Equipment
First Look: Wilson Staff FG Tour Prototype Irons
Check out the photos below we shot of Wilson Staff’s latest prototype iron, the FG Tour M3 Forged.
According to Michael Vrska, global director of golf R&D for Wilson Staff, the irons are still in the development stage and likely won’t be released until early in 2014.
The prototype irons have more offset and are marginally larger than the company’s FG Tour V2 irons currently played by Kevin Streelman and Padraig Harrington, which makes them a little more forgiving. They also have wider soles with more camber than the V2’s, and a black PVD finish instead of the V2’s chrome finish.
Vrska said that Streelman, Harrington, Ricky Barnes and Jim Herman have been testing the irons on the PGA Tour since February of this year. Their feedback has resulted in minor tweaks such as slightly less offset and changes to the sole. Overall, Vrska said that the players have been very pleased with the shape of the irons, but he expects more tweaks to be made before a design is finalized.
When the irons are released, Vrska said that they won’t replace any of the company’s current offerings — they’re an effort to bolster the amount of “better player” forged irons.
“These are filling out our range,” Vrska said.
Click here to see more photos and read the discussion in the forums
The Sole has a generous amount of camber from front to back.
The Black PVD finish will fade over time, but it won’t rust.
The prototypes at the address position.
Click here to see more photos and read the discussion in the forums.
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Equipment
Why Rory McIlroy will likely use the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper at the RBC Heritage
Although we spotted Rory McIlroy testing the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper last week during practice rounds at the Masters, he ultimately didn’t decide to use the club in competition.
It seems that will change this week at the 2024 RBC Heritage, played at the short-and-tight Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head.
When asked on Wednesday following his morning Pro-Am if he’d be using the new, nostalgic BRNR Copper this week, McIlroy said, “I think so.”
“I like it,” McIlroy told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday regarding the BRNR. “This would be a good week for it.”
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According to Adrian Rietveld, the Senior Manager of Tour at TaylorMade, the BRNR Mini Driver can help McIlroy position himself properly off the tee at the tight layout.
Here’s what Rietveld told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday:
“For someone like Rory, who’s that long at the top end of the bag, and then you put him on a course like Harbour Town, it’s tough off the tee. It’s tight into the greens, and you have to put yourself in position off the tee to have a shot into the green. It kind of reminds me of Valderrama in Spain, where you can be in the fairway and have no shot into the green.
“I’m caddying for Tommy [Fleetwood] this week, so I was walking the course last night and looking at a few things. There’s just such a small margin for error. You can be standing in the fairway at 300 yards and have a shot, but at 320 you don’t. So if you don’t hit a perfect shot, you could be stuck behind a tree. And then if you’re back at 280, it might be a really tough shot into the small greens.
“So for Rory [with the BRNR], it’s a nice course-specific golf club for him. He’s got both shots with it; he can move it right-to-left or left-to-right. And the main thing about this club has been the accuracy and the dispersion with it. I mean, it’s been amazing for Tommy.
“This was the first event Tommy used a BRNR last year, and I remember talking to him about it, and he said he couldn’t wait to play it at Augusta next year. And he just never took it out of the bag because he’s so comfortable with it, and hitting it off the deck.
“So you look at Rory, and you want to have the tools working to your advantage out here, and the driver could hand-cuff him a bit with all of the shots you’d have to manufacture.”
So, although McIlroy might not be making a permanent switch into the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper, he’s likely to switch into it this week.
His version is lofted at 13.5 degrees, and equipped with a Fujikura Ventus Black 7X shaft.
See more photos of Rory testing the BRNR Mini here
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It seems like the RBC Heritage is full of new gear to be spotted, and you can add TaylorMade’s P-UDI utility irons to that list.
We spotted a 17-degree P-UDI 2-iron in Nick Dunlap’s bag yesterday, and now have some photos of both the 3- and 4-irons. Nick has his P-UDI 2-iron setup with a Project X HZRDUS Black 4th Gen 105g TX shaft.
From what we can tell, this new P-UDI utility iron looks to have some of the usual TaylorMade technology as we can see the Speed Slot on the sole of the club for additional face flexibility. A toe screw is usually used to close off the hollow body design that will probably be filled with a version of TaylorMade’s Speed Foam that is present in the current iron lineup. This hollow body, foam-filled design should offer additional ball speed, soft feel, and sound, as well as an optimized CG for ball flight.
“Forged” is etched into the hosel, so we can assume that either the face, body, or both are forged for a soft and responsive feel. The club looks good from behind and at address, where we can see just a little offset and a topline that I would consider medium thickness. We don’t have the full details on what is under the hood or how many loft options will be available yet.
TaylorMade P-UDI 3-iron – 20°
TaylorMade P-UDI 4-iron – 22°
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 RBC Heritage
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- Collin Morikawa what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage. More photos from the event here.
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 LS (9 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 60 TX (45 inches)
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (13.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 80 TX
5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 80 TX
Irons: TaylorMade P770 (4), P7MC (5-6), P730 (7-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Mid 115 X100 (4-6), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (7-PW)
Wedges: TaylorMade MG4 (50-SB09, 56-LB08), TaylorMade MG4 TW (60-TW11)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: TaylorMade TP Soto
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Tour 2.0
Grips: Golf Pride Z-Grip Cord
Ball: TaylorMade TP5x
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Rich
Sep 26, 2013 at 4:28 pm
Love my V2 irons, I do not like the black finish and the thick top line edge of the M3’s
Levo
Aug 18, 2013 at 11:46 pm
My name is Levo. I think they look good. The Adams irons have great feel. I hope these do too. Levo
Dave
Jun 17, 2013 at 11:11 pm
Possible replacement for the Ci11 ??
Bill
May 25, 2013 at 6:00 am
I like the design and finish, but appears to have a lot of offset. I like the sole. I play the original FG Tours and have played my best golf ever with them but they have a sharp leading edge which is challenging on some lies. The new model looks a little less severe. I’ll definitely try them when they hit the market.
slbpsi63
May 22, 2013 at 3:30 pm
These are clean!! I just put the V2’s in play, I wish I knew the next gen were going to be a bit more forgiving!!
Oban_Wan_Kanobi
May 20, 2013 at 9:45 am
Yep, I think I found a safe replacement or my CB 2’s. Let the waiting game begin!
J. W. Snow
May 19, 2013 at 1:44 pm
Constructive suggestion – Make sure they describe or ask them: specifics,,,, e.g. What model of Fuji Shaft in Driver, and what brand/model of 5 wood?
Launcher
May 17, 2013 at 3:06 am
Wow, those irons look pretty good. Vrska was the lead designer on one of the best irons I’ve ever played, the Adams CB2s. You can see similarities to the CB2s in these new irons. I bet they feel great too.
R
May 16, 2013 at 4:24 pm
hahaha d100 headcover with R1 inside
Skip
May 17, 2013 at 3:03 am
That’s because TM writes him a large check every week that it’s in the bag… as they do for EVERY tour player that puts their driver in play every single week. And that includes Monday qualifier no-names as well. PH’s Wilson contract doesn’t require driver usage so why not make some easy extra money every week?