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The British Open demands the world’s best players to channel their inner creativity and genius on the golf course more than any other. The tricky nature of links golf, where dunes, swales, pot bunkers and, most of all, the weather come into play on nearly every hole tests golfers to play shots they might not normally employ during a regular Tour event.
With such a high demand on creativity and precision, equipment and how a player sets up their bag plays a crucial role in determining who will be victorious on the links.
Here’s how Team TaylorMade adjusted their bags to take on Royal St. George’s this week.
Collin Morikawa is playing in his first Open Championship and made a few big switches this week to adapt to the playing conditions. We all know Collin to be a ball striker, but with limited knowledge of the links Collin turned to TaylorMade's Adrian Rietveld to answer his question of "How can I strike better on links turf."
“After his round at the Scottish Open, Collin asked me about the turf interaction in his short and mid irons. We tested his 7 and 6 iron this week in both P•730’s and P•7MC’s and immediately Collin found what he was looking for with P•7MC’s. Another change he made to his setup was his 60° wedge, it was launching slightly higher than normal and for the links turf you need less bounce. Not for the exit, but for the entry and we built a 7° bounce wedge in his setup and Collin’s feedback was great, it went straight in the bag on Monday” - Adrian Rietveld
Morikawa also made a slight change to his TP Juno as he was struggling with the pace of links greens. By adding two 7.5g weights to the head, Collin could get the extra yardage without having to think about hitting the ball harder and adapt his putting process. Carding the lowest opening 36-hole total in a debut after a Friday 64, he’s dialled in and ready for the weekend.
Rory McIlroy did not get off to the start he wanted at Royal St. George’s but a Friday 70 takes him into another weekend at a major tournament.
Similar to Collin, Rory added more weight to his trusty Spider X as he was also struggling with the pace of the greens. With that extra weight, it gave him the feel that he was looking for and it went straight in the bag.
“Normally on a links course you have two winds, into the wind and down wind. At Royal St. George’s the holes move in so many directions there’s so many different wind directions. It’s a great test for players when they’re looking at their bag setup, it’s the question of a 2-iron or 5-wood.” - Adrian Rietveld
Tommy Fleetwood hit the course earlier in the week to get a feel of the conditions and made a small tweak to his P•7TF’s. Taking his 3-iron, the tour team bent it to a 2-iron loft specifically for when the wind picks up.
It wouldn’t be a tournament week without Dustin Johnson testing some new putters. He’s rolling his trusty Spider Itsy Bitsy on the greens at Royal St. George’s and was also seen testing a new P•790 UDI on the range during the week.
Robert MacIntyre added a new P•790 UDI 3-iron to his bag this week and after Friday's 69, he waits patiently to see if it's enough to make it seven cuts made from seven major appearances.
Sergio Garcia's set up for the week was determined onsite as he went through his bag on the range with Adrian. Wanting to test SIM2 fairway against his gamer, the team built a SIM2 fairway in his exact specs and within a couple of shots Sergio saw his preferred ball flight and it went straight in the bag.