Do Tour Players Use The Same Clubs As Recreational Golfers?
Although many of us so called grown ups don’t like to admit it, there is something cool about playing the same golf clubs as the game’s top stars. You rock up to the first tee for your Sunday four ball with your brand new TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver and one of your playing partners remarks “Isn’t that the driver Rory uses?” and you nonchalantly reply “Yeah, I think so”.
Is it though? Can we be completely sure about that? There will almost certainly be differences in set up because – and I’m just guessing here so apologies if I’m doing you dirty – you probably don’t swing a driver the same way Rory McIlroy does. It would make sense for tour pros clubs to be configured differently, given they have very different needs to the weekend warrior.
The truthful answer is yes and no. Sorry to sit on the fence, but it’s complicated. We can buy the same clubs that the game’s best players use but the specifications are going to be subtly different. Or in some cases, not so subtle. The driver Bryson DeChambeau has in his bag will be nothing like the variant we can buy off the shelf in a retail store. The loft will be much lower, the shaft much stiffer and with Bryson who knows, there could be all sorts of other crazy stuff going on too.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
What about the rest of the bag though? Is there any difference in the irons we can buy and those that tour pros have access to? What about putters, surely those are the same, right?
I spoke to Duncan Finch, a Tour Technician with Wilson who works with their DP World Tour players to find out just what are the differences between the clubs in the bag of an average golfer like me compared to those used by a three time major winner such as Padraig Harrington.
Driver
Late last year I was lucky enough to be fitted by Duncan for Wilson’s new Dynapower driver, so I asked him to explain how the driver he fitted me for (and which any of you can buy online or in store) differs from one that would be used on tour.
“The only real difference from yours to a tour driver is in the options that we have” said Duncan. “So in the carbon head, for retail we’d have 9°, 10.5° and 12° and there’s an 8° custom for anyone who requires that. But on tour we also have a 7° option. On the titanium head driver we have an 8° which isn’t for retail but all the other lofts are. Some tour players will go for low lofts but most of ours are in…
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