Equipment
Phil Mickelson’s potentially shocking driver change at the 2023 Open Championship
Phil Mickelson’s bag setup at the 2023 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club might look a lot different than it did at the 2023 U.S. Open just last month.
After masterfully finishing T2 at The Masters to kick off Major Championship season in 2023, Mickelson followed up the performance with a lackluster T58 at the PGA Championship, and a missed cut at the U.S. Open.
Now, it looks like lefty is switching things up at the top end of his bag for the year’s final major.
Rainy conditions on practice day #3. #TheOpen pic.twitter.com/wpAJp0xN75
— Phil Mickelson Tracker (@TrackingPhil) July 18, 2023
Mickelson – who’s used a Callaway driver throughout most of his legendary career (he used a Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond in 2023) – was spotted on Wednesday at Royal Liverpool using a Ping G430 LST 9-degree driver during a practice round at the 2023 Open Championship.
Phil Mickelson swinging a Ping driver at the Open today ? pic.twitter.com/rR8o5NnFDd
— Dylan Dethier (@dylan_dethier) July 19, 2023
While the potential switch is certainly shocking, Mickelson actually switched into a Ping G430 Max 15-degree fairway wood prior to LIV London in July. According to a Ping rep, Mickelson requested a number of driver options to be built up for Open Championship week.
It appears that Mickelson found his match with a Ping G430 LST 9-degree head, equipped with a Fujikura Ventus Blue 6X shaft. At least, he liked that one enough to bring it out onto the course for his Wednesday practice round.
Of course, there’s no guarantee that’s the driver he’ll tee it up with on Thursday, but he’s serious enough about making the driver change to test it out on the eve of Thursday’s opening round.
We’ll keep an eye on Mickelson’s driver and fairway wood choices as Open Championship week at Royal Liverpool continues.
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...
Mikey
Jul 19, 2023 at 5:40 pm
He should play all Ping. Call him the G Man.
Bob
Jul 19, 2023 at 5:06 pm
Doing espionage for Callaway on links conditions performance? Just a thought.
DG
Jul 20, 2023 at 6:43 am
Right. Is that why he switched his 3 wood to ping earlier in the month? Another idiot heard from.