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NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
BROUGHT TO YOU BY GOLF PRIDE, THE #1 GRIP ON TOUR
Jordan Spieth doesn’t change his golf ball often, so it’s big news when he does.
The three-time major champ put the 2021 Titleist Pro V1x golf ball in play at the AT&T Byron Nelson, the first time he has switched editions of the Pro V1x in nearly five years. He had been using the 2017 version until this point.
Going to a softer ball with more spin was the primary reason for the move. The ball’s debut got off to a sparkling start as Spieth opened with a 9-under 63 in the first round.
“I’m trying to optimize launch conditions through the bag,” Spieth said. “For me, the 2021 Pro V1x, I get more spin around the greens. It’s softer, spinnier around the greens with my short game shots. And then when I went up the bag, I started to get a little bit higher launch, but it didn’t add spin in the long clubs. It just added ball speed and launch.
“So it’s a little higher window, but it just looks like it’s screaming through the air. And then from the 7-iron on down, I didn’t see much difference in the full shots, just like I said more action around the greens."
It takes a lot for a PGA Tour player to employ two drivers, as Phil Mickelson famously did during his 2006 Masters victory, but Rob Oppenheim went in that direction during the Wells Fargo Championship. The two 9-degree Ping G425 LST drivers that Oppenheim used differed only in their loft sleeve setting, as one was set to 8 degrees and one was set to 10.5 degrees. The lower loft promoted a fade and the higher loft promoted a draw. The 41-year-old, who came into the Byron Nelson ranked No. 198 in strokes gained off the tee, didn’t make the cut in North Carolina but fared much better last week in Texas.
Xander Schauffele became the first Callaway staffer to go with the lower spin variation of the 15-degree Epic Speed Triple Diamond prototype fairway wood. The club’s reshaped sole and modified face height were designed specifically for PGA Tour players. While Schauffele was the first to put it into play, Brian Stuard and Tom Lewis tested the same prototype.
Tom McKibbin, the 18-year-old Ulsterman who has received comparisons to countryman Rory McIlroy, signed a multi-year staff deal with TaylorMade. McKibbin will play on the European Tour and Challenge Tour throughout the summer.
Sean Fairholm