By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM

IRVING, Texas -- Growing up in the Houston area, Shawn Stefani loved playing baseball as a kid, particularly catcher. But as an athlete, he was more talented on the golf course than the baseball diamond.

This week at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, the PGA TOUR rookie started a business relationship that allows him to combine the two sports.

Stefani signed a sponsorship deal that puts the MLB.com logo on his bag for the rest of the year. MLB.com is the official web site of Major League Baseball, and Stefani is the first golfer they've sponsored.

"As a brand, it's a good idea to associate me with MLB.com," Stefani said.

The relationship grew out of a conversation Stefani's agent, Dave Parker, had in February at the Waste Management Phoenix Open with a marketing representative from MLB.com. The two just happened to be sitting at the same table at a corporate event and began discussing ideas.

Their suggestions were then presented to Bob Bowman, the chief executive officer of MLB Advanced Media.

"It happened real quick," Parker said. "Bob loves golf and attends many events. We were just looking for a way to do some cross-promotion."

Although Stefani is just on his first full year on TOUR and is still finding his way -- he ranks 144th in FedExCup points -- Parker said his client is a good fit for what MLB.com was seeking.

"People ask me, 'Why Shawn?' I say, 'Why not Shawn?' " Parker said. "He's trying to build his brand and they wanted a young guy who they can grow with."

Although Stefani still throws the baseball around on occasion, most of his interest is now as a fan. He grew up as an Astros fan but knows it's tough to be one right now, as the Astros have the worst record in the American League and are 16 games behind the Texas Rangers in the AL West.

"It's exciting to watch the Rangers this year. And I like Boston and still pull for them," Stefani said. "But I like to pull for the Rangers too. Being a Texas boy, you've got to pull for the teams in Texas."

Keegan Bradley says he has received strange looks because of his two 4-irons. (Pennington/Getty Images)

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

IRVING, Texas — Keegan Bradley's course record 10-under 60 at the HP Byron Nelson Championship was impressive for a number of reasons. Bradley managed to post the score with back-to-back bogeys on his card, and went 7 under over his last eight holes.

Another interesting tidbit about the round? Bradley had two Cleveland 4-irons in the bag during his record-setting round. You read that right: two 4-irons. We've seen players employ two drivers in the past (Phil Mickelson at the 2006 Masters comes to mind), but rarely do you see a pro carry two of the same iron.

Even though the numbers are the same, Bradley said the irons are slightly different when it comes to yardage and ball flight. The first 4-iron, a Cleveland 588 MT, has 21 degrees of loft and is a game-improvement long-iron that features a hollow head design that allows weight to be distributed for a lower, deeper center of gravity.

Even though the MT irons are sold as a set, a number of Cleveland staffers have been replacing their long irons and hybrids with the MT this season — including Bradley, who used a 3-iron at the beginning of the season before switching to a 4-iron.

Jason Day might carry a 1-iron to Muirfield this summer. (Ehrmann/Getty Images)

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

IRVING, Texas -- Traditional long irons have become obsolete in recent years with the introduction of easier-to-hit hybrids and utility irons. At the 2013 Masters, only two players in the field carried a traditional 2-iron -- one of them being third-place finisher Jason Day, who used a TaylorMade Tour Preferred MC 2-iron during the week. 

Even though the iron is course-dependent -- Day switches between a 14.5-degree TaylorMade RBZ Stage 2 fairway wood and the Tour Preferred MC 2-iron depending on the layout -- it's clear the Aussie has some old-school tendencies when it comes to his equipment. 

It seems fitting that Day, the HP Byron Nelson Championship winner in 2010, would turn back the clock at the tournament that honors legendary golfer Byron Nelson and put a TaylorMade RocketBladez Tour 1-iron in the bag. 

Looking for a particular setup for the British Open at Muirfield, Day and TaylorMade Tour reps discussed a number of potential ideas about a month ago, including taking out the Day's driver and putting in a 2-wood. 

When they couldn't get the right configuration with the shaft and ball flight, Day kicked around the idea of going with a 1-iron to achieve the ball flight he was looking for off the tee. 

TaylorMade never produced a 1-iron in the RocketBladez line, so reps decided to do the next best thing, bending a 2-iron to 16.5 degrees and making the shaft a 1/2-inch longer. Day also went with a UST Mamiya Recoil Proto (125-gram) graphite shaft instead the current True Temper Rifle Flighted 6.5 shafts in his irons.

Day tested the club on Tuesday and liked it enough to pull his 2-iron and put the new iron in play.

"I was out there today and hit a couple of -- it was downwind and it was a 10 to 20 mph wind out there -- and there was a couple that went 300 [yards] easy with the bounce and roll as well. I want to say today with the wind hit about four, maybe five drives total [during the Pro-Am]. Everything else was a 1-iron and I didn't pull out the 4-wood at all. The ball flight was very strong."

While TPC Four Seasons will never be confused with a links-style layout, Day said he felt the course was the perfect place to test out the club ahead of the British Open -- especially with wind gusts expected to be anywhere from 15-20 mph the rest of the week.

"What the experiment was, was we were going to try a 1-iron and try it out here because we know if we have a 1-iron here and it works well in the wind, we go overseas to the British this year with full confidence that it's doing to go the right distance and can come out low and hit different types of shots when I need to. I know that it's not the British Open course but the wind is very strong here."

Outside of this week's HP Byron Nelson Championship -- Day said he used the 1-iron off the tee on nine holes during Wednesday's Pro-Am -- it's unclear when he'll use it again. 

With the Memorial Tournament and U.S. Open coming up, he hinted it could get some additional work before the British Open in July. 

"I think that it would be a very good club [at Merion, site of the U.S. Open], but I don't know until I get there. I'm definitely going to use it this week and I'm not too sure what I'm going to do with it for Memorial, but I know I'm going to use it at the British."

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

The minimalist running shoe movement has produced some ultra-light golf shoes over the last few years, with a few models tipping the scales at just under 10 ounces.

While it's unclear if there's a limit to how light golf shoes will get going forward, PUMA Golf became the new leader in the ultra-light clubhouse with the introduction of its Faas Lite Mesh shoe.

Weighing in a 6.5 ounces, the spikeless, minimalist golf shoe was designed to be worn "from the street to the course in lightweight, maximum comfort and trend-setting style." The shoe features a zero heel-to-toe drop that gives golfers the feeling they're playing barefoot, thereby allowing for a more natural stride and posture during the swing.

Even though the shoe is spikeless, PUMA added SmartQuill traction technology to Faas List Mesh that provides "directional grip elements to enhance ground contact for improved stability and traction." The shoe also includes corrugated flex grooves for more natural movement, increased flexibility and ground contract throughout the swing.

Along with Faas Lite Mesh, PUMA Golf also released a lightweight (8.7 ounces), waterproof version called Faas Lite. The shoe features Microfiber leather with stormCELL for waterproof protection, and comes with the same SmartQuill traction technology and zero heel-to-toe drop as Faas Lite Mesh.

Faas Lite Mesh will be available in three colorways (Brilliant Blue/Limeade, Vibrant Orange/White and White/Black) and retails for $90. Faas Lite will also be available in three colorways (White/Vibrant Orange, White/Black/Brilliant Blue and Black/Castle Rock) and retails for $100.

By Jonathan Wall, Equipment Insider

IRVING, Texas — Despite having only posted posted only one sub-70 round in competition since he switched to TaylorMade's Ghost Spider S belly putter, Padraig Harrington said he has no plans to go back to a conventional-length model anytime soon.

Harrington changed putters at the Wells Fargo Championship and opened with an 8-over 80 in the first round and promptly missed the cut. He followed the rough week up with a T75 at THE PLAYERS.

"I had no three-putts last week," Harrington said. "In my own stats, I only missed two putts under 8 feet which would be an all-time record, so it's still in the bag. And that was on tough greens last week. I would be happy if I putted like that all the time."

Looking for a something that would improve his putting stats -- he's currently ranked 123rd (-.123) on the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained-Putting and 131st in putts made from inside five feet -- Harrington decided to give the belly putter a try.

“The R&A and USGA support the rules of golf and (anchoring) is well within the rules,” Harrington said at the Wells Fargo Championship. “I think (anchoring) is bad for the game of golf. But if something’s going to help me for the next three and a half years, I’m going to use it."

Like most putters, Harrington said the belly model has taken some getting used to -- especially on tap-in putts.

"I nearly dropped [the putter] on the ball at one stage last week because I'm not used to handling the putter and things like that. You're still not quite sure when you go to tap in a putt even from 18 inches when you're leaning in you just go and do it normally or as a belly putter, the familiarity is an issue."

Doug Bell from SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio visits with Johnson Wagner, who gives some insight into the clubs in his golf bag.

Nike Golf's new TW'14 shoe will come in three colors and will retail for $180. (Courtesy: Nike Golf)

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

Tiger Woods won his second PLAYERS Championship title with a new Mitsubishi Diamana White Board 73x shaft in his Nike VR Tour driver on Sunday afternoon. But it wasn't the only change the 78-time PGA TOUR winner made at TPC Sawgrass.

For the first time in competition, he was also sporting Nike Golf's TW'14 golf shoe, which, according to the Beaverton, Oregon-based company, "brings enhancements and a modified look" to the second edition of Woods' footwear line.

Like last year's version — Nike debuted the TW'13 late in the 2011 season before bringing it to retail in 2012 — the TW'14 was created using Nike's Free technology and has a number of new additions, including a new upper that delivers added ventilation, as well as an improved "natural motion engineered outsole" that allows Woods to keep contact with the ground longer during his swing.

“With this shoe, we worked diligently to take every detail to a new level,” said Tobie Hatfield, Nike's Athlete Projects Innovator in Nike’s Innovation Kitchen. “Tiger’s relentless focus on getting better makes us better. His insights force us to never stop innovating and delivering technology that will enhance a golfer’s performance. In the TW ’14, he wanted more stability with mobility and we've accomplished that by using Nike's Dynamic Flywire technology which moves with him, but stabilizes his foot when he swings. We also increased breathability of the shoe by using a full mesh tongue."

Along with the release of three colors in the TW'14 line (white, black and grey), Nike also unveiled a fully customizable TW'14 iD version that will allow golfers to choose from a wide variety of color combinations, two uppers (waterproof or breathable) and two different outsoles (spike and spikeless).

The waterproof upper is made from multi-stretch synthetic leather that repels moisture; the breathable upper — only available through NIKEiD — features a lightweight mesh that's geared towards players looking for a hot weather shoe.

Nike's TW'14 will be available in white and black on June 7 for $180. The "cool grey with vivid blue and venom green" colorway is coming to retail on August 1.

Odyssey Golf will award staff pros patches for putts made from 10 feet or longer. (Photo: Odyssey Golf)

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

Callaway Golf's X Bomb patch is no longer the only patch in town. Building on the buzz surrounding Callaway's patch — awarded to staffers for drives hit over 325 yards with an X Hot or RAZR Fit Xtreme driver — Odyssey Golf followed suit and unveiled a "drain patch" for staff pros that sink putts of 10-plus feet during the month of May. Odyssey staffers are also carrying special staff bags.

Odyssey has a "Drain Tracker" that allows fans to track the status of the competition. Phil Mickelson is the current leader with 16 drain patches.

Tiger Woods used a new shaft in his driver en route to winning THE PLAYERS Championship on Sunday.
(Greenwood/Getty Images)

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

With a new Mitsubishi Diamana White Board 73X shaft in his Nike VR Tour driver, Tiger Woods captured his second THE PLAYERS Championship title on Sunday, closing with a 2-under 70 to win by two shots over David Lingmerth, Jeff Maggert and Kevin Streelman. Here's a look at what Woods had in his bag.

What's in Tiger Woods' bag

Driver: Nike VR Tour (Mitsubishi Diamana White Board 73X), 9.5 degrees

3-wood: Nike VR_S Covert (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

The group of Ernie Els, Dustin Johnson and Billy Horschel tees off at 1:39 p.m. ET in Friday's second round of THE PLAYERS Championship.

You can watch every shot from that group exclusively on PGATOUR.COM (click here for details).

To get you ready to watch that threesome, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider Jonathan Wall provides an equipment update on each player. Check it out below.