Equipment
Tech Talk: Mickelson’s KBS Tour V2 shafts
Phil Mickelson was vocal in post-round interviews last week about the importance of his change to Callaway’s new Razr Fit Extreme driver, which he said allowed him to be more confident off the tee in his record-setting performance at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. But a look at Mickelson’s stats for the week shows that his iron play was more important to his 28-under total at TPC Scottsdale than his tee shots.
Mickelson ranked T11 in driving distance, averaging 298.8 yards off the tee — about 10 yards more than his 2013 season average. He was also 55th in the field driving accuracy, hitting the fairway 57.14 percent of the time — about 5 percent better than his season average.
However, Mickelson led the field by hitting 87.5 percent of greens in regulation at TPC Scottsdale, a staggering 14 percent better than his season average. He also birdied nine of the 16 par-3 holes, which led to a 9-under score on those holes that was nine shots better than the field average.
Callaway went out of its way to inform golfers that Mickelson’s 9.5-degree Razr Fit Xtreme driver head (adjusted to an open position for an actual loft of 8.1 degrees) is the same one available to consumers at retail. But what consumers will not be able to buy any time soon are Mickelson’s “KBS Tour V2” iron shafts, which he used in his Callaway Razr X Muscleback 4 iron through pitching wedge and Callaway JAWS 52-, 60- and 64-degree wedges.
The prototype shafts are stiffer in the tip section of the shaft (the part closest to the club head) than the x-flex version of the KBS Tour shafts, which is achieved by making the diameter of the shaft larger in that area. The change gave Mickelson the more penetrating, lower-spinning trajectory that he wanted. The shafts are also five grams lighter, which according to KBS Marketing Director Eric Hubble, gave Mickelson back some of the feel that is lost with a stiff-tip iron shaft.
Just how picky is Lefty with his equipment? Last March at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, Mickelson put the original version of the KBS Tour V2 iron shafts in play in his 5 iron through pitching wedge. In May, KBS lead designer Kim Braly was still working with Mickelson during practice rounds at The Players Championship to tweak the construction of each individual short iron shaft. The tweaking lasted until last summer, which is when Braly and Mickelson finally ended their revision process.
Click here to see what else was in Mickelson’s bag at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
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GolfWRX recently launched a new 8-part video series, called “The Modern Classics,” in partnership with 2nd Swing Golf. Throughout this video series, GolfWRX’s Head of Tour Content, Andrew Tursky, tests out 8 legendary used golf clubs that are still being played on Tour today. How do the older, less expensive products compare to modern technologies?
In the first three episodes, Tursky tested out TaylorMade’s Tour Preferred MC 2011 irons, Adams Idea Pro hybrids from 2006, and a TaylorMade Rocketballz RBZ fairway wood.
For episode 4, we highlight the TaylorMade Burner SuperFast fairway woods, which were released to the public in 2010. Although they’re more than a decade old, we spotted one in Richard Bland’s 2022 WITB.
The Burner SuperFast fairway woods are currently available for $76.99 on 2nd Swing’s website.
Check out the video at the top of the page for more on the product, design, and how it stands up in testing against a modern 3-wood.
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- Will Zalatoris what’s in the bag accurate as of the Farmers Insurance Open. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 7 X
3-wood: Titleist TSR2+ (14.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 X
Irons: Titleist T200 (3), Titleist T100
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Prototype Graphite on Steel Technology Prototype Hybrid 10 ST X (3), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (50-08S, 54-10S),Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks Proto (60-T)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Putter: Scotty Cameron T-11 Proto
Grip: SuperStroke Traxion Tour 1.0PT
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Grips: Golf Pride Z Grip Cord
More Will Zalatoris WITBs
- Will Zalatoris WITB 2022 (July)
- Will Zalatoris Winning WITB: 2022 FedEx St. Jude Classic
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- PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Will Zalatoris’ WITB
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- Will Zalatoris WITB 2014: U.S. Junior Amateur
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In our forums, our members have been discussing wedges for poor bunker players. WRXer ‘gdb99’ kicks off the thread saying “I’m not good out of sand. I used to be, 35 years ago. I blade shots over the green. It’s all technique, and I need a lot of practice. I know that,” and reaches out to our members who have been sharing what they feel are the wedges that can help him the most.
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.
- hammergolf: “Ping Eye2 is the best bunker club ever. If you’re blading it you’re not steep enough. Open the face and hit down on the sand. The bounce will stop it from digging too much.”
- flubberlange: “Try a Vokey 60* in a K grind.”
- Fwitz11: “I also struggle with the bunker and have found that an open 60 and hitting just behind the ball is the easiest out I have used. Has helped me a ton with not blading it over the green.”
- lazyjc4: “I’ve hit the best bunker shots of my life with PM Grind wedges. I look like I know what I’m doing almost all of the time.”
Entire Thread: “Best wedge for bad bunker players? – GolfWRXers discuss”
More from the Forums
- Moving from blades to P790s…Lazy? Will my scores go down? – GolfWRXers discuss
- Should I add a 7-wood? – GolfWRXers discuss
- Best players distance irons for a ‘picker’ – GolfWRXers discuss
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Will Zalatoris WITB 2023 (February)
Will Zalatoris what’s in the bag accurate as of the Farmers Insurance Open. More photos from the event here. Driver:...
Taiga Semikawa WITB 2023 (January)
Taiga Semikawa what’s in the bag accurate as of the Farmers Insurance Open. More photos from the event here. Driver:...
Keita Nakajima WITB 2023 (February)
Keita Nakajima what’s in the bag accurate as of the Farmers Insurance Open. More photos from the event here. Driver:...
Trey Mullinax WITB 2023 (February)
Trey Mullinax what’s in the bag accurate as of the Farmers Insurance Open. More photos from the event here. Driver:...
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benseattle
Feb 7, 2013 at 2:31 pm
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Sorta blows a hole in the concept from a few amateurs that “I must have a head from the tour van!” don’t it?
adrien
Feb 5, 2013 at 10:26 am
correction, heavier wedge SHAFTS are useless?
adrien
Feb 5, 2013 at 10:23 am
same shaft in all irons including the wedges? so heavier wedge irons are useless?
Patrick Smith
Feb 5, 2013 at 9:15 am
well that blows….why not release them? I’m sure they would be a good seller. Zak – what do you think of the KBS c-tapers? I think they may be the best KBS shafts out there right now.
Zak Kozuchowski
Feb 4, 2013 at 3:52 pm
KBS says there are currently no plans to release the V2 version of the KBS Tour shafts.
Brian Cass
Feb 4, 2013 at 3:44 pm
KBS Tour V2 won’t be available until mid 2013?