Rory McIlroy’s full 2024 WITB from the Zurich here

Turning Back the clock

Unless Tommy Gainey is in the field, it’s unlikely you’ll ever see Odyssey’s Backstryke technology make an appearance on the PGA Tour.

But then, when you least expect it, Russ Cochran shows up.

For more than a decade – since the 2013 Sony Open in Hawai’i – Cochran has been stuck on 599 PGA Tour starts. This week will be his 600th.

Cochran is in the field at the Zurich this week playing alongside Eric Cole, whose regular caddie is Reed Cochran, Russ’s son.

The Backstryke putter was first released back in 2010, and its unique design helps shift the axis point of the putter closer to the CG of the head. And, the putter is getting a nod this week at the Zurich Classic, thanks to Cochran’s 600th career PGA Tour start.

The putter is certainly awesome, but don’t forget to check out Cochran’s full WITB from this week.

Drew Brees with a Super Bowl winning Scotty Cameron putter

Drew Brees, a legendary retired quarterback for the hometown New Orleans Saints, made an appearance at the Zurich’s Wednesday Pro-Am, playing alongside Zach Johnson, Ryan Palmer, and current Saints QB Derek Carr.

Brees’ bag included a TaylorMade Stealth2 Plus driver, a BRNR Mini 13.5-degree, a Stealth 5-wood, a mixed set of P-790 and P-760 irons, Milled Grind Hi-Toe wedges, and a custom Scotty Cameron “New Orleans Saints” putter, which Scotty made for Brees following his Super Bowl MVP-winning performance in 2010.

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It should also be noted that Brees has his Venmo QR code as a bag tag.

If you’re gambling with Brees on the course, just know that not having cash won’t work as an excuse.

Brilliant.

See Drew Brees’ full WITB from the Zurich here

Stricker’s unrecognizable putter

Steve Stricker has made numerous upgrades to his bag recently, including a new TSR3 driver and T100 irons, but his longtime Odyssey White Hot No. 2 putter is still going strong. It’s the most recognizable unrecognizable putter ever.

Here’s a better look at Stricker’s flatstick, which he started using back in 2007.

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Patrick Cantlay has opened the equipment-switching floodgates

Over on the PGA Tour’s Equipment Report this week, we covered Cantlay’s recent switch into Ping Blueprint S irons, and a Titleist TSR2 driver.

Cantlay hadn’t switched irons for about seven years, so the iron switch he made at The 2024 Masters came as a shock to the norm. He simply isn’t one to change gear very often, so anytime Cantlay makes a switch, it’s news.

It seems the floodgates of equipment testing have opened up a bit for Cantlay, who was also spotted testing a custom Scotty Cameron blade putter on Tuesday this week. By Wednesday, Cantlay was back practicing with his familiar Scotty Cameron T5 Proto mallet, but it’s certainly something to keep an eye on going forward.

Daniel Berger’s custom Jailbird site lines

Berger, who’s currently using Odyssey’s Ai-One Mini Jailbird mallet putter, has a unique 3-dot, 2-line alignment on the crown of his navy-white-navy-white mallet putter. Looking down at the putter, it’s easy to see why this alignment system would help; it just seems impossible to set up to the ball off-center, or misaligned to the target.

Also, for anyone worried, you can rest easy. Yes, he’s still playing the 2013 TaylorMade TP MC irons, which we highlighted in our recent “Modern Classics: Old vs. New” video testing series.

FitzMagic teams back up

Brothers Matthew and Alex Fitzpatrick are teaming up once again at the Zurich this year, and Bettinardi Golf hooked them up with some festive “FitzMagic” headcovers to match this week.

See what else is in Alex Fitzpatrick’s WITB here

And, with that, we say goodbye to the Zurich Classic in New Orleans. Don’t forget to check out all of our photos from this week, including 30 unique photo galleries full of equipment photos.

We’ll see you next week in Texas for the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson!

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