Equipment
12 Revealing photos from the 2016 Players Championship
GolfWRX was live this week from the fifth major, The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass’ Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. If you missed any of our photos from this week, make sure to browse the links below:
It’s that time of the year. Once the PGA Tour heads to TPC Sawgrass for The Players, you know the season is in full swing. It’s one of the deepest fields all year, and the U.S. Open is just around the corner. Plus, there’s always fireworks on Sunday at holes 16, 17 and 18. What a time to be alive, and a golf fan.
So let’s reveal some photos before we kick back this weekend and watch the drama unfold.
Kuai Liang*
We spotted a newer and bigger (460 cubic centimeters) version of Callaway’s recently released XR 16 Sub Zero driver, which proved to be very low spinning, yet relatively unforgiving in my review of the club. It’s not clear if Callaway will release the XR 16 Sub Zero 460, or is simply testing its Sub Zero-like features in a larger club head for a new line of drivers to be released in the future.
See all of the new Sub Zero photos here.
*Two brothers take the name “Sub Zero” in the video game Mortal Kombat (one of the all-time classics), the elder Bi-Han and Kuai Liang. Maybe Kuai has a higher MOI and more CC’s than his brother, too.
The putter sagas of Dustin and Justin
It’s no secret that Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose are some of the best ball strikers on the PGA Tour, but they tend to struggle on the greens. And lately, each has been linked to multiple putters.
This week, Dustin tested “The Brick” from Edel, which piqued his interest after he played a round with Bryson DeChambeau, who uses one. We also photographed him testing a Ping Anser-style putter, and his familiar Scotty Cameron prototype.
Justin Rose, on the other hand, was testing an Axis 1 putter early in the week after using TaylorMade’s Arc1 in his last start, a Japan-only TaylorMade putter. For The Players, he decided on a TaylorMade Spider mallet.
Jason Gore eyeing a new release from Callaway
Although we weren’t able to get photos of the back of the irons, we were told there’s a new set of Callaway irons on the horizon, which Gore was eyeing on the range at The Players.
The irons in question appeared to be musclebacks, and have either a raw or satin finish… but remember, they may still be in prototype phase.
Revealing photos gets the P. Reed “Shhh” treatment
Last week, I pointed out that Patrick Reed’s caddy had the worst job in sports, being forced to have his hand on Patrick Reed’s backside. Reed politely responded at The Players in his patented Ryder Cup fashion. If you notice, however, his caddy is no longer participating in the drill. Coincidence?
Also, this reaction confirms that Reed is indeed a GolfWRXer. But we already knew that, based on his propensity to change lob wedges.

He’s doing something right, though, judging by his scrambling percentage.
Moore tinkering
Ryan Moore is a king among GolfWRXers. For years he went sponsor-less, so he was able to make equipment changes whenever he wanted. And he took every advantage of that freedom, as he changed something about his clubs nearly every week.
Now he’s under contract with PXG, which is like caging a wild tiger. But he’s still finding a way to tinker. In the last year, he’s used PXG’s 0311 irons, 0311T irons, and now with the 0311T Black irons. I suppose a tiger never changes his stripes.
iBlades
We spotted Ping’s new iBlades at The Players for the first time, not just on the range, but already in the bag of Louis Oosthuizen. That was quick.
Sweet-swinging Louis also has an awesome Ping prototype putter in the bag, too. Check out all of the must-see photos here.
Kobe!
James Hahn won last week at the Wells Fargo with a unique shaft in his PXG 0311 3-iron, an Aldila Tour 115 graphite shaft that he calls the “Black Mamba.” The shaft shares a nickname with NBA star Kobe Bryant, who announced his retirement this season.
Caddies become The Players
All season long, caddies watch their players play golf at the premiere tracks in the world, while they trek around with their heavy staff bags. A thankless job, for the most part. At The Players, the Caddie Competition — in memory of beloved Tour caddie Bruce Edwards — gives the loopers a chance to show off their own golfing skills at No. 17, known as the island green. And the caddies take it seriously, even warming up on the range beforehand.
It doesn’t always go well, though, as you can see from the one-armed finish in the photo below, surely taken as the golf ball went swimming.
But others find more success. Hunter Mahan’s caddie put a Tour-like move on the ball and hit it to 5 feet.
Congrats on a great shot and an unforgettable moment, Jon.
The most interesting Marshal in Players Championship history
He was at TPC Sawgrass when they dug out the island green. He was there for the first-ever Players. And he was marshaling at the island green during what’s now known as “The Best Marshaled Hole” in 2009, as you can see from the big red pin above.
He doesn’t need a “Quiet Please!” sign; he just raises his hat. He is, the most interesting Marshal in the world.
Checking in on K.J. Choi
Yupp. Still working out.
And trying to hide a TaylorMade M2 logo from the Revealing King with a single strip of lead tape. Will these guys ever learn?
#SB2K16 reunites
Fowler, Spieth, Smylie and JT grouped up during a practice round at TPC Sawgrass, and as they did in the Bahamas, they updated their fans on SnapChat with fake ProTracers and announcer imitations. Anyone who sees their horseplay as bad for the game needs to remove the shoe horn from their metal-spiked golf shoes. As long as they’re not missing every cut, or distracting other players from properly preparing, why not have fun and enjoy the game with friends?
And maybe (gasp) they can even attract new, younger players to the sport while they’re at it.
What’s in Spieth’s bag this week?
Nothing! We spotted Jordan Spieth’s bag completely empty in the Tour Van this week. No worries. He was getting his clubs re-gripped with SuperStroke’s new club grips.
Even more notably, Spieth debuted the Momma Spieth’s, a pink version of the UA Drive One shoes in a pink colorway for Mother’s Day.
Sunday at The Players will be a “pink-out,” so we’ll undoubtedly see the Momma Spieth’s again.
Equipment
Neal Shipley, AKA, the “Big Fridge’s,” custom stamping
Neal Shipley was the first to admit that he enjoyed his food while in college. But since his days at Ohio State, he’s slimmed down and earned a PGA Tour Card.
That hasn’t stopped him from having fun with his wedge stampings, though it’s led to some misunderstandings.
On the 54 (degree), we have ‘Big Fudge,'” Shipley told GolfWRX. “It was supposed to be ‘Big Fridge,’ so this happened a little while ago. ‘Big Fridge’ was a nickname between my college teammates and I, with ‘fridge’ meaning stomach, a big stomach.

“We told the Ping guys to put … ‘Big Fridge’ on it, and I think maybe some bad cell service or something, and they thought I said ‘fudge,’ so they put fudge on it.”
On Shipley’s 50-degree he also continues the food theme, this time with his go-to order at the “Golden Arches,” and his stamping “DONS 7.”
“The number 7 meal, the two cheeseburger meal, that was my McDonald’s order, back when I would have McDonald’s frequently,” Shipley shared.
Equipment
From the GolfWRX Classifieds: L.A.B. Purple DF3 with Masters cover
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @raw10628 has a L.A.B. DF3 putter and Masters putter cover up for grabs.

From the listing: “Some great items here today, time to thin out and make room for next set of gear. All prices include shipping.
LAB DF3 Purple 33.5” 68° lie with TPT – $725. LAB Masters release DF3 cover – $150.”
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules
Whats in the Bag
Maria Torres WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 5-M4

3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4

5-wood: Ping G440 Max (19 degrees @18)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4

Hybrid: Ping G440 (23 degrees)
Shaft: Oban Isawa Red Hybrid Shaft 04 Flex 70 Gms

Irons: Srixon ZXi7 (5-P)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i80

Wedges: Cleveland RTZ (50-MID, 54-FULL, 58-MID)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i105

Putter: L.A.B. Golf OZ.1i
Shaft: ACCRA Putter Shaft

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet























mlecuni
May 14, 2016 at 3:12 pm
Hi Andrew, from the last witb kj choi wasn’t hidding the M2 logo + why hide it if you put the big head cover on. it may because he is not playing the matrix Ozik TP6HDe shaft anymore, so he may just ajusted the swing weight. One thing i noticed is the lack of kjchoi logo on his irons, same model but may be new set.