Equipment

Products you need to know from the 2012 PGA Show

Published

14 years ago

Jan 30, 2012

Zak Kozuchowski

By Zak Kozuchowski

GolfWRX Managing Editor

Big product releases are usually the draw at the PGA Merchandise Show, but there were a few lesser known products that generated a lot of buzz at this year’s event. Here’s three products you need to know about from the 2012 PGA Merchandise Show.

SCOR

Industry standards for iron lofts have gotten stronger in recent years. Yet wedge loft offerings have stayed nearly the same, leaving golfers with a problem. They don’t have a pitching wedge any more.

“Companies haven’t been making pitching wedges for a long time,” said Terry Koehler, president of SCOR Golf.

For that reason, SCOR produces a line of clubs with lofts from 41 degrees to 61 degrees, which the company hopes will help golfers fill the gap that stronger short irons create in their bags. To make things even easier on golfers, SCOR wedges are offered in only one sole grind, the company’s V Sole.

“We don’t believe in different options on grind,” Koehler said. “We build a low bounce into the main part of the sole so it will work from tight lies, and a very aggressive bounce in the leading edge so that it will perform from soft lies. The idea of custom grinding a sole for the vast variety of lies you could face in any given round of golf to me is pretty hard … your lies change continually. (Wedge designers) talk about fitting your sole to your swing type, well if you’re a really good player you vary your swing type for the kind of shot you’re trying to hit, and if you’re an average to poor player you’re not really sure what your swing type is going to be from swing to swing.”

The custom built golf clubs will be available at select fitting centers across the country, and start at $149 for an individual wedge.

I hit the 44 degree model (the same loft as my Miura CB-202 9-iron) on the range, and was impressed with the club’s more compact profile and lower trajectory on full shots. On chips and pitches, the V grind proved very versatile, and was definitely an improvement over my 9 iron on smaller shots.

Swiftwick

SwiftWick socks were featured in our GolfWRX last minute holiday gift guide past because of the huge following the sock company gained on the PGA Tour in win 2011. At this year’s PGA Merchandise Show, I finally had the opportunity to don the company’s much hyped socks.

I squeezed my size 12s into Swiftwick’s Vibe Zero sock on Friday for day No. 3 of frantic coverage and the endless walking required from a GolfWRX staff member. The first thing I noticed was how snugly the socks fit around my heel.

All of Swiftwick’s socks are seamless, and constructed at a 200-needle standard, which means they provide compression throughout the entire sock without any friction points. My aching feet were immediately rejuvenated, like I was being given a foot massage as I walked the floor. My feet also felt cooler inside my sweat saturated Ecco Street golf sneakers. Since the fabric wasn’t slipping, my feet felt much more stable inside my shoe, a feeling that later translated into more stability in my golf swing.

The Vibe line is a litter thicker than Swiftwick’s thinnest socks, the Aspire line. And while I’m not usually a fan of thin socks, but I loved the feel of the Vibe and the Aspire, which I later sampled.

It wasn’t long before I returned to the Swiftwick booth for the Aspire 12s, a knee-high length sock that I hoped would give my ankles and calves the same treat mean my feet had just received. While I was there, I also picked up Swiftwick’s Performance Sleeves, which I thought was one of the most thoughtful products at the 2012 PGA Merchandise Show.

I wasn’t disappointed by the performance of the Aspire 12s, and during testing days later I found Swiftwick’s sleeves to be perfect for cold weather practice sessions. The sleeves fit snugly from just above the elbow to the wrist, and provided warmth and compression without the straight jacket feeling of multiple layers and compression shirts. Like Swiftwick’s Aspire, Vibe and Performance sock lines, the sleeves are made of Olifin, a naturally moisture wicking fabric, which makes them playable in warmer weather conditions as well.

My personal favorite product from Swiftwick, however, is the company’s Pursuit sock line, which is constructed completely of merino wool. The socks cost a little more than the other models and are the thickest socks the company produces.

Swiftwick gives cotton socks a swift kick in the behind. Prices range from $9.99 a pair to $34.99 for the knee-high 12s. The sleeves are $24.99.

Putting Alley

The Putting Alley training aid is going to make you a better putter.

It works like this.

1. You place your ball in a small depression on one end of the 27-inch training aid.

2. You try to putt the ball down the raised surface without having it fall off.

3. You practice, and miss fewer short putts.

Check out the video below with Putting Alley Vice President of Sales, Tim Maloney. I couldn’t pull out my credit card fast enough to get mine.

Click here for more discussion in the forums

Want to write for GolfWRX? Click here for more information.

Equipment

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

Published

2 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Alistair Cameron

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.

Equipment

From the GolfWRX Classifieds: Titleist Vokey Proto Wedges 54M, 60T

Published

4 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Will Schube

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, @Putt4Dough is selling some prototype wedges from Vokey Wedgeworks. These include a 54 degree wedge with the M grind and a 60 degree wedge with a T grind.

From the listing:

(1) Titleist Vokey Proto Wedge 54M with a Tour Issue DGS400 shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet (logo down). Standard length, lie, and loft. BB&F ferrule. Raw wedge in good condition. No initials. Price is $200 shipped. Buy both wedges for $380 shipped.

(2) Titleist Vokey Proto Wedge 60T with a KBS Tour 130X shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet. Standard length, lie, and loft. Raw wedge in good condition. No initials. Price is $200 shipped. Buy both wedges for $380 shipped.

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.