Equipment
WRX Insider: Inside the bag of Ryan Palmer
Ryan Palmer has seen a bit of a career resurgence in the last 9-12 months. The four-time PGA Tour winner has always been known as one of the most consistent ball strikers out there, but even more, a player who stays ridiculously loyal to his clubs.
Case in point: The irons he played before his current set. Palmer cycled through multiple sets of Titleist AP2 710’s for almost nine years. In that time, Titleist introduced four iterations of the AP2.
“Why would he do this?” you ask. “Because they worked,” is the answer.
The same can be said for multiple drivers, 3-woods, and 5-woods that stayed in the bag for 3-4 years at a time.
It might not seem like a big deal but on tour it is. OEMs cycle in new gear almost every year, and these days the equipment improves from cycle to cycle, so having a player like Palmer stick to certain parts for so long is a bit of a rarity. The only other players I know who do it at this rate would be Fred Couples and Bernhard Langer.
RP and I have become friends over the past couple of years, and his approach to equipment is what every golfer should aspire to: it has to work. And if it does, don’t ditch it until it breaks or something comes around that is significantly better.
Over the past 9 months, Ryan has made more changes to his bag than any over the past decade. He replaced a driver, a four-year-old 3-wood (M2), and a five-year-old 5-wood (R15).
But as you will see when we look a bit closer, the changes have been for the better in every capacity.
Driver: TaylorMade SIM (9 degrees, Upright Setting, 18G Back weight)
Shaft: Project X HZURDUS Smoke RDX USA Limited Edition 60 6.5 (D4, Tipped 1″, 45.25 Inches)
“This combo was good from the start. Faster and longer than my M6 setup. I wanted to draw it a little easier than my M6. We dialed it in with Shawn Mullin and True Temper. It started more left than I wanted, so Adrian went to work to help correct my start line. I still wanted to hit my fade off the tee. He went and changed the sleeve to half-degree flatter and boom…was exactly what I was looking for. I’m excited about what this driver has. Faster, longer, and more stable. Even my mishits are longer and not as offline. With the help of Shawn and True Temper and the great mind of Adrian, we dialed it in. Getting longer at 44 will add to the excitement 2021 will hold.”
According to TaylorMade’s Senior Tour Manager Adrian Rietveld
“The main fix was I found a sleeve that sat max 1/2 flatter for the driver, and I bent loft onto his 3-wood without telling him before I ran it out to him on the course. I knew the 3-wood was near perfect, and when he asked for a backup driver exactly the same, I knew that was money too. He is as good off the tee as anyone—in my top 10 for sure.”
3-wood: TaylorMade Sim Max ([email protected] degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZURDUS Smoke Green “Hulk” 70 6.5 (D4, Tipped 1.5″, 43 Inches)
5-wood: TaylorMade SIM Max (19 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZURDUS Smoke RDX 80 6.5 (D4, Tipped 2″, 42 Inches)
How did this 5-wood finally bump the trusty R15 out of the bag? “It does everything way better. I loved my old 5-wood because I trusted it with multiple shots. When Adrian dialed me into this one, I added even more versatility to it and some distance, which I’ll never run away from.”
Irons: Srixon ZU85 (23), Srixon Z 785 (5-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Elevate VSS Pro X (4), KBS Tour 130 X (5-PW)
After his final set of 710 AP2 irons basically keeled over and died, RP tested a few sets and fell in love with the turf interaction of the Z785.
“I already get into the ground fine, so I like irons with a bit of bounce to add some speed through the turf. Once I had a chance to get around with these at home, it was pretty clear that they were an ideal replacement to the 710. Now I just hope I can stockpile 20 sets.”
His U85 came after some testing with the Z585 4-iron he played for a few months. He liked but didn’t love that iron for a few reasons but it was a shaft test with the U85/Elevate combo that won him over.
“I was at a tournament and finally brought this combo out to try and VERY quickly knew it was a gamer. I can hit it up/down/left/right and it flies to my number with a nice descent angle. It’s the first time I’ve had that much versatility with a club between my 5-wood and 5-iron. The shaft was the key—it’s simply awesome.”
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM8 (50-08F, 56-10S @55, 60-04L)
Shafts: KBS Tour 130 X (50), KBS Tour 120 S (56, 60)
SPECS Length/Lie/SW
- 50: 35.5/63/D3
- 56@55: 35.25/63/D3
- 60: 35/63/D3
According to Vokey’s Aaron Dill, Palmer is fairly low maintenance when it comes to his wedges.
“RP is a pure feel player with impeccable tempo. It may look like he’s gliding thru the ball but with his lag and great hands, he not only creates great speed at the bottom when he needs to but can also take a lot off with little thought. The only real tweak we have made lately is going to a softer shaft (KBS 120 S) in his 55/60. This helps with feel obviously but also added a bit more spin out of those shorter shots.”
Putter: Odyssey Rossie II
“I tried some different putters over the past year or so, but this one just has so much history for me. I’ve used it since college, and no matter what, I can always go back to it and feel at home.”
– Ryan Palmer
Grip: Flat Cat
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
58R/+3 wraps/Logo Down
- ONLY WADE LILES on TM truck does his grips, no one else.
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x ‘21
“I’m killing this thing. It’s really fast off the driver.”
Carry Distance (Stock)
Driver: 295
- Swing speed: 117 (Stock) 120 (Hard)
- Ball speed: 175 (Stock) Low 180 (Hard)
- Spin: 2100-2200 (Stock) 1800-1900 (Hard)
- Launch: Try to stay at 12-13 degrees
3-wood: 265 carry off ground. 275 carry off tee
5-wood: 245 off ground. Stinger 5-wood flies 230-240 and runs out to 270-280
U: 225
5: 200-205
6: 190
7: 175-180
8: 165
9: 152-155
PW: 142-145
50 degree: 130
56 degree: 115
60 degree: 92-95
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Equipment
Max Homa is the latest to put prototype Titleist 2-wood in play
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.
Titleist’s new 2-wood prototype first popped up on the TOUR at the 2024 PLAYERS Championship, in the bag of Cameron Young, who had been working with Titleist on the design since 2023.
Here’s what Titleist Tour fitter J.J. Van Wezenbeeck had to say about the design back at THE PLAYERS Championship:
“(Young) was looking for a certain ball speed and yardage gap from his driver,” Van Wezenbeeck said. “One of the things for him with the 3-wood is he wanted something with a little more volume that he felt more confident off the tee with, so he was looking for a little bigger footprint and something that was a little bit more penetrating than some of the 3-woods he’s played in the past. This will be a club he’ll hit 90 percent off the tee, versus the ground, so for the golf courses that set up for that, that’s what he’s looking for … this may or may not ever come to retail. It’s a chance for us to learn and put it in future products that may not be exactly this.”
Since the initial unveiling of the product at THE PLAYERS Championship, fellow PGA TOUR players such as Homa, Webb Simpson and Justin Thomas have also taken notice…
“[The new 2-wood) helps me draw it a little bit better,” Homa told GolfWRX.com on Monday at the 2024 PGA Championship. “I don’t draw the ball well, so left-to-right winds it’s quite helpful.”
Now, according to Van Wezenbeeck, Homa has two different options off the tee: A flat-trajectory cut shot with his TSR3 driver, and a “spinny draw” with his new TSR 2-wood, which flies farther than his former 3-wood.
Head over to PGATour.com for the full article.
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Equipment
Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (5/15/24): Bettinardi x Unimatic 1/50 watch
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a Bettinardi x Unimatic 1/50 watch.
From the seller: (@Puma74): “BETTINARDI Golf x UNIMATIC [ 1/50 Limited Edition ] Italian watch collection Modello Uno U1-BF automatic. Comes with complete package! Mint condition. Only 50 made and will be highly collectable! Only $850 plus $19 insured UPS or USPS shipping to the lower 48 U.S………. FIRM FIRM FIRM !“
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: Bettinardi x Unimatic 1/50 watch
This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules
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Equipment
Michael Block spotted with full set of TaylorMade “Proto” irons at Valhalla
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.
On Monday at the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club, Block had a full set of TaylorMade “Proto” irons in the bag.
Block is the first player of many on the PGA TOUR to bag a set of the mysterious “Proto” irons. Rory McIlroy first switched into a “Proto” 4-iron at the Valero Texas Open, and Collin Morikawa followed suit at the 2024 RBC Heritage. Block isn’t using just the 4-iron, though, he’s using a full set to go along with a TaylorMade Stealth UDI driving iron.
Speaking with GolfWRX.com on Monday at the PGA Championship, Block revealed the full backstory.
“I hit a couple super “Proto” irons when I was at the Kingdom (TaylorMade’s fitting facility in Southern California) a couple months ago, and it was a 9-iron that didn’t have any badges or anything on it,” Block said. “I had no idea what it was … It was very similar to what I was using back then, you know, my old MCs, and very similar from the top. I hit it and absolutely loved it. For me to even think about switching irons from the last 11-12 years is crazy.
“I got this set about two weeks ago, and I’m working my way into them. I hit them more solid; it comes off the face more solid. Much higher. I think they’re still slightly too upright for me, so they’re being bent a degree flatter, because they’re going a little too high for me and drawing a little too much. When that starts to happen, I start to drop the club under and compensate too much, so I’m getting them flattened slightly, and I’m going to test them on the range again, and hopefully have them in play on Thursday…
“They go further, and they go higher … that combination is kind of a no-brainer. If I can take a 5-iron from 204 rather than a 4-iron, it’s good on me. It’s going to help me out for sure, especially at a major with the pin locations. Having that height coming in, that descent angle is going to be huge.”
With such new irons in the bag, after using the same irons for over a decade, surely you’d think there will be a bit of a learning curve. Block, however, is finding immediate comfort with the new “Proto” irons.
Head over to PGATour.com for the full article.
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Benny
Jan 12, 2021 at 8:42 am
JW – was watching Golf Central and they were talking about RP’s surge. So came back to this article to read again.
I just LMAO at the comment above, how Adrien bent the 3w quickly before running it out to him on the range and never telling him.
Love it. Great stuff, keep it coming man. Don’t let these losers tell you anything different. Miserable folks will just be miserable!
jim
Nov 2, 2020 at 2:12 am
useless info from a useless rag of a site.
John Wunder
Nov 2, 2020 at 8:58 pm
Thanks for reading to come to that conclusion…..:)
james
Nov 1, 2020 at 1:31 pm
Another crappy article from the NAzis at GolfWRX!
John Wunder
Nov 2, 2020 at 9:00 pm
Appreciate you reading!! Keep coming back!!
Da club shill
Nov 1, 2020 at 11:59 am
Srixon z785…trying to stock pile 20 sets. This guy is awesome!
Pingback: WRX Insider: Inside the bag of Ryan Palmer – PGA Golf Gameday
Benny
Oct 31, 2020 at 4:56 pm
Another awesome read JW. Thanks man. Love this deep dive info. Ryan is a great Pro and someone I always love seeing on a leader board. He looks and acts like a “good ol boy” from TX who you could sit and drink whiskey with then play 18 like you have known him your whole life.