Equipment
Adam Scott makes very surprising equipment change at Bay Hill
Adam Scott made an unusual decision prior to Thursday’s opening round at Bay Hill.
The 41-year-old decided to not even put a driver in the bag this week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Instead, he opted to use a 13-degree 2-wood in its place.
Adam Scott is playing without a driver this week ?
Has a 13-degree two-wood in play as his longest club. pic.twitter.com/WHbKL8XsA2
— GOLFTV (@GOLFTV) March 3, 2022
Scott has been averaging +1.1 strokes off the tee in his past five starts, so it’s a bit of a surprise that he chose to leave the driver out of the bag completely.
However, speaking after the round, Scott explained that the long rough had a lot to do behind the thinking, and that the driver may return for Friday:
“The basic stats are you hit more fairways with a shorter club than you do a longer club, and a 3-wood you hit more fairways than a driver. I thought it was a premium on hitting fairways here this week.
It’s kind of hard to figure how I’m going to get (the driver) back in the bag for tomorrow. I want to. It’s inspiring to watch Rory drive it, and I’d like to hit a couple. I’m going to hit a few on the range and see how it feels, but my game plan worked pretty good so far.
I just don’t think anyone is particularly accurate with the driver, myself included. Once you’re up at these ball speeds, it’s just hard to be relatively accurate. Rory made it look great today… (My driver) is far from terrible.
But I have to say since the middle of last year the confidence is really improved with the driver. I just didn’t see the advantage with it. I can get home on all the par-5s with the wood. I felt like I wasn’t really handicapping myself at all, even though I was watching a guy 50 yards in front of me.
Tomorrow it looks a bit windier and I’m going to have to have a serious think, because if it was into a stiff breeze on 18, maybe I’m handicapping myself.”
On Thursday, the tactic seemed to work out, with Scott firing a 4-under par round of 68 at Bay Hill.
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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