Zach Johnson has used the same SeeMore putter since 2003. (Cohen/Getty Images)

Sergio Garcia tested out a new putter this week in Arizona.

\By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

MARANA, Ariz. -- Sergio Garcia has been known to tinker with his putter from time to time, but over the last six-plus months, the eight-time PGA TOUR winner has used the same TaylorMade Ghost Tour MA-81 putter to post wins at the Wyndham Championship and Asian Tour's Iskandar Johor Open. 

While the MA-81 remains in the bag for the moment, Garcia could be on the verge of a switch after testing out a new TaylorMade MC-72 putter (E1 swingweight) at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. 

The face-balanced, half-moon shape mallet is a different model from the small mallet Garcia's been using. The Tour-only “Forged Milled” face insert in the MC-72 is also a change from the Titallium-alloy PureRoll insert in the MA-81.

The putter was built with 2.5 degrees of loft and has a Super Stroke Slim 55 Ryder Cup grip, the same one Garcia's been using since Medinah.

Garcia took the putter on the Dove Mountain course Monday and planned to work with it again on Tuesday.

Rory McIlroy missed the cut in his first start after making an equipment change in the offseason.
(Redington/Getty Images)

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

MARANA, Ariz. -- One month after Rory McIlroy missed the cut at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in his first event as a Nike athlete, the two-time major winner arrived at Dove Mountain for the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship with a positive outlook -- and some equipment tweaks to two clubs in his bag.

After using a Nike Method 006 putter prototype during the first round in Abu Dhabi, McIlroy went back to his Scotty Cameron Studio Select Newport GSS the following day, noting after the second round that he felt the Method 006 was a little light for the greens.

McIlroy had the Method 006 putter back bag in the bag on Monday and mentioned during Tuesday's press conference that he made a slight adjustment to the putter, adding 6 grams of weight plus a new shaft to the putter.

"It's a little bit heavier," McIlroy said. "a little bit heavier head, added six grams to the head of it and actually changed the shaft as well. That seems to have worked out pretty well."

McIlroy also made a minor tweak to the MRC Diamana prototype 70X shaft in his Nike VR_S Covert Tour driver. Looking to keep the ball in the air longer, Nike Tour reps tipped the shaft a half-inch less. 

"It's basically the same driver," McIlroy said, "but the shaft isn't tipped quite as much, so I'm just getting a little bit more spin on it, which is keeping it in the air."

Lee Westwood is hoping a tweak to his driver will help him this week in Arizona. (Gross/Getty Images)

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

MARANA, Ariz. -- Lee Westwood has made a number of loft adjustments to his Ping G25 driver since he first put it in the bag at the beginning of the season. 

Two weeks after he took a half-degree of loft off the 11.5-degree driver in an attempt to reduce spin, Westwood went the opposite direction on Monday afternoon during a practice session on the Golf Club at Dove Mountain driving range.

Following last week's tie for 21st at the Northern Trust Open, Westwood told Ping Tour reps that he felt like the driver needed an adjustment to keep it in the air longer.

Ping Tour rep Matt Rollins worked with Westwood to rectify the situation, adding an extra half-degree of loft to improve the launch angle. But the loft adjustment actually caused the ball to spin too much off the tee, so Rollins went back and tipped the Aldila Tour Green 65X shaft in the driver 1 inch. 

The slight tweak seemed to work for Westwood, who was hitting the driver anywhere between 294 and 301 yards during the practice session.

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

Even though he came up short in his bid to secure PGA TOUR win No. 2, Charlie Beljan's first week with Cleveland's 588 MT irons was a success. Like a number of Cleveland staffers, Beljan switched his long irons (2, 3 and 4) to the new game-improvement MT line at the Northern Trust Open.

"I don’t play a 3-wood anymore," Beljan said. "I use the 2-, 3- and 4-irons of the 588 MT. You get the same feel as a solid iron with a much higher trajectory, and I’m getting a couple of extra yards, too."

The irons are geared towards higher handicappers, but a number of players -- including Keegan Bradley, Graeme McDowell and Vijay Singh -- have gone with MT long irons due to the club's ease of use and higher trajectory.

Mickelson goes back to Odyssey Versa: Phil Mickelson has worked with two different putters over the first month-plus of the season. After opening the year with a Odyssey's new Versa putter at the Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation, Mickelson went back to his Odyssey Black Series Tour Design #9 the following week. The 41-time PGA TOUR winner decided to make another change at the Northern Trust Open, putting the Versa #9 WBW (white-black-white) back in the bag.

Haas puts new 2013 Titleist Pro V1x in play: Switching golf balls early in the season can be a tricky proposition -- especially when you're coming off consecutive top-10 finishes. But after putting the new 2013 Titleist Pro V1x to the test during a Tuesday practice round at Riviera, Bill Haas moved out of the old Pro V1x model and into the latest version. The switch produced a tie for third, his third straight top 10 of the season.  

Van Pelt switches to TaylorMade R1: Bo Van Pelt put a new TaylorMade R1 driver in play after comparison testing showed a boost in ball speed, total distance and a tighter dispersion compared to his RBZ Tour.

Bae goes with Callaway RAZR Fit Xtreme: Sang Moon Bae became the latest Callaway staffer to switch to RAZR Fit Xtreme at the Northern Trust Open. Callaway Tour reps worked with Bae to move him from Legacy driver to a 9.5-degree (actual loft 9.2 degrees with a 1-gram weight in the toe and 14-gram weight in the heel) RAZR Fit Xtreme. With the new driver his launch went from an average of 11.5 degrees to 10.75 degrees and spin rate dropped from 2800-2900rpm to 2350-2450rpm. He was also turning the ball over consistently.

Sutherland tweaks Ping G25 3-wood: Less than a week after Kevin Sutherland put a new Fujikura 8.0 Speeder shaft (tipped 1 inch) in his 15-degree Ping G25 3-wood at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, he arrived at Riviera looking to reduce spin. Instead of switching shafts or tipping his Fujikua an extra half-inch, Ping's Tour reps decided to take three-quarter degree of loft off the club. 

Jim Furyk adds Callaway X Hot Pro hybrid: Jim Furyk went with a new a Callaway X Hot Pro (20-degree) at the Northern Trust Open. He noted that he really liked the higher ball flight and consistent distance control.

Divots: Graeme McDowell put a Cleveland 588 MT 4-iron and 5-iron in the bag. ... Jeff Maggert made a loft adjustment to his 13.5-degree Ping G25 3-wood, adding a half-degree to get a higher trajectory. ... Stewart Cink opened the season with a TaylorMade R11S but switched to R1 at the Northern Trust Open after significant progress and effort with testing. ... Looking to solve a yardage gap at Riviera, William McGirt added a TaylorMade RBZ Stage 2 (17-degree) fairway wood. ... Arron Oberholser went with a new Ping Scottsdale TR Shea putter.

John Merrick, who went to UCLA, made the Northern Trust Open his first PGA TOUR win. (How/Getty Images)

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

John Merrick realized his dream on Sunday at the Northern Trust Open, defeating Charlie Beljan on the second playoff hole to capture his first PGA TOUR victory. The UCLA golf product, who grew up attending the tournament as a kid, used a full bag of Titleist clubs, as well as the new 2013 ProV1x ball, to secure the win.

Fairway wood: Titleist 913F (13.5 degrees) with an Aldila NV85 X shaft

Hybrid: Titleist 913H (19 degrees) with an Aldila NV105 shaft

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

Dustin Johnson has put new woods, irons and wedges in the bag over the years, but through all the changes there has been one club that has managed to weather the equipment storm: a Titleist Scotty Cameron Newport 2 prototype putter.

Over the last few seasons, Johnson has worked with a number of putters, including a TaylorMade prototype Ghost Itsy Bitsy Spider, Ghost prototype, and an all-black, prototype Scotty Cameron for Titleist Newport known as a "Jetsetter". But he's always gone back to the Newport 2 prototype putter at some point.

On Wednesday at the Northern Trust Open, Golf Channel cameras caught Johnson on the practice putting green working with another new putter — an Odyssey Versa No. 7 WBW (white/black/white).

Johnson not only spent time working with the putter early in the week, he ended up putting it in play on Thursday. Hoping to get his putting on track, Johnson struggled mightily on Riviera's greens, finishing the day at 5 over.

The putter switch wasn't the only equipment change Johnson made this week. On Monday, the seven-time PGA TOUR winner shelved his RocketBladez Tour irons for his old set of TaylorMade Tour Preferred Forged MBs.

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. -- When TaylorMade staffers tee it up Thursday at the Northern Trust Open, they'll do so with new R1 golf bags that coincide with the R1 driver campaign that launched this week at Riviera.

While the orange and black bags will certainly stick out from the rest of the pack, the most interesting addition to the new R1 bag is the addition of each TaylorMade staffer's R1 tuning setting on the front panel of the bag.

In an effort to raise awareness regarding the importance of dialing in the proper trajectory and shot shape with the R1, TaylorMade decided to make the R1 setting for each staffer visible to fans.

When TaylorMade released the R1, it noted that 80 percent of players were playing the wrong loft in their driver. By simply having the club tuned properly, the company believes golfers will be able to maximize the performance capabilities of the R1.

To help golfers find the perfect shot shape for their R1, TaylorMade released an R1 Tuning App at the beginning of February that shows users how to correct a slice or hook, alter trajectory and dial in the perfect shape shape in a few simple steps.

Considering the R1 has 168 available combinations, the free app is a nice option if you can't get to certified club fitter.

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. -- A number of Callaway staffers have switched to Odyssey's new Versa putter over the last month, and it appears Ernie Els could be the next notable name to try it out.

On Wednesday, Odyssey Golf's Principal Designer, Austie Rollinson, tweeted out a photo of Els working with a custom Versa #7 on the putting green at Riviera. 

According to Rollinson, Els took a look at the Versa putter line during the Middle East swing and grew attached to the look of the Versa #7 WBW (white/black/white) version.

Els, who started using an Odyssey White Hot XG #7 belly putter, wanted Rollinson to build him a custom belly that had the look of the Versa #7. 

Looking to give Els exactly what he wanted, Rollinson took a standard White Hot XG #7M design and applied the Versa paint scheme to it. Els received the putter a few weeks back and has been practicing with it at home in Florida. 

"When I talked to him (Tuesday) he told me he really liked to way it looks and had some good results with it while practicing in Florida," Rollinson said.

Els spent the early part of the week working with the putter and could put the custom belly putter in play on Thursday.

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. -- When Dustin Johnson tweeted a photo of his new TaylorMade R1 golf bag Monday afternoon, he actually broke some equipment news regarding what is in the bag. 

Johnson's new clubs happened to be his old ones, a set of TaylorMade Tour Preferred Forged MB irons he used last season to win the FedEx St. Jude Classic.

At the beginning of the season, Johnson had switched to a new set of RocketBladez Tour irons, which he won in Hawaii with and kept in his bag for the next three starts.

But following a missed cut at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, an event he won in 2009 and 2010, Johnson showed up at the Northern Trust Open with his old irons in the bag.

Considering Johnson already has a win under his belt for 2013, the decision to go back to them following a three-start stretch that included a WD at the Sony Open in Hawaii and a tie for 51st at the Farmers Insurance Open shouldn't come as a big surprise.

With the Masters less than two months away, Johnson is likely doing what a lot of players are doing at the moment and that's find a setup that gives him the best shot to win his first major.