Why Scottie and Collin Are Playing High-Lofted Fairway Woods at a Major Championship
The second major of the year is here at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte. Rory, Scottie, Collin and Tommy headline a stacked field for Team TaylorMade that also includes six PGA Professionals.
We were on the grounds at Quail Hollow to bring you the inside scoop. Let's go!
NO LOFT IS TOO HIGH
One of the biggest equipment storylines this week has been high-lofted fairway woods. With Quail Hollow being a long golf course, players have been strategizing how to get onto greens on Par 5’s and have optimal launch conditions on the long Par 3’s.
“The golf course is long and firm which matches the performance characteristics of high-lofted fairway woods,” said Adrian Rietveld, Senior Tour Manager. “We have had a lot of rain this week and the golf ball was still getting a lot of bounce onto the greens.”
Additionally, similar to earlier this year at Torrey Pines, high-lofted fairway woods are the best option out of the rough.
“You just can’t beat a seven wood or a nine wood versus an iron out of the rough. Any fairways that are missed, the rough is long and thick. The second the ball sinks down into the rough and you need to advance it on a long par-four or par-five, a high-lofted fairway can get you much further than an iron,” adds Rietveld.
We went straight to the practice range on Monday to get the scoop straight from the source. Check out Collin's answer as to why he's playing a 9-wood this week.
In testing last week at the Truist Championship, Collin was looking to get to the 225 carry number more consistently.
“With the 9-wood he not only got the carry he was looking for, but launch angle and forgiveness were better as well," said Rietveld. "Because of the forgiveness, he can be more aggressive into greens while being able to hit it at least 15-feet higher. We made it a half degree flatter this week so he could hit the straight shots he wanted with the ability to also cut it.”
- FINISHED LOFT: 22˚
- LIE: 58.25˚
- SHAFT: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX
- TIPPING: 2″
- LENGTH: 41″ EOG
- SWINGWEIGHT: D3
- GRIP: Golf Pride Tour Velvet 58R, logo down, 1 extra wrap + 1 lower hand
For reasons similar to Collin, Scottie Scheffler brought his Qi35 7-wood that he played at Torrey Pines onto the range on Tuesday for testing. His 7-wood launches about 1.5-2 degrees higher than his three-iron with about 1500 more RPM of spin. The goal was getting to a 240 carry number more consistently than he does with his three-iron. Scottie’s self-dubbed “high one” launched at 14.9° at 5175 RPM carrying 245-yards at 160 MPH ball speed.
Compared to his spec at Torrey Pines, Rietveld made the 7-wood more upright to get it squarer at address.
- FINISHED LOFT: 20°
- LIE: 60°
- SHAFT: Ventus Black 9X
- TIPPING: 2’’
- LENGTH: 41 3/8'' CUT
- SWINGWEIGHT: D4
- GRIP: Tour Velvet Rib 58
- WRAPS: 6 Double Sided Tapes
WELCOME TO RORY MCILROY COUNTRY CLUB
Rory McIlroy arrived to Quail Hollow on Tuesday all smiles as he began his quest to win two consecutive major championships. I would be all smiles too if I was preparing to play a golf course where I have won four times and am the only player to have a scoring average under 70.
Rory began his prep on Tuesday spending about 30 minutes at the short game area working on short chips, longer pitch shots and bunker shots. He had complete control of his TP5 golf ball on every shot.
TOMMY'S SPIDER SUCCESS
Tommy Fleetwood continues to game his Spider Tour Black putter that he put into play at the RBC Heritage. Last week at the Truist Championship, Tommy gained 1.14 strokes on the greens, including 2.66 strokes on Sunday. His putter includes custom sharpie lines inspired by the micro milling of the Spider ZT prototype.
- HOSEL: Short Slant
- LOFT: 2.5°
- LIE: 69°
- LENGTH: 34’’
- SWINGWEIGHT: E0
- INSERT: Pure Roll
- GRIP: SuperStroke 2.0 Mid Slim
TAYLORMADE'S PGA STAFF PROFESSIONALS IN THE FIELD
Team TaylorMade has six staff professionals in the field this week amongst the 20 that qualified at the PGA Professional Championship. Led by PPC champion Tyler Collet, our PGA Professionals have stacked resumes.
Collet, whose home club is John’s Island Club in Vero Beach, Florida, is making his fourth PGA Championship appearance. He has made numerous starts on the PGA TOUR including at the 2023 and 2024 Cognizant Classic and the 2021 and 2024 Puerto Rico Open.
The story of the 2023 PGA Championship, Michael Block is making his seventh start at the PGA Championship. He was the 2022 and 2023 National PGA Player of the Year and has made nine major appearances in addition to winning the 2014 PPC. Block has also made a mind-blowing 10 career albatrosses!
Brian Bergstol of Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort in Philadelphia, is making his first appearance at the PGA Championship. Brian played in the 2008 U.S. Open and has over 200 professional wins to his resume.
Bob Sowards of Kinsale Golf and Fitness Club is a legend of the PGA Professional world having earned PGA of America National Player of the Year honors four times. He's making his 12th PGA Championship appearance, and has also played in seven Senior PGA Championships. He was a member of the PGA TOUR in 2008.
Michael Kartrude’s week is off to a memorable start after playing his Tuesday practice round with two-time PGA Champion Rory McIlroy. Kartrude is the Assistant Golf Professional at The Bear’s Club and has 32 professional victories to his name. He recently posted a 59 (-13) at The Bear’s Club.
Brandon Bingaman finished T5 at the PPC and is making his second PGA Championship appearance. Brandon is the Golf Professional at Gleneagles Country Club in Plano, Texas.
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