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NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
BROUGHT TO YOU BY GOLF PRIDE, THE #1 GRIP ON TOUR
Equipment trucks only stay at PGA Tour events until Wednesday, allowing players to make gear changes in advance of each tournament. But what happens when a player realizes he needs an adjustment after starting competitive play?
It happened to Rory McIlroy during the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in Memphis, Tennessee. McIlroy had come from the Olympics where the turf conditions at Kasumigaseki Country Club in Japan were significantly different than the Bermuda grass found at TPC Southwind. The grind on McIlroy’s TaylorMade MG2 TW Grind lob wedge that had been successful in Japan did not translate to the thicker grass type – McIlroy chunked some chips in his first round at Memphis and realized he needed a switch to a low-bounce wedge.
With no equipment trucks left on property, he called in a favor. “I got TaylorMade to overnight me a lob wedge yesterday because obviously the conditions here are way different than the conditions we've been playing,” McIlroy said. “Just thinking of my last few events, Torrey Pines and then you go over to Europe and play a couple of links courses, and then Tokyo ... and then I got here with a lob wedge with a sole that just completely was no good in Bermuda, and I chunked a few chips on Thursday.
“I’m usually a pretty good chipper of the ball. I just went back to a sole that I’ve used before, especially that I’ve done well with in Bermuda conditions and it’s been a little better around the greens the last couple days.”
McIlroy lost more than three strokes around the greens in the first round. For the final three rounds he shot 66 each day on the way to a T12 finish.
Equipment has been on McIlroy’s mind a lot recently. Two driver adjustments this summer have the Ulsterman feeling more confident off the tee.
“I went to a slightly shorter driver just before the U.S. Open, which has helped,” McIlroy said. “Then I tweaked it slightly at the Scottish Open; I went to like a quarter of a degree less loft. Just feel like I've got a little more freedom with it. I'm not squeezing it as much. I'm not trying to get on top of it as much as I was.”
Just like McIlroy is delving into the details of his equipment, so too is Webb Simpson hoping a few decisions in makeup of his bag will make a difference.
In an effort to tighten gaps between how far each club carries, Simpson removed his 54-degree Vokey wedge and added both a 52- and a 56-degree Vokey wedge in its absence. Adding a fourth wedge meant Simpson had to take another club out, which he did in a unique way – he removed his Titleist 620 MB 6-iron, weakened his 5-iron by 2 degrees, strengthened his 7-iron by 1 degree and added .75 degrees of loft to his hybrid.
It’s all about making sure there is a club that fits as many yardages as possible.
At last week's U.S. Amateur, Titleist swept all of the major equipment counts. A total of 245 players teed up a Titleist Pro V1 , Pro V1x or Pro V1x Left Dash ball. The TSi3 driver was the most popular model used as 78 of the 312 competitors used one.
Sean Fairholm