Equipment

Rickie Fowler on his new 3D printed prototype putter (and iron shaft switch)

Published

4 years ago

May 5, 2022

Rickie Fowler, who once led the PGA Tour in strokes gained: putting (2016-17), currently ranks 184th in the same category. It’s no secret: Fowler hasn’t been putting up to his standards. In his first 12 events of the 2021-22 season, Fowler has finished inside the top 40 in just one event – a T3 at the 2021 CJ Cup – and missed the cut six times.

He’s not just sitting idly by and trying to get different results from the same approach, however. Fowler has been making frequent equipment changes to better suit his game and preferences.

In his latest changes ahead of the 2022 Wells Fargo Championship, Fowler went back to his familiar KBS Tour C-Taper 125 S+ shafts in his irons, and he’s put a brand new Cobra King Stingray 20 prototype putter in the bag.

On Wednesday before the Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Fowler to get his takes on the new changes. Here’s what he had to say…

On going back to KBS Tour C-Taper iron shafts

Back in January 2021, Fowler switched into Mitsubishi’s MMT graphite iron shafts to help reduce spin and gain stability. Now, in May 2022, Fowler is switching back into KBS Tour C-Taper shafts that he played for years prior to switching into the MMT shafts.

On Wednesday, he explained why.

“Obviously [the shafts are something] that I’ve had plenty of success with in the past,” Fowler told GolfWRX. “I went to the (Mitsubishi) MMTs because I saw it was helping get spin down. Now, (with my swing) being back in a better delivery spot, I was almost too low on the spin spectrum.

“The C-Tapers help get me back to where I want spin to be at. And yeah, I can manipulate loft and stuff like that to get spin where I want and all that, but like I said, something I’ve had success with, know it works, so yeah, I’m just in a good spot right now equipment wise. Not that we were in the wrong spot by any means. The MMTs did what I wanted originally. As things continued to get better, I was looking to add a little bit of spin.”

On his new Cobra King Stingray 20 proto putter

Fowler’s Cobra King Stingray putter also has a different face on it compared to the retail model. It has a solid construction, rather than the retail insert.

Fowler, a longtime Scotty Cameron user, has been experimenting with a number of different putter styles and brands in the last few months and years. In 2021, Fowler used a Cobra putter for the first time in his PGA Tour career, and most recently, he’s been using a TaylorMade Spider GT putter.

This week at the 2022 Wells Fargo Championship, though, he showed up with a custom Cobra 3D-printed Stingray 20 that’s a bit different than the retail model. Can you spot the difference?

Here’s what Fowler had to say about the new flatstick:

“I was messing with the Spider for a bit, which has rolled great. One, I liked the stability part. Two, it was easy to line up. Everything was matching up well. I feel like I was in a spot where I was just struggling to trust where I was lined up, and trusting that it was going to start there. So just making better strokes.

“Then with the Stingray, the one that’s in line has some wings on it. So we made one without those just to condense it a little bit and make it a little more…I don’t like having too much weight in the rear. A lot of mallets, you get weight in the back, where I feel like I’m kind of dragging a lot of times if it’s not a face balanced putter, the face will swing open and I feel like it kind of stays there. So that was the reasoning taking those off. There is a touch of toe hang on it, just to where there is a little bit of swing. The guys at Cobra were able to make that up, and I spent the last two weeks with it at home…

“A little touch up. They’re 3D printed, so that’s what’s nice with a lot of that, and the technology where we’re able to make little tweaks. Instead of having to make a completely new head, they can put that data in and print it up.”

Check out more photos and reactions from GolfWRX members in our forums.

Related Topics:Cobra featured recommended Rickie Fowler

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Andrew Tursky

He played on the Hawaii Pacific University Men's Golf team and earned a Masters degree in Communications. He also played college golf at Rutgers University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

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Equipment

Slab city on the Korn Ferry Tour — Lead Tape Report

Published

16 hours ago

Jun 10, 2026

Andrew Von Lossow

This week, we have our Tour Photographer, Greg Moore, on the ground at the OccuNet Classic at Tascosa Golf Club in Amarillo, Texas, for the 14th event of the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season. With that, we see some great things in the Lead Tape Report as we roll into Amarillo.

Joel Thelen

Monday Qualifier, Joel Thelen is in the field this week. He has played on the Korn Ferry Tour for a full season in 2023, and he is back in action this week. A couple of clubs caught my eye this week in his bag.

First off: His trusted Titleist 816 H2 hybrid. This club came out in October of 2015, and it still remains strong in the bag. Also, take a look at this Odyssey White Hot OG 7, putting a capital S in the 7S model. This custom neck has some impressive lean for an arm-lock-style putter. The bottom of the putter is covered in tape for optimal weighting.

Mitchell Meissner

Taking a look at Mitchell Meissner’s bag this week, we have some great lead tape coverage. Top to bottom working from fairway metals, irons, and wedges. We can see on the short irons and wedges that there is tape at the base of the grip, adding a little counterbalance. Along with that, some tape on the short irons and wedges as well. Moving to his putter, he rolls the Odyssey 7 Bird putter. Meissner putts left-handed and strikes the ball right-handed.

Whats in the Bag

Bud Cauley WITB 2026 (June)

Published

16 hours ago

Jun 10, 2026

Will Schube

Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament.

Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: Titleist GTS3 (15 degrees, B1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 70 TX

7-wood: Titleist GTS3 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 80 TX

Irons: Titleist U505 (3), Titleist 620 MB (4-9)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 8 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putters: Scotty Cameron Tour Prototype, Scotty Cameron GOLO 6.3 Prototype

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

See more in-hand photos of Bud Cauley’s clubs here.

Equipment

Name every set of irons you’ve owned – GolfWRXers discuss

Published

16 hours ago

Jun 10, 2026

Will Schube

In our forums, one user has offered up a prompt for the true sickos, inviting fellow forum members to share every set of irons they’ve ever owned. As to be expected, this is a lengthy forum topic.

@Lamosteve began:

Can you name every set of irons you’ve owned? Here’s mine

Spalding Dots
Spalding Eclipse
Ram Lazer FX
Lynx Parallax
Mizuno EZ Comp
Ben Hogans
Cleveland CG Red
Taylor Made R9s
PING i20
PING iE1
Taylor Made M6

Our members in the forum have been offering up their own collections. Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

macedan: “Started with a hand-me-down Golden Bear set from my brother when I was in high school, never really played more than once a year or got into the game until about summer of 2017. First purchased a set of Cleveland CG4’s (I actually really miss this set sometimes, soft & not terribly large for a GI iron), moved into Nike Vapor Fly’s by the end of the year. Those lasted until spring of 18 when I decided I wanted new, so I traded them in for TM Rbladez. Honestly, although I liked the Rbladez, poor decision on my part, I think this was really about the only time so far that after a week or two I was kicking myself for not staying with what I had. Rbladez stayed with me until late last summer when I switched to P790’s and (knock on wood) I am hoping this will be my longest lasting set.”
JimmyC59: “MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Triple Crown. Palmer The Standard. Still play these.”
jgrzask: “Tommy Armour 845u
Mizuno MP-32
Mizuno MP-33 (2 sets)
Bridgestone J33cb – still own
Srixon i-302 (2 sets) – still own
Tourstage X-Blades – still own
Mizuno Hot Metal – still own
Nike Forged Blades – still own
Titleist 714 AP1 – still own
Cobra Forged SS – still own”

Entire Thread: “Name every set of irons you’ve owned.”