Equipment

14 Revealing Photos from the PGA Championship

Published

11 years ago

Aug 14, 2015

GolfWRX was live this week from the season’s final major — a.k.a Glory’s Last Shot, a.k.a the PGA Championship. This year it’s at Whistling Straits, which means one thing — a long week of questions about bunkers and Dustin Johnson.

If you missed any of the photos from this week, browse the galleries here:

Jordan Spieth’s Grand Slam conquest ended at The Open, but there’s still some captivating storylines heading into the week such as:

Can Tiger Woods not finish at the bottom of the field at a major?
Can Rory McIlroy hold onto his No. 1 spot despite his recent ankle injury?
Will anyone ground their club again despite urinal reminders?

So many questions, so much excitement. But for now, let’s reveal some photos.

Cheesy PGA Championship gear

Wisconsin is known for its cheese, plus it’s home to Green Bay Packer fans, otherwise called “Cheeseheads.” So Callaway and its putter brand Odyssey honored the state’s long history of cheese.

01ba33245c7f98d38967088abec6a7a1 And a tasty touch with brats and beer zippers.

John Daly bringing boomerangs back into style

That’s what boomerangs do; they go away and then come back.

Honestly, I’m not sure boomerangs were ever actually IN style, but don’t be behind the curve without the LoudMouth Boomerang Black-A pants in your wardrobe.

There’s always that one guy…

No one else needs an umbrella, man. It’s clearly not raining that hard, and you’re blocking everyone’s view of Rory. This is such a spectating foul. Wear a rain jacket and a hat and leave your umbrella in the car.

Fourteen Golf’s new UT511 HyWoods

c68d590cdff7169987f54949fdad1b0a It’s called a utility club, and looks like a cross between a hybrid and a fairway wood. A hybrid of a hybrid, if you will.

Always read the fine print

“$25,000 to the charity of your choice” actually means $12,500 to the charity of your choice. Of course the money goes to a charity regardless, so it’s a win-win.

The real charitable donation, however, was the one made from Bubba Watson. He graciously donated his time and energy to the fans and PGA of America by hitting one drive, with his driver, at the 2015 PGA Championship Long Drive Competition.

The world: “Thanks, Bubba!”
Bubba: “#urwelcome”

Say what you want about Bubba, but he does have a unique WITB.

Gear heads: “Awesome pink driver, sick 7 wood, sweet custom shafts, and beautiful putter finish!”
Bubba: “#urwelcome”

David Howell’s yardage reminders

Not sure whether these golf club cheat sheets are for himself or his caddy, but cool to see regardless.

My best guess is that those are Howell’s full-swing, three-quarter-swing, half-swing and quarter-swing yardages, but don’t hold me to it.

Based on the cheat sheet, Howell’s 4-iron flies 205 yards. Nothing to write home about.

Matt Kuchar’s Bettinardi Armlock training band

For any golfer looking to switch over to an arm lock putter and grip, this Bettinardi armband could be useful. Or you can surely accomplish the same thing with a wrist band and some duct tape.

9d69241980a2bdcc8b09558c243c5778 Also, it looks as though Kuchar is testing out the new Matrix prototype shaft — possibly the same model being used by Rickie Fowler — against a Fujikura Speeder Evolution.

Keep an eye on which shaft he decides to use in his Bridgestone J815 driver this week.

Adam Scott giving Glory’s Last Shot new meaning

This is the last major championship that anchored putters will be legal to use — the ban takes effect Jan. 1, 2016 — so this will be the last we see of Adam Scott’s anchored putting style in a major.

But will he give up the long putter itself? Our insider says no:

Scott and short putters just don’t get along, do they? We’ll find out in 2016.

What hole is this at Whistling Straits?

The don’t-go-left hole.

Weekly sneaker heat

If you’re looking to step up your shoe game, just stick with me, I’ll show you the way. Buy these Jordan Flight Flex Trainer 2’s (Wolf Grey, Black/White) here.

Two 7-irons for Kevin Chappell? What’s the deal?

And one has a SuperStroke Flatso 1.0 grip on it, the same model used by Jordan Spieth… on his putter.

Either he uses that the club a chipping option around the green, or it’s a training aid of sorts.

Chambers Bay looks beautiful this week for the PGA Championship

Err… I mean Whistling Straits. Same thing, right?

What happens if Cameron Smith plays with Zach Johnson?

The whole “somebody’s closer” thing kind of backfires when ZJ sticks every wedge to 2 feet right in your face.

Since I’m a man of the people, here’s a gallery of some awesome Scotty Cameron’s.

Enjoy the year’s last major!

Equipment

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

Published

1 hour 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.