By Mike Stachura and E Michael Johnson
What do real golfers like you think about the latest clubs? That’s why our panel of players is such a key part of our process. Together, they provide input that helps the Hot List judges determine the leading clubs in Performance and Look/Sound/Feel, two of our four Hot List criteria which together account for 65 percent of a club’s score.

But we know you want as much specific advice as you can get about what club is exactly right for you. So why not see which of our players matches best to your game and see what they were thinking. What follows are some of the top choices in each of our full swing categories from each player on our panel, choices that are informed by data from the Rapsodo MLM and GCQuad launch monitors. Certainly, you’ll see a lot of repeats as you go through these lists (that’s why those products tended to do well on the Hot List overall), but consider this another piece of information as you continue the search for the right club for you. Of course, we firmly believe that search needs the wisdom of a good clubfitter to finish the process, too. Each player’s basic data is listed below, along with their individual lists and accompanying swing videos from the Rapsodo MLM app.

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Jason Guss

Age: 45; Handicap: 0; Driver swing speed: 101; Driver distance: 260; 7-iron swing speed: 80; 7-iron distance: 162\
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)’
DRIVERS: Callaway Rogue ST Max LS; Cobra LTDx LS; Ping G425 Max | FAIRWAY WOODS: Callaway Rogue ST LS; Ping G425 LST; TaylorMade Stealth Plus | HYBRIDS: Cobra King Tec: Cobra LTDx; Wilson D9 | PLAYERS IRONS: Henry-Griffitts TS+; PXG 0311T; Srixon ZX7 | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Cobra King Forged Tec; Mizuno Mizuno Pro 225; Proto-Concept CO5 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Cobra King Forged Tec X; Cobra LTDx; XXIO X

Molly Braid

Age: 34; Handicap: 0; Driver swing speed: 86; Driver distance: 215; 7-iron swing speed: 72; 7-iron distance: 135
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: Callaway Rogue ST Max; Cobra LTDx Max; Titleist TSi2 | FAIRWAY WOODS: Ping G425 Max; PXG 0341XF; Titleist TSi2 | HYBRIDS: Cobra Air-X; PXG 0317XF; Titleist TSi2 | PLAYERS IRONS: Srixon ZX7; Proto-Concept C03; Titleist T100 | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Mizuno JPX921 Hot Metal Pro; PXG 0311P; Srixon ZX5 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Callaway Rogue ST Max; Ping G425; Titleist T300

Ricky Brown

Age: 43; Handicap: +4; Driver swing speed: 108; Driver distance: 270; 7-iron swing speed: 88; 7-iron distance: 170
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: Callaway Rogue ST Max LS; TaylorMade Stealth Plus; Titleist TSi3 | FAIRWAY WOODS: Cobra LTDx; Ping G425 LST; Titleist TSi3 | HYBRIDS: Callaway Epic Super; TaylorMade Stealth Plus; Titleist TSi3; PLAYERS IRONS: Callaway Apex Pro; PXG 0311 T; Titleist T100 | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Mizuno Mizuno Pro 225; Titleist T100•S; Titleist T200 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Cleveland Launcher XL; Cobra Forged Tec X; PXG 0311 XP

Larry McCoy

Age: 57; Handicap: 6; Driver swing speed: 97; Driver distance: 245; 7-iron swing speed: 80; 7-iron distance: 156
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: Mizuno ST-Z 220; Ping G425 LST; Titleist TSi3 | FAIRWAY WOODS: Mizuno ST-Z; Ping G425 Max; TaylorMade Stealth Plus | HYBRIDS: Titleist TSi3; Cobra Air-X; Mizuno CLK | PLAYERS IRONS: Cobra King Tour; TaylorMade P7•MC; Titleist T100 | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: PXG 0311 P Gen 4; TaylorMade P•770; TaylorMade P•790 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Callaway Apex DCB; TaylorMade Stealth; Titleist T300

Paul Ianniello

Age: 60; Handicap: 5; Driver swing speed: 92; Driver distance: 220; 7-iron swing speed: 80; 7-iron distance: 162
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: PXG 0811 X; TaylorMade Stealth Plus; Titleist TSi3 | FAIRWAY WOODS: TaylorMade Stealth; TaylorMade Stealth Plus; Titleist TSi2 | HYBRIDS: Cobra Air-X; Ping G425; PXG 0317X | PLAYERS IRONS: Callaway Apex TCB; Srixon ZX7: Proto-Concept C03 | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Proto-Concept CO5; TaylorMade P•790; Titleist T200 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: PXG 0311 XP; TaylorMade Stealth; Titleist T300

Sean Harper

Age: 50; Handicap: 8; Driver swing speed: 89; Driver distance: 225; 7-iron swing speed: 79; 7-iron distance: 152
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: Ping G425 Max; PXG 0811XF; Srixon ZX5 | FAIRWAY WOODS: Ping G425; TaylorMade Stealth Plus; Titleist TSi2 | HYBRIDS: Callaway Apex; Ping G425 Max; Titleist TSi3 | PLAYERS IRONS: Cobra King Tour; Mizuno JPX921 Tour; PXG 0311T | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Callaway Apex; Mizuno JPX921 Forged; TaylorMade P790 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Callaway Apex DCB; TaylorMade Stealth; Titleist T300

Ryan Kroll

Age: 46; Handicap: 8; Driver swing speed: 98; Driver distance: 235; 7-iron swing speed: 79; 7-iron distance: 155
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: Callaway Rogue ST Max; Ping G425 Max; Titleist TSi2 | FAIRWAY WOODS: Callaway Rogue ST Max; Cobra LTDx; Mizuno ST-Z | HYBRIDS: Mizuno CLK; PXG 0317X; Titleist TSi3 | PLAYERS IRONS: Proto-Concept CO3; Titleist T100; Wilson Staff Model CB | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Callaway Apex; Mizuno JPX921 Forged; Srixon ZX5 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Mizuno JPX921 Hot Metal; TaylorMade Stealth; Titleist T300

Tom Allen

Age: 57; Handicap: 6; Driver swing speed: 95; Driver distance: 245; 7-iron swing speed: 80; 7-iron distance: 155
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: Callaway Rogue ST Max; Titleist TSi2; Ping G425 Max | FAIRWAY WOODS: PXG 0341X; Srixon ZX; TaylorMade Stealth | HYBRIDS: Callaway Rogue ST Max; Mizuno CLK; Ping G425 | PLAYERS IRONS: Mizuno JPX921 Tour; PXG 0311T; Titleist T100 | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Callaway Apex; Ping i525; TaylorMade P790 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Ping G425; TaylorMade Stealth; Titleist T300

Alejandra Bedoya

Age: 23; Handicap: 5; Driver swing speed: 90; Driver distance: 225; 7-iron swing speed: 75; 7-iron distance: 146
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: Cobra LTDx; Ping G425 Max; TaylorMade Stealth | FAIRWAY WOODS: Callaway Rogue ST Max; PXG 0341XF; TaylorMade Stealth Plus | HYBRIDS: PXG 0317X: Mizuno CLK; Cobra Air-X | PLAYERS IRONS: Mizuno Mizuno Pro 223; PXG 0311T Gen 4; TaylorMade P•7MC | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Mizuno Mizuno Pro 225; PXG 0311 P Gen 4; Titleist T200 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: PXG 0311 XP Gen4; Srixon ZX4; Titleist T300

Anand Mudaliar

Age: 39; Handicap: 9; Driver swing speed: 105; Driver distance: 265; 7-iron swing speed: 84; 7-iron distance: 164
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: Callaway Rogue ST Max; PXG 0811XT; XXIO X | FAIRWAY WOODS: Callaway Rogue ST Max; Ping G425 Max; Titleist TSi2 | HYBRIDS: Callaway Apex; PXG 0317X; Tour Edge Hot Launch C522 | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Callaway Rogue ST Pro; Proto-Concept C05; PXG 0311 P Gen 4 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Cobra LTDx; Srixon ZX4; Titleist T300 | SUPER GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Cobra T-Rail; XXIO 12; Wilson Launch Pad

Peter Lee

Age: 54: Handicap: 9: Driver swing speed: 97; Driver distance: 245; 7-iron swing speed: 80; 7-iron distance: 156
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: Callaway Rogue ST Max; Ping G425 Max; PXG 0811 XF | FAIRWAY WOODS: Mizuno ST-X; Ping G425 Max; TaylorMade Stealth | HYBRIDS: Callaway Rogue ST Pro; Cobra LTDx; Ping G425 | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Callaway Apex; Ping i525; PXG 0311P | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Callaway Apex DCB; Callaway Rogue ST Max: Mizuno JPX921 Hot Metal | SUPER GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Callaway Rogue ST Max OS; PXG 0211Z; Titleist T400

Gary Abbott

Age: 34; Handicap: 15; Driver swing speed: 98; Driver distance: 235; 7-iron swing speed: 81; 7-iron distance: 153
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: Ping G425 Max; TaylorMade Stealth; Titleist TSi3 | FAIRWAY WOODS: Cobra LTDx Max; TaylorMade Stealth; TaylorMade Stealth Plus | HYBRIDS: Ping G425; TaylorMade Stealth; Titleist TSi2 | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Callaway Apex; TaylorMade P790; Titleist T200 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Callaway Rogue ST Max: Ping G425: TaylorMade Stealth | SUPER GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Callaway Rogue ST Max OS; Cleveland Launcher XL Halo; Titleist T400

Dan Lupo

Age: 29; Handicap: 14; Driver swing speed: 97; Driver distance: 225; 7-iron swing speed: 87; 7-iron distance: 160
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: Ping G425 Max; PXG 0811XF; Titleist TSi3 | FAIRWAY WOODS: Callaway; Rogue ST Max; Cobra LTDx; TaylorMade Stealth | HYBRIDS: Cobra King Tec; TaylorMade Stealth; Titleist TSi1 | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Cobra King Forged Tec; PXG 0311P Gen 4; TaylorMade P•790 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: PXG 0311XP Gen 4; TaylorMade Stealth; Titleist T300 | SUPER GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Callaway Rogue ST Max OS; Titleist T400; XXIO 12

Alex Reinhart

Age: 37; Handicap: 12; Driver swing speed: 102; Driver distance: 248; 7-iron swing speed: 82; 7-iron distance: 160
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: Callaway Rogue ST Max; Ping G425 LST; TaylorMade Stealth | FAIRWAY WOODS: Callaway Rogue ST Max; Cleveland Launcher XL Halo; Titleist TSi3 | HYBRIDS: Cobra LTDx; Mizuno CLK; TaylorMade Stealth Plus | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Cobra King Forged Tec; Ping i525; Titleist T200 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: PXG 0311 XP Gen4; Cleveland Launcher XL; Mizuno JPX921 Hot Metal | SUPER GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Callaway Rogue ST Max OS; PXG 0211 Z; XXIO Prime

Wei Mao

Age: 51; Handicap: 15; Driver swing speed: 90; Driver distance: 220; 7-iron swing speed: 78; 7-iron distance: 145
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: Callaway Rogue ST Max; Titleist TSi2; TaylorMade Stealth | FAIRWAY WOODS: Callaway Rogue ST Max D; Srixon ZX; Tour Edge Exotics E722 | HYBRIDS: Ping G425; Srixon ZX; Tour Edge Exotics E722 | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Callaway Apex; Ping i525; Proto-Concept C05 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Callaway Apex DCB; XXIO X; TaylorMade Stealth | SUPER GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Callaway Rogue ST Max OS; PXG 0211 Z; Titleist T400

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The post WATCH: Inside the Hot List — Our testers reveal their preferred clubs appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Jon Rahm withdrew from The American Express on Monday.

The World No. 2 was listed by oddsmakers as the tournament favourite and for good reason. Aside from posting six top-10 finishes in his last eight starts, Rahm won the former Desert Classic in 2018 and followed with a strong title defence in 2019, ultimately finishing sixth.

No reason was given for Rahm’s WD as of Monday afternoon. Rahm turned in a T-7 performance at the Sentry Tournament of Champions two weeks ago. It was his first outing since switching from TaylorMade to Callaway equipment.

Brandon Hagy will take Rahm’s place in the field, with Patrick Cantlay the new betting favourite in Rahm’s absence.

This year’s The American Express is without its usual pro-am format due to California COVID-19 restrictions, and will be conducting the tournament over two venues (PGA West’s Stadium and Nicklaus courses) rather than its traditional three.

The post Tournament favourite Jon Rahm withdraws from The American Express appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Rahm enters this week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions having signed a multiyear agreement with Callaway where he eventually will play a full bag of the company’s clubs and golf ball. At Kapalua, Rahm will have a Callaway prototype driver (the company has a new Epic Max, Epic Max LS and Epic Speed on the USGA conforming list), prototype irons and the Chrome Soft X Ball in play while keeping his TaylorMade wedges and putter for now. Rahm also will wear a hat with Callaway on the front and use the company’s staff bag. On the apparel front he will wear clothes from Travis Mathew, a sister brand of Callaway’s.

“I’m so happy to be joining Callaway, and I can’t wait to start the year,” Rahm said in a statement. “The equipment is already performing well for me, and in my first round with the new setup, I shot a course record 59 at Silverleaf [in Scottsdale, Ariz.]. I have confidence in my new Callaway clubs—and especially the golf ball, which has really impressed me during the testing process.”

The move, which has been rumored for a couple of months, is not a complete surprise. On TaylorMade’s side, it is akin to the championship team simply not being able to keep all its star players when the price gets too, well, pricey. On Callaway’s end, Phil Mickelson has been Callaway’s standard bearer since signing in September 2004, but he hit 50 years old last year and the company needs another marquee player to pair with Xander Schauffele. It also makes sense to bring on golfer with strong appeal in Europe, which the 26-year-old Spaniard possesses, and the company’s current Euro Tour staff players do not.

Rahm is not unfamiliar with Callaway and Odyssey equipment, either, using the company’s equipment at Arizona State University, where he won 11 tournaments playing for coach Tim Mickelson.

There are bound to be calls that Rahm is taking a substantial risk in changing equipment only five months removed from having briefly held the No. 1 spot in the World Ranking. That used to be a fair charge, and the equipment landscape of several decades ago frequently saw players experience failed seasons after cashing in on a lucrative equipment deal. Now, however, the likelihood of that is far less for several reasons.

For starters, the stakes are too high for a company to tie a player to a specific product. Companies receive little value from a player performing poorly. As such, they now tend to use marquee players more as full-brand ambassadors rather than to pitch a specific driver or iron. Like with Callaway and Rahm, they also often allow a player to take his time to work into the full bag of clubs. Years ago, players would be offered contracts and their agents would close the deal before they even saw the equipment they would have to play. Now players extensively test equipment before even considering a contract. There’s simply too big an investment being made by both sides to have a player not feel comfortable with what they’re playing.

Getting them comfortable is easier now, too. Fitting tools such as launch monitors and adjustable metal woods are better. Manufacturing processes are better, and tolerances are tighter, meaning any clubs built specifically for a player are more likely to hit the correct specs, making the transition from one club to another more seamless than ever before.

Rahm, who won a pair of PGA Tour events in 2020, worked extensively with Callaway’s tour department to dial in the specs for each of his new clubs and the ball.

“In preparation for Jon’s fitting, we diligently studied his driving performance stats and preferred launch/spin conditions,” said Jacob Davidson, PGA Tour rep for Callaway. “This allowed us to build Jon a driver that immediately caught his attention after the first few swings. We then made a few minor adjustments and started to study the launch monitor numbers. The ball speeds were impressive but more importantly we saw his dispersion move tighter down range.

“We wanted to allow him to start his ball testing from the green and work back to the driver,” Davidson said. “We had Jon hit a few shots with each club in the bag to determine which golf ball would be the best fit for him. It was clear very quickly the Chrome Soft X would be his best option. While he was hitting pitch shots, he immediately noticed the golf ball launched lower and was spinning significantly more. This allowed Jon to control the ball flight and trajectory resulting in increased performance green side. As we moved to the irons and driver, Jon was hitting a lot of shots into the wind to test the ball’s performance, and was surprised to see extremely tight spin separations on full and half shots. … His ability to feel the smallest nuances in club adjustments and articulate what he is feeling allows us the opportunity to give him the best performing equipment for him.”

History might also be on Rahm’s side. Tiger Woods won a host of majors after switching to Nike equipment and then his fifth Masters after going to TaylorMade. Phil Mickelson won his first major after leaving Yonex for Titleist and his other four majors after leaving Titleist for Callaway. Ernie Els has won four majors with three different equipment brands—Lynx (1994 U.S. Open), TaylorMade (1997 U.S. Open and 2002 British Open) and Callaway (2012 British Open). Rory McIlroy won two of his four majors after leaving Titleist for Nike. Rahm is a rising star who could easily find similar success.

The post Jon Rahm’s switch to Callaway equipment is official—here’s what you need to know appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

It’s a question that has plagued golf equipment makers for years as well. Although some companies have made an earnest effort to dissect the swing of the female golfer and design clubs specifically for them, far too often women have had to settle for a lighter version of a men’s model with a different colour scheme.

Callaway’s latest women’s line, REVA, eschews that mindset. “REVA started as a movement among many of the women who work internally at Callaway,” says Dr. Alan Hocknell, senior VP of R&D for Callaway. “We had done a lot of work in women’s product design before but hadn’t really had the focus on it that we could have had, nor did we build it out bigger than the products themselves. We wanted to identify who we were designing for and focus on the needs of different female golfers because, like men, they’re not all the same and we wanted to reflect that in the REVA product.”

That process started with extensive research on the women’s game. Well over 1,000 women’s golfers shared their insights on everything from performance attributes to preferred colour schemes. The company also enlisted some of its brand ambassadors such as Annika Sorenstam and Michelle Wie to provide insight. Callaway had a purpose behind the research: According to the National Golf Foundation, there are six million female golfers in the U.S., accounting for 23 percent of all golfers and US$651 million spent on golf. Then there’s the fact that 31 percent of new golfers are women. “There’s a resurgence in golfers who were dormant or not super motivated to play,” said Hocknell. “They’re starting to love golf again.”

Hocknell describes the REVA line as a “from scratch exercise,” meaning that while some technologies were borrowed from other lines, all were specifically tailored to meet the needs of the women’s market.

“It was important to use all of our best technologies and the Big Bertha platform seemed like a good place to start,” said Hocknell. “There are a lot of game-improvement features there that are relevant to women as men. Women struggle with a lot of the same swing issues as men but sometimes at a lower head speed and with more of a priority of elevation and time in the air.”

The REVA driver, for example, utilises an “flash face” designed via artificial intelligence and includes the company’s “Jailbreak” technology. The driver comes in two lofts, 10.5 and 12.5 degrees, but with a low and forward centre of gravity to reduce spin to enhance distance. The carbon crown allows for weight savings to boost the moment of inertia to help mitigate ball speed loss on mis-hits as well as position weight internally to promote a draw bias. The shaft is a lightweight Callaway RCH model with an active tip section to assist launch in 40 or 50 grams. The grip is Lamkin’s women’s ST soft.

The fairway woods feature a large head size, but a shallow face with offset to helped get the ball in the air. The carbon crown, Jailbreak tech and flash face also are present, as are similar lightweight shafts and the Lamkin grip used on the driver. For lofts, the fairways go all the way up to a 25-degree 9-wood—a useful club for those seeking more air time with their fairway woods. The hybrids—which go all the way up to a 36-degree 8-hybrid—use similar tech as the fairway woods but add MIM tungsten weighting to optimise the CG location and assist stability.

For the irons, the set starts at the 5-iron and goes through the sand wedge and include, for the first time in a women’s iron, an A.I.-designed flash face cupface to produce higher ball speeds. Another first, a visible tungsten energy core that was redesigned to meet the needs of women golfers, was used to deepen the CG to make the irons easier to launch. Urethane microspheres (urethane with microscopic air bubbles within) help produce a pleasing feel at impact.

Available at retail Sept. 10, the REVA driver sells for US$500; the fairway woods for US$300 per club; the hybrids for US$250 per club and irons for US$1,000 (set of seven with irons ranging from 5-iron through pitching wedge plus gap and sand wedge).

The post Callaway’s REVA line of women’s clubs designed to be lighter in order to go longer appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

“We maybe drifted away from the Big Bertha heritage in the last few models; haven’t displayed the super game-improvement technology as much,” said Dr. Alan Hocknell, Callaway’s senior VP of R&D.

Not that Callaway would be alone in that. Many companies that have debuted super game-improvement irons over the past few years have worked hard at trying to hide the forgiveness factor in a sleeker package, the feeling being some golfers might shy away from irons that screamed chopper.

Hocknell and his team tossed that thinking aside with the Big Bertha B-21. “We took a proper super game-improvement iron stance here with wide soles, wide toplines, large faces, large offset—the things that make it easier to make contact with the ball more reliably,” he said. The thinking makes sense. Whether they want to admit it or not, players in this category play golf in a manner in which every swing is often a random event. “We expect people to use a large portion of the face so we’re trying to activate ball speed across a large portion of that face,” said Hocknell.

Still, whether it’s a developing golfer, one with a rusty swing or simply one less skilled, Hocknell says there are some known characteristics they typically struggle with and designers can target their technology to focus on the issues they commonly have.

Those issues also are common to many players: distance, forgiveness and launch. To address distance, the irons feature a new flash face cup design driven by artificial intelligence that produces a different face design for each loft—the first time a flash face cup has been used in a Big Bertha iron. Tungsten weighting is also used out on the toe area as well as with a visible tungsten energy core. The weight in the toe area helps move the centre of gravity more in line with the centre of face while the tungsten energy core sits low in the sole and rear of the iron to move the CG back and down to assist launch without adding loft. The company’s urethane microspheres are present as well. Urethane with microscopic glass bubbles with air inside help produce a pleasing feel at impact. An active face wants to vibrate and that can lead to poor sound and feel. The microspheres damp out that vibration.

“Big Bertha has always been about innovation and where we have introduced our most significant technologies first,” said Hocknell. “It’s a fun area to design in really, because we’re targeting advantages for golfers in the market who really need the most help. It’s a thrill to see the final product in the golfer’s hands because it can be transformational for them.”

The stock shaft is the company’s proprietary RCH shaft in three weights: 55, 65 and 75 grams because as Hocknell said, “We’re not just targeting slower swingers.” The steel option is the KBS Max CT80 in steel although multiple no upcharge shaft options are available. Golf Pride Tour Velvet Soft is used for the grip. Cost is US$900 in steel; US$1,000 in graphite (set of seven).

Although the Big Bertha B-21 irons will address a lot of player needs, it’s well-known golfers turn to hybrids when they run out of distance gapping or the long irons become too difficult to handle—or even the middle irons for that matter. Still, like SGI irons, hybrids come with their own challenges, specifically, they are a relatively long club which can lead to inconsistent contact.

With impacts on hybrids being all over the face, Callaway addressed those types of impacts by using a springy A.I.-designed flash face in tandem with its jailbreak bars to enhance speed all over the face. To mitigate mis-hits, a larger clubhead brings a moment of inertia benefit and generous tungsten weighting (over 70 grams) help optimize the centre-of-gravity location for better launch. To achieve this, a carbon crown is used to reduce weight in the crown and move it lower and deeper.

The fixed-hosel hybrids also employ a generous amount of offset in order to easily blend with the Big Bertha B-21 irons for a mixed set. “We see a lot of players in this category have three or four hybrids mixed in, which is why we go all the way to the 8-hybrid,” said Hocknell. “That’s a fun club that reliably gets the ball over water and over sand traps. It helps some players do something they can’t otherwise do very often. It can also be a good chipping club.”

Callaway’s RCH 65 graphite shaft is the stock offering as is Golf Pride’s Tour Velvet Soft grip. Price in is US$250 graphite, available in the U.S. Sept. 10.

The post Callaway’s latest irons and hybrids return to Big Bertha’s original super game-improvement intent appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Mike Stachura
Brooks Koepka made the case that driving would be vital this week at the PGA Championship, where TPC Harding Park’s thick, wet rough and cool, damp conditions place a premium on accurate power.

“If you put the ball in the fairway out here, you’re going to do — there’s a lot of long irons into these par 4s, and like today, I think I hit — played nine holes and hit three long irons in the back nine in the flags and obviously it’s a little cooler, a little windy,” Koepka said in his pre-tournament press conference. “But still at the same time in you’re in that rough, there’s no chance you’re hitting 4- or 5-iron into these greens. You have to drive it well and put it into the fairway.”

So Koepka, who came into the week ranked 19th in strokes gained off the tee and 18th in distance but 185thin driving accuracy, made a switch back to the driver he used to win last year’s PGA Championship.

Koepka, who had been playing Callaway’s Mavrik Sub Zero throughout this season, put last year’s TaylorMade M5 back in the bag for the first round of the PGA Championship. Koepka has used TaylorMade drivers in all four of his major championship victories.

Last year, Koepka ranked 21st in strokes gained off the tee, 10th in driving distance and 102nd in driving accuracy. At last year’s PGA Championship, played at a similarly setup, thick rough Black Course at Bethpage State Park in New York, Koepka finished the week 2nd in strokes gained off the tee, 10th in driving distance and 44th in driving accuracy.

The post Brooks Koepka switches driver for TPC Harding Park appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By John Huggan
ABU DHABI — As ever when the matter at hand happens to be the professional life and times of the ever-volatile Sergio Garcia, there is a lot going on. First though, the good news. Eight days after his 40th birthday—“I’m closer to 60 than I am to 20” he joked—and in an event where he has never finished outside the top 20 in six previous appearances, the Spaniard is on eight-under 136 halfway through the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

Tied with Haotong Li and Renato Paratore, Garcia is two shots behind the 36-hole leader, Italy’s Francesco Laporta, who topped the Challenge Tour rankings last year. Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Matt Fitzpatrick are nine under, with Lee Westwood, Louis Oosthuizen and Patrick Cantlay among those two shots further back. World No. 1 Brooks Koepka is three-under 141 after following up an encouraging first round back from injury on Thursday with a disappointing 75 on Friday

Garcia’s second-round 69, four birdies, one bogey, was shot with 14 new clubs in his bag. Free to choose the make-up of his set following his split from Callaway, the former Masters champion is currently a free agent able to employ a mixture of manufacturers.

“Unfortunately I wasn’t comfortable enough with the Callaway ball, and they needed me to play it,” he explained. “So we decided to part ways. Nicely, though. There were no bad feelings from either side, which was great. I’m playing whatever feels best for me or fits me best. That’s where we are, and that’s what I was working on over the Christmas break.”

It wasn’t the easiest of decisions though. Suddenly able to pick from an array of goodies rather than use what he is being paid to play, Garcia took some time to find exactly what he wanted.

“Feel is important, but for me a club has to look good,” he said. “If it doesn’t look good, I’m not going to be able to play it, even if it’s the best club in the world. Then, when I try it and when I test it, I have to see good numbers. It’s as simple as that.”

Specifically and at least for the moment, Garcia’s fairway woods are TaylorMades. The others, including driver and putter, are all made by Ping. The ball in play is a Titleist.

“I’m sure I will try a couple of different things along the way,” Garcia said. “But I’m pretty happy with what I have at the moment. I doubt I will change the irons. They feel really good, as do the fairway woods. Just about the only thing I might look at is the driver, just to see if I can find a few more yards. I’m comfortable with it right now though.”

Another pleasing aspect of what is Garcia’s seventh visit to this event was the pace of play. Along with just about everyone else in the 132-strong field, he noticed a positive difference.

“People seem to be a bit more aware,” he said. “We were actually on the clock just after the turn, but we caught up quickly. Overall though, it did feel a bit quicker.”

That brief chat with a rules official is hardly Garcia’s first brush with the laws of the game, of course. In two weeks, he will return to the Saudi International, where last year he indulged in a famously extended tantrum. First there was a wild, club-swinging episode in a greenside bunker. Then, more seriously, a number of putting surfaces were damaged.

As a result, Garcia was disqualified from the event, a punishment many of his fellow players on the European Tour felt was inadequate. Because his behavior had a directly negative impact on the other competitors, the prevailing mood favored a longer suspension rather than a one-event DQ.

So it is that Garcia will soon be making a controversial return to the European Tour’s most controversial event, in a land hardly renowned for its adherence to basic human rights. Not surprisingly, Garcia has been making strenuous efforts to make belated amends.

“I feel terrible about what happened last year,” Garcia said earlier this week. “Obviously there were some outside things that got me to that point. But I want to go back. I want to show my respect to them.

“The easy thing would have been for me to hide and never go back there,” he continued. “But I love the people there, and I love the guys, all the people we met and the Sheikh and everyone that takes care of us during the tournament. They are amazing people, and they wanted me to go back. So that was an easy decision, and I’m excited to go back there. I want to show myself, show the true Sergio, and show them my respect and try to play the best that I can. And hopefully have a great tournament.”

Which he is halfway to doing this week on the other side of the Persian Gulf. What the weekend holds is anyone’s guess. But one thing is for sure. Life with Sergio is never dull.

The post Sergio Garcia is playing well and living up to his reputation for never a dull moment appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
New year, new clubs, same old Sergio Garcia.

A five-under 67 sees the former Masters champion in a six-way tie for fifth heading into Friday’s second round at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA.

The 40-year-old enjoys his position on the first page of the leaderboard with, among others, fellow former Dubai Desert Classic winners Rafa Cabrera Bello and Haotong Li. It seems he’s just as comfortable with his new Ping driver, Blueprint irons, Glide 3.0 wedges and an Anser-style putter.

Garcia caused the first big equipment stir of 2020 when it emerged he had parted company with Callaway on the eve of this week’s $7 million Rolex Series event. He’d signed a deal to play Callaway woods, irons and wedges, the company’s Chrome Soft balls and an Odyssey putter in 2018 after a 15 year stint with TaylorMade; interestingly he was spotted with a TaylorMade SiM fairway metal yesterday.

He insisted there was no animosity over the Callaway split.

“Unfortunately I wasn’t comfortable enough with the [Chrome Soft] golf ball, and they needed me to play it. You know, we decided to kind of part ways. Nicely, though, so there was no bad feelings from any part or any side which was great,” Garcia said.

“I’m fairly comfortable. I had some good practice sessions throughout Christmas and New Years. It’s  just a matter of kind of getting a bit more used to it [the new equipment] as the year goes on, but for the most part, you know, it feels quite good and I’m happy the way it went today.”

Why not after a round only marred by a bogey on the 9th, his final hole after starting on the 10th.

?Documents
└? Great Escapes
└? @TheSergioGarcia
└ This folder is full#ADGolfChamps #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/tADYeSAtBl

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) January 16, 2020

“Obviously I would love to par the last but unfortunately that didn’t happen, just a little unfortunate on the last that that pitch bounced on that pitch mark and just died. Other than that, I felt like I played pretty solid. Hit a good amount of shots, good, solid shots, a couple here and there that I didn’t quite commit as well as I should have.”

After winning the Desert Classic in 2017 before going on to claim the green jacket, Garcia clearly has desert pedigree. He wasn’t getting ahead of himself on Thursday but is happy to get the new year off to a fast start.

“I can’t put my hand on it or I can’t tell you exactly why, but I’ve always enjoyed the desert. It feels like you can hit different kind of shots. Usually I’m fairly good in the wind, and usually it gets a little breezy here, so that kind of helps my game a little bit.”

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“We have taken a design tool—artificial intelligence—and spread its use to the vast majority of our product line. That tool is powerful, unique to us and does numerous things. We can explore areas of design that are unconventional to us. It’s not a computer takes over tool, but it stretches our thinking and stretches our ability to manufacture golf clubs. It’s a significant ad-vantage for us. It’s not just buying a big, powerful computer. It allows us to manipulate designs to the needs of specific types of golfers.”

The Mavrik iron line, made up of the strong-lofted game-improvement style (Mavrik), a more compact players distance iron (Mavrikj Pro) and a launch-focused option (Mavrik Max), all share a common design philoso-phy of speed and launch in the long irons; speed and spin in the mid irons and spin and launch angle in the short irons.

Helping to achieve that in all of the irons is a new flash cupface that is precisely engineered using A.I. not only for each iron model, but for each club within that model. According to Scott Manwaring, Callaway’s director of design for irons, “a huge leap in the use of A.I.

“Getting the right combination of objectives is key,” said Manwaring. “We were able to better get to that combination through A.I.”

In the case of the standard Mavrik, strong lofts (the pitching wedge is 41 degrees) help drive a distance-driven package. Attention also was paid to improving the sound and feel on shots struck low on the face (where many players in this category strike the shot) through the use of a mass dampener. “The thin to win paradigm exists and we wanted to account for the sound and feel on those type of shots,” said Manwaring.

The company also continues its use of tungsten encased in microsphere-filled urethane, which allows for center of gravity positions that produce a launch angle one would expect to see de-spite the strong lofts. As for using stainless steel instead of some exotic material, Manwaring was quick to point out that steel casting has not reached its limits yet and manufacturing pro-cesses such as moving to convection ovens has helped achieve better results.

The Mavrik Pro, says Manwaring, is a little misleading as players of many ability levels can play this club. Still, the irons while using the same core technologies as the standard Mavrik is a more compact head shape with a flatter lie angle and thinner topline. In other words, attrib-utes that shotmakers prefer.

Mavrik Max also shares the core technologies of A.I.-driven flash cupfaces, tungsten energy core and urethane microspheres, but adds a twist for a super game-improvement iron: Instead of producing strong lofts for even more distance, Callaway backed off a couple of degrees (a 43-degree pitching wedge) to provide more launch angle for players that often need it.

“Players in this iron category often struggle to produce the kind of speed that allows them to get the ball in the air and keep it up there for suitable carry,” said Manwaring. “This should help with that.”

Callaway Mavrik irons are available with a number of stock shaft options and will be available at retail on Feb. 6 at a cost of $799 in steel for a seven-piece set (Standard and Max) and $899 in steel for a seven-piece set for the Pro.

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By Mike Stachura
The Callaway Mavrik line of metalwoods certainly takes a cue from its name. The designs are a “maverick” kind of rebuke to past ideas about metalwood designs, fueled by an explosive expansion of the company’s initial foray into artificial intelligence and machine learning. But just like the name removes unnecessary letters, these designs also are streamlined to fit the specific requirements of individual player types, not the one-size-fits-all philosophy of the adjustable driver era.

The key is how the company’s team of engineers are using supercomputers to take clubhead design, both in terms of the face and the head’s internal structure, in a new direction.

“We think the use of artificial intelligence allows us to explore areas of design that are maybe unconventional to us and to the standard ways of thinking about golf club performance,” said Alan Hocknell, Callaway’s senior vice president of research and development, referencing the A.I. influence on last year’s top-selling Epic Flash drivers. “It’s not just about buying a big fancy computer and doing lots of calculations, it’s about how we integrate that into our design process to produce a tool that is not only extremely capable of doing the more advanced forms of analysis to produce a new design, but it’s also about manipulating those designs to the needs of different golfers. We’ve tried to do that better than we’ve ever done before. We want to take performance and individualize it.

“So in that sense it’s not the computer takes over, it’s more that the computer stretches our way of thinking and not only does it stretch our way of thinking it stretches our way of manufacturing golf clubs, as well.”

That stretching is not just theoretical. The Callaway Mavrik driver lineup includes three distinct head shapes (Standard, Sub Zero and Max), as does the Mavrik fairway wood line and the Mavrik hybrid family (Standard, Pro and Max). And each of those heads employs unique A.I.-generated face thickness patterns that vary by model and even by loft. Those faces are wild, undulating topologies that would appear random. Of course, they’re not.

“Each of the faces is uniquely optimized for that head geometry, for that player type, for that expected impact location, for those expected head speeds,” said Evan Gibbs, Callaway’s director of research and development for metalwoods. Gibbs noted that the faces are more varied and specialized because the company’s A.I. processes have gotten stronger. Where last year’s Epic Flash driver face was the result of thousands of iterations that cycled four or five times in the months-long design process, the new A.I. method takes barely more than two days to run through a complete cycle.

“Not only could we not take this face and put it into a competitor product and have it perform optimally, these faces are specific to the model and loft,” Gibb said. “This really shows how unique these face thickness profiles are to the surrounding geometry and expected player type.”

Those unique faces with their complex geometries are forged at a separate factory and their intricate shaping also required the use of a high-strength titanium alloy stronger than typical 6-4 titanium. That alloy previously had been used only for special driver models played on tour.

The Mavrik driver lineup’s most unusual departure is the aerodynamics-driven shape of the standard model. The problem with aerodynamic designs is that by raising the crown and sides of the clubhead to make it move through the air more efficiently, the shape also raises the center of gravity to typically produce more spin. But Gibbs said the Mavrik’s more forward center of gravity, combined with a faster aerodynamic shape and a face that flexes more effectively across a greater area, solve that problem in a novel way. It’s what he called “unconventional forgiveness.” Gibbs said that while the CG on the standard Mavrik is somewhat forward and higher, it creates more consistent spin across the face. That spin consistency means more consistent distance, something that you might expect from a driver with CG farther away from the face in a larger shape that produces a head with a higher moment of inertia (MOI) for more stability on off-center hits for better energy transfer. Instead, on the compact Mavrik, that ballspeed is maintained by the A.I.-enhanced face design.

“It really had the forgiveness that was matching a much larger shape with a much higher MOI,” he said. “For most mid handicap to better players, it will perform as forgiving as anything with a much larger shape and higher MOI, but without the penalty slowing the head down because you’re using a very large shape.”

Callaway’s design team also employed its supercomputer to excavate the interior of the driver family to improve the acoustics with sound ribs that control vibration while using a minimal amount of mass.

The Mavrik metalwood lineup also includes Callaway’s traditional “Sub Zero” model, which features a low CG for reduced spin and the flatter lie angle that better players will prefer. New to Callaway’s approach is the third driver in the family, the Mavrik Max, which features the largest footprint at address in terms of a front to back measurement and the highest MOI of any of the three drivers to go along with draw biased weighting. Both the Sub Zero and Max models use two screw weights in the sole. On the stouter Sub Zero (326 grams in total weight or 18 grams more than the stock weight of Mavrik or Mavrik Max), those weights (14 grams and 2 grams) can be flipped between front and back locations on the sole to tweak trajectory and spin. On the Max, the 14- and 2-gram weights are in the rear and heel section of the sole to either bolster stability or increase draw bias.

The Mavrik drivers continue Callaway’s established approach to weight savings and face deflection. The crown is made of a triaxial carbon composite, while the new face designs also save four to six grams compared to past models. In addition, the internal structure of the head features the trademark vertical bars joining the crown and sole called “Jailbreak.” That structure, first seen in the company’s Epic drivers introduced in 2017, is designed to concentrate greater flexing in the face.

The A.I. influence is no less elaborate on the Mavrik lineup of fairway woods. These feature cupface designs that reach what Gibbs described as driver-level spring-like effect, yet each is specific to one of three models, as well as each loft within the family. It makes for a total of 16 different designs in the family. According to Gibbs, the standard Mavrik features the company’s highest spring-like effect on a fairway wood ever with a slight draw bias across its five lofts. The more compact Mavrik Sub Zero features front and back weights that can be flipped to tweak ballflight and spin, while the Mavrik Max is oversized at 200 cubic centimeters and achieves the highest MOI of any of the Mavrik fairway woods. Generally higher launching, it includes options that stretch to 26 degrees.

Those face designs are made more effective thanks to the use of a maraging C300 high-strength steel, as well as the company’s internal “Jailbreak” bars that join the crown and sole.

The “jailbreak” structure and cupface are also key elements of the design of the Mavrik family of hybrids, which like the fairway woods feature face designs optimized through A.I. by loft and head type. This three-headed collection includes the mid-sized, square toe standard version, the large volume, deeper CG and easier-launching Max and the Pro, which features a flatter lie angle and a smaller, fairway wood-like head design with a more cambered sole shape. Altogether, the collection comprises 14 heads and a range of lofts that runs from 18 to 33 degrees.

The Mavrik drivers come with Callaway’s eight-way adjustable hosel, which allows players to tweak loft by plus two degrees and minus one and offers draw and neutral face angles (Standard and Max: 9, 10.5, 12 degrees; Sub Zero: 9, 10.5 degrees; $500). The Mavrik fairway woods (Standard: 14, 15.5, 16.5, 18 and 21 degrees; Sub Zero: 13.5, 15, 16.5 and 18 degrees; Max: 14.5, 16.5, 19, 22, 24 and 26-degrees and 20-degree Heavenwood; $300) and hybrids (Standard: 18, 20, 23 and 26 degrees; Max: 19, 21, 24, 27, 30 and 33 degrees; Pro: 18, 20, 23 and 26 degrees; $250) feature fixed hosels.

The Mavrik lineup will be in stores Jan. 23.

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