Equipment
Brooks Koepka makes significant driver switch ahead of U.S. Open (Updated)
Update 6/14 6:30 p.m. ET: Statement from Srixon golf added; Koepka was also spotted practicing with a Titleist Pro V1x golf ball rather than the Srixon Z-Star Diamond.
Brooks Koepka has been the man in major championships over the past five years, although it’s fair to say that Koepka’s stunning major form has fallen off in 2022.
The 32-year-old missed the cut at the Masters before posting a T55 finish at the PGA Championship. Before this year, Koepka had recorded twelve top-10 finishes in his previous sixteen major appearances, including four victories.
Koepka is going in search of his third U.S. Open title this week, and it appears that the four-time major champ is ready to make a driver switch at Brookline.
A snap on the U.S. Open’s Instagram Stories shows Brooks in practice without his usual Srixon ZX7 driver but with one of his previous gamers: the TaylorMade M5 driver.
The move would be a surprising changeup for the Srixon man, who ranks 75th in strokes gained: off the tee in 2022.
All four of Koepka’s major victories have come while using TaylorMade drivers, with the M5 being in the bag at his last major win in 2019. We’ll be keeping an eye on which driver makes it onto the first tee at Brookline this Thursday.
A Srixon representative told GolfWRX
“In this early stage of our partnership, Brooks Koepka has validated the performance of the Srixon driver and golf ball. Though performance has been promising, the characteristics are not a perfect fit, yet. To work through this adjustment period most efficiently, we decided to focus our energy on fitting Brooks into the next generation Srixon driver and golf ball prototypes that will debut on tour in the near future—products developed with Brooks’ input and needs in mind. While we get this organized in the next couple months, Srixon is temporarily allowing Brooks to use his previous driver and ball. Of course, he will continue playing Srixon irons and Cleveland Golf wedges. Both parties are fully committed to the partnership, and we are confident Brooks will be back in a Srixon driver and golf ball soon.”
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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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...
Eric Cole WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: PXG Lightning Tour Max (9 degrees) Shaft: Project X Titan Yellow 70 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (15 degrees) Shaft:...
Si Woo Kim WITB 2026 (May)
Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (8.5 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X Mini driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Mini...
Wyndham Clark’s winning WITB: 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D (10.5 degrees) Shaft: Project X Titan Yellow 60 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D Tour (15 degrees) Shaft: Project...
indyvic
Jun 16, 2022 at 7:26 pm
So he switched to improve his game but it hasn’t? So now he’s switching to what he used in the past when he wasn’t winning anymore? So the only difference is the sponsorship $? Cleveland Srixon can’t be happy with this arrangement.
Brooksucks
Jun 16, 2022 at 4:14 pm
Hmmm, on his commercial he said it was the perfect ball. Why wouldn’t you play the perfect ball?
Nepgabound
Jun 15, 2022 at 7:48 pm
Srixons retail stuff is so overrated and overpriced. If you look at half of the clubs in the staff players bags it isn’t Cleveland / Srixon! The high end ball line is so inconsistent, it is just sad because they used to be a great company during the ZUR-S release then QC must have rested on it successes.
Kurt
Jun 15, 2022 at 6:22 pm
You guys didnt want to listen to me. Now he dumped the ball. I’m always correct.
kurt
Jun 14, 2022 at 10:36 am
lol. His strokes gained with the driver is essentially the same as it was, and his iron stats are better.
His putting has dropped off, and of course he had the injuries. But yes, let’s blame this on Srixon.
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kurt
Jun 14, 2022 at 8:33 am
He wont ever win again with Srixon terrible switch for him. The ball, driver, everything.