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Rory, JT and Spieth make big equipment changes in Memphis, and Penny Hardaway’s SICK custom clubs

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Typically, the FedEx Cup Playoffs mark the start of “slow season” for equipment changes on the PGA Tour. This late in the season, players are already dialed into their gear, focusing on the FedEx Cup prize, and awaiting the off-season to conduct more serious gear testing to make any major changes.

That’s not exactly what we saw this week at the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, though. Big names such as Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth all made changes to their setup this week.

We also got a look at the awesome custom clubs that Penny Hardaway – a former NBA superstar and current head coach for the University of Memphis Tigers men’s basketball team – used during the Wednesday pro-am.

Check out all the gear news you missed from Memphis in this week’s Tour Report below!

Big name WITBs, and their recent changes

With the top 125 players in the FedEx Cup standings collected in Memphis, it was time to dive back into the WITB setups for some of the bigger names on Tour to see if anything has changed. This week, GolfWRX photographer Greg Moore captured WITB photos for Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, Cam Smith, Cameron Young, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy, plus we caught up with Jordan Spieth.

We noticed a few changes.

McIlroy, who’s been changing up his 3-wood head quite often throughout the year, changed up his 3-wood shaft this time. We spotted him using a Mitsubishi Kai’li White 80 TX in his TaylorMade SIM2 15-degree fairway wood for a slight adjustment in spin characteristics.

He’s also using a new 58-degree TaylorMade Milled Grind 3 Raw wedge, made with a standard bounce of 11 degrees, except it was bent by one degree to slightly increase the bounce.

Justin Thomas, who continued using his previous TSi3 driver model through the 2022 Open Championship, made the switch into a new Titleist TSR3 driver, equipped with a Mitsubishi Diamana ZF 60 TX in the D1 hosel setting, this week in Memphis. PGATOUR.com has the full story on the switch, but here’s what JT had to say about the new driver:

“The biggest difference is the spin,” Thomas said after his first-round 67. “When I heel it, it doesn’t spin crazy high and when I toe it, it’s somehow spinning a little more. It’s unbelievable in terms of misses…I like it being a little bit open (the D1 setting delofts the driver by 0.75 degrees and opens the face). I don’t like when I can’t see a lot of face because then I feel like I have to get it up in the air and then I start getting underneath it and that gets the two-way miss going. I feel like when I’m driving it my best, although I like to work it both ways, I feel like I aim at something and rip it and it goes pretty straight and falls right. Kind of letting the openness in the club let it fade a little bit.”

Jordan Spieth played in the 2022 Travelers Championship using a TSR3 driver, but has since switched back into his previous TSi3 gamer. At the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship, however, Spieth switched out his longtime TS2 3-wood for a new TSR3 15-degree fairway (D1 setting), equipped with a Mitsubishi Tensei AV Blue 75 TX shaft.

For more WITB photos from the forums, click here

Playoffs?!

Playoffs? You talkin’ bout playoffs?!

Jim Mora, former head coach for the Indianapolis Colts NFL football team, still has one of the most legendary press conferences ever, as you can see in the clip above.

Odyssey, a putter manufacturer that’s known to make custom headcovers for various PGA Tour events throughout the season, made a Jim Mora-inspired custom cover ahead of the first FedEx Cup playoff event this year.

Mora is to the word “playoffs,” as Allen Iverson is to the word “practice.” A great choice for a custom design from Odyssey this week.

See more photos of the playoff headcovers here

The backstory to one of the coolest wedges on the PGA Tour

Funny enough, one of the coolest wedges on Tour doesn’t actually belong to a PGA Tour player – at least, not anymore.

 

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A post shared by PGA TOUR (@pgatour)

Mike Thomas, father and coach of Justin Thomas, carries around one of his son’s Vokey SM6 wedges every week to use as a walking stick. We’ve written about the wedge before here on GolfWRX, but this week, we collaborated with PGATOUR.com to tell the full story on video, with input from both Mike and Justin. In my somewhat-biased opinion, the video above is well worth a watch if you love custom golf equipment.

Penny Hardaway with a bag full of 1-of-1 custom clubs

Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway, a former NBA superstar and current head coach for the Memphis Tigers men’s college basketball team, played in the Wednesday Pro-Am at TPC Southwind. Mr. 1 Cent showed up with a bag full of mind-blowing 1-of-1 Sub 70 equipment, which he discusses in the video here. The clubs are lasered with the Tigers team logo and Penny’s personal logo, and come with Tigers blue-and-white paintfills (custom work done by @wedge_fx on Instagram).

We also shot photos of Penny’s full WITB; check out some of the highlights below, including his custom staff bag with a shoutout to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics where he helped Team USA win a Gold medal:

New Scotty Cameron, Odyssey and Ping putters 

Apparently, it was a hot week for fresh putters down in Memphis. Scotty Cameron (T-12 proto and Masterful+/Timeless+) , Odyssey Toulon and Ping all unveiled new putters, and we were there to take in-hand photos. Check out a selection of photos below, or click the links above to see more.

New spikes spotted

Lastly, we spotted Ryan Palmer wearing some custom white Jordan shoes equipped with new Soft Spike Tour Flex Pro spikes in their soles. With Penny Hardaway getting a mention in this week’s Tour Report, I found it all-too-fitting to end off the week with a note about sneakers; I wonder what Lil Penny would have to say about them?

And with that, we say goodbye to Memphis, and we’ll see you next week at the 2022 BMW Championship in Wilmington, Delaware.

See all of our photos from the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship here

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.

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Prtal Berita

    Oct 11, 2024 at 6:39 am

    What big change in golf equipment did Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas make in Memphis?

    Regard Prtal Berita

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Whats in the Bag

Christiaan Maas WITB 2026 (June)

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Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D LS (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P770 (3), TaylorMade P7CB (4), TaylorMade P7TW (5-PW)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 10 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold X100

Wedges: TaylorMade Prototype (50-SB09), TaylorMade MG5 (56-HB12, 60-LV07)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S400

Putter: TaylorMade TP Juno

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord

Check out more in-hand photos of Christiaan Maas’ clubs here.

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Equipment

TaylorMade MySpider Tour and Tour X: More customizable build options now available

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TaylorMade Golf’s MySpider program underwent a substantial overhaul over the last month. Firstly, the company launched the option to customize the Spider ZT model, and now the program has returned with the MySpider Tour and MySpider Tour X.

The revamped page now gives golfers complete control over every visual and functional detail of their putter on the popular Tour and Tour X head, with every cosmetic idea thought of. In MySpider Tour, golfers can choose from four head finishes, 16 paint fill colors, nine Surlyn face insert colors, three aluminum insert options, six sightline configurations, and four hosel options — L-neck, small slant, double bend, center shaft. Six sightline options are available in MySpider Tour, including the optically engineered True Path alignment system. MySpider Tour X gives builders the option of four head finishes, four hosel configurations, and five sightline options, also including True Path alignment.

One of the more interesting features of the new MySpider program is the availability of three distinct face insert options. Along with the usual Surlyn Pure Roll insert trusted by Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, which can be customized from nine colors, golfers can now also select firmer options. Two are offered with the black aluminum Pure Roll insert, slightly firmer than the traditional insert, or for the firmest feel, golfers can choose from two colors of milled aluminum inserts.

Another fun addition to the MySpider Tour is the ability to use the “Tommy Sightline.” The custom alignment aid design, which was first drawn onto Tommy Fleetwood’s putter by PGA Tour Rep James Holley, is based on the milled sightline on his Spider ZT head. There are five shorter lines on the left and right of a longer central line serving as the traditional short line alignment aid.

See below for the full specifications sheet for MySpider Tour and Tour X:

MySpider Tour

MySpider Tour X

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Equipment

Then and now: Comparing Rory McIlroy’s current setup to his record-breaking 2019 Canadian Open victory

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In Rory McIlroy’s first appearance at the 2019 RBC Canadian Open, he crushed the record books to earn his 16th PGA Tour title in dominating fashion, winning by seven shots over Shane Lowry and Webb Simpson.

McIlroy’s score of 22-under-par 258 is the lowest 72-hole score to date at the Canadian Open, and his closing 61 is also the best final-round score in the history of one of golf’s oldest tournaments. Finally, with his win in 2019, McIlroy became only the sixth player to win the career Triple Crown, adding to his victories at the U.S. Open in 2011 and The Open Championship in 2014, joining Tommy Armour, Walter Hagen, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Tiger Woods in a coveted list.

So, with that, why not compare his current setup to the clubs he used to break all the records?

Driver

2019: TaylorMade M5 (9 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees @8), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7X (45 5/8 inches)

McIroy led the Tour in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee in 2019; he’s doing the same in 2026. Between now and then, McIlroy has switched from the Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX (a shaft with slightly more feeling in the tip) to the original Fujikura Ventus Black 7X, having just made the change to the heavier version from playing the 60X.

What’s interesting about McIlroy’s 2019 setup is that the weighting on his driver is actually set in the high-draw setting, using the T-Track weighting system, whereas in the Qi4D, he’s currently using a heavily rear-weighted setup. (Two 13-gram weights in the rear and only two 4-gram front weights.)

The TaylorMade M5 driver he played in during his Canadian Open win was the company’s first head that they claimed to design to initially exceed the USGA’s COR limit, and then injected with tuning resin to bring it back in bounds.

Fairway woods

2019: TaylorMade M6 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 80 TX; TaylorMade M5 5-wood (19 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 90 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8X; TaylorMade Qi4D 5-wood (18 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9X

The TaylorMade M6 fairway wood that McIlroy was using during the 2019 season is still in the bag of some of the best golfers on Tour in 2026. Just check out Justin Rose’s winning setup from the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year. This year, though, McIlroy has still been searching for his top-end-of-the-bag setup, having played both the new Qi4D and the Qi10, which he won the Masters with.

The same shaft swap can be seen in the fairway woods as the driver, along with slightly less loft on the 5-wood.

Irons

2019: TaylorMade P750 (4) Buy here, TaylorMade P730 (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0
2026: TaylorMade P760 (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0

The biggest difference between McIlroy’s custom set and the stock P730s is the groove design. While the P730s were constructed with 14 MX-9 grooves on their milled faces, McIlroy’s proto heads instead use the higher-spinning, 16-groove layout of the TW2 grooves. Other big differences between the sets are that McIlroy’s 7- and 8-irons have thinner toplines, are 1 degree stronger in loft, and are 1/4 inch longer than the original P730 builds.

With McIlroy’s 4-iron, the switch from P750 to P760 sees a transition to a two-piece construction with Speed Foam in it, which allows McIlroy to launch the ball slightly higher, with more workability.

Wedges

2019: TaylorMade Milled Grind (48-09SB), TaylorMade MG Hi-Toe (52-09SB, 56-09SB, 60-LB09), Shafts: Project X Rifle 6.5
2026: TaylorMade MG5 (46-09SB, 50-09SB, 54-11SB, 60-08LB @61), Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46-54), Project X 6.5 Wedge (60)

Between 2019 and 2026, McIlroy’s focus on his short game has been much more apparent. It was the reason why he switched back to the TP5 golf ball, to help with launch, spin and control with his wedges leading up to his career Grand Slam victory in 2025. The most apparent changes to McIlroy’s wedge setup are his lofts and bounce. He’s slowly delofted his pitching to a sand wedge, but has increased the loft on the lob wedge, bending his current 60-degree to 61. With that, adding more loft to his lob wedge also slightly increases the bounce and leading-edge sit point, so, as a result, he plays a lower-bounce lob wedge compared to 2019. The MG5 wedges are also softer than the first Milled Grind option from 2019. McIlroy also no longer plays the full-face grooves found on the Hi-Toe.

Putter

2019: TaylorMade Spider X
2026: TaylorMade Spider Tour X

Notice anything similar. Yes, the copper finish on Rory McIlroy’s Spider X putter in 2019 is a slightly more reflective finish than the recently released torched PVD finish. McIlroy was using the True Path alignment system, but now uses only a single white sightline.

Ball

2019: 2019 TaylorMade TP5 (#22)
2026: 2025 TaylorMade TP5 (RORS)

As mentioned above, McIlroy had transitioned from the TP5 to TP5x golf ball since his victory in Canada in 2019, but now is black with the same style of golf ball as his victory at Hamilton Golf & Country Club.

Grips

2019: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
2026: Golf Pride MCC

Interesting, McIlroy actually used Golf Pride’s Tour Velvet Cord grips during his victory in 2019 (it was during a 2+ year switch to the corded TV) as opposed to his usual MCC grips, which he has played for most of his career.

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