Equipment

16 Revealing Photos from the RSM Classic

Published

11 years ago

Nov 20, 2015

GolfWRX was live from the 2015 RSM Classic at the Sea Island Golf Club in Sea Island, Georgia. If you missed any of the albums, be sure to check them out here.

It’s a sad time of the year for a golf fan. This is the final official PGA Tour tournament in 2015, although Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge and the Franklin Templeton Shootout are still something to look forward to.

For a gear head, it’s an exciting time of the year, however. Players are more likely to make equipment changes now than mid-year, so it’s interesting to see which players are trying new clubs

We captured some photos of players testing new equipment this week, as well as some other revealing photos. Check them all out below.

Tour protos from TaylorMade

They feature an off-colored, raised sight line, but is it 21.35 millimeters above the putting surface? Check out our review and see what the significance of 21.35 is.

$200 says he can hit it through that door, over the patio, into the river, and make that pelican fly off its perch

You got this shot pards… It’s a hooded 4 iron.

If you haven’t seen Tin Cup, the “Pelican scene” is one of the best scenes in the movie, and possibly any golf movie… and possibly any movie ever. Some A+ commentary from Gary McCord throughout this movie, but especially in this scene. “Can someone get control of that guy?”

Nike Flexberry

RevealingPhotos035 Nike’s new Flex 440 driver looks like the company took a sparkly blue Vapor Fly driver and dipped it into melted RZN like fondue. Its resemblance to a chocolate covered strawberry is astounding.

See more photos of the Nike Vapor Fly Flex 440 driver here.

Warning: If your opponent’s putter looks like this, DO NOT play him for money

You should be weary of anyone that has a wear mark on their putter, no matter where it is. It means they practice hard, have had the same putter for a while and hit the same spot on the club face consistently.

Note to self: Keep my wallet away from Tim Weinhart, a local Georgia PGA Professional.

Here’s his full WITB.

A lead tape masterpiece

This is such a beautiful application of lead tape on Derek Fathauer‘s Callaway V-Series fairway wood. It’s rare to see lead tape applied so crisply, with such artistry. It was clearly cut to match the curvature of the club, which lead-tape connoisseurs are sure to appreciate. But for the love of lead tape, please don’t let Phil Mickelson see this photo. We need not push him off the wagon.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, this should help explain it.

Dru Love’s clubs, like father like son

Is Dru Love playing his father’s old golf clubs? With a SLDR fairway wood, a Mizuno Fli-Hi 2-iron, Ping S55 irons and a Scotty Cameron Tour Rat prototype, it sure appears that way.

See more photos of Dru Love’s clubs here.

Chuckie 3 Sticks is the hero GolfWRX needs

No one tinkers more than Charles Howell III on Tour… well, maybe K.J. Choi. He’s constantly on a chase to become better, and find better equipment. He’s currently testing a PXG 0811 driver with 4 screws — opposed to the standard 5 screws — set in the forward position, thus moving CG forward, most likely for lower spin and a lower flight. He’s also wearing what looks to be FootJoy prototype shoes.

If there was a Gear Head Hall of Fame, Chuckie 3 Sticks would be first ballot.

Another pair of FootJoy prototypes spotted

And some tremendous footwork, too.

Vijay just refuses to stop grinding on the range

Some people have different passions in life. CHIII has golf clubs, Bubba Watson has the hashtag #urwelcome, Keegan Bradley has club twirls, Phil Mickelson has lead tape, Jordan Spieth has winning tournaments and Padraig Harrington has making the sound “eh” in interviews. Grinding on the range from sun up to sun down just happens to be Vijay’s passion.

Question to ponder: Do you think Vijay finds playing golf as an annoyance because it cuts into his range time?

Ouch

Patrick Rodgers, who’s testing Nike’s new FlexBerry 440, just put my back into a pretzel from looking at this photo.

But yet, a smooth finish. Impressive.

Davis Love III showing off new PXG 0311T irons and the USA Ryder Cup bags

I wonder if Tiger Woods will use the same Tour bag this year, except with “Vice Captain” under his name. He just have to change “USA” to… what’s his bag sponsor, again? It’s been too long, Tiger.

Breaking the rules

I see you rules officials with your phones out. NO TEXTING! The guy on the right knows he got caught, too. Such a guilty grin.

Pressure-sensing mats, the newest trend on Tour

If you’ve never used one, they are great way to see how your weight transfers throughout the golf swing.

I need to know…

What is Jason Dufner listening to? What’s on his iTunes playlist? Is it Taylor Swift? Is it Biggie Smalls? Is it the Biebs? If someone could reach out to Dufner to confirm, that would be great.

Peter Malnati’s custom Scotty putter, and an interesting ball selection

The Missouri-grad uses a golf ball with the number 7. Personally, I don’t want numbers on my golf ball that I wouldn’t want on my scorecard…but he just won his first PGA Tour event, and I’m analyzing a close-up photo of his golf equipment. Keep doing you, Pete.

Home course advantage

Harris English is a member at Sea Island Golf Club, host of The RSM Classic. Surely there’s something comforting about using your own locker during a PGA Tour event.

Also, here’s an unexpected answer to a question you’ve never asked: What’s the difference between Harris English and Hudson Swafford, who also played on the University of Georgia golf team. Answer: Nothing!

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.