News: Equipment notes
May 9 2012
10:46 am
Inside TaylorMade’s new fitting lab
By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM
With the getup Sergio Garcia wore, he wouldn’t have looked out of place in a video game shoot or a Hollywood special effects studio.
Instead, he was in a clubfitting bay. But no ordinary one.
Tuesday at TPC Sawgrass, TaylorMade Golf officially opened its “TaylorMade Performance Lab” on the west end of the range in a building shared with the TOUR Academy, one of just a handful of flagship fitting facilities nationwide, with dazzling capabilities.
In a two-and-half-hour full fitting session, players can go through a putter fitting in a special room equipped with six cameras, tracking every nuance of a stroke, and a full-swing session in a bay where the swing is turned into a 3D image.
That’s what the 2008 PLAYERS champion went through Tuesday, wearing 34 reflective pins all over his body that were picked up by the cameras to build his 3D doppelganger. The pins were fitted on shoe coverings, knee pads, around the waist on what looked like a weight belt, around the chest, on Garcia’s elbows and hat and – weirdest of all to him – on a wristwatch-like band.
Garcia doesn’t wear a watch when he plays.
With just a few swings of a generic wedge, 6-iron and driver, computers build a 3D image and measure all the usual clubfitting data – clubhead speed, launch angle, yardages – plus a few new ones like hand speed, which can help determine the right shaft.
In this type of fitting, there’s no sampling of club after club, tweaking lofts and shafts and other elements. The computer determines every facet of the stick you should be hitting – naturally, recommending TaylorMade clubs and balls (eventually it will even recommend shoes, based on footwork) – and a session outside on the grass is used to confirm the computer’s finding.
“The feel is important, but sometimes you can feel something you can’t see,” Garcia said. “This (system) tells you what’s going on.”
The computer had Garcia’s swing circa-2003 saved, and the move Garcia made Tuesday was laid directly over it for a comparison.
“I can totally see how the swing has the same signature move, but it’s gotten tighter, not as much movement,” Garcia said, satisfied.
Amateurs that go through the fitting can have their own swing put on top of Garcia, Dustin Johnson and several other TOUR pros from the Nationwide, Champions and PGA TOUR.
A full fitting costs $350, and TaylorMade officials say that amateurs that go through the fitting then buy an average of $900 worth of clubs, which are also built at the facility with all the same equipment used in traveling vans that follow the PGA TOUR.
As TaylorMade’s director of global business development Todd Fraser said, it’s “instant gratification.”
ARNIE’S ARSENAL: In a special exhibition at last week’s Insperity Championship on the Champions Tour, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player teamed up in an 18-hole scramble. Palmer put an exclamation point on the day with a 25-foot birdie putt at 18, using an original Odyssey White Hot 2-ball putter.
GoLo TIME: Rickie Fowler scored a long-awaited first win on TOUR at the Wells Fargo Championship with a rather mixed bag (see below), plus a putter that has only been in the bag for three months.
Fowler visited the Scotty Cameron Putter Studio in California before the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship in February and switched to a Cameron Select GoLo putter, believing it helped his aim on putts inside 15 feet and allowed him to just “aim and fire”, as he told Titleist reps.
At Quail Hollow, he tied for 21st in putts per green in regulation.
WINNER’S BAG: Fowler at the Wells Fargo Championship:
Driver: Cobra AMP (Mitsubishi Diamana Whiteboard shaft, 9.5 degrees)
Fairway wood: Ping i20 (15 degrees)
Hybrid: Adams 9031 Pro Black (20 degrees)
Irons: Cobra AMP Pro Prototype (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design Spin Milled (PW, 50, 55, 59 degrees)
Putter: Titleist Scotty Cameron GoLo
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
News: Equipment notes
May 2 2012
3:41 pm
Toms’ shop-bought putter, and snakes
By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM
Not all the clubs on the PGA TOUR come from the hands of a manufacturer rep or all those gleaming equipment trailers that travel from tournament to tournament.
Sometimes players buy them just like we do.
David Toms, T18 last year in Strokes Gained-Putting but mired in 115th this year, switched to an Odyssey White Hot XG No. 7 last week at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He picked up the putter in the pro shop at a Baton Rouge course the previous weekend, hit a few putts with it and paid for it on a credit card.
After having the lie flattened slightly by an Odyssey rep at TPC Louisiana, he put it in play and finished T45, saying he liked its insert and the sight lines. We’ll see if the putter travels to TPC Sawgrass for THE PLAYERS Championship, where Toms lost in a playoff last year to K.J. Choi.
SOUNDBITES: If you can’t get enough of CBS golf announcer Jim Nantz (or maybe you have a golf partner who is less of a fan), check out “The Nantz Effect” at Titleist.com (link here). And put a little gravy on that bird.
KILLED IT: Who says amateurs can’t make good contact with a 4-iron? A California condo owner used a Callaway 4-iron to dispose of a foot-long baby rattlesnake that bit him on the heel. Callaway posted the story on its social media sites.
WINNER’S BAG: Jason Dufner at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans:
Driver: Titleist 910D2 (Mitsubishi Diamana ‘ahina 60X shaft, 9.5 degrees)
Fairway woods: Titleist 910F (13.5 degrees) and 906 F2 (18 degrees)
Hybrids: Titleist 910H (19 degrees)
Irons: Titleist AP2 (4-PW)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM4 (54, 60 degrees)
Putter: Titleist Scotty Cameron Prototype
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
News: Equipment notes
April 25 2012
1:44 pm
Curtis’ new irons and Louis’ gold
By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM
One of the year’s better stories on the PGA TOUR was authored last week by Ben Curtis, ending a six-year winless drought on TOUR with a win at the Valero Texas Open.
Curtis was the Cinderella champion won the 2003 British Open (Valero T2 finisher John Huh was 13 years old then) and two events in 2006, then a few years later dropped off the radar. This year he as many starts on the European Tour than the PGA TOUR (three each) before winning in Texas.
In winning by two shots at TPC San Antonio, Curtis had another first of sorts – the first win for Titleist’s AP1 712 irons. Most Titleist players on TOUR play the AP2 irons, which have more of a traditional blade feel and less offset. The AP1 irons have a high-density tungsten sole weight positioned toward the toe, increasing ball speed on off-center hits and reducing twist at impact.
Curtis had a 4-iron through pitching wedge in his AP1 set – which we’ll see a lot more of in the U.S. now that Curtis has winner’s status again on TOUR.
GOLDEN: Ping has enjoyed a great season so far, with wins on TOUR by Mark Wilson (Humana Challenge), John Huh (Mayakoba Golf Classic), Hunter Mahan (World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, Shell Houston Open).
All of its players have a gold-plated replica of their winning putters put in Ping’s vault in Scottsdale, Ariz., and sometimes even more special additions are put in the vault. A double eagle at the Masters would qualify, so a gold S56 4-iron was added to the vault recently in honor of Louis Oosthuizen’s feat. He also received one for his collection.
WEEKENDER: David Duval tested a Callaway Razr Fit driver against a Titleist 910D3 and TaylorMade RBZ last week, with the Callaway going into his bag at Valero at 9.1 degrees loft. He ended up making his first cut of the season after seven misses, and shot his best round on Sunday (71) to finish in a tie for 60th.
BY A HAIR: Amazing how just the slightest adjustments make all the difference for TOUR players. At TPC San Antonio, Derek Lamely thought a flatter lie angle would help to stop losing shots to the left with his 15-degree Callaway Diablo Octane Tour fairway wood. Callaway techs adjusted the angle by one degree – from 59 to 58 – allowing him to hit a baby fade. No more lefts. He finished T35 at Valero, his second-best finish of the season.
WINNER’S BAG: Curtis at the Valero Texas Open:
Driver: Titleist 910D3 (Aldila RIP NV 65X shaft, 8.5 degrees)
Fairway wood: Titleist 910Fd, (Aldila RIP 80X shaft, 13.5 degrees)
Hybrids: Titleist 910H (Aldila hybrid NV 85X shafts; 18, 20 degrees)
Irons: Titleist AP1 712 (Dynamic Gold shafts; 4-PW)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Spin Milled C-C 200 (52 degrees), C-C TVD (58 degrees)
Putter: Titleist Scotty Cameron Newport 2
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
News: Equipment notes
April 18 2012
12:59 pm
Pettersson’s putter, Ping, and a truce
By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM
A belly putter won last week on the PGA TOUR. That hasn’t been said as often as people might have thought, coming into 2012.
Carl Pettersson is one of the game’s longtime users, and won at the RBC Heritage with a Nike Method Prototype that has been in and out of his bag for a while. He used it to finish second at the Shell Houston Open earlier in the month, then went one spot better on the small greens at Harbour Town.
His win marks only the second for long putters this season. Bill Haas won the Northern Trust Open in February with a belly putter, the only other such win in 17 TOUR events so far. That keeps 2012 behind last year’s pace, when nine were recorded including Haas’ FedExCup clincher at the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola and Keegan Bradley’s major triumph at the PGA Championship.
Regardless of where you stand on the putters, Pettersson’s prowess has to be respected. He’s 17th on the season in Strokes Gained-Putting, picking up an average of .607 strokes on the field per round, and is the only player in the top 20 of the stat who swings a long putter.
“I putted well all week,” said Pettersson after putting on the winner’s tartan jacket at Harbour Town. “But I’ve used a long putter for 14 years. I’ll be back to the short one next year when they ban it.”
That last quip was tongue-in-cheek from the game’s best swinger of the long wand.
FURYK RISING: 2010 FedExCup champion Jim Furyk is continuing to erase the memories of a down 2011 season. At Harbour Town he was T8, his fifth finish of T11 or better this season. He had five finishes of T11 all of last season.
His success is coming with a full bag of Callaway equipment. At Harbour Town he used a Razr Fit driver, Razr X Forged irons, X-Forged wedges, an Odyssey White Hot XG #7 putter and Callaway’s Hex Black Tour ball.
MORE CHARITY $$: After Bubba Watson’s Masters victory, Ping announced a limited-edition sale of 5,000 all-pink G20 drivers. The drivers go on sale June 1, at a retail price of $430, and Ping at first said it would donate 5 percent of the club’s proceeds to Watson’s chosen charities.
Reaction online to the size of the donation was not all positive, perhaps given the high retail price. One might also consider that unfair, considering how Ping is also donating $300 for every 300-yard drive Watson hits in 2012 – which adds up fast when you’re backing the biggest hitter on TOUR.
At any rate, two days after its original announcement, Ping upped its pledge to $50 per pink G20 sold.
“We looked back … and realized that with all the tremendous energy Bubba has created with his win at the Masters and for our brand, we needed to do more with this opportunity to give back to those in need,” said John A. Solheim, Ping chairman and CEO. “The response to the pink G20s has exceeded expectations at this point, so we’re increasing our commitment to help bring Bubba closer to his goal of raising $1 million for charity this year.”
TRUCE: Last Friday it was announced that Acushnet (Titleist’s parent company) and Callaway Golf reached a joint settlement of all pending litigation and disputes. No money was exchanged but the agreement allows each company to make golf balls and other products under patents owned by the other. Other details remain confidential.
The legal squabbles between the companies date to February 2006, when Callaway claimed Titleist infringed on Callaway patents in its Pro V1 ball. A 2007 verdict went in Callaway’s favor but was later tossed out, followed by years of further infringement suits and countersuits.
WINNER’S BAG: Pettersson at the RBC Heritage:
Driver: Nike VR Pro STR8-FIT 11.5 degree (Fubuki a 50 X shaft)
Fairway wood: TaylorMade Burner, 14.5 degree
Hybrid: Nike VR Pro, 21 degree
Irons: Nike VR S Forged (4-iron), VR Pro Combo (5-PW)
Wedges: Nike VR Pro (49, 55, 60 degrees)
Putter: Nike Method Prototype (belly length)
Ball: Nike 20XI S
News: Equipment notes
April 11 2012
8:50 pm
Bubba’s pink Ping driver on sale in June
By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM
All it took was a little green to bring the hottest pink club to the public.
Bubba Watson’s all-pink Ping G20 debuted in January as a part of a fundraising initiative in which Ping donates $300 for every 300-yard drive Watson unlaunches – and considering he’s the PGA TOUR’s longest driver at 313.1 yards on average, the donations are adding up quick.
As the pink club got more face time during the season, Ping heard from plenty of fans who wanted to buy their own pink G20 (Watson’s driver last year had a pink shaft but a standard black clubhead). But the word was no, special for Bubba only.
Then he won a Green Jacket.
Tuesday, Ping announced the sale of 5,000 limited-edition pink G20s similar to Watson’s, at $430 each (available June 1). The company will donate 5 percent of proceeds to Watson’s chosen charities.
The drivers will be offered in 9.5-, 10.5-, and 12-degree lofts for righthanded players; 10.5 degrees for lefthanded – alas, no 7.5-degree lefties like Bubba’s gameday model. A women’s model will be 12 degrees with a ladies flex shaft. All come with a matching pink headcover and “Bubba Long in Pink. Driven by PING. Limited Edition 2012” script on the shaft.
BIG THREE: Think there’s still competition between Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus? The living legends – owners of a combined 13 Green Jackets — kicked off the Masters on Thursday with the ceremonial first tee shots, and Player used a tuned Callaway Razr Fit to hit the long drive in the trio.
Player and a Callaway rep switched to a higher loft and adjusted the weights to dial in a draw, and the result was a 236-yard drive to outpace Palmer (another Razr Fit player) and Nicklaus, who used a driver from his self-named line.
MORE COLORS: Callaway is upping the ante in the increasingly popular customizing trend at udesign.callawaygolf.com, where players can build a Razr Fit driver in eight different colors (there’s red, but no pink), with dozens of grip options and more than 100 custom shaft options. Callaway says more than 70,000 combinations are possible. At the very least, it’s a fun site to click through.
NUMBERS GAME: Titleist is offering its industry-leading Pro V1 and Pro V1x in special double-digit numbers. Players may choose numbers 00 or anything from 10 to 99 (six dozen minimum) through custom orders at Titleist-authorized dealers.
WINNER’S BAG: Watson at the Masters:
Driver: Ping G20, 7.5 degrees with a Grafalloy Bi-Matrix shaft
Fairway Wood: Ping G20, 16.5 degrees with a Project X 8A1 shaft
Irons: Ping S59 (3-PW) with True Temper Dynamic Gold shafts
Wedges: Ping Tour-W (52, 56 degrees) Ping Tour-S Rustique (64 degrees)
Putter: Ping Redwood Anser
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
News: Equipment notes
March 28 2012
3:52 pm
Tiger’s old ball and Ping’s new putter
By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM
Of all the corners of the golf world that exhaled with Tiger Woods winning an official PGA TOUR event for the first time in 30 months at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, perhaps the biggest exhale came from Nike headquarters.
Woods, of course, is the frontman for Nike Golf, having worn the swoosh on his clothes since joining the TOUR in 1996. He originally played Titleist golf balls in his early years as a pro, then picked up Nike’s new balls in 2000 and its clubs in 2002. Two years ago he shelved the last non-Nike product in his bag – his longtime trusty Scotty Cameron putter – for a Nike Method.
By winning at Bay Hill, Nike got a boost for its new VR Pro Blades, which feature a more precise forging process and Nike’s proprietary high-frequency grooves. What the company didn’t get as much of a boost for was its 20XI ball.
Though Woods’ hat has a 20XI logo on the side, his bag doesn’t have any of the company’s new resin-core balls. He’s still playing the ONE Tour D.
Whereas most TOUR players are quick to put the newest balls in play, Woods’ model is three years old. It’s the oldest item in his bag.
Nike ball design guru Rock Ishii told me at January’s PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando that he leans on Tiger every time he sees him to put a 20XI ball in play on TOUR, and that Tiger has had success with the ball in testing. But the ONE Tour D is still his choice.
Tough to argue after watching him win by five shots at the Arnold Palmer.
NEW NOME: Ping introduced the first USGA-approved adjustable-length belly putter shaft this week. Used on its Nome 405 putter, it allows a player to adjust the length within a 9-inch range (from 37.5 inches to 46.5 inches) to create his or her own custom fit.
“With the popularity of belly putters we saw a unique fitting opportunity because shaft length is so critical to performance,” Ping CEO John Solheim said. “Adjustability is key because the standard 42-inch belly putter fits a narrow range of people.”
To adjust the putter, Ping provides a tool that threads into a locking stainless-steel ring on the shaft, and when the ring is loosened, the shaft slides telescopically. Tightening the ring gets the putter ready for play again. (Like other adjustable clubs such as drivers, adjustable putters may not be changed during a round of golf, per USGA rules.) The shaft is available in Ping’s three different bends for a straight, slight arc and strong arc stroke types.
NEXT TO HEX: Callaway staff players Fredrik Jacobson and J.B. Holmes put Callaway’s new Hex Black Tour ball in play at Bay Hill for the first time, switching from the company’s older Tour i(z) model.
Jacobson also picked up fresh wedges for the upcoming Masters, moving away from the stock-soled wedges he prefers into grinds with bounces reduced and moved more toward the center of the sole. With the closely mown surfaces at Augusta National, less bounce is preferred by most players.
IMITATION: Reigning PLAYERS champion K.J. Choi visited Odyssey’s putter rep and asked for a duplicate of the White Hot XG #7H used by Luke Donald in winning the Transitions Championship. According to Callaway, he said there was something about the rails protruding off the back of the putterhead that made it far easier to swing on plane. The only modification Choi made to the putter was to add his usual Super Stroke Fatso grip.
WINNER’S BAG: Tiger Woods at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard:
Driver: Nike VR Tour (8.5 degree, Graphite Design DI 6X shaft)
Fairway wood: Nike VR Pro Limited Edition 3-wood (15 degrees); Nike SQ II 5-wood (19 degrees)
Irons: Nike VR Pro Blades (3-PW)
Wedges: Nike VR Pro (56, 60 degrees)
Putter: Nike Method 001
Ball: Nike ONE Tour D
News: Equipment notes
March 21 2012
4:40 pm
Bae’s driver, Furyk’s return and Arnie
By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM
Sang-Moon Bae is in the midst of a sensational rookie season on the PGA TOUR, with zero missed cuts in seven stroke-play starts, a quarterfinals effort at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship and a spot in the Transitions Championship playoff last week won by Luke Donald.
Fans of the 25-year-old South Korean might have trouble building a bag like his, however. Bae’s driver isn’t available in the United States, a rarity considering equipment manufacturers love to promote TOUR players’ equipment to consumers.
Bae used a Callaway Legacy Black driver at the Copperhead course, finishing T19 in driving distance. The Legacy Black is one of the company’s high-end offerings in Asia and Australia, with a forged titanium face and traditional pear shape.
KINGSPEAK: Arnold Palmer had his annual session with the media Wednesday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, and offered his two cents on the belly putter.
“Well, you’re opening up a big subject there. Of course, I don’t think there’s ever been a club made that I know of that has not been in my bag,” Palmer said, drawing laughs. “May not stay long, and the long putter is one of them. I’m not a fan of long putters.
“I suppose that if I were playing, and a long putter, being totally legal, and would help my game, I might use it. But I’m opposed to it personally. I just think that there shouldn’t be a place in the game for anchoring a club against the body, which is what the long putter does.
“So, technically, and principally, I am against it. But would I use it if it were going to enhance my game in the competition? I might.”
COMING BACK: For Jim Furyk, another part of the playoff at the Transitions, the event marked his highest finish since winning the 2010 TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola and FedExCup title.
He credited a pair of Callaway products for helping get him back on track, the Razr Fit driver and Hex Tour ball.
“I switched drivers at the end of last year in December. Started working with a Callaway driver right before Chevron (World Challenge) and enjoyed — I liked what I saw. Started working with a different golf ball with actually Phil (Mickelson), when I played with him at The Presidents Cup, started using his golf ball and really liked it.
“Basically what I was seeing was a combination of the two products, I was creating more spin on the golf ball, and I got away from that a little bit last year. The ball launched a little bit higher and had a little less spin; I could hit it far, but I’m not a high-spin guy and because I’m a guy that wants to hit a lot of shots, hit it right-to-left, left-to-right, hit it low, hit it high, and I need spin to do that and that’s how you control the golf ball.
Last year he played with a TaylorMade ball and driver, saying multiple fitting sessions and product demos simply didn’t stick and that the parting with the company was “amicable”
“I had made some mistakes and in what I was doing with my equipment and I made mistakes fitting myself equipment that I could have done better. And it was a product of maybe trying to get a little bit longer, maybe trying to find new ways to improve and maybe then hurting my strengths, if that makes sense. Trying to make my weaknesses better but in doing so, hurting your strengths, which is rule No. 1. You don’t do that.”
WINNER’S BAG: Luke Donald at the Transitions Championship:
DRIVER: TaylorMade RocketBallz (9.5 degrees) with a UST Mamiya Accra XC65 shaft
FAIRWAY WOOD: TaylorMade Rocketballz (15 degrees)
HYBRID: Mizuno Hi Fli CLK (17 degrees)
IRONS: Mizuno MP-59 (3-PW)
WEDGES: Mizuno MP T-11 (54, 60 degrees)
PUTTER: Odyssey White Hot XG #7
BALL: Titleist Pro V1x
News: Equipment notes
March 14 2012
2:35 pm
Bubba-long, new bellies and brackets
By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM
Bubba Watson came up just short in his bid to win the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship, but that’s about the only way to get “Bubba Watson” and “short” in the same breath.
Watson is leading the PGA TOUR in driving distance through the first 10 weeks of the season, and there’s not a close second. Watson is averaging 316.1 yards per drive, nearly nine yards ahead of Robert Garrigus (check out the full list here).
At Doral, Watson and his all-pink G20 were, well, monstrous at TPC Blue Monster, with 37 drives of 300 yards or longer and a field-leading average of 318.4 yards. For the season, more than 62 percent of Watson’s drives have sailed more than 300 yards.
Should the Florida panhandle native hold on to his top spot, it would be the first time he’s led the stat since a three-year run as the TOUR’s longest driver from 2006-08. He was second in 2009 and 2010 to Robert Garrigus, and second to J.B. Holmes last season.
BELLYING UP: Thomas Bjorn used a belly putter for the first time in his career at WGC-Cadillac, an Odyssey White Hot XG No. 1 Protype Blade. He opened with two 68s before a 75-71 weekend left him in a tie for 24th.
Darren Clarke also had a belly in competition for the first time, a TaylorMade Ghost Spider.
TWEAKS: Phil Mickelson had new shafts, Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana a’hina 70x, in his Callaway Razr Fit driver and Big Bertha Diablo 3-wood. … Noted hybrid fan Y.E. Yang had a TaylorMade RBZ 3-wood in the bag at Doral, a 13-degree model to try to stay under the strong winds. … After switching to TaylorMade’s Tour Preferred MC irons in the offseason, Dustin Johnson returned to Tour Preferred MB irons – his 2011 sticks – at WGC-Cadillac.
HOOP IT UP: Think you’ve got the NCAA Tournament figured out? Golfweek has a contest awarding golf gear like a Rickie Fowler-signed hat to the best bracket. Check it out here.
WINNERS’ BAGS: Justin Rose at the WGC-Cadillac Championship:
Driver: TaylorMade R11, 8 degrees
3-wood: TaylorMade RBZ, 15 degrees
Hybrid: TaylorMade Rescue 11, 19 degrees
Irons: TaylorMade MB 4-PW
Wedges: TaylorMade ATV, 52, 56 degrees; Cleveland 588, 60 degrees
Putter: TaylorMade Ghost Tour Corza
Ball: TaylorMade Penta TP5
George McNeill at the Puerto Rico Open:
Driver: Cleveland Launcher Ultralite TL 310, 9.5 degrees
Fairway woods: Titleist 906F2 3-wood, 15 degrees; 5-wood, 18 degrees
Irons: Cleveland 588 Forged MB, 3-PW
Wedges: Cleveland 588 Forged, 54, 60 degrees
Putter: Nike Method 001
Ball: Srixon Z-Star XV
News: Equipment notes
March 8 2012
5:58 pm
Garcia’s soccer-themed bag at Doral
Sergio Garcia had a great round go completely south on the back nine Thursday at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship. After making six birdies on the first nine holes to get near the top of the leaderboard at 5 under, he made six back-side bogeys and a double bogey on the 18th at TPC Blue Monster to settle at 3-over 75 for the round.
The good news? Garcia turned heads around the course with a special-edition TaylorMade golf bag, one of five he personally designed for the 2012 season.
The Spaniard’s bag this week is inspired by his favorite soccer team, Real Madrid. The team, one of the most recognizable in the world, is nicknamed “Los Blancos” (The Whites) and white is its primary jersey color, with blue stripes and gold piping. Garcia’s bag perfectly mimics that, along with the team logo.
Garcia gets out on the soccer pitch as much as he can, and 22 is his jersey number of choice. That’s reflected too on the bag.
News: Equipment notes
March 7 2012
6:12 pm
Bragging rights, Rory’s lob, and 17s
By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM
When Rory McIlroy won The Honda Classic to take over the top spot in the World Golf Rankings, it gave Titleist bragging rights as the equipment manufacturer on the top bag in golf.
Those rights have switched hands as much as the top ranking has in the past year-plus.
McIlroy succeeded Luke Donald (a Mizuno guy), who supplanted Lee Westwood (Ping), who took the mantle from Martin Kaymer (TaylorMade). Westwood also had it for a period before Kaymer, then of course for years prior to that it was all Tiger Woods, and all those Nike swooshes.
Interestingly, bragging rights to the FedExCup have also been shared. Bill Haas won it last year as a Titleist guy, and before that it was Jim Furyk (Srixon hat, mixed bag), Woods (Nike) and Vijay Singh (Cleveland).
LOB-STER: McIlroy said his up-and-down on the 14th hole at PGA National’s Champions Course was his best of the week – and he had a lot of them while leading the field in scrambling at 83.3 percent.
McIlroy had a shot of some 65 yards from rough so deep he could barely see the ball, yet he slid a 60-degree wedge under it to within four feet, then made the putt.
That new wedge, a Titleist Vokey Design with four degrees of bounce, first went in the bag the week prior at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play, where McIlroy was runner-up.
“He’s got such great hands, he can play a little less bounce than your average player,” said Titleist Vokey Tour Rep Aaron Dill. “He’s just a magician — he hits it high, low, he spins it.”
HATSPEAK: If you’re wondering why TaylorMade staff players such as Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose and Johnson Wagner (right) are wearing hats with “17” on it at TPC Blue Monster, it’s for the company’s continuing RocketBallz campaign. The 17 is for the company’s claim of 17 yards extra distance over other 3-woods (your mileage may vary).
It’s the company’s second hat drive this year; at the Northern Trust Open its PGA TOUR players wore white hats with a simple red heart on the front, part of a “#driverlove” social media campaign.
SHAFT SWAP: Sang-moon Bae, No. 2 in PGATOUR.COM’s rookie rankings, changed shafts in his Callaway Razr X Muscleback irons from a Dynamic Gold S-400s to KBS Tour stiff, allowing for higher shots and an easier time drawing the ball. He finished T47 at The Honda Classic
WINNER’S BAG: McIlroy at The Honda Classic:
Driver: Titleist 910D2 (8.5 degrees)
Fairways woods: Titleist 906F2 (13, 18 degrees)
Irons: MB (3-9)
Wedges: Vokey Design SM4 (46, 54, 60 degrees)
Putter: Scotty Cameron GSS Newport prototype with deep milled face
Ball: Titleist ProV1x
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