Equipment
Chicago-inspired Swag covers, CC Sabathia’s WITB and Justin Rose’s old TaylorMade M3 driver
As the FedExCup Playoffs climb toward the pinnacle of excitement with two events to play, the top 50 PGA Tour point earners were dialing in this week at the 2023 BMW Championship to compete for big money, and solidify their spots in the season-ending Tour Championship next week at East Lake.
Compared to “normal” Tour weeks, the early-week equipment testing was relatively slow at Olympia Fields, which makes sense this late in the season, and with this much on the line. That being said, the equipment news was still abound with a few interesting storylines at the BMW Championship this week.
Below are the top-5 equipment notes from the 2023 BMW Championship.
Click to see all of our photos from the 2023 BMW Championship
1) A taste of Chicago Swag
In case you haven’t noticed, Swag Golf has been elevating its connection to the PGA Tour this year. The putter/headcover company has sold its custom products inside official merchandise tents at several events, including The Players Championship, the Valero Texas Open, and the FedEx St. Jude Championship, according to the company.
This week, the Chicago-based company (technically, Northbrook, Illinois), kicked it up a notch for the local event. Inside the official BMW Championship merchandise tents, Swag Golf is selling four different custom headcover designs for the week, featuring Ditka-inspired Italian Beef, Deep Dish Pizza, the Downtown Chicago skyline, and, of course, Chicago dogs.
Swag also created a line of “Iceman” headcovers and putters, which are named after a popular local Olympia Fields drinks, that are selling in the pro shop.
Click here for more photos and discussion in the GolfWRX Forums
2) Rose is running the TaylorMade timeline gamut
Equipment free agent Justin Rose has kept things wildly interesting with his equipment setups this year, especially with the driver. Throughout the year, he’s used the TaylorMade M2 2016, the TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus, and now he’s using the TaylorMade M3 from 2018. He’s just sliding up and down TaylorMade’s driver release timeline.
Also, Rose has switched into TaylorMade’s new MG4 wedges, in addition to his Cobra King MB and CB irons, TaylorMade’s M6 fairway woods, and his longtime Axis1 putter.
Now THAT’S a GolfWRX-approved bag right there.
See Justin Rose’s full 2023 WITB from the BMW Championship
3) CC Sabathia’s lefty gamer setup
CC Sabathia, a legendary left-handed pitcher who used to play for the New York Yankees, Milwaukee Brewers and Cleveland Guardians, played in the Wednesday Pro-Am at the 2023 BMW Championship alongside Scottie Scheffler and Corey Conners.
Read more about CC’s WITB on PGATOUR.com
Sabathia says he took up golf after retiring from the MLB in 2019, and the 15-handicapper has serious power and an eclectic equipment setup. He has a Callaway Rogue ST Max driver, a PXG hybrid, Titleist U-505 driving irons, Mizuno Pro 223 irons, custom-stamped “CC 52” Titleist SM9 Jet Black wedges, and an LA Golf all-carbon putter.
See more photos of CC’s bag here
4) New TaylorMade Spider Tour putters
This week at the 2023 BMW Championship, TaylorMade unveiled four new putter models, including the Spider Tour, Spider Tour X, Spider Tour V and Spider Tour Z.
GolfWRX Equipment Expert Brian Knudson wrote about TaylorMade’s new Spider Tour putters earlier in the week if you’re looking for more information and photos.
5) Chris Kirk speaks on his new Callaway Apex CB irons
Kirk has typically been a blade iron user throughout his career, but last week in Memphis, Kirk switched into Callaway’s new Apex CB irons.
My full story on his switch is over on PGATOUR.com, but here’s a snippet of what he had to say about the new irons:
“Last week [at the FedEx St. Jude Championship], was my first week with them in the bag,” Kirk told GolfWRX.com. “I had them at home for a few months, just kind of testing around with them. But the main reason I put them in, I would say, is because of the consistency out of the rough.
“My older blades were kind of coming out slow out of the rough. If I flew it 330, I would like that. But there were a lot of times, like in Greensboro [at the Wyndham Championship], I’d be 160 out and have an 8 iron and come up short. They were coming out slow. And I would get the occasional jumper. But these are really, really consistent out of the rough. They’re coming out a bit hotter.”
Click to see all of our photos from the 2023 BMW Championship
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Equipment
Jason Day on his recent switch into Srixon ZX5 and ZX7 MK II irons
Over the past year, equipment free agent Jason Day has played a number of different iron sets looking for his right match.
In May 2023, he was using a TaylorMade P770 4-iron to go along with a set of P7MC irons (5-PW).
In August 2023, he had switched to a set of TaylorMade P7TW irons (5-PW) to go with his P770 4-iron.
Then, in February 2024, he was into a full set of P760 irons (4-PW).
Now, Day has switched it all the way up, and he’s currently using a new set of Srixon ZX5 MK II long irons (3 and 4), and Srixon ZX7 MK II mid-to-short irons (5-PW).
On Tuesday at the 2024 RBC Heritage, Day told GolfWRX.com that he made the switch before the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open, because he was looking to reduce spin.
“For me, they spin a little bit less,” Day said. “They’re very good out of fairway bunkers, too. I haven’t played too much in the rough yet, so I still need to get an understanding of how the come out of the rough, but for me, it was all about spin control.”
“I had tested the previous model to these [Srixon ZX7’s], but I only had one club. And I was getting some inconsistent spinny with my previous irons, so I just decided to at least give them another shot. My biggest thing was to take spin off, because I was spinning it like crazy.”
The Srixon ZX7 MK II irons are known for producing low spin numbers, and pairing them with Day’s typical ultra-stiff True Temper X7 shafts make them certified spin killers.
If it’s spin he wanted to reduce, then Day may have found his match with the new Srixon irons.
See what else Day has in the bag at the 2024 RBC Heritage here
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Whats in the Bag
Jason Day WITB 2024 (April)
- Jason Day what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage.
Driver: Ping G430 LST (9 degrees @10)
Shaft: TPT Driver 15 Lo
3-wood: TaylorMade SIM Max (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Kuro Kage 80 X
7-wood: TaylorMade Stealth (21 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Kuro Kage 80 X
Irons: Srixon ZX5 Mk II (3, 4), Srixon ZX7 Mk II (5-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X Seven
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-08F, 56-10S, 60-04T), Cleveland RTX 6 ZipCore Tour Rack (56-10 MID, 52-10 MID)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X Seven
Putter: TaylorMade Itsy Bitsy Spider Limited
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
Ball: Bridgestone Tour B X (with Mindset)
Check out more in-hand photos of Jason Day’s WITB here.
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Whats in the Bag
Ludvig Åberg WITB 2024 (April)
- Ludvig Åberg what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage.
Driver: Titleist TSR2 (9 degrees, D4 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 X
5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 X
7-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 9 X
Irons: Titleist 718 TMB (2), Titleist T200 (2), Titleist T100 (4-PW)
Shafts: KBS Tour Hybrid 105 X (2), KBS Tour 130 X
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (50-08F, 54-10S, 60-08M, 60-04T), WedgeWorks Proto (60-10V)
Shafts: KBS Tour 130 X
Putter: Odyssey White Hot Versa #1
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Check out more in-hand photos of Ludvig Aberg’s clubs in the forums.
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Benny
Aug 21, 2023 at 3:33 pm
Love it. Thanks Golfwrx!