Connect with us

Equipment

Johnny Miller’s 1973 winning U.S. Open WITB…which includes a pre-war 4-wood

Published

on

In 1973, Johnny Miller shot a final-round 63 to win the U.S. Open. Miller said, “It was the oldest set of clubs [in relation] to the year it was played on Tour in the history of golf.”

A recent tweet from Brian Schneider gave an incredible insight into the clubs in Miller’s bag for that event. Including irons and a 3-wood from 1945, as well as a pre-war 4-wood.

Here is a look at what Miller had in the bag for one of the most memorable rounds in golf history.

Johnny Miller 1973 U.S. Open WITB

Driver: 1961 McGregor Velocitized Tourney (10.5 degrees) D9 swingweight
Shaft:True Temper Dynamic Steel, X Flex, 43.5 inches

270 yards

Miller: “I had to have everything just right, so I refinished my clubs and re-faced them. In ’73, they used persimmon that wasn’t the hard work, I wanted the heavier blocks that had a real tight grain. I wanted a little bit of movement, which means [wood] from the knotty area of the tree.” 

3-wood: 1945 MacGregor Tommy Armour (15 degrees)
Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Steel, X Flex

235-240 yards

4-wood:1941 MacGregor Tommy Armour (19 degrees)
Shaft:True Temper Dynamic Steel, X Flex

225 yards

Irons: 1945 MacGregor Tommy Armour 915T (2-7), 1972 MacGregor Tourney Custom (8-PW)
Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Steel, Stiff Flex, +0.5″ shaft length

2-iron: 210 yards

3-iron:  200 yards

4-iron: 185 yards

5-iron: 175 yards

6-iron:  160 yards

7-iron: 150 yards

8-iron: 140 yards

9-iron: 125 yards

PW (10-iron): 115 yards

Miller: “I cut the irons and reground the bottoms [soles] and the top. You didn’t have much club left, so they had to have a lot of lead tape to bring them up [to proper swingweight numbers]. An extra wrap on the right hand made the grip not so V-shaped.” 

Wedge: 1959 Wilson Dyna-Power  Sand Wedge (58 degrees)
Shaft: True Temper Dynamic steel shaft, stiff flex

85 yards

Putter: 1952 Acushnet Bullseye Old Standard (36″ shaft)

Miller: “No putter ever made feels better than a Bullseye, it’s so soft. The ones before the late ’60’s had a heavier brass alloy, which kept them from getting dinged up all over.” 

Ball: MacGregor Tourney

Miller: “In ’73, I switched to the Tourney ball that Jack [Nicklaus] was using. It was a heck of a ball. It was so hard [101 compression] that it wouldn’t spin and back up quite as much as the softer balata balls. When I switched, my scoring definitely improved.” 

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Chuck

    Feb 19, 2022 at 11:41 am

    This was a fascinating read. Kudos to Matt Vincenzi, and especially to Brian Schneider for the original Tweet.

    It is all interesting, but what blew me away was seeing Miller commenting favorably on the MacGregor Tourney ball of that era. I’ve never seen much of anything that was kind to, or generous about that ball. Nicklaus, it is reliably reported, was ready to quit MacGregor over their lousy balls. Some of Nicklaus’ rivals think that Jack might have won even more, if he hadn’t been stuck with the Tourney. I think it is true, that MacGregor made some changes to the ball around the time that Miller speaks of. How very interesting to listen to Miller talk about that.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Equipment

From the GolfWRX Classifieds: Titleist Vokey Proto Wedges 54M, 60T

Published

on

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.

Continue Reading

Whats in the Bag

Ryan Palmer WITB 2026 (June)

Published

on

Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (9 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Blue RDX 60 TX

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS T1100 70 6.5

5-wood: TaylorMade SIM2 Max (18 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 80 TX

Irons: Srixon ZXiU (23 degrees), Srixon Z785 MB (5-PW)
Shafts: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 100 6.5 (4), KBS Tour 130 X

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (50-08F, 54-10S, 58-04T @59)
Shafts: KBS Tour 130 X

Putter: Odyssey Dual Force Rossie II

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Check out more in-hand photos of Ryan Palmer’s clubs here.

Continue Reading

Equipment

Slab city on the Korn Ferry Tour — Lead Tape Report

Published

on

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. 

Continue Reading

Announcement

Our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use have been updated as of January 29th, 2026. Please review the updated policies here Privacy Policy | Terms of Use. By continuing to use our site after January 29th, 2026, you agree to the changes.

WITB

Facebook

Trending