Equipment
Cracked driver forces Dustin Johnson to use two 3-woods at Liberty National
Dustin Johnson shot a round of 1-under par at Liberty National on Thursday, and under the circumstances, it was one of his best under-par rounds of the year.
The 37-year-old encountered adversity in New Jersey when he noticed a crack in the crown of his driver right before his round. With no replacement, DJ had a 3-wood retrieved from his car, which made its way into his bag on the second hole.
Explaining his setup from then on, DJ told the media
“I’ve got a 5-wood that I use for my 3-wood. It goes the distance I want it to. But I had a strong 3-wood (14.5 degrees) in my car, so it helped a little bit … the first time I hit it was on 8. Just, I hadn’t hit it. It was brand new. So I hit it down the middle on 8, hit a good one, hit a good shot on 9. I hit it nicely, though, with it.”
Johnson gained half a stroke off the tee despite not having his trusty driver in his bag, and he believes that even if the 3-wood wasn’t retrieved from his car, he’d have been just fine: “I would have figured out a way. I figured out a way to shoot a decent score.”
As for Friday’s round, expect to see DJ with a driver as Keith Sbarbaro, TaylorMade’s Tour rep, has come to the American’s aid: “I’ve got a couple heads that I’m going to go try to hit. Keith got me a couple heads.”
The extra 3-wood wasn’t the only big change in Johnson’s bag on Thursday either, who decided to sub in his old TaylorMade Spider, having been playing a blade-style gamer in recent weeks.
“I switched back to the Spider right before the round. I’ve been using my blade for a while. I was hitting some putts on the putting green this morning, and it didn’t feel too good, so I went and grabbed my Spider.”
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...
Hulk Hogan
Aug 20, 2021 at 6:10 pm
Must’ve got one of those bootleg Chinese drivers. Hard to tell when they both come out of the same dump, brother.
Pi
Aug 20, 2021 at 5:07 pm
I am surprised he didn’t bring a spare driver or driver head. If there is one club they break, it’s that one
Brandon
Aug 20, 2021 at 12:12 pm
Is it illegal to carry a backup head in your bag? If it is, that rule serves absolutely no purpose and should be done away with.
Benny
Aug 21, 2021 at 9:08 am
Its not and if you have extra clubs you can flip them over or just toss them in your car/locker. I doubt he was driving his own car. Most times the extras they bring are left in the free Mercedes rentals.