Welcome to the Tour Report from the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. If you like insider equipment info, prototype golf clubs, cool custom gear, and even a little bit of drama, you’re going to love this week’s gear report.

As always, GolfWRX was on site from Monday to Wednesday, taking photos of players’ golf gear, and speaking with expert fitters, insiders and players themselves to learn about what’s in the pros bags and why. Fair warning, there was A LOT going on this week, so the Tour Report below is packed.

Let’s dive right in.

All of GolfWRX’s photos from the 2022 U.S. Open

1) Brooks Koepka makes surprising driver and golf ball switch

After Nike stopped making golf clubs in 2016, Brooks Koepka became an equipment free agent, and he stayed a free agent until Novemeber 2021, when he signed with Cleveland-Srixon. Since then, Koepka had been using a Srixon driver and golf ball, in addition to his Srixon irons and Cleveland wedges.

When he showed up on Monday at the 2022 U.S. Open, however, he had his former TaylorMade M5 driver in the bag, and he was using a Titleist Pro V1x golf ball.

Rumors began flying that maybe Koepka and Cleveland-Srixon were on the rocks, or ending their relationship.

The company cleared all of it up in a forthright statement:

“In this early stage of our partnership, Brooks Koepka has validated the performance of the Srixon driver and golf ball. Though performance has been promising, the characteristics are not a perfect fit, yet. To work through this adjustment period most efficiently, we decided to focus our energy on fitting Brooks into the next generation Srixon driver and golf ball prototypes that will debut on tour in the near future—products developed with Brooks’ input and needs in mind. While we get this organized in the next couple months, Srixon is temporarily allowing Brooks to use his previous driver and ball. Of course, he will continue playing Srixon irons and Cleveland Golf wedges. Both parties are fully committed to the partnership, and we are confident Brooks will be back in a Srixon driver and golf ball soon.”

In our “Two Guys Talking Golf” podcast this week, equipment aficionado Brian Knudson and myself discussed our thoughts on Koepka’s changes for the U.S. Open. You can listen to the full podcast on Apple Podcasts here, or in the SoundCloud embed below.

2) Exclusive equipment interviews on GolfWRX’s Instagram

Typically, GolfWRX is the home of gear photos and written stories about golf equipment on Tour. This week, though, we brought the video cameras out (a.k.a. my iPhone camera) and recorded gear interviews with Adam Scott (on his custom Miura irons), Sam Burns (on his Apex TCB attack wedge iron), Justin Rose (about his new Titleist 620 MB irons) and Justin Thomas (on his custom Scotty Cameron putter and Vokey wedges).

To watch those videos, click on the links for each players name in the paragraph above, or head over to GolfWRX’s Instagram page. Below is the Adam Scott interview, where he explains exactly why he switched into the custom 1-of-1 Miura irons, and what’s different about them:

 

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3) Rory explains his dueling 3-woods

All 4 of @McIlroyRory's major championship wins have started with a 3-under or better opening round. pic.twitter.com/JqB0H1pM0M

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 16, 2022

Rory McIlroy has been constantly rotating between different 3-woods throughout the year. At The Players Championship, he first switched into a TaylorMade Stealth Plus 3-wood. Then he switched back into his former TaylorMade SIM Ti at the Valero Texas Open and The Masters. After conducting testing at home prior to the Wells Fargo Championship, he switched into the TaylorMade Stealth model. He used the Stealth again at the PGA Championship, but switched back into the SIM for the Memorial and RBC Canadian Open. This week at the 2022 U.S. Open, he switched back into the TaylorMade Stealth.

Why so much switching? I caught up with McIlroy to get the full breakdown of his dueling 3 woods:

“SIM is almost like a 2 wood. It’s very low spinning. It’s pretty hot. It’s always been a hot head…I can get high 170 ball speed out of it and carry it over 300 yards…some weeks, like Memorial, where, like, 310 yards is a really good distance off the tee; it’s good for weeks like that…I got these two 3 woods that I travel with…the Stealth I carry 285 to 290. It’s a little weaker, a little spinnier, sort of more just to get it in play. The SIM is a little hotter, a little lower spin, sort of get it out there a little more… [the Stealth is] a little more workable. A little more spin. A little more in control. That SIM 3 wood I spin it at like 2600-2700 rpm. It’s like a mini driver.”

Simply put, McIlroy uses the two different 3-woods for different purposes depending on course layout and conditions. He plays the TaylorMade SIM at 13 degrees, and the TaylorMade Stealth measures 13.75 degrees.

Check out our full report of Rory’s 3-wood switchups over on PGATOUR.com

4) 40 “What’s in the Bag?” galleries in the GolfWRX forums

GolfWRX’s legendary photographer Greg Moore was on fire this week, capturing 40 different WITB galleries and thousands of gear photos. Check them all out over on the GolfWRX Forums.

Unbiased journalism aside, my personal favorite among the WITB posts was of Chris Gotterup’s setup. Gotterup recently turned professional, and he’s a fellow former Rutgers University golfer (although he transferred to the University of Oklahoma to finish his collegiate career, where he recently won the Haskins Award that goes to the United States’ top collegiate golfer). I don’t recall any former Rutgers golfers ever playing in a U.S. Open, so us Scarlet Knights are particularly proud of Gotterup’s success. He finished 7th in the PGA Tour University rankings, earning exemptions on a PGA Tour international tour, PGA Tour Canada, and the second stage of the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament. He also finished T7 at the 2022 Puerto Rico Open in his PGA Tour debut.

Still an equipment free agent, Gotterup plays a mixed setup, including a TaylorMade driver (he was testing between the SIM2 and Stealth drivers at the U.S. Open), raw Callaway Apex MB irons, TaylorMade Milled Grind 3 wedges, and a PXG Bat Attack putter.

Check out Gotterup’s full WITB here.

5) Cam Smith shortens up his driver length

To combat recent struggles with the driver, Cam Smith worked with Titleist tour fitter J.J. Van Wezenbeeck this week to find a solution. They ended up cutting Smith’s Titleist TSi3 driver down a half-inch to 44.5 inches; he stayed with the same Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 6X shaft. The length changeup required adding weight back into the head to keep swing weight the same, and it resulted in Smith tightening dispersion and gaining control over workability.

We went deep into the change over on the PGA Tour’s Equipment Report.

Speaking of Fujikura Ventus TR shafts, the company unveiled a custom Folds of Honor 1/50 shaft at the U.S. Open this week. Learn more about the shafts and enter the giveaway here.

6) Ping unveils all-white PLD prototype putters

 

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Ping unveiled two new PLD prototype putters with an all-white finish this week at the U.S. Open. While the white finish may seem brand new for Ping, a company representative told GolfWRX that Ping actually experimented with white putters back in the 1960’s and 70s.

Still in the prototype phase, Ping isn’t revealing details on the new putters yet, but you can check out our photos of the two white mallets in the GolfWRX Forums.

7) Three filthy custom putters

These three putters are just too cool not to highlight. Pictured above are Lanto Griffin’s blacked-out Scotty Cameron Tour Only T7, Kevin Chappell’s Bettinardi QB6 DASS, and Gary Woodland’s Squareback 2 with a super long neck.

I was able to speak with Griffin about his new Scotty, which he switched to for the final round of the Memorial:

“[I switched] for the final round of The Memorial. I was in like 65th or something. I haven’t been putting that great. I love my old putter, the SIK putter. It’s been really good to me. But, the T7, they gave it to me a couple months ago. I make everything on the putting green with it, but it’s hard to change from a gamer to something new… I think I gained 2.3 strokes gained putting with a 3 putt from 6 feet. We figured we’d use it Monday in the qualifier, it went great, so we’re going to give it a go. It feels really good.

“It’s black and it’s got some white lines on it. It looks great. It looks very similar to my SIK putter I’ve been using for 5 years. It’s hard to go away from a gamer, but everyone once in a while you try something new and it invigorates you a little bit. And to make the other one jealous, it might wake up.”

8) Inside info on U.S. Open wedge changes

Golf ain’t no hobby for Kevin Kisner, and wedge fitting/building ain’t no hobby for Vokey rep Aaron Dill, who worked with Vokey users all week to get them dialed in with their wedges.

Speaking with Dill on Wednesday, he provided great insight into what the players are dealing with around the greens at The Country Club, and what changes they’re making to combat the challenges:

“[The U.S. Open setup has] compact bunkers, heavy and dense rough, unique greens requiring precise landing spots and tight-cut runoff short game areas. This combo encouraged many to get fresh grooves, and if you came with a mid-high bounce wedge, it was a good time to test less bounce. The other common thing players mentioned was the rough, and the way it slows down wedges [at impact].”

9) Custom U.S. Open gear from the OEMs

At every major championship, golf manufacturers create custom gear for the players to use during the event. The 2022 U.S. Open was especially packed with festive designs inspired by the host city of Brookline, nearby city of Boston and The American flag. They are all deserving of a round of applause for the awesome designs this week.

See all of our photos of the custom gear here.

10) Collin speaks on his new mallet and dedicated U.S. Open wedge

After using a blade-style TaylorMade TP Juno putter for most of his professional career, Collin Morikawa switched into a TaylorMade Spider GT Rollback mallet putter at the Memorial. Also, Morikawa travels every week with 3-4 lob wedge options, but decided on a TaylorMade MG Hi-Toe option with 7 degrees of bounce on it this week.

We spoke with Morikawa about both of those equipment decisions on Wednesday at the U.S. Open. Check out our full story over on PGATOUR.com, or read a couple brief snippets of what he had to say below.

On his Hi-Toe wedge…

“When people talk about U.S. Opens, they always talk about the rough and tough conditions. I think every U.S. Open I’ve used a Hi-Toe. …When there’s really long rough and the ball sits down, and you’re going to have a lot of different lies, I think the Hi-Toe obviously gives you a lot more surface area on the face to hit the grooves. It just allows you to get away with the misses. I think it’s a lot easier to chip out of the rough. If you find a grind that works out of the fairways, it’s awesome. To be honest, I don’t know why I don’t use it more. It works.”

On his putter…

“I’ve had a little inconsistency with my blade off the face, just speed wise. And I think that’s the biggest thing; matching your speed and what you feel. It just hasn’t been coming off the face great. I gave this [Spider GT Rollback] a try…it has wider grooves. I don’t really know the science behind it. It just comes off the face how I want, and that’s the biggest thing. At least it’s reacting to how I’m feeling. And from there hopefully we can put a good stroke on it.”

11) DJ explains why he’s using a 9-wood

Dustin Johnson switched putter grips this week to a SuperStroke 2.0 PT grip, which has a slightly different shape and larger size than his former grip. Johnson said he simply likes the way his hands fit on the grip, and he’s staying with his longtime TaylorMade Spider Tour Limited black putter head.

He also has a 9-wood in the bag. Yes, it’s a TaylorMade Stealth 9-wood with 24 degrees of loft. To figure out why he’s using such a high-lofted fairway, I asked Johnson for his take on it:

“I like my 7-wood so much that I asked Keith (Sbarbaro, the VP of Tour Operations at TaylorMade), ‘Do we have a 9-wood?’

“He’s like, ‘Yeah, we got one.’

“So he got me one and he built it up.

“I started hitting it and it’s…I hit it a lot better than I can hit a 3-iron. More so if I have to hit it into a green; it’s a little bit easier to stop it. I still bring my 3-iron with me for golf courses where I need it off the tee. Probably at like the Open Championship I’ll use a 3 iron instead of [the 9 wood]. It just takes the place of my 3 iron, which honestly…there’s not much difference between a 3 and a 4 iron as far as carry wise. I think a 4 iron is a little easier to get up in the air. So, for me, it just fit really nicely in the bag.

I hit a nice high cut with it, but I can turn it over if I need to. It’s a little bit easier for me to turn it over if I need, especially getting it up in the air and turning it over if I have to. I mean, I can hit a low draw with a 3 iron. It’s gonna roll forever. But to hit one and stop it on the green is a little bit difficult.”

The lesson here? Don’t be afraid to try out high-lofted fairways and ditch your long irons. Even DJ says they’re easier to hit.

Read more about the 9-wood here.

And with that, we say goodbye to Brookline and the 2022 U.S. Open. We’ll see you next week in Connecticut for the Travelers Championship.

For more gear insight from this week, don’t forget to listen to our latest “Two Guys Talking Golf” podcast below!