Few know Brooks Koepka’s gear setup better than Cleveland/Srixon Tour actor Rob Waters. When Koepka announced he was leaving free agency to sign a multi-year equipment deal with the gear manufacturer in 2021, it was Waters who was brought in to oversee an overall gear transition that initially began with Srixon ZX7 irons. From there, Koepka added a ZX5 LS MKII DriverAnd Cleveland RTX 6 ZipCore wedges and a Z-Star Diamond golf ball.
The behind-the-scenes work with Waters and the rest of the Cleveland/Srixon Tour team culminated in a gear-checking win at the PGA Championship, as Koepka climbed off the course at Oak Hill for his fifth major title of his career.
After Koepka’s first major win as a Cleveland/Srickson employee, Waters sat out GOLF.com to detail the 33-year-old’s equipment setup, testing process, unique wedge and more in an extensive interview. (Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)
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Where does Brooks Koepka’s PGA Championship win rank in terms of players you’ve worked with? And where were you when you saw him win on Sunday?
I was actually here in Fort Worth. I just landed. He left DFW and rushed to Fort Worth to go back to the hotel and watch him. And that’s exciting. I mean, he played great. He dominated the tee. His iron bullets were proven. It’s just fun to watch. I mean, when a guy is around, he’s going to be hard to beat. Even the guys on Saturday Night who were so critical of the media were saying he was a good candidate up front. And I mean, he couldn’t be happier for Brooks and Srickson.
When was the first time you all thought that maybe Brooks didn’t just want to play Srixon irons but there was a possibility that he might want to do more and sign an agreement with the staff?
Way back two years ago at American Express when he put the iron into play. Rodney McDonald [Cleveland/Srixon’s VP of Tour Operations] Had some tests with Brooks the week before and with golf ball and pegs, with all equipment. He really liked irons and got into this event with irons and wanted to test them out, which is why he played American Express.
We gave him golf balls to test. He was home and working with the ball for two months and really discovered what he liked about a golf ball. He said he couldn’t find anything wrong with it, so that’s always a good thing. It was a very easy process, to be honest with you. We were there for support, but at the end of the day Brooks was very happy with everything he saw, from the irons to the pegs to the golf ball. and driver.
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After Brooks decided to play old driver and ball last year at the US Open, Cleveland/Srikson released a statement saying they were getting closer to the product currently in the bag but weren’t quite there. Where was last year at the US Open in terms of testing this gear, and how big of a role did it play in product development?
Huge product development. I mean, we listen to these people and our R&D team listens to us. We are working hard to provide these players with what they need. And I mean, there’s sometimes a transfer from another company playing a driver you’re familiar with and you know what happens to the bad guys. We worked really well together as a team and with R&D and with Brooks and the touring department to get everything he needed. And it was a fun process. It wasn’t a very difficult process. I think after the US Open, it was like, well, we can relax.
Here we are with the golf ball, and here we are with the driver. You are always making adjustments and changes throughout the entire process. Last year we tried two different drivers. low spin [LS]. regular [ZX] The driver who is not low rev. We tried them all, and I mean, obviously, he hurt a little bit and he had some health issues, and we struggled with that with him. We got to spend some time with him in Tucson with some drivers. I made him call the driver and he’s been playing fine ever since. I think he won one or two times and then the PGA Championship. So he is very happy with the equipment. This is a win for everyone. Especially he.
What was it about the Srixon ZX5 LS MKII driver while going through the testing process that made him feel the best?
I mean, Brooks is different because he hits the driver. Most men on the PGA Tour are shocked by the driver. So when you hit and swing left, you will spin more. So we just had to counter spin because he likes to see the ball go left to right, and his shot is a really flat cut. For most of us, we would say it’s a flat slide. But, you know, he’d rather see it going left to right in the approximate right direction than anything going left. So he found that right balance between spin and shoot because he shot it less than most players.
We have to get the spin on the driver so he can get into the shape he wants. We spent two days with him in Tucson and when we finished the second day he was, like, “This is the one.” So, you know, it’s always a process with these guys.
Brooks seems to be pretty low maintenance when it comes to his equipment. fair assessment?
Yeah, I mean, once his bag is set, he’s good to go. I can’t go to many events there at LIV, but once his bag was packed, he said, “You’ll never see me again. I’m done. I just want to focus on what I need to focus on.”
With him at LIV, would you spend more testing time with him on the home course? Do you send him the product?
Most things are now being built [on LIV].
When he’s testing, how much does the launch screen numbers he sees weigh against the feel and launch window?
He checks the data but he’s also a visual guy and he has windows he wants to see the ball come out of, so as long as the numbers match up with the windows he’s fine.
It seems like every Tour pro has one club in the bag that’s hard to spot. Was there someone when you were working on getting the gear in the bag for them that was like, OK, this is going to take a little bit longer?
I don’t want to say it was easy, but it was very simple. Every time we worked with another driver there would be something else we would have to do and tighten up. It’s practical. I wish we could click our fingers, get into the trailer, build something, and go, “There you go.” Sometimes it’s that easy and sometimes it can take a little longer. And I mean, we just had to find the right combination for him. For example, getting the correct weight position in the head to make the CG match how it likes to swing. Brooks has a unique way of playing golf. It is left with the driver. This is not normal for what we are used to seeing here.
If you look at his entire portfolio as a whole, is there anything from a construction standpoint that only Brooks does?
The only thing that has its fingerprint is a 60-degree wedge. It’s a different way for him. Slightly wider sole. Slightly less bounce. I mean, the guy is an exceptional thrower and he throws the ball like no other. He has a sure feeling that he wants the club to move forward. And how he can control his trajectory and also hit the long shot, hit the spinner, and do all the stuff. I mean, he’s a wizard about the green. It’s definitely fun to watch. But, I mean, that’s really the only thing. Everyone says, “Oh, you know, what’s usually in their stuff?” I mean, you can buy his driver. You can buy irons for him. You can buy wedges for him.
A lot of golfers watch Brooks and say, “He should have a totally custom stuff. The driver he has won’t be the one you would buy off the rack.” Is that the case?
The way his chauffeur is saddled, there are quite a few people who wouldn’t be able to beat up a Brooks Chauffeur. But it’s the same driver. I mean, we’re very special here when we build. There is a certain swing weight that we are trying to build. All lies and lofts are checked immediately. All knobs are weighted. All columns are suitable. I don’t want to say it’s no different than what you can buy off the shelf. It’s a more subtle way of how to put everything together.
With as much feedback as Brooks can provide, does he feel he enjoys being hands-on with equipment design?
It’s pretty practical. I enjoy working with Brooks because he is so honest. He has a specific thing he’s looking for. It searches for a specific launch, it searches for a specific window, and it searches for a specific path. And we can work our way through that. Sometimes you get players who have absolutely no connection, like, well, I need a little help from you. What direction do we want to go? Brooks pretty much tells us, “This is the direction I want, and this is what I expect of my drivers.” Or, “This is what I expect from irons,” which is very helpful.
What’s your Brooks time vs. the home test when it comes to the Srixon Z-Star Diamond ball?
I think a lot of her was just trying to get used to it. A few years ago, Rodney went and spent some time with him and found a ball and said, “Here’s some stuff I keep, and I keep this diamond ball because I want to work with this diamond ball.” He really liked the way it flies. And he goes home and does some testing and he’s like, “Wow. I mean, the distance control is better. It’s better in crosswinds. It’s more stable in the areas I’m looking for.” And, you know, he said in Tucson, “This is the best ball I’ve ever played in my career.”
Did he do any shaft testing when he was first getting into a Srixon product?
we tried. We wanted to do some experiments but everything is back to how it used to be played. So we just had to make some tweaks and changes to [driver head] Weighting, how we weighted the head with glue, and that was pretty much the extent of that.
Brooks is part of a Tour pro who’d rather play a bladed wedge—46-degree Cleveland RTX 6 ZipCore in his case—rather than one that matches his iron set. Any insights behind why the Cleveland Show is preferred?
I have to be honest with you, Jonathan, this was something he wanted to test and it worked, and he put it to play. And we’ve got quite a few guys here playing Cleveland’s pitching wedge over Srixon. Fits most in their scoring clubs, profile and shape. Which is just something they are used to. It feels, it looks, it hits the number thing. There is no reason or rhyme. This is just what the player prefers.
There is one club in the bag that everyone is always talking about. It’s not Cleveland or Sri Lankan. It’s the Nike long iron. Have you guys tried taking this out of the bag, or are you just putting your hands up and saying we have a lot of clubs in the bag, give him some wiggle room with a few?
There were a few things he said to us in the beginning, like, “It’s going to be hard to get out of the game.” He said, “I’m not saying I won’t experience anything.” And he said, “That triple iron is going to be hard and the second one is going to be hard to get out.” We’ve done some tests. I mean, look, he’s won the PGA Championship with our Srixon irons, Cleveland wedges, and he’s won with our Z-Star Diamond golf ball. We couldn’t ask for more. We couldn’t be more excited.
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