Doug Bell from SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio visits with D.A. Points, who goes through the clubs in his golf bag and talks about his Illinois roots.

Gary Woodland switched to a steel shaft in his Callaway X Hot Pro 17-degree fairway wood.

By Jonathan Wall, Equipment Insider

LA QUINTA, Calif. -- Callaway Golf tour manager Dean Tekyl is used to having players ask for a slight adjustment to a club to get a couple of extra yards, but early in the week at the Humana Challenge Gary Woodland made an unusual request: He wanted a club that didn't fly as far as the one he'd been using.

Woodland felt his new X Hot Pro 17-degree fairway wood (bent open to 15 degrees) -- a club he was hitting 294 yards into the wind -- was too long for his liking. Tekyl and Woodland discussed a number of options before settling on an X-100 steel shaft.

“It was actually Gary’s idea,” Tekyl said. “Heavier is better for him. If he swings it, I think he can be more aggressive with it. The new club is a heavier swing weight and heavier overall. The dispersion is tighter and he swings down on it more like an iron. He loves the new setup and it went straight in the bag.”

Woodland spent Monday and Tuesday testing the new fairway wood against his previous model that had a Graphite Design prototype shaft. Following a morning session on Tuesday, Woodland felt comfortable enough with the new steel shaft version to put it in play this week.

By Jonathan Wall, Equipment Insider

Adams Golf added another former PGA TOUR winner to its staff on Tuesday in 2010 Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Classic champion Robert Garrigus.

Garrigus was with TaylorMade before switching. He’ll wear the Adams Golf logo on his bag and headwear and carry a 22-degree SUPER S hybrid.

“With the distance I’m able to generate, plus the launch characteristics from the Velocity Slot Technology in the new SUPER clubs, my approach shots into longer holes will land exceptionally soft,” Garrigus said.

Garrigus will open his 2013 season this week at the Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation, where he tied for second last year.

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Editor

Golf’s recruiting season came to a close on Monday, and as expected, it ended with a bang, as Nike announced the signing of Rory McIlroy to a head-to-toe multi-year deal.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, although The Associated Press reported that the deal was worth $200 million.

McIlroy, who opens the season this week at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship will have 14 Nike clubs in the bag this week -- including a Nike Method 006 prototype putter, likely the biggest change after years of using a Scotty Cameron model.

"I visited The Oven and I was seriously impressed with both the craftsmanship of the Nike club engineers and how much R&D and product innovation goes on there," McIlroy said. "I've been blown away by the attention to detail when it comes to product."

McIlroy moves to Nike after six years with Titleist, where he won two majors and topped the PGA TOUR and European Tour money lists last season.

What’s in Rory McIlroy’s new bag

Driver: Nike VR_S Covert Tour, 9.5 degrees, neutral position
3-wood: Nike VR Pro Limited Edition, 15 degrees
5-wood: Nike VR Pro Limited Edition, 19 degrees
Irons (3-PW):  Nike VR Pro Blades (3-PW)
Wedges: Nike VR Pro (54, 60 degrees)
Putter: Nike Method 006 Prototype
Ball: Nike 20XI X
Apparel: Nike Golf Tour Performance Collection
Footwear: Nike Lunar Control

Tim Clark used Titleist's new 913F fairway wood at the Sony Open in Hawaii. (Petersen/Getty Images)

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Editor

Tim Clark kicked off the 2013 season with a strong showing at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Even though he finished three shots behind winner Russell Henley, the South African posted his second second-place finish in his last six events, dating back to the end of last season.

Clark, who fired a final-round 9-under 63, put Titleist’s new 913F fairway wood (15 degrees) and 712U prototype 4-iron in the bag the bag for the first time, as well as the new ProV1.

Kirk puts Callaway X Forged in the bag: Newly signed Callaway staffer Chris Kirk decided to switch things up for his first tournament of the season. Despite testing out the RAZR X Muscle Back irons during the off-season, Kirk opted to go with the X Forged irons at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Kirk, who usually prefers blades, noted that, “the sole of these irons is the main reason I’m playing them.” The switch paid off in a big way as Kirk finished T5 for the week with his new irons in the bag.

Sabbatini uses off the rack TaylorMade Ghost Spider S putter at Sony: Rory Sabbatini decided to make a last minute putter change on Thursday morning before his first round of 2013.

Instead of heading for TaylorMade’s Tour Van for another option, Sabbatini decided to pick up a Ghost Spider S from the Pro Shop at Waialae. The new putter helped Sabbatini shoot 5-under 65 on Friday to make the weekend, where he finished T59.

TaylorMade R1 impresses at Sony Open: Less than a week after Dustin Johnson became the first TaylorMade staffer to win with the new R1 driver, 21 staffers showed up at the Sony Open with TaylorMade’s latest driver in the bag.

Among the notables using the R1 for the first time this season at the Sony were Mike Weir, Greg Owen, Boo Weekley and Pat Perez.

Perez actually arrived in Honolulu with concerns about consistent misses to the right with his R1. But following a meeting with TaylorMade’s Tour staff, he realized his face angle was set open with a fade-biased setup.

After adjusting the shot shape weights to more of a draw bias and tuning the face angle sole plate to 2 degrees closed, Perez had his preferred ball flight. He finished the week T9 with the R1 in the bag and averaged 303.5 yards off the tee.

Callaway inks long drive champion Sadlowski: Callaway may want to consider lengthening its driving range. Just days after the company signed Nicolas Colsaerts — considered by many to be one of the longest hitters in golf — to the staff, Callaway went out and inked another bomber in two-time RE/MAX World long drive champion Jamie Sadlowski.

Sadlowski spent time at the Ely Callaway Performance Center testing the new X Hot driver, where he launched shots over the back net with ease. Callaway's Twitter account even tweeted a clip of Sadlowski launching a drive off the property.

Parnevik signs with Cobra Puma Golf: After nearly severing his right, index finger last March in a boating accident, five-time PGA TOUR winner Jesper Parnevik is kicking off his 2013 at the Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation with a new sponsor, after Cobra Puma Golf announced the Swede would be playing Cobra clubs and wearing Puma Golf apparel this season.

According to Cobra Puma Golf, Parnevik will have 12 Cobra clubs in the bag and will sport Puma’s Spring/Summer 2013 collection along with the new Tux Lux golf shoe, part of PUMA Golf’s Lux footwear collection.

Parnevik will play the beginning of 2013 on medical exemption, which gives him 12 events to make $620,087 to retain his PGA TOUR card.

New Cobra clubs in Parnevik’s bag:

Driver: AMP CELL Pro Driver in Silver (7.5 degrees)

3-Wood: AMP CELL Pro Fairway (prototype) in Silver (13 degrees)

Irons: AMP Forged Irons, 3-PW

Wedges: Trusty Rusty in Rust finish (49 and 53 degrees) 

Divots: Odyssey’s new Versa putter picked up two top-10 finishes courtesy of Charles Howell III’s T3 (using a Versa #1 B/W/B) and Perez’s T9 (using a Versa 2-ball). … Charlie Beljan, Jerry Kelly and Steven Bowditch had at least one of Cleveland Golf’s new 588MT game-improvement clubs in play at the Sony. While it may be designed for the everyday player, all three opted to use the club in place of their long irons. … Perez, Rickey Barnes, John Daly and Brian Harman used TaylorMade’s new Lethal golf ball during the week. … Of the 103 players in the field at the Sony that relied on a Titleist Pro V1 or Pro V1x, 62 played the company’s latest version, including top four finishers Tim Clark (Pro V1), Scott Langley (Pro V1x) and Howell III (Pro V1x).

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

Russell Henley made quite an impression in his first PGA TOUR start. The 23-year-old rookie posted rounds of 63-63-67-63, including a back-nine 29 on Sunday that included five straight birdies, to win the Sony Open in Hawaii by three shots over Tim Clark.

His score of 24-under 256 set the record for the lowest total score at the Sony Open. In the process, Henley became the first player on the PGA TOUR to win with Nike’s new 20XI X golf ball.

Henley used Nike’s 20XI X last season on the Web.com Tour but decided to switch to the latest version, for his first event of 2013 because he felt the new ball, with its larger RZN core, went farther and felt softer around the greens.

Aside from the new ball, Henley also had 14 Nike clubs in the bag for his first PGA TOUR victory.

What Russell Henley had in the bag at the Sony Open in Hawaii:

Driver: Nike VR_S (9.5 degrees) with a Graphite Design HD-7X Shaft
Fairway wood: Nike SQ Sumo (13 degrees)
Hybrid: Nike VR Pro (18 degrees)
Irons: Nike VR Pro Cavity (3-6 iron), Nike VR Pro Combo (7-9 iron)
Wedges: Nike VR Pro (47, 53 and 59 degrees)
Putter: Nike Method 006 Prototype with a long slant neck
Ball: Nike 20XI X

Webb Simpson switched to the new Titleist 913 driver for the season opener. (Petersen/Getty Images)

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

Webb Simpson rarely messes with the equipment in his bag. Going back to his win last year at the U.S. Open, Simpson was still gaming Titleist’s 909 woods -- a model that came out in 2008 -- and 680 muscleback irons. But after years of using the same woods and irons, Simpson decided it was time to overhaul his bag.

Titleist representatives traveled to Charlotte in early December to work with Simpson for a day to dial in new equipment for the upcoming season. When Simpson arrived at Kapalua for the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, he had a completely new setup that included a Titleist 913D3 (10.5 degrees) driver, 913Fd (15.0/18.0) fairway woods, a 913H (20.0) hybrid, and AP2 irons (4-PW). Simpson also put Titleist’s new ProV1x prototype ball in play.

Gainey switches to Callaway’s X Hot: Tommy Gainey, the only Callaway staffer in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions field, put the company’s new metal woods in the bag at Kapalua. Gainey opted for a 10.5 degree X Hot driver and X Hot 3-wood with an Aldila RIP NV65 shaft.

Cobra’s colors shine at Tournament of Champions: Cobra’s new AMP Cell and ZL Encore drivers, which come in a number of distinct colors, were on display at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Rickie Fowler used an orange-headed AMP Cell Pro driver (8.5 degrees) and AMP Cell fairway wood and hybrid for the week. Jonas Blixt opted for a blue-headed ZL Encore driver (8.5 degrees), while Ian Poulter used an 8.5 degree white ZL Encore driver and silver AMP Cell fairway wood.

Notables: Of the 20 players in the field at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions using a Titleist golf ball, 11 chose to play the 2013 Pro V1 or Pro V1x prototype ... Scott Piercy went back to his Scotty Cameron Newport 2.7 putter from the GoLo he used at the end of 2012.

MORE EQUIPMENT: Johnson wins with new R1 driver | Who is changing manufacturers for the 2013 season?

Dustin Johnson hits his final drive on the par-5 18th on Tuesday at Kapalua. (Stan Badz/PGA TOUR)

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

Dustin Johnson’s four-shot win at the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions earned him a return trip to Maui next year for the winners-only event.

But Johnson wasn’t the only winner on Tuesday -- TaylorMade Golf also picked up a big win as Johnson notched his seventh PGA TOUR victory using the company’s R1 driver, which was released on Jan. 3.  

Johnson employed a 10 degree R1 with a neutral face angle and an 8-gram shot shape weight in the toe and 2-gram shot shape weight in the heel for the 54-hole tournament. He averaged 275.9 yards off the tee and recorded a 405-yard drive during the final round, which was the longest in the field during Tuesday’s final round.

He also became the second player to win with TaylorMade’s RocketBladez Tour irons, joining Sergio Garica, who captured the Johor Open in December. 

Even though Johnson spent some time working with the irons during the offseason, he felt his irons were a bit too upright and had the entire set bent 1 degree flatter prior to the first round.

Dustin Johnson’s bag at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions:

DRIVER: TaylorMade R1 (10°) with a Fujikura Fuel 2.0 X shaft
FAIRWAY WOODS: TaylorMade R11S (15.5°) and R9 (19°) with Aldila RIP Series X shafts
IRONS: RocketBladez Tour (3-PW) with True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 shafts
WEDGES: TaylorMade TP xFT (54°, 60°) with with KBS Back Nickel shafts
PUTTER: Scotty Cameron for Titleist Newport prototype
BALL: TaylorMade Penta TP5

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM Equipment Insider

Jeff Overton will have new clubs in the bag for 2013, after Adams Golf announced on Tuesday that the 29-year-old had joined the company’s roster for the upcoming season.

Overton will make his debut this week at the Sony Open in Hawaii with an Adams staff bag, hat and SUPER LS hybrid. The 2010 Ryder Cup player was previously under contract with Mizuno.

“Throughout my time on the PGA TOUR, numerous players have shared how their performance has benefitted significantly from Adams hybrids,” Overton said. “The company’s R&D and Tour staffs have really helped me with the new SUPER clubs, and I’ve learned really quickly how Velocity Slot Technology launches the ball farther when I hit the sweet spot and is especially important for off-center hits.”

Overton spent the early part of the week at Waialae working with Adams Golf rep Scott Wilkerson to test out the new SUPER LS hybrid against his existing clubs. During testing, Overton gained an additional 30 yards (267 yards) with the SUPER LS 18-degree hybrid compared to his 18-degree 2-iron

By Jonathan Wall, PGATOUR.COM

Nike’s stable of golfers increased by two last week with the introduction of Nick Watney and Kyle Stanley to the staff. On Monday, the company added a third rising star to its ever-growing stable in 23-year-old Thorbjorn Olesen.

The Dane registered his first European Tour win last season at the Sicilian Open, posted 12 top 25s in 29 starts, and finished 15th in the 2012 Race to Dubai. He also posted a T9 finish at the British Open, and a T27 at the PGA Championship in only his second full season on the European Tour.

“Nike is one of the most recognized and respected sport brands in the world,” Olesen said. “I want to be with a company that focuses on developing products that help me perform at my best. To be part of a brand that respects but challenges the traditions of the game is an honor.”

Olesen may not be a household name, but his recent success on the European Tour, coupled with his success last season at the British Open and PGA Championship, makes him a twentysomething to watch in the future. Olesen will start the season at the European Tour’s Volvo Champions event in South Africa.

With the Olesen signing official, that leaves two players for Nike to unveil in the coming weeks (based on the photo the company tweeted out last week).

What Thorbjørn Olesen will be playing in 2013:
Driver:  Nike VR_S Covert Tour 8.5-degree Neutral
Fairway Wood:  Nike VR Pro Limited Edition 3-wood/15-degree
Irons:  Nike VR_S Forged (2), VR Pro Blades (3-9)
Wedges: Nike VR Pro 48-degree, 54-degree and VR Pro Dual Sole 58-degree
Putter: Nike Method 001
Ball: Nike 20XI
Apparel:  Nike Golf Tour Performance and Sport Collection
Footwear:  Nike Lunar Control