Equipment
Mickelson confirms plan to use “Phrankenwood”
Phil Mickelson confirmed that he will use a small-headed driver called a “Phrankenwood” at the Masters this week in a Tuesday afternoon press conference.
The club’s official name is the Callaway X Hot Phrankenwood, which was rumored to a 2 wood, something between a driver and a 3 wood that Mickelson could control better than a driver and hit off the ground in certain cases.
As it turns out, the club is actually more of a driver. Mickelson said that the Phrankenwood has 8.5 degrees of loft, only about 0.5 degrees more than his Callaway Razr Fit Xtreme driver, and the same Mitsubishi Rayon Fubuki K 70X shaft, at 45 inches.
According to Scott Goryl, senior manager of global communications at Callaway, Mickelson began searching for a fairway wood that went as far as his driver early this year, one that launched with less spin and allowed him to more easily hit the ball left-to-right, a draw for Mickelson.
Mickelson said that the Phrankenwood “knocks the spin off the ball,” which allowed his practice round tee shots on No. 9 at Augusta to get to the bottom of the hill, a feat he said he hasn’t been able to accomplish in years.
The Phrankenwood measures 250 cubic centimeters, 190 CC’s less than Mickelson’s Razr Fit Xtreme driver that he has used for much of 2013. But it’s 65 CC’s larger than Mickelson’s 3 wood, a 13-degree Callaway X Hot Pro 3 Deep, which Mickelson used as the longest club in his bag at the Shell Houston Open two weeks ago.
The Phrankenwood features the same key constructions as Callaway’s X Hot fairway woods, a 455-Carpenter stainless steel “Speed Frame Face Cup,” an ultra-thin stainless steel cast body and an “Internal Standing Wave” that moves the center of gravity of the club head lower and more forward than previous models.
The USGA’s limitation on coefficient of restitution mandates that no club have a COR rating, or spring-like effect, of more than 0.830, which means the Phrankenwood can’t have faster ball speeds on center hits than a driver. But its unique size, shape and construction is obviously giving Mickelson less spin on his tee shots, which likely limits carry distance but apparently more than makes up for that in roll.
It’s not clear where Mickelson needs to hit the Phrankenwood off the deck at Augusta, but the slots in the sole and the club’s small size indicate that he can if he needs to.
Expect Mickelson to use the Phrankenwood exclusively on tee shots where he needs to hit the ball left-to-right, and for him to opt for his 13-degree 3Deep on holes that bend right-to-left, much like the two-driver strategy he employed in his 2006 Masters win.
Note: Unlike the X Hot drivers, fairway woods and hybrids, which feature dark grey paint with a matte finish on their crowns, the X Hot Phrankenwood features a shiny black-painted crown like the Razr Fit Xtreme. Check out the photos below, which include shots we captured during Wednesday and Thursday’s practice rounds.
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Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees @8.25) Buy here.
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X
5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9 X
Irons: TaylorMade Proto (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9) Buy here.
Shaft: Project X 7.0 (4-9)
Wedges: TaylorMade MG4 (46-09SB, 50-09SB, 54-11SB) Buy here, Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks (58-K @59) Buy here.
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46-54), Project X 6.5 Wedge (60)
Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour X3 Buy here.
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Pistol Tour
Ball: 2024 TaylorMade TP5x Buy here.
(Photo courtesy of TaylorMade)
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Check out more in-hand photos of Rory McIlroy’s WITB in the forums.
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The winning WITB 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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- Kevin Tway what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX
5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX
Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)
Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4
More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.
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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 timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?
Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.
When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.
To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.
Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.
“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.
“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”
Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.
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Bill
Apr 14, 2013 at 10:14 pm
Never mind. Found the stats for Phil. He was in the 290s with the Frankenwood. Pretty darn good. Will have to check the rest of the stats to see where he faltered.
Bill
Apr 14, 2013 at 10:09 pm
Wonder what Phils take on his Frankenwood is now. I’d like to see his driving stats from Augusta. I give him points for trying new things but he won at Pebble with the Razr Fit Xtreme and left it in the garage for a 2 wood. I agree that 460cc heads have their problems but the 440cc xtreme driver sets up well and he had success with it. Paddy Harrington is the poster boy for what happens when you over tinker.
To be fair, Phil is getting towards the end of his peak and is looking for an edge. Still, while I get the 3 deep, I don’t really buy into the Frankenwood.
Jack
Apr 11, 2013 at 3:07 am
So after all this stuff with bigger clubheads more forgiving, now we are going back to smaller heads to reduce spin?
Pingback: Mickelson Set To Tee Off With Phrankenwood | Mulligang Golf
Bob Sailer
Apr 10, 2013 at 2:29 pm
.830 COR is for all clubs. If you shoot a ball at a clubface out of an Air Cannon at 100mph and it rebounds back faster then 83mph then it is too hot and is illegal (hence the .83). This was the way they did the original tests. Now they use Characteristic Time (CT) which is a differnent test.
Jim A
Apr 10, 2013 at 2:23 pm
I’ve been playing a “phrankenwood” for the better part of the past 15 years. It’s called an Orlimar TriMetal Plus 12* strong 3-wood. It’s also a “spin killer.” So I can carry and roll it as long as any oversize titanium diver I’ve ever hit. And at just 43.5″, I rarely miss the sweet spot. The tungsten sole weights and rails allow me to chase par 5’s off the deck, the only situation in which I ever need a fairway wood (since the emergence of hybrids). So now I can carry an extra hybrid (a #2H to go along with my #3H), both of which round out my irons (4-PW, GW, SW, and LW).
MattK
Apr 10, 2013 at 2:20 pm
In about 3 months, this will be available for $300 at your local golf shop. LOL
Jeremy
Apr 9, 2013 at 10:48 pm
Zak,
I’m going to somehow agree with both you and Rob. The rules states that drivers are limited in COR. It does not simply say “woods are limited” which would make it much easier to understand for all. However, unless clubheads in 2/3 woods are greatly increased and deepened, getting to a .830 just isn’t going to happen. I think the USGA and R/A are going to have to very shortly have to define what a driver is with CC regulations and so on. Otherwise we are going to be pushing close to it very shortly Technology is just growing faster than courses can.
Sailer
Apr 9, 2013 at 9:49 pm
Sounds like familiar hype after Phil won the Phoenix open and was bragging about his new driver and how it was the best thing ever. He is currently 166th on Tour in driving accuracy@ 52%. Better run out and by one, eh? What a crock!!
Zak Kozuchowski
Apr 9, 2013 at 8:14 pm
Rob,
If 3 woods could have higher COR ratings than drivers, none of the tour players would be playing drivers anymore. They’d be obsolete!
Thanks for reading.
– Zak
Rob
Apr 9, 2013 at 7:57 pm
The USGA’s limitation on coefficient of restitution mandates that no club have a COR rating, or spring-like effect, of more than 0.830,
I don’t think this is true for fairway woods as the ERC II driver was rulled non-conforming but the 3 wood was due to it being a fairway wood
Rob
Apr 9, 2013 at 8:00 pm
you are right I relooked at the archives! LOL
Yamoms
Apr 10, 2013 at 4:59 pm
False. There just isn’t a 3 wood that has achieved the .830 core. So while drivers have reached the limit and can’t make improvements on core, fairway woods still can get hotter.