Equipment

Here’s why Vijay Singh has red numbers written all over his irons

Published

3 years ago

Nov 9, 2023

As one of the hardest-working and most precise golfers in the game, Vijay Singh can see and sense tiny changes in his golf clubs, so it’s important that he’s fully comfortable with the look and feel of his clubs.

On Tuesday at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Phoenix Country Club, I noticed that Singh had big red numbers written all over his Srixon irons.

Interesting.

After a closer look, it became clear that the numbers were each one digit higher than the “actual number” that’s stamped into the sole of the irons by the manufacturer.

So…what’s the deal? Why the mismatching red numbers?

As confirmed by Brian Rhattigan, who builds Singh’s clubs on the traveling Champions/PGA Tour equipment truck, Singh doesn’t like the look of offset on his irons. In case you don’t know, “offset” refers to the distance between the leading edge of the iron face, and the hosel of the iron. If there’s a large gap between the hosel and the leading edge, then the club is said to have a lot of offset.

Again, Singh does not like offset. He prefers the leading edge and the hosel to match, or even have “onset,” which is when the leading edge is actually in front of the hosel.

This makes sense since Singh prefers to play a cut shot, and more offset typically leads to a draw shot trajectory, which would be counter to Singh’s desired ball flight.

Therefore, Singh has each iron bent four degrees weak, which helps to more closely align the leading edge with the hosel and visually reduce the offset of the iron. That’s why Singh writes “8” on his 7-iron, (and so on), because his 7-iron is bent four degrees weak, which effectively makes it his 8-iron.

According to Rhattigan, Singh has been using this tactic for decades, so it’s not the technique that’s any different, it’s just the red numbers. The red writing simply helps reduce any confusion.

See more photos from the 2023 Charles Schwab Cup Championship here.

Related Topics:featured irons Srixon vijay singh

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Andrew Tursky

He played on the Hawaii Pacific University Men's Golf team and earned a Masters degree in Communications. He also played college golf at Rutgers University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

14 Comments

Ryan

Nov 28, 2023 at 11:54 am

Srixon can’t send him a custom set with correct numbers?

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Chuck

Nov 23, 2023 at 8:50 pm

Okay.

I like Vijay, and I like stories about his equipment and work habits.

But my burning question; What sort of red pen writes permanently on nickel chrome?

And with all of the exotic wedge stamping going on, why not just a new-number stamp (and paintfill) on the toe, with removal of all the paintfill from the OEM numbers?

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vajayjay sing

Nov 17, 2023 at 11:51 pm

What a moron, would be easier to just know your iron lofts and that the little number doesn’t matter, just how you relate it to your distances.

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Brian

Nov 17, 2023 at 10:33 am

This is a terrible solution. Just get clubs that work. Now he has a ton of bounce on every iron that either needs to be ground down or what?

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C

Nov 16, 2023 at 7:35 am

Guess he can deal with the extra 4* of bounce because those soles don’t look ground down at all, interesting.

Reply Report comment
Leo

Nov 13, 2023 at 3:41 am

Please dear Srixon/Cleveland weld the old number and stamp a new updated number and degree for Mr. Singh!

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Antler Spray Aficionado

Nov 10, 2023 at 10:52 am

These virtually meaningless arbitrary numbers written on my clubs are all wrong! I’m going to take a red sharpie and give these clubs new arbitrary numbers. Did I hit a 7? No way, see I wrote a red 8 on the club so I hit an 8!

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Pro Jock

Nov 10, 2023 at 10:44 am

So not only does Singh work his caddie to death with his notorious love of practice, but also tries to confuse him with these mismatched irons? Respect!

Seriously though… why wouldn’t Srixon just custom build a properly numbered set? Dude has 3 majors and been a HOF’er since 2006.

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Kevin

Nov 9, 2023 at 2:38 pm

You’d think one giant red number would be enough.

Reply Report comment
jamho3

Nov 9, 2023 at 1:28 pm

It’s be cool if we could see his clubs at address.

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NMBob

Nov 9, 2023 at 1:25 pm

4 degrees, thats some 4 degree of bounce added on those when you change loft

Payne Stewart was similar in he wanted offset, but did not want to see it., and apparently had a set built , by Tom Wishon I think, with the hosel piece hole off center or sanded down on one side so it would look less offset.

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Mike

Nov 9, 2023 at 9:52 am

This article comes across that he go in the truck and has them bent weaker and puts the appropriate shaft length.

With all the custom ability that players have, why not just have a set built the way he likes it; as many players do? To each his own, I guess.

Reply Report comment
Wally

Nov 9, 2023 at 9:43 am

Boy thats going to add some bounce to them clubs

Wk

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