Equipment
Rickie Fowler on his new Cobra King Tour “Black” irons, TaylorMade mini driver
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt of a piece our Andrew Tursky filed this story for PGATour.com’s Equipment. Head over there for the full story.
“Time off allows for some testing or potential change,” Fowler said in a press conference on Tuesday. “In a season, you might have a week or maybe a two-week break, and it’s sometimes tough to make changes in there, or I’m also not someone … I don’t like to make a whole lot of changes unless I have the time to put reps in and have a bit more of an idea how things are going to work.”
Fowler is set to make three different equipment changes this week:
1. He’s adding a 13.5-degree TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper
With a touch of lead tape on the toe for a fade-biased flight, Fowler is adding a TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper into the bag that’s equipped with a Mitsubishi Diamana WB 73TX shaft. Throughout 2024, Fowler has used a standard-sized 3-wood head at 13.5 degrees, but he says he feels like the Mini Driver is, “something very beneficial off the tee, especially at a golf course like this [The Country Club of Jackson] … I’ve seen a lot of good benefits from it.”
The mini driver has grown in popularity on TOUR this season with Jake Knapp winning the 2024 Mexico Open at Vidanta with a TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver in the bag along with Max Homa (TaylorMade BRNR Mini), Tommy Fleetwood (TaylorMade BRNR Mini), Adam Scott (TaylorMade BRNR Mini), Chris Gotterup (TaylorMade BRNR Mini), Cameron Young (Titleist TSR 2-wood), Webb Simpson (Titleist TSR 2-wood) and Akshay Bhatia (Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Ti340 Mini Driver) all playing one at some point during the season.
2. He’s switching into Cobra King Tour Black irons
As for the irons, Fowler is switching to a new, black version of his previous Cobra King Tour irons (4-PW), which means the change here is mostly just cosmetic.
“For the irons, they’re just a black version of the same Cobra King Tours that I was playing, just a different color,” Fowler said on Tuesday. “I thought they looked a little bit better. Put those straight in.”
Head over to PGATour.com to read about the third change.
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...
