Equipment
TOUR REPORT: Jason Day’s new Scotty Cameron, celebrity Ben Baller’s WITB, and Xander’s new 3-wood
The West Coast swing continued this week on the cliffs of San Diego at Torrey Pines for the 2023 Farmers Insurance Open, and we caught up with some of the top players (and celebrities) in attendance to see what clubs are in their bag, and what changes they’re making.
As GolfWRX uncovered, Xander Schauffele, Jason Day and Justin Rose made equipment changes ahead of the event. We also caught up with famous celebrities Ben Baller and Gareth Bale to get glimpse at their equipment setups; both players competed in the Pro-Am on Wednesday. We also spotted some new equipment that players were testing, and we caught up with Gary Woodland to check out his new Cobra setup.
Let’s waste no more time and get right into this week’s Tour Report from the 2023 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.
Check out all of our photos from Torrey Pines here
Day switches to a new blacked-out Scotty Cameron…and a 7-wood
Back at the 2022 Shriners Open in October, I caught up with Jason Day to learn why he switched into a Scotty Cameron putter for the first time in his career, and what he liked about his new rounded mallet putter. He said the previous putters he used in the last few years – TaylorMade’s Spider Tour, and Odyssey’s Toulon Daytona – sat a bit too square, and looked as if they were pointing left of the target. The rounder Scotty Cameron mallet looked to point a bit more to the right, helping him to start the ball on a better line.
Here’s a look at his original Scotty Cameron build:
Last week at The 2023 American Express, however, Day switched into a nearly identical head, except this time it was made with a “Tour Black” finish. He ended up finishing 2nd in Strokes Gained: Putting on the week, and we caught with him on Tuesday at the 2023 Farmers Insurance this week to get a look at the new putter for ourselves:
Could this be the putter that helps Day get his magic back on the greens?
I went into way more depth into the putter switch over on PGATOUR.com, so click the link if you’re interested. We also have more photos and discussion of the putter in our GolfWRX Forums.
For this week, due to the particularly heavy rough and firm greens at Torrey Pines, Day also put in a TaylorMade Stealth 7-wood, equipped with a Mitsubishi Kuro Kage 80X shaft. His caddie says he flies it about 245-250 yards and lands softly.
Check out more photos and discussion of Day’s switches here
Schauffele finally changes up his 3-wood
While Schauffele upgraded into a new Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond driver at the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions, he kept his old Epic Speed Triple Diamond 3-wood in the bag that week. As we covered in our full story on PGATOUR.com, he struggles with 3-woods that spin too low when he hits a right-to-left shot; he doesn’t want the ball coming in too hot and not being able to hold the green.
Since then, however, he found a new Paradym Triple Diamond 3-wood setup that minimizes that concern. His new 16.5-degree HL fairway wood, which is actually bent down to 15.3 degrees, has helped Schauffele tighten spin variation due to the spin consistency across the face.
He put the new 3-wood into play on Wednesday at Torrey Pines.
Xander Schauffele’s full WITB at the 2023 Farmers Insurance Open
Woodland’s new Cobra setup
Gary Woodland officially signed an equipment deal with Cobra at the beginning of 2023, and we finally got a first look at his full WITB setup as a full-time Cobra staffer at the 2023 Farmers Insurance Open. Most notably, Woodland switched into a new set of Cobra King MB irons, which he said are “literally off the rack.”
Check out the rest of his 2023 WITB here
Hideki tests an all-new Graphite Design putter shaft
According to Graphite Design rep Erik Boysen, there have been only two prototypes made of a new Graphite Design putter shaft, and Matsuyama tested one of them this week at Torrey Pines. The shaft is designed to provide increased stiffness and stability throughout the stroke. While Matsuyama isn’t putting it in play just yet, we’ll certainly keep an eye on his putter shaft going forward, and keep an eye on Graphite Design to see how this product may progress.
Join the discussion about the new shaft prototype here
Ben is a Baller
Ben Baller is a famous actor/jeweler/designer/entrepreneur/avid golfer/TaylorMade staffer, and he was also on the winning Pro-Am team this week.
Ahead of his victorious round at Torrey Pines, we got a look at all the clubs in Baller’s bag.
We expected nothing less than an eye-popping custom Scotty Cameron Masterful putter, engraved with his name and paint-filled with Lakers yellow. Uniquely, though, Baller went with a driver-less setup to help avoid the rough at Torrey Pines, so he went with a top-end setup full of TaylorMade Stealth2 and Stealth fairway woods and hybrids.
He fills out his bag with TaylorMade Stealth irons, TaylorMade Hi-Toe wedges and custom TaylorMade golf balls with his logo on them.
Check out Ben Baller’s full WITB here
Kickin’ it with Gareth Bale
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Gareth Bale – a newly retired Welsh soccer player (or footballer, if you prefer) – also teed it up alongside Ben Baller on the winning Pro-Am team. While we didn’t get a chance to capture photos of every club in Bale’s bag, we managed to capture a few photos of his setup.
He doesn’t have a bad golf swing, either, especially for being a former world-class member of Real Madrid and Tottenham.
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Justin Rose switches drivers
The last time we caught up with Rose at the 2022 Cadence Bank Houston Open, the equipment free agent had an old TaylorMade M2 2016 driver in the bag. He’s been conducting extensive driver testing recently, though.
This week, he ended up switching to a new Callaway Paradym 8.5-degree head, equipped with a Fujikura Ventus Black 6X shaft.
Justin Rose full 2023 WITB at Torrey Pines
Ben Martin’s new EvnRoll putter
Martin was previously using an old Guerin Rife mallet putter, but he switched into a new EvnRoll EV5.2 mallet putter at the 2023 Farmers Insurance Open.
James Hahn shows up with a mixed bag
Former PXG staffer James Hahn has apparently gone the free agent route in 2023, since he showed up at Torrey Pines this week with a mixed-brand setup, which includes a Titleist driver, TaylorMade fairway wood, PXG hybrid, Callaway irons, Titleist Vokey wedges, and a Scotty Cameron putter.
See what GolfWRX members are saying about Hahn’s new free agency and golf clubs
TaylorMade’s San Diego head covers
TaylorMade’s Carlsbad HQ is just down the road from Torrey Pines, so the company typically designs some San Diego-inspired headcover heat when the PGA Tour comes into town. The 2023 Farmers Insurance sunset versions certainly did not disappoint.
Unfortunately, the sun is also setting on this week’s Tour Report from Torrey Pines. We’ll see you next week as the Tour travels up the West Coast to Pebble Beach.
Check out all of our photos from Torrey Pines here
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Equipment
Rory McIlroy spotted testing a new TaylorMade “PROTO” 4-iron at the 2024 Valero Texas Open
Now just what do we have here?
On Wednesday at the 2024 Valero Texas Open, GolfWRX.com spotted Rory McIlroy testing a new, mysterious TaylorMade “PROTO” 4-iron.
Clearly, the 4-iron is a prototype, but since it doesn’t say “Rors Proto” or “RM” on it, then maybe it’s a prototype for an upcoming iron release from TaylorMade. Or, maybe it’s an upgrade for a previous or existing iron model from the company.
For reference, the photo below shows what McIlroy’s previous P760 4-iron looks like…
If the new prototype was an upgrade on the former P760 design, that would certainly be a large design departure, aesthetically speaking. It’s not impossible, but the new proto definitely looks significantly different.
McIlroy’s new proto – aesthetically, at least – looks more similar to TaylorMade’s P7MC irons, a model that Collin Morikawa uses for his 5 and 6-irons, as pictured below.
The new proto is also reminiscent of TaylorMade’s old P750 and P770 irons:
So what could McIlroy’s new TaylorMade “Proto” be? Is it a one-off prototype for McIlroy? Is it a re-design of an older model? Is it a harbinger of a bigger release in the future?
What is it?!
Unfortunately, TaylorMade hasn’t yet commented publicly on the prototype iron, so for now, we wait. And enjoy the photos of McIlroy testing it on Wednesday in San Antonio.
Here’s what it looks like from address…
And here’s what McIlroy’s numbers looked like while testing it on the range…
Uhh, yeah. Those are pretty good 4-iron numbers.
Will McIlroy make the switch into the new prototype 4-iron this week? That remains to be seen, but it should be noted that it was the only 4-iron in his bag on Wednesday.
*We’ll update this post as further information becomes available
See what GolfWRX members are saying about the TaylorMade “Proto” 4-iron here, plus more photos!
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Whats in the Bag
Raul Pereda WITB 2024 (April)
- Raul Pereda what’s in the bag accurate as of the Texas Children’s Houston Open. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Titleist TSR2 (10 degrees, B2 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD VF 5 X
3-wood: Titleist TSR3 (15 degrees, B1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD IZ 7 X
7-wood: Ping G430 Max (21 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD IZ 8 X
Irons: Titleist T150 (4), Titleist T100 (5-9)
Shafts: True Temper AMT Tour White X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (46-10F, 50-08F, 54-08M, 60-08M)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Odyssey 2-Ball Ten Tour Lined
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy
Grips: Golf Pride ZGrip Cord
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x+
Check out more in-hand photos of Raul Pereda’s clubs here.
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Whats in the Bag
Rickie Fowler WITB 2024 (April)
- Rickie Fowler what’s in the bag accurate as of the Valero Texas Open. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Cobra Darkspeed X (9 degrees @7)
Shaft: Project X Denali Black 70 TX
3-wood: Cobra Aerojet LS (14.5 degrees @13.5 degrees)
Shaft: Aldila Tour Green 75 TX
5-wood: Cobra LTDx LS (17.5 degrees @18.5)
Shaft: UST Mamiya LIN-Q White M40X 8F5
Irons: Cobra King Tour (4-PW)
Shafts: KBS Tour C-Taper 125 S+
Wedges: Cobra Snakebite (54, 56, 58 degrees)
Shafts: KBS Tour 610
Putter: Odyssey Versa Jailbird
Grip: SuperStroke Tour 3.0 17-inch
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Tack
Ball: TaylorMade TP5
Check out more in-hand photos of Rickie Fowler’s clubs here.
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