Equipment
Chicago-inspired Swag covers, CC Sabathia’s WITB and Justin Rose’s old TaylorMade M3 driver
As the FedExCup Playoffs climb toward the pinnacle of excitement with two events to play, the top 50 PGA Tour point earners were dialing in this week at the 2023 BMW Championship to compete for big money, and solidify their spots in the season-ending Tour Championship next week at East Lake.
Compared to “normal” Tour weeks, the early-week equipment testing was relatively slow at Olympia Fields, which makes sense this late in the season, and with this much on the line. That being said, the equipment news was still abound with a few interesting storylines at the BMW Championship this week.
Below are the top-5 equipment notes from the 2023 BMW Championship.
Click to see all of our photos from the 2023 BMW Championship
1) A taste of Chicago Swag
In case you haven’t noticed, Swag Golf has been elevating its connection to the PGA Tour this year. The putter/headcover company has sold its custom products inside official merchandise tents at several events, including The Players Championship, the Valero Texas Open, and the FedEx St. Jude Championship, according to the company.
This week, the Chicago-based company (technically, Northbrook, Illinois), kicked it up a notch for the local event. Inside the official BMW Championship merchandise tents, Swag Golf is selling four different custom headcover designs for the week, featuring Ditka-inspired Italian Beef, Deep Dish Pizza, the Downtown Chicago skyline, and, of course, Chicago dogs.
Swag also created a line of “Iceman” headcovers and putters, which are named after a popular local Olympia Fields drinks, that are selling in the pro shop.
Click here for more photos and discussion in the GolfWRX Forums
2) Rose is running the TaylorMade timeline gamut
Equipment free agent Justin Rose has kept things wildly interesting with his equipment setups this year, especially with the driver. Throughout the year, he’s used the TaylorMade M2 2016, the TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus, and now he’s using the TaylorMade M3 from 2018. He’s just sliding up and down TaylorMade’s driver release timeline.
Also, Rose has switched into TaylorMade’s new MG4 wedges, in addition to his Cobra King MB and CB irons, TaylorMade’s M6 fairway woods, and his longtime Axis1 putter.
Now THAT’S a GolfWRX-approved bag right there.
See Justin Rose’s full 2023 WITB from the BMW Championship
3) CC Sabathia’s lefty gamer setup
CC Sabathia, a legendary left-handed pitcher who used to play for the New York Yankees, Milwaukee Brewers and Cleveland Guardians, played in the Wednesday Pro-Am at the 2023 BMW Championship alongside Scottie Scheffler and Corey Conners.
Read more about CC’s WITB on PGATOUR.com
Sabathia says he took up golf after retiring from the MLB in 2019, and the 15-handicapper has serious power and an eclectic equipment setup. He has a Callaway Rogue ST Max driver, a PXG hybrid, Titleist U-505 driving irons, Mizuno Pro 223 irons, custom-stamped “CC 52” Titleist SM9 Jet Black wedges, and an LA Golf all-carbon putter.
See more photos of CC’s bag here
4) New TaylorMade Spider Tour putters
This week at the 2023 BMW Championship, TaylorMade unveiled four new putter models, including the Spider Tour, Spider Tour X, Spider Tour V and Spider Tour Z.
GolfWRX Equipment Expert Brian Knudson wrote about TaylorMade’s new Spider Tour putters earlier in the week if you’re looking for more information and photos.
5) Chris Kirk speaks on his new Callaway Apex CB irons
Kirk has typically been a blade iron user throughout his career, but last week in Memphis, Kirk switched into Callaway’s new Apex CB irons.
My full story on his switch is over on PGATOUR.com, but here’s a snippet of what he had to say about the new irons:
“Last week [at the FedEx St. Jude Championship], was my first week with them in the bag,” Kirk told GolfWRX.com. “I had them at home for a few months, just kind of testing around with them. But the main reason I put them in, I would say, is because of the consistency out of the rough.
“My older blades were kind of coming out slow out of the rough. If I flew it 330, I would like that. But there were a lot of times, like in Greensboro [at the Wyndham Championship], I’d be 160 out and have an 8 iron and come up short. They were coming out slow. And I would get the occasional jumper. But these are really, really consistent out of the rough. They’re coming out a bit hotter.”
Click to see all of our photos from the 2023 BMW Championship
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...
Benny
Aug 21, 2023 at 3:33 pm
Love it. Thanks Golfwrx!