The TaylorMade P760 2-iron McIlroy used to hit his strategy on 18 was hiding at dwelling earlier than final week.
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Welcome to Wall-to-Wall Equipment, the weekly gear wrap-up through which GOLF gear editor Jonathan Wall takes you thru the newest tendencies, rumors and breaking information.
Garage discover
Rory McIlroy referred to as it one in all the “best shots I’ll hit in my career.” Everywhere you looked on Sunday, there was McIlroy’s 2-iron missile taking part in on a loop — a 201-yard strategy into the final that hardly received off the floor and in some way settled inside 15 toes to arrange an inconceivable birdie-birdie end to win the Genesis Scottish Open.
It’s the form of shot each golfer hopes to execute no less than as soon as of their profession.
What makes the shot much more fascinating — no less than when you’re a gearhead — is it wouldn’t have been doable had McIlroy not made a visit to the storage for an additional membership previous to departing for Scotland. The TaylorMade P760 2-iron he used to tug off “the shot” wasn’t even in the bag previous to the event.
Figuring a 2-iron might be helpful at Hoylake — website of his lone Open Championship triumph — McIlroy unearthed the membership from his storage and introduced it alongside for the journey throughout the pond. Equipped with a Project X HZRDUS Black 6.5 105-gram graphite shaft, the 17-degree lengthy iron (D4 swingweight) was constructed to be a weapon off the tee and into par-5s. But with McIlroy’s unimaginable size, he by no means noticed a have to put it in the bag over a 5-wood or 3-iron, till final week.
The 2-iron is definitely the third P760 lengthy iron McIlroy’s added to the bag this season after inserting a P760 3- and 4-iron, for elevated launch, earlier this yr at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. (It’s additionally value noting TaylorMade didn’t even make a 2-iron for public consumption when P760 was initially launched, however whenever you’re one in all the greatest golfers on the planet, you get the Tour remedy.)
“I feel by going back to that [TaylorMade P760] long iron in the 3- and the 4-iron, just to give me a bit more extra flight into the par-5s,” he mentioned. “I feel like sometimes with the 3- and the 4-iron in the blades they can come in a little flat at times, where the par-5 and the second shots into the par-5s specifically this week are very, very important, so I thought having a little bit more flight on those long irons could be helpful.”
The final time McIlroy eliminated his 5-wood for a 2-iron at Hoylake, he departed on Sunday night with the Claret Jug. He’ll be hoping for a repeat this week with a well-known membership in tow.
Not going wherever
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Jon Rahm will stay the face of Callaway’s Tour employees after coming to phrases on a multi-year extension with the gear producer. The two sides introduced a “new long-term partnership extension” (monetary phrases weren’t disclosed) on Monday that can see the two-time main winner proceed to play Callaway and Odyssey gear, put on Callaway headwear, TravisMathew attire and footwear and promote Topgolf’s world golf leisure venue enterprise.
“I’m so happy to continue this incredible relationship with Callaway and I truly have played the best golf of my career with their equipment,” Rahm mentioned in an announcement. “From the driver to the golf ball, they continue to set the bar higher with every new product line, and I’m looking forward to many more great years with their team.”
What makes Rahm’s extension distinctive, when in comparison with his counterparts, is that it contains an fairness place in Topgolf Callaway Brands, “a position that both aligns interests and demonstrates Jon’s confidence in the company’s strategic direction of its portfolio of global brands.”
Covert membership
It’s been a minute since Ping launched an up to date Blueprint iron. Four-plus years, to be actual. At the Genesis Scottish Open, golfers obtained their first have a look at an iron referred to as “Blueprint S.” Viktor Hovland and Tyrrell Hatton had been the first two professionals to place the iron in play in Scotland.
Scant particulars can be found, however primarily based on photographs captured throughout the event, the iron sports activities a modest cavity-back design and toe weight. Compared to the earlier Blueprint, it seems to have a barely bigger profile and extra heel-toe forgiveness.
Hatton paired six Blueprint S prototype irons (6-PW) with i230 lengthy irons (4-5). Looking at how his setup was constructed, it’s very doable the prototype has a profile that enhances one in all Ping’s hottest i-Series irons — with a contact extra workability.
It’s been some time
Project X
Project X’s new Denali shaft (the firm’s first new graphite wooden shaft in six years) delivered on the hype in its first week on Tour. A complete of 30 shafts went into play throughout the three excursions in Week 1, a quantity that shattered Project X’s early expectations.
The low torque shaft incorporates a steady butt part and straight taper midsection to ship a constant really feel with added vitality switch. The mid-stiff tip part helps to ship “ideal launch and spin conditions for modern-day equipment.”
According to Project X, the shaft was chosen 75 p.c of the time over two “of the most popular shafts on Tour” throughout double-blind testing. Based on the early adoption charge on Tour, it seems the pattern is continuous with elite professionals as nicely.
Quick-hitters: Lydia Ko switched to a Scotty Cameron Phantom X6 STR putter … Continuing the run of excellent type for Ping’s G430 Max fairway woods, Vincent Norrman won the Barbasol Championship with a G430 Max 3- and 5-wood in his setup … Sam Burns added a Vokey WedgeWorks 56-10S wedge to the bag.
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