In our forums, our members have been commenting on a potentially significant change to Dustin Johnson’s equipment setup at the 2021 U.S. Open.

Per TaylorMade Rep Chris Trott’s Instagram, included in DJ’s build sheet for this week is a mini driver with an LA Golf shaft, as well as a 15.5 degree Sim Max HL driver.

@trottiegolf

Phil Mickelson’s TaylorMade Original One mini-driver has received plenty of attention recently, as the 50-year-old utilized the club so effectively on his way to winning the 2021 PGA Championship.

In a twist, however, Lefty was spotted on Monday at Torrey Pines using TaylorMade’s latest 300 Series Mini driver which hit the USGA conforming list last month. 

Speaking to media on Monday about the utilization of a mini-driver this week, Mickelson said

“Just a 2-wood. I call it a 2-wood but it’s a mini driver. Just a 2-wood. I think at least half, if not a fraction more, of tee shots will be with that club just because the way the fairways are a little bit firmer than Farmers.

The ball runs out and it gets down there to a pretty good spot. There’s a lot of holes where it kind of turns or tightens, and I don’t really want to get to that spot. If you look at 4, you get it down too far and it starts to pinch in by the canyon. You look at the contour on 7, how much that fairway pitches. I really don’t want to get it down there.

That 2-wood, I’ll call it, seems to fit the right yardage on a lot of those holes for me.”

Our members have been speculating on the potential use of a mini-driver for DJ at Torrey and whether the move could be inspired by Phil, as the World Number One goes in search of his second U.S. Open title.

• CCUgolfer23: “Would be interesting to see this combo since his driving last week wasn’t great.”
• bladehunter: “Doesn’t look like a driver. Or it’s a secondary driver. Like Phil, 44 inches is a 3 wood these days.”
• Valtiel: “DJ quite notably uses a pretty short 3-wood though, especially for his height. 42.75″ I believe. Also almost always higher lofted, 16-17*. I wonder if this is maybe something for him to turn over and goes further than his 3w?”

Check out the full discussion here.