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The Dufner signing says a lot about Cobra

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Editor’s note: Cobra Golf announced today Jason Dufner is signed to a multi-year full-bag deal.

In all honesty, if you have been following Jason Dufner over the past 9 months, this announcement may not surprise you. He spent 2 years living out every gear heads dream by being an equal opportunity player. He had some epic bags, most notably the drool-worthy National Custom muscle backs finished off with Auburn Tiger BB&Co Ferrules. It was amazing, but even he admits that yes it can be fun messing around but it’s still playing with career fire.

I think it needs to be pointed out that Dufner, believe it or not, is a tough nut to crack when it comes to his clubs. The guy is incredibly smart, precise and knows what he needs….and like Tiger, will not compromise. Those compliments can be a blessing and a challenge for companies all at once. The latter being a guy that is a hard switcher, a hard sell and won’t budge unless it’s perfect.

This critical eye isn’t reserved for only certain clubs, they all have to fit into a very thin pocket. For instance, Jason is a low launch, low spin, average distance player. His lofts are a nod to the late ’90s with a 28 Degree 5 Iron and 48 Degree Pitching Wedge but the guy has no interest in picking up 20 yards. His clubs need to go a certain number every time out of certain flight window. Yes, he looks at Trackman, but imagine selling a car to a guy that isn’t attracted to speed or gadgets but only the granular feel of making a right turn and how far his eyes track over the steering wheel. There are no Trackman numbers for feel and instinct.

But like TaylorMade getting Tiger into an iron he likes, Cobra signing Jason Dufner says more about the quality of work of the people behind the scenes than anything. As a Tour Truck junkie, I’ve gotten to know a bunch of the guys and in particular Ben Schomin of Cobra. As this process went on, I would text him questions about working with JD and I could literally feel his excitement around the process through text.

I can still remember the day late this summer that I saw Cobra wedges in Dufners bag. At that point I knew today was coming. Ben Schomin has become someone Jason trusts, trust that is earned at least equipment wise. Most of the stories around Dufner came around his wedges. The grinds, bounce, shaft, grips need to be perfect and if they are just a whisper off, it’s a non starter. I can only think of a few guys on tour that are like that. Guys that can tell you the yardage and spin numbers on a wedge shot before it even lands…that’s Jason.

So although this signing may seem typical for this time of year, for me it’s awesome. Jason Dufner is extremely interesting to follow, and when he’s playing well, it’s always a good time. But most importantly it’s a testament to the hard work of the folks at Cobra and in particular Ben Schomin. Well done Benny, very well done!

 

15 Comments

15 Comments

  1. Dr Tee

    Dec 16, 2019 at 7:26 pm

    maybe the Dufner Cobra signing says something about Cobra…
    but what does the butt wipe signing say about Dufner ??

  2. Hoganben

    Dec 4, 2019 at 10:07 pm

    Bs about Tiger and his irons….all of Tiger’s irons have all been basically identical since he stopped playing eye 2s. Ps…. Patrick Reed’s new forged irons look like all the other forged blades too.

  3. Scott

    Nov 24, 2019 at 5:55 am

    The dude sells butt wipes on his hat….WTF? No way would he represent my company.

  4. Daniel

    Nov 13, 2019 at 9:25 am

    Love that the whole article is how serious he takes his clubs, but first thing you notice about the picture is the bryson troll stamped on to the wedges. Golf needs Duff.

  5. Steve

    Nov 12, 2019 at 7:30 pm

    Maybe he should just go down to Golf Galaxy and get whatever’s on clearance because he can probably miss the cut with those too.

    • Pat MaGroin

      Nov 13, 2019 at 11:08 pm

      you owe me a new monitor after I spit up on it reading your post 🙂

      well said…..

    • Cody Reeder

      Nov 20, 2019 at 1:53 pm

      Duff is an interesting guy but will not make much difference in the long run. No screen time.

  6. Everyone

    Nov 12, 2019 at 5:42 pm

    MORE WRITING LIKE THIS!!

    • Digger Dave

      Nov 12, 2019 at 6:40 pm

      Thats the first thing that cane to my mind 1/2 way through the article!

      Cobra also makes great gear that is just as good if not better than everything else out. I just sold a set of Cobra MBs bc i got a set of Mizunos and a set of the old TW Nike blades. Sad to say 2 months later im back to ordering another set of Cobras and done tinkering.

  7. Benny

    Nov 12, 2019 at 2:53 pm

    Awesome mews and great article Johnny. Thanks as always Golfwrx.

    Hope he wins. More and more I am turning back towards Cobra. Could be a great honeymoon.

  8. Silverbackster

    Nov 12, 2019 at 2:33 pm

    As an engineer, Thats good with numbers and accuracy, but where is the RESULT? Where is the winning? Thats no one would sign, you put employees through hell dialing in perfect combination, but then can’t even make top 100 in the world past two years!?
    event country week year Missed cut *RANKING*
    Houston Open USA 41 2019 MC – 1 – 192nd
    Safeway Open USA 39 2019 MC – 1 – 179th
    Sanderson Farms Championship USA 38 2019 MC – 1 – 176th
    A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier USA 37 2019 T57 – 1 – 167th
    Wyndham Championship USA 31 2019 MC – 0.9783 – 167th
    Barbasol Championship USA 29 2019 T18 1.74 0.9565 1.66 155th
    John Deere Classic USA 28 2019 MC – 0.9457 – 161st
    3M Open USA 27 2019 T66 – 0.9348 – 157th
    Rocket Mortgage Classic USA 26 2019 MC – 0.9239 – 149th
    U.S. Open MAJ 24 2019 T35 3.65 0.9022 3.29 136th
    the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide USA 22 2019 T7 11.56 0.8804 10.18 146th
    Charles Schwab Challenge USA 21 2019 T40 1.70 0.8696 1.48 194th
    PGA Championship MAJ 20 2019 MC – 0.8587 – 194th
    Wells Fargo Championship USA 18 2019 T4 11.50 0.837 9.63 183rd
    RBC Heritage USA 16 2019 T63 – 0.8152 – 222nd
    Valspar Championship USA 12 2019 MC – 0.7717 – 195th
    THE PLAYERS Championship USA 11 2019 T74 – 0.7609 – 187th
    Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard USA 10 2019 MC – 0.75 – 173rd
    The Honda Classic USA 9 2019 T75 – 0.7391 – 166th
    Genesis Open USA 7 2019 MC – 0.7174 – 162nd
    Desert Classic USA 3 2019 MC – 0.6739 – 127th
    Sony Open in Hawaii USA 2 2019 T73 – 0.663 – 125th

    • Aztec

      Nov 12, 2019 at 6:51 pm

      As an engineer, your grammar is terrible.

      • Martin

        Nov 28, 2019 at 5:22 pm

        But his comment is to the point;-)

        No results lately,, just a drama on tour. Hope for better now but clubs are just clubs,

    • golfraven

      Nov 24, 2019 at 5:01 pm

      Hey, go easy on Duff. He is still recovering from his wife walking out on him. Not that she was a great asset but hey so is life at times.

    • John

      Dec 2, 2019 at 12:34 pm

      On his worst day he’d still beat you 10&8 playing one handed. As an engineer you must know this.

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Charles Schwab Challenge Tour Report: MacIntyre, Åberg and Spaun all switch putters, TaylorMade launches new Spider

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There must be something in the water. Or potentially on the greens. A whole host of big-time players decided that the Charles Schwab Challenge was the perfect place to test out new putters.

With the 2026 U.S. Open just around the corner, defending champion J.J. Spaun made a surprising switch away from his center-shafted Df3 and into L.A.B. Golf’s OZ.1i HS – the heel-shafted mallet putter.

“Just something I kind of wanted to change the way the putter was looking, just a completely different look than the DF3 that I’ve been using for the last year and a half,” Spaun told GolfWRX about the swap. “So it’s just easier to line up for me with less onset looking design, and it’s just something I felt like switching it up and seeing how it goes.”

You can find more about the putter and the reasoning behind Spaun’s change here.

Robert MacIntyre also decided to change the flatstick at Colonial Country Club. He’s using a custom Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5R. The Scotty team created a specially-milled face featuring horizontal grooves and shortened the plumber’s neck to increase toe hang.

Another custom feature of the build is the welded wings added to the rear of the putter, similar to those found on the Phantom 11 head.

It’s potentially part of a major overhaul to his bag. The Scot has recently switched from the Titleist Pro V1 to the Pro V1x golf ball, added the new GTS2 driver, and is currently testing a GTS 3-wood that could replace his ancient TaylorMade AeroBurner 3-wood.

Ludvig Åberg joined the trio of superstars making alterations on the greens. He’s added a Scotty Cameron Phantom 3.2.

It’s not Åberg’s first putter switch of the season. He had been using different versions of his usual Odyssey Versa #1 head to try to get better speed control on the greens.

Currently, a Tour-only offering, the Phantom 3 head is a half-moon mallet shape. Like the previous version that GolfWRX captured at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which Åberg never put in play, the current version appears to feature the Studio Carbon Steel face insert and chain-link face milling. Instead of the all-black version one, Åberg’s current flatstick is in the metal finish.

Rico Hoey’s make-shift Jailbird

Some of the best builds on Tour have a certain Frankenstein theme to them.

Odyssey decided to do this when breeding a turtle and a bird together. The result, Rico Hoey’s latest broomstick.

The custom Jailbird S2S Tri-Hot head includes an aluminium-milled insert from the unreleased TRTL head, which the team machined down to fit the face of the Jailbird after removing the usual Ai-Dual insert.

The team also filled the wings of the putter with epoxy to redistribute mass away from the face, with the metal insert weighing more than the original.

Hoey was also spotted with a custom Damascus Milled Jailbird Mini broomstick. Check out the full gallery here.

Brant Snedeker’s full WITB 

Arguably, the PGA Tour’s feel-good story of the year so far was 45-year-old Brandt Snedeker returning to the winner’s circle for the first time in nearly 8 years.

His victory didn’t come without some equipment updates, either. The Presidents Cup Captain added the 2016 M2 driver equipped with a Fujikura Speeder Evolution 661. It’s a shaft that’s even older than the driver.

The historic driver setup might have been added because Snedeker was missing some antique vibes. He recently switched out his 2-decade-old Odyssey Rossie White Hot XG for a TaylorMade Spider Tour X.

He first put the Spider in play at the Cognizant Classic. Still, at the Valspar Championship, he tested TaylorMade’s True Path Alignment versus without, and preferred the added aim benefits he was getting. In previous testing, the biggest thing Snedeker noticed was the launch and how quickly the ball got to true roll from the Spider and its Pure Roll insert compared to anything else he had tried.

Check out Snedeker’s full what’s in the bag during this week’s episode of “Inside the Ropes” from Colonial.

 

Everything’s bigger in Texas

TaylorMade Golf chose the second stop of a Texas two-step in Dallas as the spot to launch the tour’s latest Spider putter.

On-site Monday at Colonial Country Club, GolfWRX’s Tour Photographer Greg Moore captured the new Spider ZT Max putter ahead of the Charles Schwab Challenge.

The Max version of TaylorMade’s zero-torque putter style has a larger footprint than the original ZT, which will likely lead to a higher MOI thanks to wider perimeter weighting.

The original ZT is made of high-density 303 stainless steel at the front, and then a lower-density 6061 aerospace aluminum on the back to create a high-MOI foundation, with a center shaft featuring slight forward shaft lean and 25mm onset behind the leading edge.

The Spider ZT Max also appears to use the ZT cambered sole, which is also seen on the recently Tour-launched Spider Tour, Tour X, F and V models, which were first spotted at the RBC Heritage.

Brian Harman gamed the original Spider ZT for his victory last year at the 2025 Valero Texas Open, and the putter also saw victory on the DP World Tour in the hands of Michael Kim for his FedEx Open de France win.

Check out the full gallery here.

Odds and Ends

Project X officially Tour launched the Titan Yellow shaft, just a few days after Wyndham Clark played it for the first time and won The CJ Cup Byron Nelson. The shaft features a smoother feel in the handle compared to past Project X wood shafts, along with a firm midsection and firm tip. The Synex Technology allows a player to feel more load in transition without losing the feel of the clubhead. Titleist launched the GTS300 back at Quail Hollow, and just a few weeks later, it’s in the bag of Justin Thomas. Could this be a test run for Shinnecock?

 

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the ShopRite LPGA

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GolfWRX Tour Photographer Greg Moore was on site in Galloway, New Jersey, ahead of the ShopRite LPGA powered by Wakefern to snap some WITB photos and more.

Check out links to all the photos below!

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

 

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Club Junkie WITB, week 18: Driver still needs a grip!

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Back again for week 18 with another new bag for this week’s league night! Last week I played well but lost so hoping to get back on the winning side of things. I am pretty excited to get this driver out on the course as I think it is a legit sleeper in the category. It is also time to break out some newly built irons from JP Golf that look awesome and hopefully play just as good! Here is what is in the bag this week.

Driver: PXG Lighting Tour-Mid (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Red 6s

4-wood: Wilson Dynapwr Carbon (16.5 degrees @ 16)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Red 7s

Hybrid: Callaway Apex Ti Super Hybrid (21 degrees @ 20)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus HB Red 9x

Utility: Mizuno JPX One (22 degrees @ 23)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Black 85s

Irons: JP Prime (5-PW)
Shafts: UST Mamiya Dart V 105 F5

Wedge: Cleveland RTZ (50-10 MID)
Shafts: KBS C-Taper Lite 110 s

Wedge: Cleveland RTZ (56-10 MID)
Shafts: KBS C-Taper Lite 110 s

Wedge: Cleveland RTZ (50-8 ADAPT)
Shafts: KBS C-Taper Lite 110 s

Putter: Mizuno M.Craft City Osaka
Shaft: TPT Pulse 50

Ball: PXG Xtreme Tour

Bag: Ghost Anyday Black Ops Stand Bag

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