🏌🏻What PGA's Best Iron Players Use

Good morning! Several Presidents Cup participants utilized the 2024 Procore Championship last week as a form of last-minute preparation ahead of next week's international event.

The sample size was tiny, sure, but it does seem like the Americans may not be as heavy favorites as some might expect in Montreal.

Fun Fact: Jack Nicklaus has captained the US in five editions of the Presidents Cup - he has won four times and lost once.

⛳ This day in history: On this date in 1897, the third US Open was held in one day of 36 holes. Joe Lloyd of England won by one shot over Willie Anderson and won $150.

ALBATROSS
The Tactical Switch That Powered Scheffler's Historic Season

Scottie Scheffler reached his breaking point this season at the WM Phoenix Open where he finished tied for third. It was a solid result, but statistically, he was among the worst putters to make the cut.

Before the start of the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge, Scheffler, who had been using a heel-toe weighted blade putter, switched to a TaylorMade Spider Tour X with a unique L-shaped hosel.

Scheffler won that week, and then won again the following week at the Players Championship. And again, a few weeks later, at the Masters.

⛳️ How much did Scheffler's putting improve? The best way to judge how well a PGA Tour player is putting is to look at his Strokes Gained: Putting average. This statistic, which can be measured within tournaments and over a season, reveals how much of an advantage or disadvantage a golfer is getting over the average player based exclusively on the quality of his putter, measured in fractions of a stroke.

Scheffler’s driving, iron play and short game are so good that he is almost always in contention at PGA Tour events. He still has an off-week on the greens from time to time, but his Strokes Gained: Putting average and his consistency improved after he put the TaylorMade Spider Tour X L-Neck in his bag at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Scheffler’s Strokes Gained: Putting average in 2023 was among the worst on the PGA Tour, but he rebounded in 2024 to finish 69th after using his TaylorMade Spider Tour L-Neck for most of the season.

📌 What makes Scheffler's putter special? Scheffler’s Spider Tour X L-Neck has a hosel that creates about 20 degrees of toe hang. It’s subtle, but for golfers like Scheffler, who make a slightly arced putting stroke, the balance is ideal.

Like other Spider Tour putters, it has a Pure Roll insert made with Surlyn that has a series of grooves that point down at a 45-degree angle. The grooves grab the back of the ball at impact and encourage a forward roll instead of skidding and bouncing.

Scheffler’s putter has 3 degrees of loft, a 72-degree lie angle and 35.5-inches long.

It is available for the public - you can purchase it here.

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TWEET
Worth Mentioning

EAGLE
Why Rahm's Diamond Ball Marker Is Unique

Jon Rahm wrapped up LIV Golf's 2024 individual title in comfortable fashion at Bolingbrook Golf Club. The season-long championship came with plenty of goodies, including a $22-million-dollar winner’s check, but none more unique as the diamond-studded ring/ball marker gifted to Rahm following his big win.

Not only does it double as a championship ring and arguably the biggest ball marker on the planet, when you open it up, there’s a QR code inside that plays the footage of Rahm’s title-clinching putt when you scan it.

Click here to watch its unique features.

🚨 DPWT Rejects LIV Golf's Offer: The DP World Tour has rejected a proposal from LIV Golf to clear the fines owed to the circuit by its players and allow them to compete in its events without penalty.

League officials also offered a $8m settlement fee to put towards purses on the DP World Tour, assurances that future LIV Golf tournaments wouldn’t clash with the biggest DP World Tour events, and an exemption category for DP World Tour players to compete in International Series events on the Asian Tour, which has a close relationship with LIV Golf.

This comes after Jon Rahm appealed his outstanding fines, along with Legion XIII teammate and fellow Ryder Cupper Tyrrell Hatton.

It's uncertain when his appeal will be considered or whether he will be able to compete at the Ryder Cup if the decision goes against him - an outcome that is seen as a strong possibility given the DP World Tour's legal victory last year.

LOCKER ROOM
What else is making news 

Farewell: 16-time TOUR winner Mark O'Meara is retiring at age 67. His last start will be this week on the PGA Champions Tour at Pebble Beach, where he's a five-time champion.

LIV Golf: Five LIV Golf players including Bubba Watson are being relegated following the conclusion of the 2024 season.

KFT: Frankie Capan III clinches a top-30 spot on the Korn Ferry Tour points list and earns the PGA Tour card for 2025.

Solheim Cup: The date for the 2026 Solheim Cup, taking place at Bernardus Golf in Cromvoirt, close to Eindhoven and the historic city of ‘s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands, is confirmed as September 7-13, 2026.

BIRDIE
This Is What PGA's Best Iron Players Use

The best iron players possess the ability to hit their long irons almost as well as their wedges and allow them access tucked pins on greens where many others would simply be happy to find the short grass.

Today, we take a look into the iron models, shafts and grips the top 10 iron players on the PGA Tour use based on the Strokes Gained: Approach to the green statistic.

📍Scottie Scheffler: Scheffler is comfortably the best iron player on Tour - he uses two Srixon ZU85 utility irons (3&4) in his setup, with the 3-iron sporting a Nippon N.S. Pro Modus 3 Prototype 10 X shaft.

He also uses Golf Pride Tour Velvet reminder grips on all of his irons, which allows him to take his grip very deliberately every time and promote consistency.

📍Tony Finau: Finau also uses a utility iron rather than the standard set 3-iron - he uses a Nike Vapor Fly Pro utility iron, the same model found in Brooks Koepka’s bag. This 3-iron is powered by a Graphite Design Tour AD DI 105 Hybrid X shaft.

Finau uses Lamkin UTx green grips - a corded grip that works really well in the hot and humid conditions the players often face on tour.

📍Corey Conners: Conners is known for his ball striking prowess and hitting tight draws with his irons.

The Canadian is a Ping staff ambassador and plays a combo set of irons. He uses the Blueprint S in 4 and 5-irons with Project X 6.0 shafts that have been hard stepped once.

📍Tom Hoge: Hoge opts for the use of either his TaylorMade Stealth 2 7-wood or his Titleist T200 3-iron. This iron follows the trend of players using graphite shafts in their longest iron and is fitted with a Project X Black 105 TX shaft.

The American chooses to use Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips which are simple yet extremely popular among players on the PGA Tour.

📍Xander Schauffele: Schauffele carries a Mizuno MP-20 HB 3-iron - widely considered one of the best driving irons in the game. He then makes the switch into Callaway Apex TCB ‘24 irons from 4-iron through to 10-iron.

He uses a True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Mid X100 shaft in his driving iron before moving into a slightly firmer True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shaft from 4-PW.

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DRIVING RANGE
Shallow The Club Like Pros

In today's video, we demonstrate how you can shallow the golf club like pros.

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