On the range: Thursday at the 2018 QBE Shootout

Greg Norman, tournament host of the 2018 QBE Shootout, attended President George H.W. Bush’s funeral on Wednesday, so Norman didn’t play in the Wednesday pro-am. The pro-am was two rounds, however, so Norman was out playing on Thursday at Tiburon Golf Club for the second round. Of course, we took a look into his golf bag, which featured a blast from the past, as well as some new additions.

We also take a look at Darius Rucker’s driver, some telling headcovers, a Kevin Kisner into-the-grain chipping lesson, a look at the clubs of Billy Horschel’s former college teammate, and the longest driver on the PGA TOUR.

Enjoy the photos and the stories behind them below.

The 1993 Open Championship-winning putter

Since Cobra doesn’t make putters, Cobra staffer Greg Norman is free to use any putter he wants, and what better putter to use than the Ping Anser 2 he used to win the 1993 Open Championship at Royal St. George’s Golf Club.

Yes, it’s the same exact putter, according to Norman himself.

“It sits nicely,” Norman said with a smile. “I just know where the ball is going when I put [the putter] on the ground.”

Aside from the flatstick, Norman was gaming a mixed set of Cobra King MB/CB irons, and shark-stamped Cobra Tour Trusty wedges.

He also had the new Cobra King F9 Speedback driver (9 degrees) in play, equipped with a HZRDUS Smoke 60-gram 6.0-flex shaft.

Darius’ driver

Avid golfer and famed-musician Darius Rucker was spotted on the range with a PXG XX 9-degree driver that looks to have gotten plenty of use on the course and range.

Pat Perez was spotted with a less-used PXG 0811X “Gen 2” 10.5-degree driver. We’re expecting to hear more about the design of Perez’s prototype driver in the next few months.

It’s a miracle I stayed away from any bad Darius Rucker song/driver puns, but It Won’t Be Like This For Long.

Headcovers tell the story

Golfers often express a bit of their personalities and passions throughout their golf bags. For some, they stamp names of significant others or children on their wedges. For others, they use headcovers to reveal a bit about themselves.

• Patrick Rodgers: He won 11 times at Stanford during his three years at the university, tying Tiger Woods’ record for victories. It’s no wonder he still carries a Stanford Tree headcover on his driver.
• Gary Woodland: Look in Woodland’s bag and you’ll know immediately how proud he is to be University of Kansas Jayhawk. All of his headcovers have a Jayhwak on them, but none cooler than his custom putter cover.
• Bubba Watson: “Do not touch.” Unless you’re caddie Ted Scott, it’s probably best not to touch.
• Kevin Na: The Caddyshack quote is “Oh Golly, I’m hot today,” but this is close enough. This headcover says you like good golf humor and have a fire putter.

Chucky 3 sticks

Charles Howell III recently picked up his third win at The RSM Classic, the first tournament he played in after switching from PXG clubs to a bag full of Titleist. We caught up with him at the QBE Shootout to check out his mixed set of Titleist 718 T-MB/AP2/CB irons and SM7 wedges. He also has a TS3 10.5 degree driver with a Mitsubishi Tensei AV-series 65TX shaft, TS2 fairway woods and a TaylorMade Tour Red Spider putter in the bag.

Florida Gators reunite

Jessie Mudd played on the University of Florida Men’s Golf Team from 2003-2006, while Billy Horschel was on the team from 2006-2009. The teammates of one year were both playing in the QBE Shootout pro-am this week. Mudd hits a big ball off the tee with a TaylorMade M3 driver, has a mixed set of irons – TaylorMade P-790 long irons and Mizuno JPX-900 Tour forged short irons – and he has a sweet Titleist SM7 wedge.

Mudd is now the head coach of the Lamar University mean’s golf team. Billy Horschel, on the other hand, plays golf for a living, in case you haven’t heard.

The Boom Stick

Here’s a look at Cameron Champ’s Ping G400 Max 9-degree driver, with a Fujikura Pro 63 shaft, that he uses to average 328.2 yards off the tee on the PGA TOUR.

Through the grain

Depending on who you ask, the hardest shot in golf is either a 40-yard bunker shot, or a delicate chip shot off of an into-the-grain lie. Kevin Kisner sought advice about the latter from short game coach Pete Cowen.

The duo worked on getting the club to set up more vertically at address, in a “toe-down” position, and getting the club to work more left of the target through impact. If Kisner misses a green this week, which isn’t a guarantee, let’s see if he employs the technique he learned from Cowen on Thursday.