Equipment

Charles Howell III’s winning WITB: 2018 RSM Classic

Published

8 years ago

Nov 18, 2018

Driver: Titleist TS3 (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei AV Blue 65

Fairway woods: Titleist TS2 (15, 21 degrees)
Shafts: Fujikura ATMOS Tour Spec Black 8X, Fujikura ATMOS Tour Spec Black 9X

Irons: Titleist 718 T-MB 4-iron, Titleist 718 AP2 (5-7), Titleist 718 CB (8-PW)
Shafts: Project X LZ 6.5 (hard stepped)

Wedges: Vokey SM7 (52, 56, 60 degrees)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S400

Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour Red

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align

Ball: Titleist Pro V1 (proto)

SEA ISLAND, GA – NOVEMBER 17: Charles Howell lll tees off on the eighth hole tee box during the third round of The RSM Classic at the Sea Island Resort Seaside Course on November 17, 2018 in Sea Island, Georgia. (Photo by Ben Jared/PGA TOUR)

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29 Comments

Ryan Michael

Nov 21, 2018 at 11:50 am

Missing the days when GolfWRX had pictures of winning WITB.

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Fred

Nov 20, 2018 at 4:20 pm

Pxg def pays their players, not a whole lot though. There drivers and woods are not great, but there irons are very good clubs. What they charge us up to them and can’t knock A company for great marketing and sales. Pretty much any Titleist and Tm club iron etc these days are 200-249 pr club with custom shafts. I love Howell, but not a whole lot of competition in this filed. If the club switch is not a fluke, he should be in the winners circle a lot more in the near future! I

Reply Report comment
Bert Gwaltney

Nov 20, 2018 at 10:30 am

I remember watching him play at the Future Masters in Dothan, AL, and him spending many hours practicing his short game at Olympia Spa. A young kid, perhaps 10-12 in knickers, and so dedicated. So glad for him, a great kid then and a great representative of this game now. Play on Charles!

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Jack Nash

Nov 19, 2018 at 11:40 am

He started to play a lot better when he stopped playing the overpriced & overhyped PXG’s. WTG Charles III. You deserved the win.

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bogeyorbust519

Nov 19, 2018 at 10:02 am

I am happy for Chucky 3 Stix!! He has been around for a long time and its great to see him finally back in the winners circle. Once he got rid of that PXG (Parsons Xtreme Garbage) his game turned around, imagine that!! Good for you Chuck!

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Chris

Nov 19, 2018 at 9:43 am

You left out the Orange whip. Does he also have a round grip on his putter?

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golfraven

Nov 19, 2018 at 8:17 am

Titleist baby – switching did him well. The clubs of a player.

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Teats

Nov 19, 2018 at 3:10 am

Awesome putter! Throw out the rest. But, hey, at least he realized PXG was junk.

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Padre

Nov 19, 2018 at 3:00 am

Funky setup. MB in 4 iron and then AP2 to CB. One would have suspected the other way round, MB in short irons, AP2 in mid and CB in long irons. Goes to show, go with what works.

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Pete Daniels

Nov 19, 2018 at 2:25 am

Chucky switches to Titleist and now 33% of his wins come with the big T. He drove that driver so straight and flushed his irons. Solid striker who hit 88% of his greens!

He said he loved the feel of his new clubs in the bag. Based off the hollow of the PXG’s, who could blame him? Overpriced gimmicks that he was stuck with last few years.

Chucky 3 sticks, we love you man!

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Chuckster Barkles

Nov 18, 2018 at 10:15 pm

Yes, cheers to you CH, well done! Hits the ball wicked fah for a skinny guy like me!

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Jamie

Nov 18, 2018 at 9:31 pm

The PX LZ’s are bitchin’ shafts with the V1. Find the right flex and the spin and trajectory are great for most amateurs. A deep face 10.5 low spin driver with the V1 is also a good combo. Good for him.

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aga

Nov 18, 2018 at 7:38 pm

Wicked weapons of golf destruction in Chuck’s WITB arsenal of winning clubs… 😮

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1488 is coming

Nov 18, 2018 at 7:24 pm

Congrats CH3! So nice to see him win again. Hard work pays off!

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Mannyv

Nov 18, 2018 at 6:52 pm

I was pulling for him. It was nice to see him come away with the win

Reply Report comment
Miuralovechild

Nov 18, 2018 at 6:52 pm

Three Sticks is back!! I like those cb’s in the short irons. Reminds me of my Miura cb 202. See ya at Augusta!

Reply Report comment
- Tim
  
  Dec 1, 2018 at 1:41 am
  
  triple sticks, his nickname is chuckie triple sticks
  
  Reply Report comment
The dude

Nov 18, 2018 at 6:18 pm

“Great Diving and iron play this week Charles!”

– Bob Parsons

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- Kyle
  
  Nov 19, 2018 at 1:10 pm
  
  Dudeeeeee….
  
  Reply Report comment
- Kyle
  
  Nov 19, 2018 at 1:10 pm
  
  Dudeeeeee….
  
  Reply Report comment
Bob

Nov 18, 2018 at 6:10 pm

Good to see Charles win again such a down to earth guy with a lot of talent

Reply Report comment
Benny

Nov 18, 2018 at 6:08 pm

Love seeing this. He just got this bag too. I believe I saw him pulling plastic off his wedges the first day. PXG who? Is that the seriously over priced gear that has literally taken the worlds best off the map?
Run while you can guys… run!

Reply Report comment
- Roy McAvoy
  
  Nov 18, 2018 at 7:36 pm
  
  It must be the clubs! Immediate switch and he wins in 11 years. Imagine if you change clubs before every single tournament. You’ll probably win every single one!
  
  Reply Report comment
- Roy
  
  Nov 18, 2018 at 8:38 pm
  
  Would have expected the “worlds best” to have more that 2 PGA wins entering the week??
  
  Reply Report comment

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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.