What's In The Golf Pro's Bag?

I have a curiosity to know what is in a pro's golf bag. This is not so that we could imitate them as that will be the last thing to do as most of them are playing with equipment that promotes shot-making rather than forgiveness. They do not need more help to hit straight but they want it sharp and with lots of feel so many may use blades for their irons. Increasingly though, pros are now also using TP (Tour Preferred) types of clubs. 


hese are between blades and what we are using and some are even using game improvement types. Pros often have theirs custom-fitted and specially tweaked to their personal preference in terms of lie angles and lofts. Therefore, you will be surprised to find out that Fred Couples uses a set that is directly off the rack - as it is and because of his back problems that plagued him in the past, he wears shoes without studs too as advised by his doctors. The reason I had wanted to know especially from those that use clubs that you and I would use so that we could learn why. Here are what some top pros are using:

Phil Mickelson @ Masters
Driver: Callaway FT-9 Tour Authentic (7.5 degrees), Fairway wood: Callaway Diablo (15 degrees), Hybrid: Callaway Prototype (22 degrees), Irons: Callaway X-Forged, Wedges: Callaway JAWS (53/60/62 degrees), Putter: Odyssey White Hot XG Blade, Ball: Callaway Tour ix.

Remarks: Phil is a phenomenal shot-maker. His daring 6-iron hit with the ball sitting on pine needles and through between trees had even the top pros squirming. How many could handle a 9 degrees driver let alone 7.5 degrees. In his stable as you can see above, we can probably handle only the Diablo fairway wood and the putter.

To know how good a short game player Phil is, you must watch Phil's incredible reverse shot:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PslA4WcSos

Rory McIlroy @ Quail Hollow Championship

Age: 20 Height: 5"10"

Driver: Titleist 909 D2 (8.5 degrees), driving distance average: 303 yards, Fairway Wood: Titleist 906 F2 (13.5 degrees), Irons: Titleist AP 1 (3-4), Titleist MB (5-9), Wedges: Titleist Vokey Spin-Milled (48/5/58 degrees), Putter: Titleist Scotty Cameron Fastback Select Prototype, Ball: Titleist Pro V1x.

Remarks: Mark O'meara who played with Tiger since young once said that Rory is even better than Tiger at that age. So if Tiger is Maradona, then Rory could be Messi. None of the clubs used by Rory is easy, even the putter is a prototype. Look at the Fairway wood at 13.5 degrees. Most of us can't even handle 15 degrees.

Jim Furyk @ 2010 Verizon Heritage
Driver: Callaway FT-9 Tour (9.5 degrees), Fairway wood: TaylorMade Burner TP (14.5 degrees), Hybrid: Srixon (20 degrees), Irons: Srixon Z-TX (3), I-506 (5-PW), Wedges: Cleveland CG15 (50/56/60 degrees), Putter: S C Prototype, Ball: Srixon Z-Star X.

Remarks: Furyk has an unusual swing but he plays great and his clubs are not easy to play.

Lee Westwood @ Masters

Driver: Ping G10 (9 degrees), Fairway Wood: Ping i15 (14 degrees), Irons: Ping i10 (3-PW), Wedges: Ping Tour-W (54/58 degrees), Putter: Ping Redwood Anser, Ball: Titleist Pro V1x.

Remarks: Now something catches the eye here. His driver is a Ping G10 which I am sure some of us may be using. The rest of the clubs are not as easy except the milled Redwood Anser putter. The fact that he had chosen the G10 says something. G10 straddles between shot-making and playing straight and is classified as a Game Improvement Driver.

KJ Choi @ Masters

Driver: TaylorMade r7 Limited (8.5 degrees), Hybrid: TaylorMade Rescue TP (19 degrees), Irons: Ping G15 (3-PW), Wedges: Ping G15 (52/56 degrees) Tour-W (60 degrees), Putter Odyssey White Hot #2, Ball: Titleist Pro V 1.

Remarks: Now this is very interesting. I thought KJ used to play Nike. r7 Limited is an excellent driver for better players. Notice the absence of a fairway wood here and the choice of Taylormade Rescue "TP" at 19 degrees. Most surprisingly, he has chosen to play the Ping G15 irons! And even wedges! The two-ball putter is also highly forgiving. G15 irons are great and highly forgiving but it also comes with a thick top line and even thicker soles which are quite frequently frowned upon by pros or better players. He has chosen easy and straight! It is saying something here that we may need to go check it up or review our own type of clubs.

Tim Clark @ 2010 Players Championship

Driver: TaylorMade R9 SuperTri (9.5 degrees), Fairway Wood: TaylorMade Burner (14.5 degrees), Callaway Big Bertha (17 degrees), Hybrid: TaylorMade Rescue Dual (19 degrees), Irons: Srixon I-404 (4-9), Wedges: Cleveland Cg14 (48/54/60 degrees), Putter: Odyssey White-Hot Two-Ball Long, Ball: Srixon Z-Star.
Remarks: R9 SuperTri is the same driver as R9 460. Only difference is the R9 460 allows adjustment for trajectory only but SuperTri gives the same plus weight adjustments. He has chosen an easier driver, FW and Hybrid.

From the above, you can see that Jim Furyk is using the latest CG15 Cleveland wedges interspersed at 50, 56 & 60 degrees. Usually wedges are spread out by 4 degrees say - 50/54/58, 52/56/60 or even 54/58/62. I am using a 50/56/60 combination mostly but can switch to 52/56/60 too.

Something interesting to observe is that Lee Westwood is using a Ping G10 driver. What I am saying here is the G10 is classified as a game improvement driver but it is also usable and selected by a top pro. I am sure with the G10 his driving would be outstanding.

Meanwhile K J Choi whom I think used to be playing Nike seems to have switched to TaylorMade and Ping. The r7 Limited driver is for better players. So too the Rescue TP and it means he doesn't carry a fairway wood. The most surprising of them all is his choice of Ping's G15 irons. You see Ping G15 was built to be very friendly and can be used from high handicappers to low handicappers. Usually pros do not use such game improvement irons as they want more playability for shot-making. They also prefer a thin top line when they look down at address. This is very unusual because the Ping G15 has a thick top line and a chunky sole. They must have given him solid results! Something to learn here.

From here, there are a few things we may be interested to check out - Cleveland CG15 wedges and Ping G15 irons. From other reviews I found the Titleist AP2 and the TaylorMade R9, R9 TP and the Ping G15 to be among the best irons out there. Ping has the knack of making equipment that can be played and liked by those from the highest handicap to the lowest. Ping has always been rather quiet and you don't see so many commercials and they do not release so many new clubs. Sometimes, you may not like how they look but hey they make things that work!

TaylorMade and Callaway

Who between the two and anybody else lays claim to be the number one driver on Tour? There was a report that Callaway made such a claim and TaylorMade responded. TaylorMade claimed that in the last ten years, they had 525 wins, that they are the number one selling driver today and has been each year since 2004, that they are number one in worldwide tour wins and has been over a decade, they are the number one played driver on Tours worldwide today and in the last decade.

Ping - G15 Driver

This needs checking out! In the PGA Tour Statistics through May 9, Golf Datatech Market Share Report of March 2010, it seems Ping G15 was rated #1 PGA Tour Driving Distance, #1 PGA Tour Driving Accuracy and the #1 selling model in March 2010. Using the Ping G15 driver, Bubba Watson and Heath Slocum lead the distance and accuracy categories respectively. Hunter Mahan who plays with the Ping Rapture V2 driver tops the Total Driving category. The Ping Rapture V2 is actually a "Super Game Improvement" driver which is even more forgiving than the G10, can you believe it? Angel Cabrera, another Ping user ranks second in driving distance with the Ping i15 driver (this is a more difficult driver to use due to its open face). These are among the best players in the world.

Bubba Watson averages 306 yards off a tee with a 7.5 degrees left-handed G15 driver and is 3.2 yards longer than Cabrera and with an average ball speed of 182 mph and a club head speed of 123 mph. These numbers are among the highest on the PGA Tour to date. His longest drive this year was 416 yards. Simply amazing! He previously led the PGA Tour Distance for three straight years from 2006-2008.
Slocum won with the Ping G15 driver when he captured the Barclays. He used a 7.5 degrees Ping G15 with an Aldila RIP 70x shaft achieving an amazing 75% of the fairways. Mahan is sitting atop the Total Driving Stats which combined both accuracy and distance and this is surely indicative of the driver's consistent play. Ping G15 anyone?

I'll let you into a bit more - 3 prestigious magazines has already tested and voted the Ping G15 as the best out there. National Club Golfer reported that it produces a towering trajectory, is most forgiving, has great distance, provides confidence and gives performance to both low and high handicappers. The "Best All-Round" driver that has an assured look, has good flight, easy to use, powerful and sounds brilliant. 

Today's Golfer rated it number one and that it was no mean feat considering the competition it was up against, that it offers forgiveness, great length and terrific feel. Top recommendation! Golf Digest rated both the G15 and the TaylorMade R9 460 equally with 5 stars for performance and look/sound/feel - the top 2 drivers but they always have a category winner even if all are tied with 5 stars and in this situation, the category winner for "Performance" as given by "The Editor" was for the Ping G15. Considering that the TaylorMade R9 460 is already such an awesome driver, I think my future in golf is looking a little brighter. I hope to provide a real and full test report on it in the near future.

What Does All These Tell Us?

My friends, we see lots of social golfers playing with blades or players' clubs, forged irons, etc. Nothing wrong with that as it is all personal. Today, the best pros are looking at equipment quite differently. Did you know that Tiger who used to play with an 8.5 degrees driver has switched to a 10.5 and since then he has been driving straighter before his recent problems. Lee Westwood plays a Ping G10 driver, I have one and it is solid and dependable. It is forgiving and classified as "Game Improvement" but not those extremely forgiving type. 

K J Choi using Ping G15 irons - also a "Game Improvement" category. It is more chunky than other game improvement clubs. Tim Clark using TaylorMade R9 driver and it is much easier to play, Burner Fairway wood and TaylorMade Rescue hybrid. It is often said that Ping makes equipment that can by played by all golfers from highest handicap to the lowest. The above examples seem to have lent credence to the claims. Unless we can afford the time for more serious training often at the range to sharpen your skills, then there is no point in playing bladed clubs or semi-blades as in TP versions. Go for game improvement types.

This means that we should always remember to let ego and pride get out of the way when selecting to get the correct clubs to buy or to play. Choose those that are a bit easier to use compared to and matched with the skills you have and not the other way. This means the Category of "Game Improvement" not "Players" type. For the "Super Game Improvements" category, it is like using idiot-proofed cameras or reading books like "Computers For Dummies". These clubs are the "Golf For Dummies" or sort of. Hey, I didn't call anyone idiot, I simply said dummies and if I wanted to say idiots I would have said it, dummy.

It is exciting out there - Ping G15 driver and irons which I haven't tried nor tested. The i15 irons too and the just recently released in Japan Ping Anser (Forged). TaylorMade has just released the new Burner Fairway wood and hybrid after the R9 fairway wood, Rescue hybrid and R9 irons. My hands are itching but the pocket says no. I am in turmoil. A fool and his money is soon parted. Hey, I want to be that fool. 

But do be careful not to get carried away. TaylorMade did just released two new putters, one which is an unusual white in colour is called the "Ghost" as in white as a ghost and it gives optical clarity when placed on the green and another putter from their master craftsman Kia Ma called the Rossa Monza Spider Vicino. They should tie up with MacDonalds and make you say that 5 times in a row in succession and you get a pack of french fries free. I bet you won't get the fries.

Golf as in life, play as it lies.