Connect with us

Equipment

2 veteran blade-iron users shockingly switch to cavity-back irons at the Wyndham Championship

Published

on

Remember when the majority of PGA Tour players used a full set of blade irons?

Those were the days.

Unfortunately for fans of blade irons, those are days are quickly fading. Many of the top golfers in the world – even veterans who have played blade irons throughout their career – are switching into more forgiving options either through the set…or, at least, they’re using combo sets featuring blade short irons and cavityback long irons (such as Rory McIlroy).

More now than ever, golf equipment manufacturers are designing smaller, more compact cavityback iron heads that combine blade-style looks with cavity-back forgiveness.

Rickie Fowler, for example, used blade irons in college, and for more than a decade as a PGA Tour player. He even collaborated with Cobra on an ultra-custom set of shockingly small-and-thin Rev33 blade irons.

Now, in 2023, Fowler uses a full set of CB’s by way of the Cobra King Tour irons. And he’s arguably playing the best golf he has in the last five years.

This week at the 2023 Wyndham Championship, two longtime blade users have also switched into full sets of cavityback irons: Webb Simpson and Adam Scott.

Just recently, back in November 2022, Simpson switched into an ultra-custom set of Titleist 682.WS blade irons. And for years he relied on Titleist’s classic 680 models. This week, however, Simpson changed into Titleist’s new 2023 T100 irons, which are made with a dual-cavity construction.

Simpson spoke with GolfWRX.com briefly about the switch on Wednesday at the Wyndham Championship:

“I’ve been practicing with [the new T100’s] at home and I feel like, out of the rough, they’re a little better. Mishits are a little better. Just a little bit. I’m still getting used to them.”

We spotted Simpson on Wednesday with a full set of T100’s in the bag, but since he’s “still getting used to them,” the situation may remain fluid during the transition process. On Thursday during competition, though, Simpson was photographed using at least one T100 long iron.

Like Simpson, Scott used the Titleist 680 blade irons for years. He’s also recently used custom Titleist 681.MB irons, and, most recently, Miura’s custom AS-1 blades.

Ahead of the 2023 Wyndham Championship, however, Scott conducted extensive iron testing that included various head models from different brands. On Thursday, it was confirmed that Scott used a set of Titleist 620 CB irons to grab the first round lead.

Even Adam Scott – who is known to use the bladiest of blade irons – switched into cavitybacks.

That leaves me with just one question for amateur golfers who still use a full set of blade irons: Why?

Your Reaction?
  • 119
  • LEGIT15
  • WOW4
  • LOL6
  • IDHT1
  • FLOP5
  • OB0
  • SHANK12

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.

14 Comments

14 Comments

  1. Eimert

    Aug 24, 2023 at 4:09 pm

    Because i play golf for fun. I grew up playing blades. Playing anything else feels like cheating.

    • Mike

      Aug 25, 2023 at 10:17 am

      Still playing persimmon woods? How about those (old) balata balls? If you’re gonna “not cheat”, you might as well go all the way.

  2. Jc

    Aug 6, 2023 at 8:12 pm

    Because I can, and you can’t… and that’s cool.

    • BladesfortheEgo

      Aug 21, 2023 at 3:57 pm

      Doubtful, more like your ego writing checks your swing can’t cash.

  3. Steve

    Aug 6, 2023 at 10:41 am

    New irons are a trivial purchase

  4. R

    Aug 5, 2023 at 9:37 pm

    Getting paid to play, so they’re walking adverts

    • D

      Aug 6, 2023 at 9:43 am

      Adam Scotty is not on staff with any company right now.

  5. Rich

    Aug 5, 2023 at 3:01 pm

    Webb and Adam both major disappointments this year. Just entirely unable to put 4 good rounds together.

  6. Devlin

    Aug 5, 2023 at 12:46 pm

    Because I can still hit the sweet spot and new fancy clubs make my swing worse.

  7. C

    Aug 5, 2023 at 11:46 am

    Must be nice to be walking advertisement billboard with a nice cheque

  8. Ya

    Aug 5, 2023 at 11:45 am

    Getting paid to play. Must be nice to be a walking advertisement billboard lol

  9. Paulo

    Aug 5, 2023 at 1:20 am

    It’s not my fault those hackers on the pga tour need cavities

  10. Rascal

    Aug 4, 2023 at 9:08 pm

    Cause

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.

Equipment

Rickie Fowler’s new putter: Standard-length Odyssey Jailbird 380 in custom orange

Published

on

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. 

Your Reaction?
  • 13
  • LEGIT2
  • WOW1
  • LOL1
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP1
  • OB0
  • SHANK3

Continue Reading

Whats in the Bag

Akshay Bhatia WITB 2024 (May)

Published

on

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.

 

Your Reaction?
  • 5
  • LEGIT1
  • WOW0
  • LOL0
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK0

Continue Reading

Whats in the Bag

Emiliano Grillo WITB 2024 (May)

Published

on

Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (9 degrees @10)
Shaft: Project X Denali Blue 60 TX

3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (15 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Blue RDX 70 TX

5-wood: Cobra LTDx Prototype (18.5 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Blue RDX 70 TX

Irons: Callaway Apex TCB (4-9)
Shafts: Project X 6.5

Wedges: Callaway MD3 Milled (46-08S), Callaway Jaws Raw (50-10S, 54-10S, 60-08T)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Flatso 1.0

Grips: Golf Pride MCC

Check out more in-hand photos of Emiliano Grillo’s clubs here.

Your Reaction?
  • 1
  • LEGIT0
  • WOW0
  • LOL0
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK0

Continue Reading

WITB

Facebook

Trending