Equipment Insider: No hybrid for Haas; Gay has new putter

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Each week in the Equipment Insider, Adam Barr -- PGATOUR.COM's equipment columnist -- will provide breaking news, notes and analysis focused on PGA TOUR players. Adam will also appear in video segments for PGATOUR.COM.

Check out more of Adam Barr's equipment coverage at AdamBarrGolfGearGuide.com.

Video: In the Bag

What do players carry when they head out on TOUR? We take an inside look at the adjustments they make to their clubs ... and they show us other things (ball markers, training aids) that make their tools of the trade unique. Archive: In the Bag MORE IN THE BAGS Phil Mickelson Tim Clark Zach Johnson

Bill Haas was wall-to-wall Titleist for his Bob Hope Classic win: 909D2 driver (8.5 degrees loft), 909F3 3-wood (13 degrees), a new set of CB irons (2 through PW ... yes, you read right, a 2-iron), two Vokey Spin Milled wedges (54 and 60 degrees) and a Scotty Cameron Kombi mallet. He played a Pro V1 golf ball.

Notice what isn't there: a hybrid. Long irons still have a toehold, at least among the younger set. And it was a 3-iron that Haas hit for his second shot into the par-5 18th at PGA West's Palmer Private Course. That set up the two-putt birdie that would clinch the victory on Monday.

"I think I had 214 [yards to the] hole, which is a perfect 4-iron for me," Haas said. "But there's a little bit into the wind. And as I said, I wasn't coming up short, which is water. So I hit the 3-iron. Easily could have gone over or bailed out, and fortunately I think the wind held it up a little bit, and it hit right into the hill, behind the hill and slowed it down."

That Kombi putter not only has heel and toe weighting (Scotty's "Studio Select" technology), but a third weighting port that moves the center of gravity deeper. This keeps the putter more stable throughout the stroke, Cameron says.

Brian Gay, respected around the game for the strength of his putting, has signed an endorsement deal with Bettinardi Putters. Gay, who has won three times on the PGA TOUR in the past two seasons and has three top-25 finishes already this year, will use a Bettinardi BB8 prototype on TOUR.

Bob Bettinardi runs his family's business in Tinley Park, Ill., in the south Chicago suburbs. The company, which also does precision metal work for non-golf clients, has developed a following among lovers of milled putters.

The Scotty Cameron Kombi, used by Bill Haas at the Bob Hope, features three weighting ports.

Gay, who finished fourth in putts per round on the TOUR in 2009, is 48th in the Official World Golf Ranking. His 2009 season performance qualified him for all four major championships in 2010. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

Times sure have changed for apparel deals. Now, players insist on clothes that do more than make them look sharp on the course. Apparel companies have responded, including Antigua. The 30-year-old brand is offering moisture-wicking shirts -- the price of entry in apparel these days -- with a technology called Desert Dry Xtra-Lite. That lightness piece is the new part. The shirts weigh next to nothing, Antigua says, and they also trap less heat than other fabrics. It may have been cold in the desert last week, but it won't be that way for long.

For 2010, Antigua will be putting its creations on five PGA TOUR players (Notah Begay III, Craig Bowden, Billy Mayfair, Kevin Streelman and Jerod Turner) and two Nationwide Tour players (Scott Sterling and D.J. Brigman), as well as five LPGA players (Brittany Lang, Dorothy Delasin, Stacy Prammanasudh, Alison Walshe and Wendy Ward).

• The 2010 PGA Merchandise Show, in its 57th consecutive year, opens in Orlando this week. Manufacturers will gather Wednesday for an outdoor demo day at Orange County National Golf Golf Center & Lodge, which as a 42-acre circular range and practice area. The Show proper begins Thursday at the Orange County Convention Center, where 10 miles of aisles will marshal the traffic of 40,000 attendees from 75 countries. There's a lot for them to look at: the Show covers about a million square feet and features the wares of nearly 1,000 exhibitors.

The Show, which began in 1954 with vendors showing products from the trunks of their cars, is the industry's biggest annual get-together. But it's industry-only, much to the disappointment of golf equipment fans everywhere, who annually ask for the chance to attend. Still, we've got your back: there will be daily video updates on at adambarrgolfgearguide.com, plus a special video wrap-up next week on PGATOUR.COM.