Connect with us

Equipment

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

Published

on

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!

Your Reaction?
  • 146
  • LEGIT26
  • WOW11
  • LOL8
  • IDHT2
  • FLOP5
  • OB4
  • SHANK16

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.

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Whats in the Bag

Chesson Hadley WITB 2024 (March)

Published

on

Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 70 TX

3-wood: Titleist TSR2+ (14.5 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX

Irons: Titleist T200 (3), Titleist 620 CB (4, 5), Titleist 620 MB (6-PW)
Shafts: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 105 X (3), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-PW)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60-K)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG 2-Ball
Grip: Odyssey

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Check out more in-hand photos Chesson Hadley’s clubs here.

Your Reaction?
  • 0
  • LEGIT0
  • WOW0
  • LOL1
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK0

Continue Reading

Whats in the Bag

Gary Woodland WITB 2024 (March)

Published

on

Driver: Cobra Darkspeed X (8 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TZ5 70 M5

  • The white circle that appears at the top of the face a removable sticker that’s used for launch monitor tracking, and Woodland removes it for competition!

3-wood: Cobra Darkspeed X (14 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TZ5 GW100 Prototype

7-wood: Cobra LTDx LS prototype (20 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TZ5 GW100 Prototype

Irons: Wilson Staff (18 degrees), Cobra King MB (4-PW)
Shafts: KBS Tour C-Taper Limited X

Wedges: Cobra SB (48), Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-08F, 56-14F), Cobra King (60)
Shafts: KBS Tour C-Taper Limited X (48 degrees), KBS Tour V-Ten 125

Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Tour 3.0P

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord

See more in-hand photos of Gary Woodland’s WITB in the forums.

Your Reaction?
  • 4
  • LEGIT1
  • WOW2
  • LOL0
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK0

Continue Reading

Equipment

Q&A: Martin Trainer on his Bobby Grace “Greg Chalmers” putter, 6.5-degree driver, and “butter knife” 2-iron

Published

on

As unbiasedly as I can put it, Martin Trainer has one of the coolest club setups in professional golf. (At some point soon, I’ll put together a top-10 list of “coolest club setups on Tour,” but I know that Trainer will be in the top-10)

What a lineup. He plays a 6.5-degree Wilson prototype driver, a 13-degree Wilson prototype 3-wood, a true blade Wilson Staff Model 2-iron, and a Bobby Grace “Greg Chalmers Commemorative” putter!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx)

I mean, look at this 2-iron from address…

To quote the great author R.L. Stine: “Goosebumps.”

On Wednesday at the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open, I caught up with Trainer to learn more about his bag setup.

Here’s what he had to say:

You have the Internet going crazy over your bag setup, and your putter. Where’d you pick the Bobby Grace-Greg Chalmers putter up? How long have you had it?

MT: This was from when Bobby Grace came to my course in California: Cal Club. And for whatever reason, they just started having them in the shop. So then I took my buddy’s, started using it, and made, like, a million putts in a row, which is how every putter story begins, I guess.

And then, I bought a couple of my own, used it for years, got to the Tour with it, won on Tour with it (the 2019 Puerto Rico Open). Then, about a year later, started using another putter, did that for a couple years, but now it’s back in the bag.

When did it come back in the bag?

MT: December of this past year. So a few months ago.

What year would you say was the first time you threw that in the bag, or, like, when you bought it?

MT: God…Probably, 2016, maybe? 2018?

Do you remember how much you paid for it?

MT: I don’t know, actually. Maybe $100-150 bucks or something. I think that’s the only golf club I’ve bought between high school and now. Well, two, since I bought two of them.

The driver is interesting, too. What went into the prototyping process?

MT: That was a version of the current driver, but it was the prototype that they first came out with for Tour guys to try. And for whatever reason, I just never switched out to the new one.

It’s just 6.5 degrees, right?

MT: Yeah. Very low loft, yeah.

What kind of ball speed do you have with that these days?

MT: Like high 170’s.

Yeah, that’ll work. And then a 2-iron blade? We’re seeing fewer and fewer of those out here.

MT: Yeah. The butter knife.

Very cool thing to have in the bag. Have you done any testing with driving irons? 

MT: Yeah, I used to have a thicker one, but it was a little offset, and I never hit it that well. And then finally, I started messing around with the butter knife. And I remember the first time I looked down at it, I was terrified. And then I ended up getting used to it, putting it in play, and it’s been in place since. It’s a pretty good club for me.

How far do you carry that? 

MT: Like 235.

A good little wind club, I’m sure.

MTL Yeah, exactly. I can hit it very low. It’s great.

I love it. You have people shook looking at that. Thanks for the time, man. 

MT: Absolutely.

To see more photos and discussion of Trainer’s bag, click here.

Your Reaction?
  • 28
  • LEGIT4
  • WOW1
  • LOL1
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB1
  • SHANK0

Continue Reading

WITB

Facebook

Trending