WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Odyssey expands its putter lineup with four revamped, upgraded or completely new families of models. Included are expanded models from its White Hot OG line from last year, a fresh rebuild from face to sole of the Toulon Design family and two new shapes that take on the idea of just how similar well-designed mallets and blades might actually be. The overriding theme across all models is that forgiveness, contrary to much conventional wisdom, might have more to do with how close the centre of gravity is to the face rather than how close it is to the rear.

PRICE: Odyssey White Hot OG, $230 (steel)/$280 (StrokeLab); Odyssey Eleven, $300; Odyssey Tri Hot 5K, $400; Odyssey Toulon Design, $450. All putters are available for pre-order on Jan. 14. They are expected at retail Feb. 4. (Ed’s Note: UAE Pricing and release dates to be confirmed)

THE DEEP DIVE: What we’ve thought was true about putters has been changing a lot over the last decade. Time was when we thought only real hacks used mallets, whose forgiving designs made up for those lousy strokes. Now, most weeks seven of the top 10 players in the world use a mallet putter.

What that switch in thinking really has shown us is that forgiveness and stability, technically under the catch-all called “moment of inertia,” are vital to the consistency that leads to more successful putting, whether it’s paydays on tour or in the grill room.

But what might be changing most in putters is the very nature of “forgiveness,” particularly with regard to where the centre of gravity should be. We’ve seen real hints of it with designs like Cleveland’s Frontline and TaylorMade’s Spider FCG. For the longest time, the thought was the CG should be pushed far back from the face to get the best performance on off-centre hits.

Now, Odyssey, the No. 1 putter brand in golf, has dug in on the idea of forgiveness and stability, and the primary result are two new putter lines, one mallet (the Eleven) and one blade (Tri Hot 5K) that both incorporate all of the forgiveness of the one with the control of the other. That theme continues, as well, with new mallets in the White Hot OG lineup and revised faces and sole weighting in the sleek milled Toulon Design lineup.

Essentially, the entire Odyssey roster for 2022 reflects not so much how to make mallets better mallets or blades better blades, but rather how to make mallets and blades both better putters. The key seems to be making off-centre hits roll close to the same distance as centre hits, while at the same time reducing the way off-centre hits finish farther to the right or the left. The answer lies in not pushing the CG so deep while at the same time super-boosting the off-centre stability, said Patrick Dawson, Odyssey’s senior R&D manager. That’s not a contradiction in terms.

“It seems like the classic club designer’s problem: Do you want ball speed robustness or do you want side angle or sidespin robustness?” he said, referencing the idea that maintaining ball speed across the face and reducing side spin solves the twin putting problems of distance and direction. “Well, in the putter space we really think the side angle is going to be what causes somebody’s putts to go offline. So if you can get outsize gains in moment of inertia at that same depth of CG, then you’re really cooking with fire. Because now you get some of that additional ball speed robustness, you maintain all of your side angle robustness and the result is something pretty unique and special.”

The result is the Eleven, a forward CG larger mallet with high MOI, and the the Tri Hot 5K, a traditional-looking blade with an MOI in line with or even higher than most top mallets. Both putters get to that perfect mix of high stability and forward CG with extensive use of multiple materials. The Eleven, which is shaped like a trapezoid with the face wider than the rear perimeter, uses eight distinct parts and includes the White Hot polymer insert on the face, as well as a heavy dose of steel on top and in front, aluminium in the back and sides and a thermoplastic urethane brick in the middle to produce a highly stable head design. The CG is forward so off-centre hits show less dispersion because of reduced sidespin but better ball speed because of all that heel and toe weighting for stability.

Of course, getting to this shape isn’t just science. It’s also player feedback on mallets, said Sean Toulon, Odyssey’s general manager, who’s been studying the prevalence of mallets on tour and why some players switch back and forth between mallets and blades.

“What we’re seeing is when that CG tends to get too far back on putters that have relatively high MOI, they can be very difficult to rotate enough on the way through back to square,” he said. “It takes a lot of energy from a golfer to be able to override those two forces, and the miss biases end up being to the right.”

The Eleven aims to fix that effect with a more forward centre of gravity. Like all Odyssey putters, it includes the combination graphite and steel Stroke Lab shaft, which raises the balance point closer to the hands to improve repeatability in the stroke. This latest version features a shorter steel section at the tip and a stiffer profile with less total weight for more stability.

So if the Eleven exhibits much of the face control benefits of a typical blade through its shallower, blade-like CG location, could a blade develop some of the mallet’s stability? Enter the Tri Hot 5K, five recognisable blade styles which use steel, aluminium and especially tungsten to produce a true blade shape with MOI numbers higher than many popular mallets (above 5,000 grams-centimetres squared, which for perspective is also higher than many drivers). The Tri Hot 5K, which also uses the White Hot polymer insert, features a steel hosel and face area and then inserts 121 grams of tungsten up front in the heel and toe behind the face. The back flange is made of light aluminium and then another pair of 28-gram tungsten weights in heel and toe ports in the sole. Nearly half of the putter’s total weight is high-density tungsten.

Odyssey’s other putters are taking off on some of those learnings, as well. The Toulon Design all-milled putters have been redesigned in two key ways to help ball speed consistency. First the diamond-shaped milling pattern, including horizontal lines that split each diamond, extends across the entire face for consistent roll and feel. The Toulon Design line’s blades and mallets all have switched out of a centre sole plate to heel and toe weights positioned toward the front for that more forward CG position.

“With milled putters the focus has always been on shaping or materials, but where we always thought we could make a difference was to bring a level of technical performance to this category so we could get these products to really perform at the very highest level not just of milled putters, but of putters in general,” Toulon said. “But this is the highest level of performance we’ve ever had.”

The new lineup includes three familiar blades, three traditional mallets and two new modern mallet shapes, the Daytona Beach and LeMans.

Not to be forgotten in this new thinking about forgiveness are new higher-MOI shapes added to the White Hot OG lineup. The collection introduced last year grows with the Double Wide blade and three new versions of the twin-fanged No. 7 (including the No. 7 Bird with a back bridge that joins those parallel wings). The White Hot OG line also adds three women’s specific lengths and weights to its popular No. 1, No. 7 and 2-Ball shapes.

Pricing for the White Hot OG is $230 (steel), $270 (Stroke Lab); Eleven, $300; Tri Hot 5K, $400; and Toulon Design, $450. All Odyssey models will be available for pre-order on Jan. 14 and will be at retail Feb. 4. (Ed’s Note: UAE Pricing and release dates to be confirmed)

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By E. Michael Johnson
When Shane Lowry spoke to Golf Digest about his equipment in 2016, we asked him about his comfort level in major championships. “I enjoy that kind of golf,” he said. “There is something about me that likes the big stage. I like the major championships and big tournaments. It’s where I feel my most comfortable, which is weird.”

There was nothing weird about Lowry’s play at the Open Championship. The Irishman jumped out to a large lead over Tommy Fleetwood and managed the rest of his round to win his first major championship.

Lowry’s short game rightfully receives its proper amount of attention (see the crucial up-and-down par save from the sand at the par-3 13th), but a closer examination of his week shows reveals that it really was his tee-to-green game that propelled him to the blowout win at Royal Portrush Golf Club.

Lowry not only led the field in greens in regulation at 79.16 percent, but produced an impressive 19-plus strokes gained/tee-to-green on his way to becoming the Champion Golfer of the Year.

Lowry employs a split set of irons comprised of three models from Srixon and, interestingly, eschews the four-wedge setup the majority of tour players utilize in favour of three (pitching wedge plus a 51- and 58-degree). Lowry carries two Srixon Z U85 utility irons, an 18-degree and a 20-degree that is bent to 21 degrees to provide the proper distance gap. For the 4- and 5-irons, the Irishman uses the company’s Z 585—a players distance iron where a speedy face plate is surrounded by a groove indented on the perimeter of its interior, creating, in essence, a slot around the entire face. In the 6-iron through pitching wedge, Lowry has Srixon’s Z 785 irons, a one-piece forged iron with compact short irons with a narrower sole. Key to these clubs is a center of gravity location that is more in line with the center of the face. All of Lowry’s irons have KBS Tour 130X shafts except for his 2-iron, which has a Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White TX hybrid graphite shaft. His grips are Golf Pride’s Tour Velvet 58 round with the grips put on upside down so the logo is underneath.

For wedges Lowry uses a pair of Cleveland RTX 4 wedges. The 50-degree is bent to 51 degrees and the 58-degree is a recent addition to the bag, replacing the RTX 3 he had been using. Lowry’s putter also is notable, as he uses an Odyssey EXO 2-Ball Stroke Lab, but with a twist: the 2-Ball alignment feature on the putter is normally white, but the two cylinders on Lowry’s putter are black. The putter has a milled aluminium cage to remove weight from the center of the head and redistribute it to the perimeter with stainless steel for added stability. Lowry also uses a White Hot insert instead of the microhinge insert that would come with the production model. The putter also has a grip adorned with a shamrock, a touch included just for this week. Lowry’s putter, which he switched to at the RBC Heritage earlier this year, is 34 inches long with a customized all-black finish to complete the look.

Which is sort of like Lowry at major championships. A little weird, but very comfortable.

What Shane Lowry had in the bag at The  Open
Ball: Srixon Z-Star XV
Driver: Srixon Z 585 (Mitsubishi Diamana White 70X), 9.5 degrees
3-wood: TaylorMade M4, 15 degrees
Irons (2-3): Srixon Z U85; (4-5): Srixon Z 585; (6-PW): Srixon Z 785
Wedges: Cleveland RTX 4 (51, 58 degrees)
Putter: Odyssey EXO 2-Ball Stroke Lab

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In studies that Odyssey did, they found that lack of success on the greens was often due to inconsistent strokes. “The consistency of putting strokes needs to be addressed. We think and have found that maybe it’s in the way we’ve been building putters,” says Sean Toulon, GM of Odyssey.

“The head has become so heavy and controlling, its usurped the golfer’s ability to control the stroke” Toulon continues. “That’s where most of this inconsistency can be traced back towards.”

The graphite/steel combo shaft is 40 grams lighter than Odyssey’s standard. The result is a shaft that is stiffer than standard and has a lower torque. Less torque means you’re more likely to return a square face to the ball. The saved weight has been redistributed to the head (10 grams) and the end of the grip. The weights in the sole and grip can be changed.

There are six-mallet and four blade options in the Stroke Lab line. They’ll be available for purchase February 8th. Each putter has Odyssey’s White Hot micro hinge inserts. The inserts have small steel ‘microhinges’ set in a soft elastomer. The hinges flex slightly at impact to promote topspin, and the elastomer provides a soft feel.

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Odyssey Toulon Design Putters

In this year’s Toulon putters, the Deep Diamond Milling extends across the entire face, instead of just being concentrated in the centre. This helps the putter become more forgiving. Each Toulon putter is available in Stroke Lab or a standard steel shaft. The new Toulon putters will be available March 1st.

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Odyssey EXO Putters

The milled aluminium ‘exo-cage’, which is lightweight, is surrounded by 17-4 stainless steel, which is much heavier. So, the aluminium brings down the overall weight of the putter and moves weight to the perimeter. This raises the MOI, which means the putter is more stable on off-centre hits. More stable means those mis-hits roll out closer to the same distance as centre hits.

EXO putters have Odyssey’s White Hot insert, which now include micro hinge technology to promote forward roll. Like the Toulon putters, all EXO putters are available in Stroke Lab shafts. There are two different mallets in the line, toe hangs options and face balanced options. Toe hang means the face can rotate more during the stroke, while face balanced putters rotate less to work better with more of a pendulum putting stroke.

The new EXO putters will be available on March 29th. Three new head shapes will be featured.

Ed’s Note: Middle East pricing and availability has not yet been released.

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By E. Michael Johnson

Ariya Jutanugarn has made playing without a driver fashionable. And as you might expect from someone who has 12 clubs that are irons or wedges in her bag, it was those clubs that propelled her to her second major title at the U.S. Women’s Open.

Jutanugarn appeared poised to cruise to victory, holding a seven-shot lead as she headed to the final nine, but made triple bogey 7 on the par-4 10th hole to allow Hyo-Joo Kim an opportunity to make things interesting. Kim did just that with birdie bombs of 35 and 50 feet on the 12th and 15 holes to narrow the margin to one, before Jutanugarn nailed a 7-iron on the 197-yard, par-3 16th hole to three feet and a clutch birdie, extending the lead to two. But Jutanugarn bogeyed the final two holes, creating a two-hole aggregate playoff, which went two holes beyond that before Jutanugarn was able to win with a nifty up-and-down par save from the greenside bunker, giving her another major title to go with the 2016 Women’s British Open.

Jutanugarn’s iron set is an interesting one, consisting of a pair of TaylorMade Tour Preferred UDI driving irons and the company’s RSi TP UDI driving iron for her 4-iron. Her 5-iron through pitching wedge are Titleist’s 716 AP2 model and she carries a trio of Titleist Vokey SM7 wedges.

For the week, the 22-year-old from Thailand hit 52 of 72 greens in regulation for a 72.2 percent clip, ranked T-3. More importantly, she did so consistently, hitting 14, 13 13 and 12 greens in regulation in each of the four rounds, respectively.

Even so, Jutanugarn needed to rebound in the playoff to avoid a collapse reminiscent of Arnold Palmer at the 1966 U.S. Open. Jutanugarn managed to come up with some clutch par saves with her Titleist Vokey SM7 wedges, however, to take the title.

What Ariya Jutanugarn had in the bag at the U.S. Women’s Open

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

3-wood: TaylorMade AeroBurner, 15 degrees

Irons (2-3): TaylorMade Tour Preferred UDI; (4): TaylorMade RSi TP UDI; (5-PW): Titleist 716 AP2

Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM7 (50, 56, 60 degrees)

Putter: Odyssey Works Cruiser V-Line

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By E. Michael Johnson
Webb Simpson won the Players Championship in dominating fashion and did so with a set of makeup that everyday players should take note of. Simpson, who hit 76.4 percent of his greens in regulation, plays with five metalwoods in his bag and starts the iron set at the 5-iron—something of an anomaly for a PGA Tour player as utility irons have found favour in recent years.

According to Titleist tour rep J.J. VanWezenbeeck, “The biggest thing for Webb is that he doesn’t mind how many headcovers are in his bag. He knows his ball flight and hitting his number matters most. … One of the most important things was finding a shaft and head combination that maximized distance and control. The Titleist 917D2 driver and Graphite Design Tour AD IZ 5X shaft allowed him to get a little longer and still have the control he was seeking.”

Indeed, Simpson has been searching for a driver shaft since the start of the season when he had a Mitsubishi Kurokage Dual Tini 60 TX in a Titleist 917D3 driver. He then switched to the 917D2 head with a Graphite Design Tour AD 125 TX at the Honda Classic. The following week, at the WGC-Mexico Championship, he stayed with the 917D2 head but with the Tour AD IZ 5 X shaft, which he has played ever since.

The driver combination along with a pair of fairway woods and two hybrids worked well at TPC Sawgrass as Simpson used a variety of metalwoods off the tee to hitting over 80 percent of his fairways, setting him up for aggressive approach shots that led to a host of birdies (and a pair of eagles), including six in a row at one point in the second round—the most consecutive birdies Simpson has made in his PGA Tour career.

Simpson, who used to putt anchor-style and actually snapped his old belly putter over his knee one off-season (he kept the parts, however, for posterity), putted like a fiend using an Arm-Lock style at TPC Sawgrass. Simpson picked up nearly 10 strokes on the field in strokes gained/putting this week using an Odyssey Tank Cruiser V-Line Long (40.5 inches) putter with 7 degrees of loft to accommodate the forward press in the Arm-Lock method. The head is 385 grams and features a White Hot Pro insert while the shaft features a single-bend into the hosel. Simpson spoke about his hot stretch on the greens after the second round.

“Confidence is so big, and it can change the way you think,” said Simpson. “And I think even more so maybe with putting. Putting there’s so much—there’s read, there’s grain, there’s speed, and then there’s you. … Even with the short putter, I had tournaments where I putted well, but I never had stretches three months, six months, eight months where consistently I was a lot better. So I think once that kind of four, five, six months of really good putting hit, I started to believe again that I’m a great putter. It had been a long time since I’ve really felt that and believed it.”

What Webb Simpson had in the bag at the Players Championship

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

Driver: Titleist 917D2 (Graphite Design Tour AD IZ 5X), 9.5 degrees

3-wood: TaylorMade M2 2017, 15 degrees

5-wood: Titleist 913Fd, 18 degrees

Hybrids: Titleist 913Hd (20 degrees); Titleist 915Hd (23.5 degrees)

Irons (5-PW): Titleist 718 MB

Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM7 (54 degrees); Titleist Vokey prototype (60 degrees)

Putter: Odyssey Tank Cruiser V-Line Long

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By Joel Beall
Patrick Reed, as noted by Golf Digest equipment guru Mike Johnson, is a rare breed of major champion. Specifically, one without an equipment sponsorship. It’s not unheard of; after Nike discontinued its hard goods business in late 2016, swoosh endorser Brooks Koepka won the 2017 U.S. Open with a mixed bag at Erin Hills.

But Reed’s situation is a bit different. His previous deal with Callaway expired at the end of last season, and instead of signing with one company, Reed decided to use this freedom to his advantage.

“You know, the biggest thing was, I wanted to be different, wanted to try something different this year,” Reed said to CNBC. “There are so many great companies out there, especially golf manufacturers and club wise, when you go on these big deals like this, you kind of get stuck on, you have to use all of the same equipment.

“They all make pretty good ones, but you have to give up something.”

Aiding Reed’s ambition is an apparel deal with Nike, bestowing some safety to tinker with his set.

“Soon the equipment side, I’m out there, just doing whatever I want,” Reed said. “It was a risk, but it was a risk that turned out to be the right one.”

That would be putting it lightly.

For what it’s worth, Reed has five different companies in his bag: Ping (driver), Nike (3-wood), Titleist (3-iron, wedge), Callaway/Odyssey (irons, putter) and Artisan (wedges).

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By E. Michael Johnson
Patrick Reed is the rare major champion—one without an equipment contract. Of course, that allows Reed the freedom to play any clubs he chooses, and the bag he put together and won the Masters with is truly eclectic.

Reed’s driver, for example, is one he decided on at the Waste Management Phoenix Open earlier this year after he tested the Ping G400 LST on Monday of that week. It’s been in the bag ever since. The LST is Ping’s low-spin version of its G400, and Reed has always preferred a low-spin driver, having used a Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 816 Double Black Diamond during his last win at the 2016 Barclays. This driver is 44.5 inches in length with the shaft tipped one inch and D-2 swingweight. The head has a loft of 10 degrees but the finished loft is 9.2 degrees. Reed also uses an older model 3-wood, a Nike VR Pro.

Almost as intriguing are a pair of Reed’s wedges. The Masters champ put his Artisan Golf 51- and 56-degree wedges in the bag earlier this year. For those unfamiliar with Artisan Golf, it’s a new company that has former Nike wedge maker Mike Taylor as a partner. Taylor has nearly 30 years in the industry and made wedges for Reed when both were with Nike. Taylor also has made wedges for Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, among others. Taylor and company make clubs now at the former Nike Oven facility in Fort Worth and, according to Taylor, they worked together during the off-season on his equipment. Taylor has made more than 10 custom grind wedges for him. Reed’s wedges have a five-degree gapping between them, a system he has favored for a number of years. Reed also has a Titleist Vokey 61-degree SM5 with a T Grind and some serious Texas-style stamping on it.

Of course you can’t win without putting. Reed had a little knee-knocker on the 18th to clinch his victory, and had to feel comfortable with his Odyssey White Hot Pro #3, a model he has used at various times for more than five years. In a 2013 equipment interview with Golf Digest, Reed said he found the look “more soothing to look at.”

Never more so than when the last putt dropped.

What Patrick Reed had in the bag at the Masters

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

Driver: Ping G400 LST (Aldila Rogue Silver 125MSI 70-X), 9.2 degrees

3-wood: Nike VR Pro, 15 degrees

Irons (3): Titleist 716 T-MB; (4): Callaway X Forged 13; (5-PW): Callaway MB1

Wedges: Artisan Golf (51, 56 degrees); Titleist Vokey SM5 (61 degrees)

Putter: Odyssey White Hot 3

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The announcement is more of a formality than news as Garcia used an Odyssey putter and some Callaway clubs late in 2017. TaylorMade also announced in November that it had mutually agreed to part ways with the Spanish star. In addition to his Masters title, Garcia also won a Players Championship while with TaylorMade.

Moving forward, Garcia will play Callaway woods, irons and wedges and one of the company’s Chrome Soft balls, along with an Odyssey putter that the company says “will launch next month.” The club likely being referred to is the Odyssey Toulon Atlanta prototype—a toe-hang mallet—that Garcia used to win the Andalucia Valderrama Masters last fall. For signage, Garcia will have a Callaway logo on both sides of his hat while continuing to have an Adidas logo on the front and on his apparel.

“Sergio has been one of the world’s most talented and charismatic players for almost 20 years,” said Callaway president & CEO Chip Brewer. “It will be fun to see what he can do using Callaway equipment.”

Overall, the signing makes sense for Callaway. Although the company still has Phil Mickelson, the bulk of its notable tour staff are young up and comers. Garcia gives the company not only additional star power, but a global icon as well. Plus, it can’t hurt having the reigning Masters champion playing your sticks.

As for changing clubs in the season after winning his first major, Garcia needs only to look at Callaway stablemate Mickelson for some good karma. Many questioned Lefty’s move to Callaway mere months after capturing his first major at the 2004 Masters. Mickelson, however, won the PGA in 2005 and Masters in 2006 among his four major championships since joining the company.

The post Sergio Garcia signs equipment deal with Callaway appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Generating forward roll as soon as possible has been a primary goal of putter makers for years, with manufacturers employing several different methods in an attempt to achieve that. Odyssey today unveiled another tool aimed at that very goal, using what it calls “microhinge technology” in its new line of O-Works putters.

The technology is as it sounds—small “hinges” on the face of the putter that flex and then rebound at impact, propelling the ball toward the hole with a forward roll the company says is twice that of its Fusion RX insert. To achieve this the company used a stainless steel plate backed by a soft elastomer inner layer. The plate is then populated with microhinges. The entire production process takes 23 steps. The line includes four blades (#1, #1W, #2 and #9 models, all with the company’s Versa-T alignment system) and four mallets (#7, 2-Ball, V-Line Fang and R-Line). Counterbalanced Tank options are also available in the #1 blade and #7 mallet.

“Forward spin is critical for all golfers, but most everyday players don’t produce that forward roll soon enough,” says Austie Rollinson, chief designer for Odyssey. “The microhinges help provide something they’ve been having trouble achieving.”

The putters—all available with various SuperStroke grip options—sell for RRP of US$230.

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After Nike exited the equipment business this season, Rory McIlroy mentioned that he had no intentions to sign a new deal. Rather, he planned on spending time experimenting with different selections on the market, waiting to find the right comfort level. It appears the four-time major winner’s search is over.

Though McIlroy has not agreed to new endorsements, he will flaunt new sticks in 2017. According to a report from NoLayingUp.com, McIlroy is switching to Callaway woods (the new GBB Epic Sub Zero) and irons (Apex MB), an Odyssey putter and Titleist ball (Pro V1x) and wedges (Titleist Vokey).

“I want to play the new ProV1x ball and I know the Callaway driver works the best with it,” McIlroy told the site. “I also know my Nike irons don’t work as well with the Titleist ball because of the groove format. Too spinny, and a loss of distance.”

While the equipment change is not a shock — McIlroy had tested a TaylorMade M2 in the fall — the switch to Titleist is somewhat intriguing. McIlroy was extremely comfortable with the Nike RZN Tour Platinum ball.

“No reason to start changing just because I can. I’m comfortable with everything,” McIlroy said at Bethpage Black. “I’ve got them to save me three years’ worth of golf balls, so at least I’ve got a golf ball that I like and that I know that I can play well with.”

Speaking with Golf Digest’s Mike Johnson, McIlroy elaborated on his relationship with the Nike ball.

“The feel of the ball is everything. It all starts with feel with a golf ball. Sound is a big deal for me in golf balls,” McIlroy explained. “A ball can be soft but if it sounds high-pitched coming off the club it can almost feel hard. The feel and the sound need to go hand in hand. It needs to feel good on all shots, even putts. And that comes from the cover and mantle layer.”

But, as McIlroy pointed out, it doesn’t take long to get use to a new ball.

“Need to recalibrate after making a ball change: It doesn’t take much time at all,” McIlroy said. “It’s more spending time on the course and gaining trust. You get used to a certain flight and feel. When you can see the improvements it’s easier to gain the confidence and comfort.”

Per NoLayingUp.com, McIlroy is expected to debut his new tools at the BMW South African Open on January 12. – Joel Beall is an Assistant Editor for GolfDigest.com

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