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TOUR REPORT: This dominant PGA pro is using hybrids (and irons) from 11 years ago

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The Florida swing is officially underway this week as the PGA Tour moved to Palm Beach Gardens for the 2022 Honda Classic at PGA National. As you may or may not know, a slew of Tour players live in the nearby area, so this week is a home game for a lot of them. That has to be nice for guys who spend most weeks on the road.

OK, that’s great, but what clubs are they using?!

I know, we’re getting to that.

Honestly, this week is one of my favorite editions of the Tour Report thus far. There’s just something about professional golfers using old golf clubs that makes me happy, and we got our fill of nostalgia this week (just wait until you see Alan Morin’s bag setup).

Alas, let’s get to this week’s 7 most interesting gear topics from the 2022 Honda Classic.

Make to check out all of our photos from the 2022 Honda Classic here!

1) Rickie Fowler explains why he switched putters

Last week at the 2022 Genesis Invitational, Fowler used a TaylorMade putter for the first time in his career. This week, we not only got in-hand photos of the new TaylorMade Spider GT, but we also talked to Fowler himself to get insight on why he switched.

Below is a snippet of what Fowler had to say about the new putter (and head over to PGATOUR.com for our full report).

“I’ve always been a good putter, it’s something I’ve always just, not necessarily been able to just rely on, but take advantage when I’ve hit it close or help save rounds by making putts, Fowler said. “But, unfortunately over the last couple years, it’s not necessarily been there…I was hitting putts on one of the greens [at Riviera], and they have the bags set up, and I looked at a few different things because I was just not hitting some great putts. I looked at a few of the different necks and different sight lines. … The longer line that’s on there right now seemed to be the one, and the small neck just sat clean. It looked nice and was really easy to line up.”

2) Henrik Stenson is still rocking the Octane

After all these years, Henrik Stenson is still using a Callaway Diablo Octane 13-degree fairway wood, which was originally a retail release way back in 2011. And still equips it with that classic Grafalloy Blue Tour X shaft.

Stenson won the 2013 FedExCup title and the 2016 Open Championship using this fairway wood setup, so you can see why he’d still have it in the bag. Plus, he hits absolute seeds with it.

While he spent a bit of time testing newer models in recent years, the old Diablo is back in the bag and it seems to be staying. Every time I see Stenson’s bag, I secretly hope it’s still in there, and he didn’t disappoint this week.

He’s also still using Callaway’s Legacy Black irons, which were a JDM release in 2012. Pure nostalgia.

On our Instagram page, GolfWRX followers are chiming in with the oldest clubs currently in their bags. Check out the post below:

 

3) Cameron Young’s driver switch (and super custom putter)

Cam Young made a splash at the 2022 Genesis Invitational against some of the world’s top golfers with a T2 finish at Riviera.

His recent strong play comes after an important swing change, where he shifted from 6-7 degrees inside-out with his driver to a more neutral delivery. After making the swing change, he also worked with Titleist Tour rep J.J. Van Wezenbeeck to change his Titleist TSi3 driver setting to better suit the new swing parameters.

For a guy who regularly hits drives at 190 mph of ball speed, every small equipment adjustment makes a difference.

Check out the full story on Young’s switch here.

On the opposite end of his bag, Young also bags an interesting custom Scotty Cameron T5 proto putter. The putter has a plumber’s neck that’s been elongated using a “knuckle,” which allowed the putter to be perfectly face balanced.

For more information on what this club building technique entails, Brian Knudson explains in our latest TG2 podcast below:

4) South Florida pro’s incredible WITB

Alan Morin is a PGA professional and South Florida PGA Hall of Famer who won the South Florida section Player of the Year honors for the 11th time.

Eleven times!

Morin is competing in the 2022 Honda Classic this week, and he has a bag that’s stacked full of cool gear.

He’s using a TaylorMade RBZ fairway wood from 2012, three TaylorMade Rescues from 2011, a set of TaylorMade Tour Preferred irons from 2011, and new Cleveland RTX ZipCore wedges with ports in the back cavities for weighting purposes. He also uses an Odyssey Versa 7 putter that’s stacked with lead tape.

Chef’s kiss.

Morin has been beating up on the South Florida PGA section for years, and the 52-year-old is doing it with clubs he’s had in the bag for over a decade. You just gotta love this bag setup.

Check out Alan Morin’s full 2022 WITB here. 

5) Charl Schwartzel finds a putter, thanks to Adam Scott

Ahead of the 2022 Waste Management, Adam Scott switched into a custom L.A.B. Golf (Lie Angle Balance) Mezz.1 Proto putter head.

Apparently, the change caught Charl Schwartzel’s attention.

After Scott’s T4 at the Genesis Invitational, Schwartzel, who’s been struggling to find the right putter for himself, gave Scott a call to get his thoughts on the Mezz.1 putter. Scott must have been convincing, because Schwartzel switched into a Mezz.1 prototype putter this week, even though he just saw the L.A.B. putter for the first time on Monday.

To get the weight just right for his lie angle, Schwartzel also has a strip of lead tape applied to the heel portion of the 8-weighted sole.

“I think it putts easier than any other putter because if you look on the arc of a stroke, it can basically stroke a ball by itself,” Schwartzel told GolfWRX. “No other putter can do that. So if you’re comfortable letting it go like that, it does basically by itself. It’s very well balanced and it feels good. It’s very sensitive to lie angle, though, you need to get the exact lie angle.”

For the full story on Charl Schwartzel’s switch and the backstory with Adam Scott, click here.

6) Lee’s gold putter is really a 1-of-many

While conducting some putter testing on practice green at PGA National, Lee Westwood was presented with a gold-plated Ping Sigma2 Fetch putter to commemorate his 2020 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship victory.

Every time a Ping putter user wins a pro event, Ping creates a gold putter to go into the vault.

Westwood has won 44 worldwide professional events, which means he owns more real estate in the Ping vault than most any player ever. According to a Ping tour rep, Westwood’s gold putter collection is full of different models, too, so it was a surprise that Westwood was still using a Sigma2 Fetch putter nearly two years later.

See what GolfWRXers are saying about the putter (and awesome putter cover) in our forums.

7) Brooks Koepka’s commemorative Scotty

Like Westwood, Koepka was also awarded with a commemorative putter; his is a gold Scotty Cameron Teryllium TNP2 made for his 2019 PGA Championship win at Bethpage Black. Funny enough, that isn’t the exact putter model Koepka used to win that week (it was a Scotty Cameron Newport 2 SLT T10), but it is the putter model he uses now.

When I asked Koepka where he keeps the three other commemorative putters he has for his three other majors, he said, “They’re in my house somewhere, I just moved so I don’t know where anything is.”

I guess even four-time major winners have to deal with the struggles of moving. At least this week is a home game for Koepka so he can get caught up on the move into the new digs in Jupiter.

And that’ll do it for this week’s Tour Report from the 2022 Honda Classic. We’ll be back next week at the 2022 Bay Hill Invitational to do it again. In the meantime, make to check out all of our photos from the 2022 Honda Classic here!

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He played on the Hawaii Pacific University Men's Golf team and earned a Masters degree in Communications. He also played college golf at Rutgers University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

12 Comments

12 Comments

  1. Pingback: GolfWRX's top-read stories about equipment of the year - Fly Pin High

  2. Pingback: GolfWRX’s most-read equipment stories of the year – GolfWRX

  3. Pingback: The Top 10 gear stories of 2022 (so far): Where do Tiger’s FootJoy shoes rank? – GolfWRX

  4. Henry R Fitzgerald

    Feb 26, 2022 at 6:24 pm

    I think Fowler needs to concentrate on selling mortgages to people who can’t afford, beer to those who like to drink, and cheap insurance.

    He makes more money on advertising than on the course.

  5. Henry R Fitzgerald

    Feb 26, 2022 at 2:18 pm

    As long as people keep buying the BS line that they need the latest to perform, OEM’s will continue to sell the BS.

    As to Cameron’s copying spree, he couldn’t help himself with the gold putter thingy. Hoping for a Cameron original before he retires, lol…

    • Karsten Solheim

      Feb 26, 2022 at 3:41 pm

      Whuuuuuuut???? You don’t believe in the “German” Stainless forged in the magical mountains???

      • Henry R Fitzgerald

        Feb 26, 2022 at 3:51 pm

        Lol….Now, that’s the biggest baloney sandwich Cameron have sold to the cult members.

  6. Phree Theengker

    Feb 26, 2022 at 1:15 pm

    My comment about wrong think was deleted for wrong think.

  7. Phree Theengker

    Feb 26, 2022 at 12:30 pm

    I guess if you use old clubs, there’s no manufacturer to “pause” your deal for wrong think.

  8. CrashTestDummy

    Feb 26, 2022 at 11:07 am

    I totally understand the using older models. Different clubs have different feel which could mean that they may have to make alterations to their swing to compensate. They have those clubs so grooved, know exactly how they feel, and trust them 100% when hitting pressured shots.

  9. Teebo

    Feb 25, 2022 at 12:05 pm

    In reference to the PGA pro using old irons and hybrids that would be the norm if players weren’t paid to play the newest gear.

    • Tom54

      Feb 25, 2022 at 2:50 pm

      Although club pros aren’t paid to use their clubs I thought they still get stuff for free so it is strange for him not to use current models.

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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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