Equipment
TOUR REPORT: Adam Scott goes Stealth, and we say “goodbye” to Scheffler’s Nike VR Pro?
Our weekly Tour Report highlights important golf equipment changes that PGA Tour players make week-to-week. Unfortunately, the most important piece of equipment in the bags of PGA Tour players this week might be their umbrella.
Rain is in the forecast throughout the week and into the weekend at The 2022 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, but the Tour Report plays on rain or shine. We’re mudders here at GolfWRX.
In addition to rain gear, there were also a number of interesting equipment topics that arose this week at The Players. Let’s dive right in.
Check out all of our photos from The 2022 Players Championship here.
Will Scheffler finally change out his longtime Nike fairway wood?
In the world of equipment free agents, there may not have been a more sought after player than 25-year-old Scottie Scheffler, who’s fresh off two PGA Tour wins in his last three starts. On Wednesday ahead of The Players Championship, Scheffler announced that he’s off the market and has signed a multi-year equipment deal with TaylorMade.
He’s been playing a TaylorMade Stealth Plus driver throughout 2022, and he’s been using TaylorMade irons for his entire PGA Tour career, so this wasn’t a complete surprise.
My biggest question in this deal, though, is whether Scheffler will switch out his longtime Nike VR Pro Limited 3-wood, which was originally released to the public way back in 2011. TaylorMade didn’t specify terms of the deal, but said that he’d be adding Stealth fairways to his bag.
During the practice rounds at The Players, Scheffler had both his old Nike 3-wood in the bag, as well as a new Stealth 16.5-degree fairway wood that he was testing.
When I asked Scheffler on Wednesday which fairway wood he’d be playing this week, he said he wasn’t yet sure.
“I haven’t decided which one I’m using yet this week,” Scheffler said. “It’ll be a sad day [when the Nike comes out of the bag], but it has to happen eventually.”
It’s yet to be confirmed which fairway wood Scheffler has chosen, but we’ll keep an eye on it moving forward. When he does finally switch out the Nike for a Stealth, we’ll have to pour one out for the 11-year-old Nike; it had a good run.
Scottie Scheffler’s 2022 WITB at The Players Championship.
Adam Scott goes Stealth
Scott was in the equipment news last week because he played in the first round of the 2022 Arnold Palmer Invitational without a driver in the bag order to hit more fairways.
This week, Scott, who is no longer a full Titleist staffer through the bag as of 2022, is back in the news. While Scott has used a Titleist driver throughout his entire career, he tested TaylorMade Stealth Plus drivers and fairways ahead of The Players.
For the first round, it seems Scott has pulled the trigger on using TaylorMade metalwoods. He used a Stealth Plus 10-5 degree driver (Graphite Design Tour AD-DI 8X shaft) and a 15-degree Stealth Plus fairway wood (Graphite Design Tour AD-DI 9X shaft).
It’s weird to see Scott using a driver that isn’t a Titleist, but this could be the new norm going forward. Now an equipment free agent, Scott will likely continue testing different driver and fairway wood setups this year. We’ll be keeping a close eye on his testing sessions.
“Toe”-ny Finau’s putting drill
While I was hovering around the putting green at The Players, I noticed Tony Finau putting with the toe end of his putter, rather than the face. And, honestly, his stroke looked fluid and he seemed to be rolling it very well.
Intrigued about this drill, I asked Finau what the deal was.
According to Finau, the drill helps him focus on hitting the center of the “face” due to the smaller hitting area, and it helps him keep his stroke path more straight-back and straight-through.
Since he loves the feel of this drill so much, though, there might be something bigger in the works. Finau likes the feeling of having so much mass directly behind the hitting area, so he told GolfWRX “there’s maybe some creative putter in the works.”
Maybe this toe-drill is more than a drill. Maybe it was actually a testing session for a new Ping prototype putter. Hmm, the possibilities!
Webb Simpson switches drivers…finally?
For the last four years, Webb Simpson had been using a Titleist TS3 driver, which was released back in 2018. Simpson is notoriously slow to switch into new clubs, so there was nothing too shocking about it.
At The Players Championship, however, Simpson showed up with a new TSi3 driver in the bag. Wow, finally!
Well, after speaking with Simpson this week, he actually used the TSi3 one other time in competition. According to Simpson, he played the first two rounds at the 2021 Fortinet Championship in Napa with his old TS3 driver, but he played the weekend with the new TSi3.
During his next five events, though, Simpson switched back into the TS3 because he said the TSi3 was spinning a little too low for him.
In the two months prior to The Players, Simpson was out with a neck injury and had time at home to get dialed and conduct some product testing. He ended up figuring out the setup of the new TSi3, and eventually found 2-3 mph more ball speed compared to his old TS3 gamer.
It appears Simpson has finally committed to the switch.
Head over to PGATOUR.com for our full writeup on Simpson’s switch, and our exclusive quotes.
Custom Scotty Camerons abound
There were a bunch of new custom Scotty Cameron’s floating around the golf bags of PGA Tour players this week. It’s uncertain which of them will actually go into play, but I wanted to highlight some of them for your viewing pleasure.
Check out some of the awesome custom Scotty’s we spotted this week:
Paul Casey
Kevin Streelman
Webb Simpson
Hideki Matsuyama
All-new staff bags from Ping and Odyssey
You may see the caddies of Callaway and Ping staffers carrying bags with a new look this week. Odyssey revealed it’s new colorful “#1 putter in golf” staff bags, and Ping staffers will be using a yellow “PLD” staff bag.
The “PLD” stands for “Putting Lab Design,” which are the new custom Tour putters that released to the public this week, allowing general consumers access to Tour-level milled putters and fittings. For more on that story, click the link here.
Rahm switches back
Well, that was quick.
Jon Rahm’s brief experiment with an Odyssey White Hot OG #7S prototype putter, apparently, is over.
As a reminder, Rahm switched out of his 2021 U.S. Open-winning Odyssey White Hot Rossie S putter during the final round of the 2022 Genesis Invitational, opting instead to use an Odyssey White Hot OG #7S putter to help with his stroke and release. He then continued to use the #7 putter for the 2022 Arnold Palmer Invitational.
At The Players Championship, though, Rahm was back using his trusty Rossie S. He spoke to the press following his first round 69 to explain why it was back in the bag:
“It just needed a timeout last week. That’s it. Luckily we had — I’m going to start calling them browns because they weren’t even greens. They were browns last week [at Bay Hill], and that was enough to not want to use it again…
“It’s been a month of seeing putts go by the edge of the hole that were good, and that’s what it was. Sometimes — I’m usually the last person to ever blame the putter. But I felt like I needed to because that was kind of out of sorts.
“You know, went back to it today, and I feel like I almost — sometimes when you’re working on something and something is not working properly, I feel like I myself at least can put too much attention to it and I can be thinking too much on what’s going on with the putter, and I feel like this weekend completely reversed it.
“I said, it’s all good, let’s relax, and let’s try to get the speed of the greens. There’s nothing wrong technically. I tried to just get the speed of the greens, and it worked out beautifully. Almost kind of got me out of being too technical and more into putting as an art.”
Check out the full story over on PGATOUR.com.
Wolff’s custom logo golf ball
Last week at Bay Hill, young Matthew Wolff used TaylorMade Pix golf balls with Arnold Palmer umbrellas on their covers. This week, he’s using Pix golf balls with dancing wolves all over them.
The custom golf balls look cool, of course, and they continue to highlight TaylorMade’s ability to create unique Pix-style designs for players.
FootJoy x Buscemi shoes
Jon Buscemi (Steve Buscemi’s cousin) is a popular streetwear fashion designer, and he collaborated with FootJoy to create new Premiere Series Collection golf shoes for The Players Championship. Don’t be surprised to see FootJoy athletes such as Justin Thomas and Ian Poulter rocking them this week.
Six Figure Sneakerhead has a full write-up on GolfWRX about the collab, so if you’re interested in more info, check that out here.
Dustin Johnson tests putters (as always)
UPDATE from the first round: Johnson actually DID switch putters this week! Click here to read the full story and see which putter he used in round 1 at The Players.
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Every single week, Dustin Johnson tests a slew of different putter designs. Also, every week, Johnson ends up using the same TaylorMade Spider Tour Black putter (pictured on the right) in competition.
Plain and simple, Johnson likes to tests putters. He doesn’t change his actual gamer often, but he tests a number of different putter designs every week.
This week at The Players, we took in-hand photos of what he was testing. Check out the full forum thread here.
Kuchar’s quest continues
Matt Kuchar has been employing a right-hand armlock style of putting the last year or so, and he’s been testing out different Bettinardi putters to find the right fit.
According to Bettinardi rep David Kubiak, Kuchar wanted to try out a center-shafted Bettinardi armlock putter with the shaft placement well behind the face. Kubiak says it’s unlikely this putter goes in the bag this week, since Kuchar saw the putter the first time at The Players, but it could be an option going forward.
Kuchar’s quest to find the right putter to suit his inventive putting style continues.
And with that, we conclude this week’s Tour Report from The Players Championship. Enjoy the fifth major, and hopefully we see some sunshine and a Sunday finish. We’ll be back at it, rain or shine, next week at the Valspar Championship to conclude the Florida Swing.
Check out all of our photos from The 2022 Players Championship.
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Whats in the Bag
Sam Burns WITB 2024 (April)
- Sam Burns’ what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage.
Driver: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond S (9 degrees @10)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 7 TX
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond T (15 degrees @16)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 8 X
Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 8 X
Irons: Callaway Apex TCB ’24 (4-AW)
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (4-PW), True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 Tour Issue (AW)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (56-14F @55), WedgeWorks Proto (60-T)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 Tour Issue (56, 60)
Putter: Odyssey Ai-One #7S
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align
Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour X
Check out more in-hand photos of Sam Burns’ WITB in the forums.
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Whats in the Bag
Will Zalatoris WITB 2024 (April)
- Will Zalatoris’ what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage.
Driver: Titleist TSR2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 7 X (44.5 inches)
3-wood: Titleist TSi2 (15 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 X
Irons: Titleist T350 (3), Titleist T150 (4-PW)
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Prototype G.O.S.T. 10 ST X (3), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-PW)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (50-08F, 54-10S @55, 60-04T)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Putter: L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Max
Grips: Golf Pride Z-Grip Cord
See more photos of Will Zalatoris’ WITB in the forums.
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Equipment
New Level launches new 480-DB irons, blending performance and forgiveness
New Level has been making some really good golf equipment since the company started up in 2018. Offering irons that are more geared towards the better player, precision has been a fundamental philosophy for New Level in creating irons and wedges.
The 480 line of irons has been the flagship of the brand, and the newest member of that team is the 480-DB iron that is now open to pre-orders. A new cavity design is what the whole 480 line is about, and the 480-DB takes advantage of that with added ball speed and a larger sweet spot.
For players who require their irons to offer the best feel, rest assured the DB is a fully forged (from 1020 carbon steel) one-piece golf club. No multi-piece, hollow design with this iron.
While the 480-DB is the next generation of the popular 902-OS, New Level didn’t follow the current trend in golf by chasing distance with the new iron. They actually weakened the lofts on the 480-DB with the spec sheet showing a 33-degree 7-iron and 45-degree pitching wedge. These lofts allow the DB to have less offset while still offering consistent distance off the face.
A traditional design was also at the forefront of the new irons to make sure that golfers with an eye for detail can look down at them with confidence that they will perform under any condition.
A weight low in the back cavity will allow their master club builders to dial in the perfect weight for the golfer, no matter the length or shaft being used. New Level believes that the new 480-DB is one of the most forgiving one-piece forged irons on the market today. A pre-worn leading edge on the sole should get through the turf quickly and with reduced digging for better turf interaction.
You can pre-order the New Level 480-DB right now on the New Level website.
Pricing specs availability
- Irons: 4-PW
- Price: $149/oron
- Availability: Pre-order
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Hammer Driver Dude
Jun 1, 2022 at 11:08 am
FYI Golfwrx the “hammer” putter already exists ping could steal that crappy idea.
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BobbyN
Mar 14, 2022 at 2:00 pm
The golf gods have spoken. Change out your old faithful 3 wood and hit multiple shots in the water as punishment for your sins.
Bob
Mar 14, 2022 at 12:19 pm
For God’s sake Adam, get the 905R with the ProForce V2 out and go back to work!
BobbyN
Mar 15, 2022 at 12:46 am
Best driver ever!
Bob
Mar 16, 2022 at 4:31 pm
That’s the best he’s driven it in his career. The shaft is still made it is that good.
El Culebrón
Mar 11, 2022 at 4:46 pm
Enough with the Armlocked putters. Those are anchored putters and should be banned.
Crashtestdummy
Mar 11, 2022 at 3:44 pm
Kuchar’s prototypes make total sense. Instead of having to jacked up the loft on arm putters because of the severe shaft lean, just move the putter head forward to have standard degrees of loft on the putter. I like it.
Twitter lord
Mar 11, 2022 at 11:30 pm
Clearly is not “standard loft” on that putter….. Looks like -10 degrees, yes negative 10!!!! Are you blind?
Jay Arr
Mar 11, 2022 at 12:36 pm
You got to be nuts to change out your 3w after you won the last 2 of 3 tournaments on the pga tour. Almost like Tiger changing his swing after winning 6 tournaments.
Why is it so hard for humans to just leave things alone! lol
H.R. Fernandez
Mar 11, 2022 at 10:00 am
Nice rundown.