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Welcome to Gear Wall-to-Wall, GOLF’s gear editor’s weekly gear wrap-up Jonathan Wall It takes you through the latest trends, rumors and breaking news.
Find the garage
Rory McIlroy called it one of “the best shots I will ever hit in my career”. Everywhere I looked on SundayThere was McIlroy’s 2-Iron Rocket playing on the ring – a 201-yard approach that barely got off the ground and somehow settled inside 15 feet to create an improbable birdie finish to win the Genesis Scottish Open.
It’s the kind of shot every golfer hopes to pull off at least once in their career.
What makes the shot even more remarkable – at least if you’re a gearhead – is that it wouldn’t have been possible if McIlroy hadn’t made a trip to the garage for an extra club before leaving for Scotland. The TaylorMade P760 2-iron he used to take out the “shot” wasn’t even in the bag before the tournament.
Thinking the 2-iron could come in handy at Hoylake—the site of his only Open Championship victory—McIlroy unearthed the club from his garage and brought it with him on the trip across the pond. Equipped with a Project X HZRDUS black 6.5 105g graphite shaft, the 17-degree long iron (D4 swing weight) is a weapon off the tee and at the bar 5. But with McElroy’s impressive length, he never saw a need to put it in the bag over 5 woods or 3 iron, until last week.
The 2-iron is actually the third long-iron P760 McIlroy has added to the bag this season following the introduction of the 3- and 4-iron P760, to increase launch, earlier this year at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. (It’s also worth noting that TaylorMade didn’t even make a 2-iron for public consumption when the P760 was initially released, but when you’re one of the best golfers on the planet, you get the round treatment.)
“I feel like going back to that [TaylorMade P760] The long irons are in the 3 and 4 irons, just to give me a little more extra flight to the par 5,” he said. “I feel sometimes with the 3 and 4 irons in the blades they can be a little flat sometimes, where the shots are par 5 And second shots in par-5 specifically this week are very, very important, so I thought getting more flights on those long irons might be helpful.”
The last time McElroy removed his 5 woods for a 2-iron at Hoylake he left on Sunday evening with Claret Jug. He hopes to repeat this week with a familiar club.
I will not go anywhere
Jon Rahm will remain the face of the Callaway Tour staff after reaching multi-year extension terms with the equipment manufacturer. The two sides announced a “new long-term partnership extension” (financial terms were not disclosed) on Monday that will see the two-time major winner continue to play Callaway and Odyssey equipment, wear Callaway headwear, TravisMathew’s apparel and footwear and promote Topgolf’s World of Golf leisure business.
“I am very happy to continue this great relationship with Callaway and have already played the best golf of my career with their equipment,” Ram said in a statement. “From the driver to the golf ball, they continue to raise the bar higher with each new product line, and I look forward to many great years with their team.”
What makes Rahm’s extension unique, when compared to his peers, is that it includes an equity position at Topgolf Callaway Brands, “a position that balances interests and demonstrates John’s confidence in the company’s strategic direction for its portfolio of global brands.”
Secret club
It’s been a minute since Ping released an updated Blueprint iron. Four years or more, to be exact. At the Genesis Scottish Open, golfers got their first look at an iron called the “Blueprint S.” Victor Hovland and Tyrell Hatton were the first two professionals to play for Scotland.
Few details are available, but based on photos taken during the tournament, the iron has a modest back and toe weight design. Compared to the previous Blueprint, it appears to have a slightly larger profile and more forgiveness for the heel toes.
Hatton paired six Blueprint S prototypes (6-PW) with i230 long irons (4-5). Considering how its setup is built, it’s very likely that the prototype will have a profile that complements one of Bing’s most popular i-series irons – with a touch more playability.
It’s been a long time
Project X’s new Denali shaft (the company’s first new graphite wooden shaft in six years) delivered on the hype in its first week in the Tour. A total of 30 poles were played across the three rounds in the first week, a number that shattered early projections for Project X.
The low torque shaft features a fixed butt section and straight tapered center to provide a consistent feel with added power transfer. The medium-rigid tip section helps provide “optimal firing and spin conditions for modern-day gear.”
According to Project X, the column was chosen 75 percent of the time over two of the “most popular columns of the round” during the double-blind test. Based on the rate of early adoption on the tour, it looks like the trend is continuing with elite pros as well.
Fast hitters: Lydia Ko turned out a Scotty Cameron Phantom X6 STR putter… Continuing the good run of Ping’s G430 Max Fairway woods, Vincent Norman won the Barbasol Championship with a G430 Max 3 and 5-wood in his setup… Sam Burns added a Vokey WedgeWorks 56-10S wedge for the bag.
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