Lee Westwood used an Aldila Rogue shaft on his PING G25 driver at Merion. (Cannon/Getty Images)

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

Equipment changes the week of a major championship are usually few and far between. However, that didn't stop Jason Day from pulling his TaylorMade RocketBladez 2-iron — built to 1-iron specs — and replacing it with a TaylorMade Tour Preferred MC 2-iron. Day used the MC 2-iron at the Masters en route to a third-place finish. He also opted for a 54-degree TaylorMade ATV wedge that he felt was better suited for Merion's course conditions.

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

The U.S. Open logo from TaylorMade points to a funny story from Merion's past. (Courtesy: Taylor Made)

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

For the past 10 years, TaylorMade has unveiled a unique logo at each major to commemorate the event. Each item in the logo has a special meaning, and this year's U.S. Open logo is no different.

Here's a guide to the U.S. Open logo:

1. Merion Golf Club has been the site of some memorable U.S. Open moments over the years. The iconic image of Ben Hogan hitting a 1-iron to the 18th green during the 1950 U.S. Open is without a doubt the one the course is remembered for.

So why did TaylorMade make the snake the central figure in the logo? You have to go back to the 1971 U.S. Open at Merion for the answer. Tied after 72 holes, Lee Trevino and Jack Nicklaus returned to the course the following day for an 18-hole playoff. Prior to the start of the playoff, Trevino's daughter put a rubber snake in her dad's golf bag as a joke and, as the story goes, Trevino tossed the snake in Nicklaus' direction.

Contrary to some reports, Trevino tossed it Nicklaus' way not to unnerve him, but because he had asked to see the rubber snake. The lighthearted moment drew a chuckle from both players and the gallery on the first tee.

The snake wound around the bell evokes the universal symbol for medicine — a snake wrapped around a staff — which, according to TaylorMade, is a reference to the 1934 and 1950 U.S. Open winners at Merion. Olin Dutra came back from Amoebic Dysentery the year before winning the 1934 U.S. Open, and Ben Hogan returned from a horrific car accident in 1949 to win the 1950 U.S. Open.

2. The snake's rattle is shaped and colored like Merion's red wicker baskets that rest atop the flag sticks on Merion's East Course — site of this year's U.S. Open — and are the official symbol of the club. The course architect got the idea from English sheepherders, who put round wicker baskets on their staffs to protect their lunch from wildlife.

3. The Liberty Bell is an icon of American independence and the city of Philadelphia. The bell is located 10 miles from Merion Golf Club in Independence Hall.

4. The letters MMXIII at the top of the bell are the Roman numerals for 2013.

Titleist's 712U driving irons are forged with a hollow body, which makes them easier to hit. (Courtesy: Titleist)

In this week's edition of the Equipment Report Mailbag, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider Jonathan Wall discusses Titleist's 712U driving iron, PING's 2013/14 lineup and TaylorMade's R1 Black driver.

Have a question about the latest golf equipment or what the pros are playing? Send a tweet to @jonathanrwall.

Question: Any idea if/when the Titleist 712U Driving Irons will be available to the public? More specifically Canadian public?!

@jonathanrwall any idea if/when the Titleist 712U Driving Irons will be available to the public? More specifically Canadian public?!

— Kyle Dixon (@kyldxn) June 5, 2013

Answer: I actually wrote something up on Titleist's 712U back in April when the company officially announced it was coming to retail. For those of you unfamiliar with the club, it's a forged utility iron that boasts a forged, hollow-body 1025 steel construction with a high-speed 455 carpenter steel face insert; a deep center of gravity that's positioned for a higher MOI that delivers increased stability and playability when compared to a traditional long iron; and a wider, camber sole design that promotes clean turf interaction.

Adam Scott had a 712U 2-iron in the bag when he won the Masters, and I've seen Geoff Ogilvy and Tim Clark using it as well. The club is a great option if you're looking for an easy-to-hit long iron.

As far as the release date, the 712U is currently available via custom order and comes in three lofts (18, 21 and 24 degrees). You can also order one if you live in Canada, so have at it, Kyle!

Question: Typically PING follows a 2 year rotation on equipment. Any news on the 2013/2014 iron line up?

@jonathanrwall typically Ping follows a 2 year rotation on equipment. Any news on the 2013/2014 iron line up?

— Jason Hodkowski (@jphodko) June 5, 2013

Answer: Great question, Jason. There are a couple equipment manufacturers out there that usually don't release new equipment on a yearly basis. PING happens to be one of them, releasing a new lineup about every 18 to 24 months.

I had a chance to talk to Pete Samuels, PING's Director of Communications, and he said the company doesn't normally comment on the timing of new products. So while I'd love to give you a timeframe, you'll just have to keep watching this space for information in the future.

However, if I was a betting man, I'd guess you may see something from them later this year. The Anser and G25 lines came out recently, so your best bet is probably the new i25 lineup.

PING's i20 line was unveiled on January 1, 2011, which means we could see something in the not too distant future. Again, that's pure conjecture on my part, but it would make sense if PING was going on the usual release cycle.

Question: Black or white TaylorMade R1?

@jonathanrwall Black or white R1?

— Nick Rozga (@NickRozga) June 5, 2013

Answer: To be honest, it all comes down to personal preference. The two drivers have the same specs and features — 168 possible adjustment settings, 12 loft-sleeve settings and 7 face-angle positions — so you're not going to an advantage using one over the other.

I was in Memphis this week at the FedEx St. Jude Classic and had the opportunity to watch Dustin Johnson, Boo Weekley, Peter Hanson, Casey Wittenberg and a number of other players try out R1 Black on the range.

Some guys like Dustin and Casey loved the driver from the get-go and put it in play right away. Others tried it out and liked the club's performance but decided to stick with the white R1. Boo Weekley even mentioned the black version looked a little shut to him at address. Mind you, that's Boo's personal opinion.

My answer to your question is to try both and see which one suits your eye.

Will Haskett from SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio speaks with PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider Jonathan Wall about the latest from TaylorMade and True Temper.

Tiger Woods tweeted a photo of his shoes, which has one metal spike surrounded by plastic prongs.

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

In this week's driver edition of the Equipment Report Mailbag, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider Jonathan Wall discusses new wedges, Adams Golf hybrids, and metal spikes on the PGA TOUR. Have a question about the latest golf equipment or what the pros are playing? Send a tweet to @jonathanrwall.

Question: @jonathanrwall I am in the market for a quality set of wedges. Any suggestions? I've only been playing about 3 years w/ a 14 handicap

— Andy Martin (@AndyMartin1020) May 21, 2013

Answer: These days, finding a new set of wedges is a lot like going to Ferrari dealership and trying to pick your favorite model. What exactly does that mean? It means there are plenty of great wedge options out there at the moment. Instead of worrying about the name, I think it'd be in your best interest to concentrate on something else: bounce. Finding a wedge that fits your eye and looks good at address is incredibly important, but if you don't match the bounce on your wedge to your swing type and the course conditions you usually play, you could struggle to hit critical shots. For those out there that don't know what bounce is, it's the angle of the wedge's sole to the ground. The greater the bounce on your sole, the more the sole resists digging. However, if you have too much bounce on your wedge, it could make things difficult on a course that has firm conditions. Where you live and the course conditions you usually play could dictate the amount of bounce you need on your wedges. Something else that plays a role in wedge fitting? Your swing. If you have a tendency to pick the ball off the turf without taking a divot, you'd likely want a wedge with little bounce because you don't have a problem getting the club through the turf. Obviously, you'd want more bounce if you take large divots. Something else to consider is the wedge's sole width and grind. As far as the sole is concerned, a wider sole bring the leading edge higher off the ground at impact, which increases its bounce angle. Thin soles keep the leading edge lower, reducing the wedge's bounce angle. Modest sole grinds are typical in most wedges because it accommodates neutral swingers and common turf conditions. If you play a course with firm conditions (tight fairways), you might want to consider an aggressive sole grind that reduces the bounce angle. Hopefully I didn't confuse you too much. Instead of going into a store and buying a set of wedges off the rack, take some time out of your weekend and work with certified club fitter to get everything just right. You'll be glad you did.

Question: @jonathanrwall. I C the ads #1 Hybrid on tour - what would be the model most used by a tour pro - I don't C it - but must be true.

— Andy Marcolin (@AndyMarcolin) May 18, 2013

Answer: You're correct. Based on Darrell Survey results, Adams Golf has been the No. 1 hybrid on the PGA TOUR since 2008. The company even set a new PGA TOUR record for hybrids in play at an event with 59 at this year's HP Byron Nelson Championship. As far as the most-used model on the PGA TOUR, it varies depending on the player. Adams recently released a SUPER Idea DHy driving hybrid — Aaron Baddeley put an 18-degree DHy in the bag at Colonial — that has a hollow body and a channel in the bottom of the club that's designed to increase ball speed without making the club larger. There's also the Idea SUPER 9031 hybrid, that was unveiled earlier this year at the Shell Houston Open, along with with SUPER S and SUPER LS. Based on what I've seen in the bag this year, those are four of the most popular versions on TOUR at the moment.

Question: @jonathanrwall @pgatour how many guys on tour are wearing metal spikes?

— JonathanStirling (@TheJonStirling) May 15, 2013

Answer: It's less than 25 percent of players on the PGA TOUR. Golf Digest's Mike Johnson wrote an article last year that noted 24.9 percent of all round played on the PGA TOUR in 2011 were by players wearing metal spikes. I'd be willing to bet that number has gone down a bit since then. Not to single out the old guys, but you rarely see young players coming on TOUR sporting metal spikes. Why is that? For one, plastic cleats are on nearly every pair of new golf shoes on the market, which means twentysomethings on TOUR have known nothing but plastic growing up. The way plastic is trending, there's likely going to come a time in the future when the TOUR will be almost all plastic. With that in mind, some of the biggest names in golf still prefer to wear metal — or a hybrid version— over plastic, including Tiger Woods, Zach Johnson and Bubba Watson. Tiger actually tweeted out a photo recently that showed him sitting in a golf cart wearing Nike's new TW'14 golf shoe. If you look closely, you'll see he's wearing a hybrid spike created by Champ called the "ProStinger." It has a single metal spike surrounded by three plastic prongs.

Dean Teykl spends nearly all year on the road helping pros with their clubs. (Courtesy: Callaway Golf)

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

Previous Q&A's
Paul Loegering, TaylorMade-adidas PGA TOUR manager
Matt Rollins, PING PGA TOUR manager

Dean Teykl is one of the busiest men in professional golf. If that sounds like a bold statement, consider this: Callaway's PGA TOUR and Champions Tour manager was on the road 46 weeks last season — which means he spent just six full weeks at home last year. Six weeks.

When asked recently how many weeks he has been on the road in 2013, Tekyl said: "I haven't stopped to count yet but I know I haven't taken off one yet this year. It's a routine that you get used to."

Even with his hectic schedule, Teykl took a couple minutes at a recent PGA TOUR stop to chat about life on TOUR, what he enjoys most about his job and the craziest club he has ever worked on.

What's the one thing you enjoy about this job more than anything else?

Dean Teykl: It's the people. When you see the same people every week you start to become a family, even if you don't work for the same company. We all wear different hats and different colored shirts, but at the same time, every guy out here would be willing to help you if you needed something.

You have some brand allegiance, but come 5 o'clock, you're all friends. If I ever get out of this rat race, that's the one thing I'm going to miss more than anything else is the camaraderie with the guys.

You've worked on thousands of golf clubs in your career. Is there one in particular that sticks out from the rest?

DT: Probably Jim Furyk's 60-degree wedge. I'm not kidding when I say this, but that wedge was like no other club out here. It was the ugliest club you could ever imagine.

It was a one-off prototype that had some unbelievable offset and a giant head. It evolved over the years as we continued to grind it, so it never ended up turning into the club it was supposed to be.

I can't remember the exact amount of offset, but I remember it being over half-an-inch. The funny thing is he loved that wedge. I used to tell him it was hard to make a club look this bad.

Piggybacking on that question, who are some of your favorite players to work with out here?

DT: This is going to sound like I'm trying to dodge the question, but all the guys on this staff are fantastic. I've spent time going back to my days at Hogan working with Jim Furyk, so we have a lot of history together.

Then you have the young guys on our staff like Luke List, Gary Woodland, Nicolas Colsaerts, Ryo Ishikawa. Freddie Jacobsen's another guy I enjoy working with.

I also had the opportunity to work with Bernhard Langer for a number of years and that was pretty special. So yeah, I guess you could say I enjoy or enjoyed working with all of these guys. Each one brings something to the table.

What do you enjoy doing on the road when you're not on the range or working in the truck?

DT: I really enjoy working out. I'm not as dedicated to it as I should be, but it's a great way to try and stay in shape out here. I also enjoy hanging out with the guys. We're all friends out here so we enjoy being around each other when we're not working. All basic stuff, I guess.

I've asked this question to other TOUR managers as well, but do you feel pressure when you suggest an equipment change and a player takes your advice?

DT: Of course, I think everyone out here feels the same way. However, the only way that conversation ever comes around is by gaining their trust. And the only way that trust ever gained is through conversation.

I could make recommendations based on past experiences and we keep pretty extensive notes on every player. When we do decide to suggest something, there's usually a chain of events that leads us to the decision. There's a lot of trust out here that has to be built up over time.

Rory McIlroy's old putter might bring him more confidence this week. (Finney/Getty Images)

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

Rory McIlroy went back to an old friend last week at the European Tour's BMW Championship at Wentworth, replacing his Nike Method 006 prototype putter with a Scotty Cameron Studio Select Newport GSS prototype — the same putter he used to win the 2011 U.S. Open and 2012 PGA Championship by a combined 16 shots.

The putter switch didn't keep McIlroy from missing the cut, but based on the photos GolfWRX's Greg Moore took on Tuesday of McIlroy putting with the Cameron, it looks like the poor week in England wasn't enough to deter the two-time major winner from using it at the Memorial.

McIlroy opened the 2013 season with the Nike Method 006 prototype in the bag at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship before switching back to the Cameron for the second round of the event. Following his first start of the year, McIlroy went back to the Method and kept it in the bag until last week.

Most players tend to tinker with the putter more than any other club in the bag, and Rory McIlroy — even though he's only used two putters this season — is no different.

It's easy to assume Mcllroy switched because he was struggling with the putter, but if you look at the switch from a statistical perspective, his 2012 (with the Cameron putter) and 2013 (with the Nike putter) PGA TOUR putting stats are actually very similar.

He finished 2012 ranked 80th in strokes gained-putting and 61st in total putting; he's currently 100th in strokes gained-putting and 22nd in total putting at the midway point in the 2013 PGA TOUR season.

What do the stats tell us? Maybe the Nike putter isn't the problem. Even with four top-10 finishes in eight PGA TOUR starts this season, it's clear McIlroy's still trying to find a new level of confidence with his putter. Whether he finds it with his old Cameron remains to be seen.

The black TaylorMade R1 driver has created a lot of buzz in recent weeks. (Courtesy: TaylorMade)

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

In this week's driver edition of the Equipment Report Mailbag, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider Jonathan Wall discusses TaylorMade's black R1 driver, the number of colored drivers on TOUR, and the average weight of a driver shaft. Have a question about the latest golf equipment or what the pros are playing? Send a tweet to @jonathanrwall.

Question: @jonathanrwall @taylormadegolf When is the all black R1 being released? twitter.com/Hurricane_Hero…

— Hurricane (@Hurricane_Heron) May 15, 2013

Answer: Ah, the black TaylorMade R1 driver. In my opinion, it looks like something Batman would use to crush the ball 300-plus yards down the fairway. If you haven't been following the story over the last few weeks, a black TaylorMade R1 driver showed up on the USGA's conforming driver list, leading to a flurry of speculation about the new club. According to TaylorMade Public Relations Manager Dave Cordero, the driver is a smaller-headed 400 cc (the current R1 is 460 cc), left-handed R1 prototype — that won't be coming to retail. Sorry, folks.

Q: @pgatour @jonathanrwall What percentage of PGA Tour Pros are using a colored driver? (excluding black and white) #PGATOURchat

— ClubCrown (@ClubCrown) May 21, 2013

A: I can't give you an exact percentage, but as you'd probably expect, the number isn't that high. Nike's VR_S Covert driver, which features a bright-red crown, is played by a number of staffers, including Rory McIlroy, Seung Yul Noh, Nick Watney and Francesco Molinari. Cobra's AMP Cell and ZL Encore also come in a variety of colors — the AMP Cell in blue, orange, red and silver; ZL Encore in black, red and white — and are currently used by staffers Rickie Fowler (AMP Cell Pro - orange) , Ian Poulter (ZL Encore - red), Jonas Blixt (ZL Encore - blue) and Jesper Parnevik (AMP Cell Pro -silver). And then there's Bubba Watson with his pink PING G25 driver, which, in my opinion, could be the most recognizable on the PGA TOUR. So what's with the lack of color on TOUR? I polled a number of players at the Crowne Plaza Invitational and the general consensus is that most players grew up playing a driver with a black crown and never felt the need to switch. Some players prefer to stand out from the crowd, but for the large majority on TOUR, a simple black crown is just fine.

Q: @pgatour @jonathanrwall what is the most common driver shaft weight on tour? #PGATOURchat

— Derek ten Haaf (@DerektenHaaf) May 21, 2013

A: I'd say it's somewhere in the high 60-gram range. The recent fitness trailer boom has seen a number of players go to heavier shafts over the last few years, bumping the average up a bit. While I don't see the average changing this season, the introduction of ultra-light shafts like Project X's PXv 39 — the first sub-40 gram driver shaft on the PGA TOUR — could see players try out lighter options in the future in an attempt to increase clubhead speed. On the flip side, some players still prefer to go with a weightier shaft — like Sergio Garcia who used a 103-gram Mitsubishi Diamana White Board 103-X shafts in his TaylorMade R1 driver at THE PLAYERS Championship. That happens to be the same shaft Tiger Woods currently uses in his Nike VR_S Covert 3- and 5-wood.

PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider Jonathan Wall answered fans' equipment questions on Tuesday in a live video chat. You can replay the chat here on the TOUR Report or on the PGA TOUR's Google+ page.

To see a full list of our past video chats with TOUR players, media and more, click here.