Equipment

Wie trusts iron game, lucky ball marker in U.S. Open win

Published

12 years ago

Jun 22, 2014

Being a favorite to win a major championship, like Michelle Wie was this week at the U.S. Women’s Open Pinehurst No. 2, is usually more of a curse than a blessing.

It was especially daunting this week because of the USGA’s decision to play the tournament the week after the U.S. Men’s Open… on the same course. That brought more eyes to this women’s professional golf tournament than any in recent memory, making it all-the-more impressive that the 24-year-old was able to accomplish golf’s toughest feat.

Many expected her to win and she did.

Pinehurst’s greens were firm, fast and repelled everything but the best-struck iron shots. That was a huge advantage for Wie, who is one of the few women on the LPGA Tour who has enough swing speed and skill to play muscleback irons (7-PW) and slightly more forgiving forged cavity-back middle irons (5, 6).

She has her 6-foot-1-inch frame and David Leadbetter-approved mechanics to thank for that, and she hit towering cut shots into Pinehurst’s turtleback greens that — unlike most of her competitors — stopped pretty much where they landed. That helped her hit 50 of 72 greens this week, about 11 more than the field’s average.

Click here to see photos of all the clubs Wie used to win the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open.

Wie also averaged 263.5 yards off the tee this week, which doesn’t sound that impressive until you consider her conservative style. In her closing nine holes she hit only one driver off the tee, opting to use her 13-degree Nike Covert 2.0 Tour fairway wood for most of her tee shots.

Those who know a little something about golf equipment also know that most LPGA Tour players don’t often use fairway woods with so little loft. They’re tough to elevate and even tougher to stop on the green. That’s why Wie said she uses the club mostly as slightly shorter, straighter option than her driver, but it’s what she said next that’s more impressive.

“I hardly ever have a shot into a green that’s more than 250 yards, so I don’t really ever have to hit it off the ground,” Wie said.

Why not have two driving clubs then?

And of course there’s Wie’s putting, which most golf analysts have targeted as her weakness and the reason why she hasn’t won the dozens of tournaments they expected from the golf prodigy when she was barely a teenager. It was the best club in her bag this week, though, which might have to do with something she picked up in her home state of Hawaii.

In April, she grabbed her third LPGA Tour victory at the Lotte Championship in Hawaii, but also picked up a ball marker adorned with the Hawaiian state flag. She hadn’t used it since then, but she used it to mark her ball this week. The results? No three putts and the most clutch putting performance of her career.

Could a lucky ball marker really have helped Wie win this week? A better question is this: What happens when one of the LPGA Tour’s best ball strikers starts putting better and feels more confident about her game?

That’s the funny thing about luck. Winners tend to have it; losers don’t.

Equipment

Slab city on the Korn Ferry Tour — Lead Tape Report

Published

20 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

20 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

20 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.”