Anthony Kim makes a driver change
Anthony Kim won two PGA Tour events in 2008, and had tremendous success in the Ryder Cup, using a Nike Sumo 5000 driver. However, the 23-year-old has switched to a new Nike SQ Dymo 380 driver with an Apache Ozik TP7 shaft. Kim also used a new Nike ball, the One Tour, which will take the place of the One Platinum this season.
For the week at Kapalua, Kim finished ninth in driving distance (284 yards) and eight in accuracy (75%).
(Photo by Stan Badz/Getty Images)
Posted by: Justin | Feb 26, 2009 10:45:23 AM
The "sweet spot", based on physics (and Frank Thomas, past USGA Director of Technology) cannot grow or shrink. It always stays the same. Thanks to 460 cc heads having a higher Coefficient of Restitution (COR- or spring-like effect) the miss-hits are drastically reduced compared to smaller clubheads.
A professional, who hits it "on the screws" d@mn near every time, wouldn't know the difference between driver sizes. A hack like me, however, would definitely know.
Zach is on the right track- a smaller clubhead would allow more workability- especially in the hands of someone like AK or TW. Remember the drivers of Jack and Arnie's era? Smaller, definitely. But how many shots could they pull off with their drivers, while most of today's pros can only do slight draws and fades (not counting the REALLY bad shots)?
Posted by: F. Lim | Feb 25, 2009 12:54:09 PM
A smaller head means less wind resistance, higher velocity, greater force of impact, longer drive. Now, if I can only hit that smaller sweet spot 90 percent of the time...
Posted by: Scott | Jan 28, 2009 4:09:13 AM
I saw KJ Choi at the Sony Open and he was using the Nike SQ Dymo. I could be wrong, but the one thing I noticed about his driver was that it looked smaller than a 460 head.
Posted by: Zach | Jan 23, 2009 1:21:53 AM
I take back what I said earlier. I guess it could be 380cc. It does seem strange to go to a driver that much smaller. Probably easier for him to work the ball, and when you hit it flush almost every time like Kim does it doesn't really matter how big the club is.
Posted by: Zach | Jan 23, 2009 1:08:39 AM
The driver isn't 380cc. That would be a huge step back. The driver is still around 460cc. And John is right, he didn't lose distance. 8th in driving distance for a tournament on the PGA Tour is Long.
Posted by: John | Jan 15, 2009 8:28:02 AM
He didn't loose 15 yds he was 8th in driving distance, Its because of the windy conditions. J.B Homes didn't even average 300 yds or just barely
Posted by: John | Jan 15, 2009 8:27:02 AM
He didn't loose 15 yds he was 8th in driving distance, Its because of the windy conditions. J.B Homes didn't even average 300 yds or just barely
Posted by: JL | Jan 14, 2009 2:48:05 PM
380cc? 284 yd? I'm confused, he's lost 15 yd and you can't tell me 380cc is more forgiving than 460cc even though the accuracy is up. he must really love the short grass.