Equipment
Phelps can swim, but he hopes to “sink” with Ping
Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps can swim — he has 70 medals in international competition that confirms it. But recently, he’s been spending more of his time learning how to sink — sink putts that is.
Phelps has signed an endorsement contract with Ping to play a full set of the company’s custom-fit clubs, including the new G25 driver, fairway woods, hybrids and irons. Around the greens, Phelps will be using the new Tour wedges with Gorge grooves and Scottsdale TR (True Roll) Senita putter.
PING customized his new set in a red, white, and blue theme honoring his 22 medals in Olympic competition. But at 6-feet 4-inches tall, Phelps needed more than aesthetic changes to his clubs to make them work for him. His G25 irons are 1 inch longer than standard and 3 degrees upright. To accommodate his large hards, his grips are 1/32 inches over standard.
Phelps’ official debut with the clubs starts when he tees off at the Annexus Pro-Am at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, where he’ll be paired with Masters Champion Bubba Watson.
“Michael is a legendary sports icon, and we all watched with great pride as he represented the United States while dominating his sport in international competition over the last decade,” said John A. Solheim, PING Chairman & CEO. “We’ve custom-built his clubs to ensure he has every chance to improve and we believe he’ll dedicate himself to golf with the same intensity he gave to swimming. His global presence as a golfer will bring PING tremendous exposure and just as importantly, shed additional light on the game in general.”
Phelps golf career is only five years young. In that time he has been able to establish a handicap of 16, just two shy of how many gold medals he has won. Golf fans and swimming fans will be able to see more of Phelps’ Ping set when Golf Channel’s “The Haney Project” airs on Feb. 25, where the swimming star will be the subject of an eight episode series with Hank Haney.
“I know how difficult the game of golf is, but I’m really serious about getting better and the experts at PING have already helped me a lot,” Phelps said. “They looked at my swing on the range and dialed me into clubs that perfectly fit my stance and swing. Considering how tall I am and the length of my arms, they showed me how important and beneficial it is that I play with custom-fit clubs. Once I had clubs that were built specifically for me, my ball flight improved right away. PING has a long history of helping golfers play better, so I’m excited to see how much I can continue to improve my game with the help of their equipment.”
Here’s what’s in Phelps’ bag:
Driver: Ping G25 (9.5 degrees)
3 Wood: Ping G25 (15 degrees)
Hybrid: Ping G25 (20 degrees)
Irons: Ping G25 (4 through U Wedge)
Wedges: Ping Tour with Gorge grooves (54 and 58 degrees, SS grind)
Putter: Ping Scottsdale TR Senita
Check out the photos in the gallery below:
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Whats in the Bag
WITB Time Machine: Rory McIlroy’s winning WITB, 2015 Wells Fargo Championship
Then-No. 1 player in the world Rory McIlroy began the week at the Wells Fargo Championship at 3-1 odds, if that gives you any indication of how well the Ulsterman was playing at the time. All he did at Quail Hollow was set the course record during his third round (61) and win the tournament by seven strokes.
Check out the gear Rory had in play nine years ago below.
Driver: Nike Vapor Pro (8.5 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana S+ 70 X
3-wood: Nike Vapor Speed (15 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Fujikura Rombax Pro 95 X
5-wood: Nike Vapor Speed (19 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Fujikura Rombax Pro 95 X
Irons: Nike VR Pro Blades (4-9) Buy here.
Shafts: Project X 7.0
Wedges: Nike VR Forged (46, 52, 56) Buy here, Nike Engage (58 degrees @59) Buy here.
Shafts: Project X 6.5
Putter: Nike Method 006 Buy here.
Ball: Nike RZN Black
WITB Time Machine is presented by 2nd Swing Golf. 2nd Swing has more than 100,000 new and pre-swung golf clubs available in six store locations and online. Check them out here.
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Equipment
Rickie Fowler’s new putter: Standard-length Odyssey Jailbird 380 in custom orange
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 Jailbird craze hasn’t really slowed down in 2024, either. According to Odyssey rep Joe Toulon, there are about 18-20 Jailbird putter users on the PGA TOUR.
Most recently, Akshay Bhatia won the 2024 Valero Texas Open using a broomstick-style Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter and Webb Simpson is switching into a replica of that putter at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Now, Fowler, who essentially started the whole Jailbird craze, is making a significant change to his putter setup.
Fowler, who has had a couple weeks off since the 2024 RBC Heritage, started experimenting with a new, custom-orange Jailbird 380 head that’s equipped with a standard 35-inch putter build, rather than his previous 38-inch counter-balanced setup.
According to Fowler, while he still likes the look and forgiveness of his Jailbird putter head, he’s looking to re-incorporate more feel into his hands during the putting stroke.
He told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Championship that the 38-inch counterbalanced setup “served its purpose” by helping him to neutralize his hands during the stroke, but now it’s time to try the standard-length putter with a standard-size SuperStroke Pistol Tour grip to help with his feel and speed control.
Although Fowler was also spotted testing standard-length mallets from L.A.B. Golf and Axis1 on Tuesday, he confirmed that the custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 is the putter he’ll use this week at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Head over to PGATour.com for the full article.
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Whats in the Bag
Akshay Bhatia WITB 2024 (May)
- Akshay Bhatia what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. Bhatia is deciding between drivers. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Callaway Rogue ST Max LS (9 degrees @7.2, 2 grams lead tape heel, 4 grams toe)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X (44 7/8 inches, tipped 1 inch)
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max D (9 degrees @7)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max (15 degrees @13.9)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X (43 inches, tipped 1.5)
Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW Prototype (19 degrees @17.8)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 10 X
Irons: Callaway X Forged UT (21 degrees) Buy here, Callaway Apex TCB Raw (5-PW)
Shafts: KBS $-Taper 125 S+
Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (50-10S @49, 54-10S, 60-08C @61)
Shafts: KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 135 X
Putter: Odyssey Versa Jailbird 380
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Split
Grips: Iomic
Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour
More photos of Akshay Bhatia’s WITB in the forums.
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Blanco
Jan 30, 2013 at 8:57 pm
Nice move by PING here… have to say though, all patriotism aside, they disgraced those woods with all that paint. The other clubs look cool though. Can’t wait to hit the driver and hybrid.