Equipment
Dustin Johnson explains why he’s using a 9-wood at the 2022 U.S. Open
Back in May, at the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club, it was revealed on the telecast that Dustin Johnson was using a 9-wood for his tee shot on the par-3 8th hole. More specifically, as GolfWRX learned shortly after, the club was a TaylorMade Stealth 9-wood with a whopping 24 degrees of loft (roughly the same amount as a standard 4-iron these days).
In the past several years, 7-woods and 9-woods have become widespread on Tour, and they’ve even started sneaking into the bags of some of the game’s longest hitters and best ball strikers.
Prior to the 2022 PGA Championship, Johnson had already made the leap into the realm of high-lofted fairways, having used a TaylorMade SIM 7-wood and a TaylorMade Stealth 7-wood over the past few years.
But the 9-wood was new for him at the time.
Flash forward to Wednesday at the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., and Johnson still has the 9-wood in his bag. He still keeps a TaylorMade P730 “DJ Proto” blade 3-iron around for certain conditions and courses, but the 9-wood is a first-string starter in his gamer setup, and he has it in play this week at the U.S. Open.
Interestingly, TaylorMade has also confirmed that Johnson doesn’t have a 3 wood in the bag this week, instead opting for a driver-5 wood-7 wood-9 wood setup.
Curious about his thoughts on the 9-wood, and what benefits he sees from such a high-lofted wood, I asked Johnson himself on Wednesday at the 2022 U.S. Open.
Here’s everything he had to say:
“I like my 7-wood so much that I asked Keith (Sbarbaro, the VP of Tour Operations at TaylorMade), ‘Do we have a 9-wood?’
“He’s like, ‘Yeah, we got one.’
“So he got me one and he built it up.
“I started hitting it and it’s…I hit it a lot better than I can hit a 3-iron. More so if I have to hit it into a green; it’s a little bit easier to stop it. I still bring my 3-iron with me for golf courses where I need it off the tee. Probably at like the Open Championship I’ll use a 3 iron instead of [the 9 wood]. It just takes the place of my 3 iron, which honestly…there’s not much difference between a 3 and a 4 iron as far as carry wise. I think a 4 iron is a little easier to get up in the air. So, for me, it just fit really nicely in the bag.
I hit a nice high cut with it, but I can turn it over if I need to. It’s a little bit easier for me to turn it over if I need, especially getting it up in the air and turning it over if I have to. I mean, I can hit a low draw with a 3 iron. It’s gonna roll forever. But to hit one and stop it on the green is a little bit difficult.”
With that being said, I pose a related question to amateur golfers (regardless of handicap): If Dustin Johnson says a 9-wood is easier to hit than a 3-iron, and that his 3-iron carries about the same distance as his 4-iron, then why would any of us still willingly use a 3-iron? I’ll leave that up to the comment section.
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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College Brawl
Apr 26, 2024 at 6:28 am
Wow, that’s really interesting! I had no idea Dustin Johnson was using a 9-wood at the U.S. Open. As a fellow golfer, I can appreciate the precision and control he must be able to achieve with such a short club. It’s impressive to see him pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the sport. Great post!
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oh Translate
Dec 20, 2023 at 12:50 pm
Interesting to know that Dustin Johnson is using a 9-wood at the 2022 U.S. Open, and it’s great to see him experiment with different clubs on the course.
Gordy3279
Jul 5, 2022 at 8:57 am
in all reality today’s 4 iron is a 4+ or a weak 3 iron. I have a solid 4 degree gap on all my irons from 50 degrees to 22 degrees. I do carry a 16.5 4 wood and a 13 degree 3 wood. On some courses there are certain tee shots when I need a good 220-230 shot off the tee so I carry an old 2 iron or in today’s golf a “driving iron”.
Imafitter
Jun 17, 2022 at 11:46 am
Several centuries back I carried a Callaway 7 Heaven and Divine 9, as they were easier to hit than long irons, and hybrids didn’t exist. Today I go from driver to 5w then hybrids, starting my irons at 5. However, personally I find hitting out of the rough much easier with an iron than fairway wood or hybrid, but I am seriously considering replacing my 4h and 5 iron with a 7 & 9 wood. Just depends on the distances.
Justin
Jun 16, 2022 at 11:51 pm
I hit my 4 iron 210. I hit my 3 iron 230. 250 off a tee. That’s not about the same distance.
birdiedancer
Jun 17, 2022 at 7:09 am
ok pro, but the article was about DJ’s bag.. so let’s put u and DJ 230 out, you pull your studly 3 iron, DJ pulls his 9 wood while you giggle the wimp is using a 9 wood lol….who hits the green?
Dan
Jun 20, 2022 at 9:02 am
You’re talking about total distance, DJ specifies carry distance. That’s what matters to them when hitting into greens, carry distance.