Equipment
Phil Mickelson is nothing if not willing to experiment with his equipment
We filed this piece for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report.
Two drivers, no drivers, long drivers, mini drivers, Phrankenwoods, prototype wedges, game improvement irons, blade irons, blade putters, mallet putters, lots of lead tape, no lead tape, oversized putter grips (and gripping the putter in different manners), Lefty has tried it all.
Accordingly, it was intriguing but not entirely shocking to see the six-time major champion rolling his Callaway Chrome Soft X ahead of the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational with an armlock-style putter in his hand and, well, on his arm.
In recent years, Mickelson has largely stuck to some version of his Odyssey “Phil Mickelson” blade putter. Sometimes, he uses a version with a milled face. Sometimes, it has an insert. Sometimes it has an abundance of lead tape, and sometimes it has none. For Phil, green speed and feel dictate the specific setup.
In fact, he’s using a prototype version of the same 8802-style head with the 40.75-inch putter shaft, as you can see in the photos below, which are courtesy of Callaway’s Tour Content Creator, Johnny Wunder.
(Images via Callaway’s Johnny Wunder)
So, what’s going on here? Most obviously, the longer shaft (roughly 5 inches longer than standard) and the armlock grip, which appears to be a SuperStroke WristLock, is intended to sit flush against the inside of the forearm to stabilize the putter face. In short, the objective is to make it easier to get the ball started on line.
With respect to the putter head itself, Gerrit Pon, the man who builds all Mickelson’s equipment at Callaway told the company he made a prototype putter for Phil that features a center of gravity closer to the middle of the putter face, rather than the heel.
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.
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
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
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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...
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Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (8.5 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X Mini driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Mini...
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Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D (10.5 degrees) Shaft: Project X Titan Yellow 60 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D Tour (15 degrees) Shaft: Project...
Carolyn
Aug 6, 2021 at 2:07 pm
How may years as Phil been with Callaway? Many, and after hundreds of drivers they still have not come up with one a tour pro with over 40 wins cannot hit in the fairway…so they can take care of a 15 handicap but not Phil…right…people its not the club its the player.