Equipment
WRX Spotted at U.S. Open: Justin playing just Rosey with new TPT
We are a little more than halfway through the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, and so far the course is giving and taking as much as you would expect from a perfect setup by the USGA.
Taking the lead on Thursday and continuing to lurk into the weekend is Justin Rose. Since we have been paying close attention to his Honma golf bag all year, we noticed a shaft change in his Tour World driver.
We reached out to TPT to see if we could get an update on what Rose has put in play for what is often referred to as one of the toughest driving weeks of the year. Here’s the inside info
“Justin has put into play a TPT Golf 14 MKP-LT-SW shaft in his Honma driver. This shaft is a full 10 CPM ( Cycles per Minute ) stiffer than the 15 LKP-LT-SW shaft that he put in play at The Memorial after testing it that week. It’s also different in that it has a Mid Kick Point (MKP), where as the 15 LKP-LT-SW has a Low-Kick-Point (LKP) design.”
From a technical and fitting perspective (generally speaking) a lower kick point shaft will hit the ball higher with more spin compared to a mid or high kick point shaft if all other factors are equal. We don’t have access to his driver numbers but with the U.S. Open being played on what can always end up as a windy venue the theory would be that this change to the MKP is to help keep ball flight lower and more controlled — which will also be a benefit next month at the Open Championship.
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.
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
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”
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Bud Cauley WITB 2026 (June)
Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament. Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura...
Hannah Green WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: Titleist GTS3 (10 degrees, D4 SureFit setting) Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Diamana RB 53 S 3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees,...
Asterisk Talley WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 S 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (16.5 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue...
Brianna Do WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (9 degrees) Shaft: KBS PGW 3-wood: Callaway Elyte Titanium (15 degrees) Shaft: KBS PGW 5-wood:...
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nolongerKucherfan
Jun 17, 2019 at 7:31 pm
I get a kick how everyone is so impressed with all the letters and numbers shaft manufacturers include in the names….like stupid car names …audi A4 Allroad quatro (you can drive it on all roads I guess…included in the price). Audi A43Sportbac etron….(sounds like a sportsbra).
Ray Baker
Jun 17, 2019 at 2:45 pm
JR was playing to Tensei Orange on Sumday. Not this shaft…
Jack
Jun 16, 2019 at 7:02 am
What a suprise….Golf WRX takes something that a member brought up in the forums well before the article came out and claims they “spotted” it.
Mat
Jun 15, 2019 at 10:32 pm
Matt kuchar eats bung hole.
matt
Jun 15, 2019 at 4:03 pm
To be sure TPT’s LKP, or low kick point, designated shaft is any thing but tip soft. Golfshaftreivews.com has covered these products. He uses a tip/butt ratio, which basically says how tip the butt is compared to the tip. The tip on the LKP shafts is quite to very stiff (compared to the butt, which is all that matters as far as a profile is concerned). The MKP is off the charts tip stiff. In other words, the LKP shaft has a tip/butt ratio similar to Tensei pro orange, one of the stiffest tip shafts around.
Granted I’ve never swung a TPT shaft, they have a lot of crazy tech going on, not to mention some bizarre balancing. Its an individual product for sure. But to go by the “low kick point” designation is absurd.
Realist
Jun 15, 2019 at 10:00 pm
Get over yourself buddy
matt
Jun 16, 2019 at 1:18 pm
Lol ok. just thought a shaft in the 98th percentile of high kick point shafts calling itself LKP was sorta noteworthy on a site fully devoted to golf gear.
Cris
Jun 17, 2019 at 3:36 am
Thanks for sharing, Matt. Appreciate the insight.