What the top pros choose between woods and irons

For example, Hideki Matsuyama carried a 20-degree iron-type utility in his bag when he won the Masters. Matsuyama often chooses a wood-type utility in this position, and even used a 3-cavity back instead of a utility at one point. He may be changing the characteristics of the clubs he chooses according to the course he is competing in.

on Rahm, who won the U.S. Open in 2021, chose a cleek (better known as the 5-wood). Given Rahm is a power hitter who can fit 80g-level shafts without difficulty, it is an interesting trend that he chose a fairway wood, which provides more height than utilities. The club is likely to be one that easily generates spin, and Rahm is hitting shots that differ greatly in vertical distance. Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa are among the other players who have included the 5-wood in their setups.

Xander Schauffele uses a 7-wood with a slightly increased loft angle, which drives the ball higher than Rahm's choice. Jordan Spieth carries a 21-degree wood utility for high launch. They seem to focus on the achieving high launch more easily.

In addition to players who carry fairway woods, iron or wood-type utilities, there are also players who choose irons instead. Brooks Koepka, who has been using the same 3-iron for years, is a well-known example. It’s as if you can feel his persistence of carrying the ball to a certain distance with the same flow as his iron set as much as possible. When it comes to club setup, it is better to have as many similar clubs as possible because the distance increments will become smoother.

One of PROTOCONCEPT's key philosophies is to follow the same flow of club setups that tour pros place priority on, while honing drive performance and forgiveness. Even if the four types of irons are combined or when the iron-type utility C01.5 is added, they would be easy to hit with as a set with comfort while more readily benefiting from forgiveness.

Even if a club itself may be highly functional, the game of golf may turn out to be more difficult if the setup overall is not maneuverable. The setups of the top pros teach us how important the overall flow of the clubs is, and the need to be creative within the allowed framework of carrying 14 clubs in the golf bag.

　PROTOCONCEPT Brand Producer
Yasufumi Kawasaki