March 25 2013

2:12 PM

Winner's bag: Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods won for the 77th time on the PGA TOUR on Monday afternoon. (Greenwood/Getty Images)

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

Tiger Woods is once again the No. 1 golfer in the FedExCup standings and in the world. Woods captured the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard for the eighth time in his career with a 2-under 70 on Monday to win by two shots over Justin Rose. Here's a look at Woods' equipment.

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What's in Tiger Woods' bag:

Driver: Nike VR Tour (Graphite Design DI 6X), 8.5 degrees
3-wood: Nike VR Pro Limited Edition (Mitsubishi Diamana Blue Board 103x shaft), 15 degrees
5-wood: Nike VR_S Covert (Mitsubishi Diamana Blue Board 103x shaft), 19-degrees
Irons (3-PW): Nike VR Pro Blade (True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 shafts)
Wedges: Nike VR Pro (56, 60 degrees; True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 shafts)
Putter: Nike Method 001
Ball: Nike One Tour D


March 24 2013

6:58 PM

Equipment Roundup: Arnold Palmer Inv.

Justin Rose switched to a TaylorMade R1 driver for the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.
(Greenwood/Getty Images)

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Justin Rose became the latest TaylorMade staffer to add an R1 driver to the bag at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. Rose spent Monday and Tuesday before the tournament working with the new driver at Lake Nona in an effort to find the correct setup.

Rose had been testing R1 for a couple weeks but finally settled on a driver with a Matrix 6m3 Black Tie Shaft. Rose's first round with the driver in the bag produced a 7-under 65 on Thursday.

In addition to the driver, Rose also added a TaylorMade RocketBladez Tour 6-iron, to go along with the four RocketBladez Tour irons he already had in play. Unlike most players who overhaul their entire bag at once, Rose has slowly worked his way into RocketBladez Tour irons over the last few weeks, adding a 3-4 iron at The Honda Classic, and a 5-iron at the WGC-Cadillac Championship.

Mickelson going back to Odyssey Black Series Tour Design #9: All of the time Phil Mickelson spent adjusting his Odyssey Versa #9 WBW (white-black-white) putter the week prior to the Arnold Palmer Invitational appears to have been for naught.

Mickelson opened the tournament with the new Versa putter, which included a custom sight line, black putter shaft and SuperStroke "Slim 55" grip, but struggled with his consistency on the greens — recording 61 putts over two rounds, including a four-putt during the second round, before missing the cut at 8 over.

With the Masters only a couple weeks away, Mickelson told PGATOUR.COM’s Brian Wacker he was benching the putter and going back to his Odyssey Black Series Tour Design #9 at the Shell Houston Open.

Mickelson recorded his only win of the season at the Waste Management Phoenix Open with the Black Series Tour Design in the bag.

Olesen makes adjustments to Nike clubs: Following a position testing session early in the week, Thorbjorn Olesen made a number of changes to his Nike equipment, adding a 15-degree VR_S Covert 3-wood and 18-degree VR_S Covert Tour hybrid to replace last year's VR_S products. Olesen noted that he was able to launch the ball higher with less spin with the new woods.

Olesen also made a slight tweak to his VR_S Covert Tour driver, moving it from 10.5-degrees to 9.5-degrees, right position in an effort to lower his ball flight.

In preparation for the Masters, he also put new VR Pro wedges with fresh grooves in the bag.

Furyk buys Odyssey Versa #1W from Orlando-based golf store: Jim Furyk has been known to spend his own hard-earned money on a putter. In the weeks leading up to the 2010 TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, Furyk went into a golf shop in Massachusetts during the Deutsche Bank Championship and bought a used Yes! Sophia model for $39. The putter ended up helping Furyk win the Tour Championship and FedExCup.

Considering Furyk's affinity for making mid-tournament putter changes, it shouldn't come as a surprise that he showed up at an Edwin Watts in Orlando on Saturday looking for a new putter.

Furyk spent time looking at a couple models but left the store with an Odyssey Versa #1 Wide, which he put in play during the final round.

Cabrera goes back to PING S56 irons: With the Masters right around the corner, Angel Cabrera shelved his PING Anser irons for PING's S56 model. Cabrera played the S56 last year and wanted an iron he could work in both directions with a lower ball flight.

Divots: In an attempt to get his 21-degree Cobra AMP Cell hybrid to go left, Rickie Fowler made a slight adjustment using the company's MyFly technology, turning it from the 4+ position to 3 to get the desired shot shape. ... Seung-yul Noh added loft to his Nike Method Midnight putter, changing it to 3-degrees to improve roll. ... After struggling with his putting over the first three months of the season, Bo Van Pelt switched back to a TaylorMade Ghost Tour Corza putter. He was ranked 127th in strokes gained-putting (-.302) prior to the Arnold Palmer. ... Looking for additional distance off the tee, Patrick Reed went from 43" to 44.75" in his VR_S Covert Tour driver. Reed also switched out of his VR_S Forged 2-iron for a VR Pro Combo 2-iron. ... Boo Weekley switched to TaylorMade's Lethal golf ball.


March 21 2013

6:13 PM

Odyssey Versa making a splash

Keegan Bradley switched to a new custom Versa Sabertooth (left) from his previous one. (Callaway Golf)

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

Odyssey's Versa putter has been picking up steam over the past three-plus months since its release. Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Ernie Els and Charles Howell III have used a version of the putter at one point or another this season, and on Thursday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, three other notable names put a Versa putter in the bag.

Keegan Bradley didn't switch putter models, but he did swap out his trusty Odyssey White Hot XG Sabertooth — the same model he used to win the 2011 PGA Championship — for one with some stripes.

The custom Versa Sabertooth was a design in the making since the PGA Championship winner first laid eyes on the color scheme several weeks ago. Looking to add the same look to his Sabertooth, Odyssey's Tour reps built Bradley a version that looked identical to his gamer with a black-white-black color scheme.

Bradley was so excited to get the putter that he spent the days leading up to his arrival at Bay Hill texting Odyssey Tour rep Johnny Thompson on a regular basis to discuss the putter.

But Bradley wasn't the only big name to go with a Versa on Thursday. Rickie Fowler, who's played a Scotty Cameron putter since he was an amateur, switched things up and benched his Scotty Cameron GoLo Circle T for an Odyssey #7 BWB (black-white-black).

Gary Woodland also switched out his Odyssey 2-ball for a Versa #1W with a sight line following a couple weeks of testing with a number of Versa model.


3:45 PM

Mickelson switches putters

Phil Mickelson switched to an Odyssey Versa #9 WBW putter this week. (Callaway Golf)

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

Phil Mickelson isn't exactly struggling with the putter — he's currently ranked 25th in strokes gained-putting this season — but that didn't stop the 41-time PGA TOUR winner from shelving his Odyssey Black Series Tour Design #9 for an Odyssey Versa #9 WBW (white-black-white) at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.

Over the first three months of the season, Mickelson has bounced between the two putters, using the Versa #9 at the Northern Trust Open before switching back to the Odyssey Black Series Tour Design #9 at the WGC-Cadillac Championship.

Mickelson decided to go back to the Versa #9 after making a couple adjustments to the putter with Odyssey's principal designer Austie Rollinson last week. Mickelson added a custom sight line to the putter — similar to the sight line he had on his Black Series Tour Design #9 — and went with a new SuperStroke "Slim 55" grip.

Looking for a firmer grip, Mickelson had it added to one of the putters Rollinson built for him to test out. After working with it during his off week, Mickelson felt comfortable enough to put it in the bag.