Equipment
Tour Report: Fowler switches to a TaylorMade putter, JT makes a wedge change
Tucked within the mansion-laden hills in Pacific Palisades, California, rests a beautiful and historic golf course – named The Riviera Country Club – where Tiger Woods hosts a yearly PGA Tour golf event.
As picturesque and story-filled the course may be, the competitors must properly prepare themselves for a challenging 72-hole test.
In this week’s Tour Report, I discuss the gear changes that the pros have made to properly arm themselves to tackle this week’s difficulties and other interesting findings from inside the ropes.
Enjoy this week’s eight hottest takeaways from the 2022 Genesis Invitational.
1) Kikuyu confusion
The fairways and rough at Riviera are made of Kikuyugrass – a native grass of Africa – that’s quite spongy. While nice to look at, the texture of the grass can cause issues with turf interaction on pitches and simple chip shots around the green.
To deal with the difficulties of Kikuyu, according to Titleist Vokey wedge rep Aaron Dill, players are either adding more bounce to add forgiveness or taking away bounce to allow the leading edge to work through the turf quicker. That means players are going with two opposing strategies to solve the same problem.
“This golf course is unique; this grass is unique,” Dill told GolfWRX. “Kikuyugrass is just weird. It’s a weird grass and in a weird way it makes wedges feel really sticky. It presents some challenges for chipping and wedge play. I’m seeing some guys switch bounces…you got JT, he’s going in with a K-grind this week. He knows that this grass just grabs stuff, so he wants to feel some forgiveness going out. Then you’ll see some guys gravitate to the opposite end, where they’ll say they want to feel the wedge working through the ground fast. And that usually means we have to reduce bounce, so we’ve seen some guys do that, as well.”
Justin Thomas has chosen the higher bounce option this week by adding in Vokey K-grind, a high-bounce wide-sole option to ensure his wedge doesn’t dig too much into the Kikuyu.
2) Rickie Fowler’s first time in a TaylorMade putter
@RiggsBarstool This is a big deal @RickieFowler @TaylorMadeGolf pic.twitter.com/sy2bNA1c1u
— Lesley (@DoinkTheCIown) February 17, 2022
Fowler, who’s most recently used Scotty Cameron and Cobra putters, has switched into TaylorMade’s new Spider GT Black mallet this week. While many versions of the new putter are available to Tour players, Fowler’s version has the following specs:
- A single sightline on the crown
- 35 inches in length
- 3 degrees of loft
- 70-degree lie angle
- A fluted shaft
- TaylorMade rubber pistol grip
The company also says it’s Fowler’s first time ever using a TaylorMade putter in competition.
3) Beverly’s ports
It’s not completely uncommon for pros to use clubs that have holes in their back cavities; this process is also known as “porting.” Something was different about the placement of Beverly’s ports, though, so I had to ask Dill for his insight on the build.
According to Dill, the holes helped reduce his swing weights down to D3-D5, offsetting the weight added from his +0.5-inch lengths. They’re also placed out on the heel and toe portions to avoid intruding on the “Bob Vokey” wings. Now that’s how you pay respect to the wedge legend Bob Vokey himself.
To read the full story about Beverly’s wedges, click here!
4) Rory and DJ iron things out
Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson are both switching things up at Riviera in the top end of their bags by removing a hybrid and replacing it with a 3-iron.
For McIlroy, he’s opting for a new TaylorMade P790 3-iron, equipped with an extra stout Fujikura Ventus Black HB 10TX shaft. Check out Rory’s full WITB here!
Johnson, on the other hand, has added in a TaylorMade DJ Proto blade 3-iron, equipped with his usual True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 iron shaft.
5) Hadwin’s Tour Drills
In a new segment called “Tour Drills,” I highlighted Adam Hadwin’s incredibly simple, yet effective, drills that he’s incorporated into his range practice at PGA Tour events. If you’re looking to shape your shots with better control, or you want more speed with the driver, these drills will be for you.
To learn how to conduct these drills for yourself, click here!
6) PGA Tour looper Reynolds Robinson provides real insight
PGA Tour veteran caddie Reynolds Robinson (caddie for Joseph Bramlett) dropped a bunch of gems on this week’s Caddie Corner. Click here for the full 15-question Q&A, and check out my favorite quote from him below regarding his advice for amateurs based on his time working with PGA Tour pros:
“Play within your means,” Robinson says. “Don’t try to hit the hero shot, just focus more on course management than you do on spectacular shots. If I had the swing to go with the knowledge I had now, I’d be a hell of a player. I just don’t have the swing these guys do. The one thing I learn from these guys is that even though they have the shots, they’ve learned how to manage their way around the golf course when it’s not looking good. They won’t take the hero shot. They’ll make the smart play. So for amateurs, play within yourself and don’t make the hero play, just manage the course and you’ll probably save a lot of strokes over the course of a round.”
7) Finau’s arrow
Tony Finau found winning success with this custom Ping PLD Anser 2D putter last year at The Northern Trust, and it still isn’t out of the bag.
Finau’s prototype is unique for two main reasons: 1) It’s made to perfectly match his look and feel preferences, and 2) It has alignment lines drawn on with permanent marker on both the top line near the hosel and on the head below the hosel portion.
In speaking with Ping tour rep Tony Serrano, we learned that Finau uses the lines to help with the position of his hands at setup.
“He uses the arrow and the line on top so when he gets behind a putt, he can get into the right address position,” Ping Tour rep Tony Serrano. “His hands tend to get too forward and drop a little bit, so the permanent marker lines help to get him in position. When he sees them disappear, he knows he’s good to fire.”
Just because he’s a PGA Tour winner doesn’t mean he’s too good for permanent marker lines on his custom putter.
8) Charl Schwartzel’s “Wilson” putter?!
While Schwartzel was testing putters on the putting green, I was confused when he started using a putter with an upside-down Wilson logo in the back cavity.
Upon further inspection, it was actually just a piece of Wilson lead tape that’s made for tennis, which he placed onto his 2007 Scotty Cameron Catalina Classic putter to add weight to the head.
Classic mixup by me. I promise I’ll be better next week as I report in from the 2022 Honda Classic.
See you next week!
Check out the rest of our photos from the 2022 Genesis Invitational here!
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Whats in the Bag
Steve Stricker WITB 2024 (April)
- Steve Stricker WITB accurate as of the Zurich Classic. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (9 degrees, C4 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Motore Speeder VC 7.2 X
3-wood: Titleist 915F (13.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 80 TX
Hybrid: Titleist 816 H1 (17 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Motore Speeder VC 9.2 X
Irons: Titleist T200 (3, 4), Titleist T100 (5-9)
Shafts: Project X 6.5
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM8 (46-10F @55), Titleist Vokey SM10 (54-10S @53), Titleist Vokey SM4 (60 @59)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 w/Sensicore
Putter: Odyssey White Hot No. 2
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Grip Rite
Check out more in-hand photos of Steve Stricker’s clubs here.
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Whats in the Bag
Alex Fitzpatrick WITB 2024 (April)
- Alex Fitzpatrick what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic.
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 7 X
Hybrid: Ping G430 (19 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 10 TX
Irons: Ping iCrossover (2), Titleist T100 (4-PW)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 9 TX (2), Nippon N.S. Pro Modus 3 Tour 120 X (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (50-12F, 56-12D, 60-08M)
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus 3 Tour 120 X
Putter: Bettinardi SS16 Dass
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Check out more in-hand photos of Alex Fitzpatrick’s clubs here.
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Equipment
What’s the perfect mini-driver/shaft combo? – GolfWRXers discuss
In our forums, our members have been discussing Mini-Drivers and accompanying shafts. WRXer ‘JamesFisher1990’ is about to purchase a BRNR Mini and is torn on what shaft weight to use, and our members have been sharing their thoughts and set ups 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.
- PARETO: “New BRNR at 13.5. Took it over to TXG (Club Champ but TXG will always rule) in Calgary for a fit. Took the head down to 12, stuck in a Graphite Design AD at 3 wood length and 60g. Presto- numbers that rivaled my G430Max but with waaaaay tighter dispersion. Win.”
- driveandputtmachine: “Still playing a MIni 300. The head was only 208, so I ordered a heavier weight and play it at 3 wood length. I am playing a Ventus Red 70. I play 70 grams in my fairways. I use it mainly to hit draws off the tee. When I combine me, a driver, and trying to hit a draw it does not work out well most of the time. So the MIni is for that. As an aside, I have not hit the newest BRNR, but the previous model wasn’t great off the deck. The 300 Mini is very good off the deck.”
- JAM01: “Ok, just put the BRNR in the bag along side a QI10 max and a QI10 3 wood. A load of top end redundancy. But, I have several holes at my two home courses where the flight and accuracy of the mini driver helps immensely. Mine is stock Proforce 65 at 13.5, I could see a heavier shaft, but to normal flex, as a nice alternative.”
Entire Thread: “What’s the perfect Mini-Driver/Shaft combo? – GolfWRXers discuss”
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ProjectX
Feb 21, 2022 at 8:05 am
So Finau just turned his Ping Putter into a Seemore…got it.
Professor
Feb 19, 2022 at 4:29 pm
Great read but I believe the Riv is 71 holes…
Professor
Feb 19, 2022 at 4:30 pm
Sorry, par 71.
Joe Intravaia
Feb 19, 2022 at 3:45 pm
Missing you on Fully Equipped good luck in the new job.