NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
BROUGHT TO YOU BY GOLF PRIDE, THE #1 GRIP ON TOUR
It’s rare for a player to wait until the Ryder Cup to put a new driver in play, but that is what Xander Schauffele did on his way to a 3-1-0 record at Whistling Straits.
The San Diego State product inserted a 10.5-degree Callaway Epic Speed Triple Diamond LS driver into his bag, replacing the 9-degree Callaway Epic Speed Triple Diamond that he used to win gold at the Olympics.
The switch had been a long time coming. During a busy summer stretch, Schauffele noticed a considerable drop in spin rate when he tried to hit a draw – his favorite shot off the tee. The 300-400 rpm dip altered his shot shape and created discomfort with a normally reliable club. This can be a side effect of tweaks being made in a golf swing.
Before the Tour Championship, Schauffele replaced his usual Graphite Design Tour AD-BB 7X shaft with a Tour AD-IZ 7X that added more spin and increased launch angle. He played well, finishing in a tie for fifth, but Schauffele wanted to keep his previous shaft.
So the week before the Ryder Cup, Schauffele went to work with Callaway reps and found that a 10.5-degree head opened to 9 degrees was the solution. Setting the clubface to a slightly open position added 1.5 degrees of launch angle and put his spin rate back into the 2,300-2,400 rpm zone that allowed him to hit a draw. It also allowed him to continue using the Tour AD-BB 7X shaft that he liked.
Schauffele felt comfortable enough to move forward with it at the Ryder Cup. Despite a singles loss to Rory McIlroy, the move proved successful during the first two days.
There was another American player who also made a driver switch, but it came shortly after the weekend in Wisconsin. Bryson DeChambeau prepared for the World Long Drive Championship by going to a 4.5-degree Cobra RadSpeed driver, a loft that is radically low by PGA Tour standards but par for the course in the long-drive world.
The 4.5 degrees of loft is a slight drop from the 5.5 degrees DeChambeau normally uses on tour. There were other modifications made as well. For example, the standard titanium clubface had to be replaced with 15-3-3-3 beta titanium alloy to handle clubhead speeds faster than 140 mph.
DeChambeau also went with a 48-inch LA Golf prototype shaft. We’ve yet to see too many tour players use a 48-inch shaft in competition because of how difficult it is to control accuracy-wise, but that is far less of a concern in the long-drive game.
It seemed to work as DeChambeau reached ball speeds of well faster than 210 mph.
Sean Fairholm