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Here is a complete list of the clubs that Padraig Harrington is using this week at the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine:
DRIVER: TaylorMade R9 460 (9.5°) with a Grafalloy ProLite 35 shaft
FAIRWAY WOODS: TaylorMade Burner (13°), Wilson Staff FYbrid (18°)
HYBRID: Wilson Staff (3, 4)
IRONS: Wilson Staff Pi5 (5-PW)
WEDGES: Wilson Tw9 (54°, 60°)
PUTTER: Odyssey White Hot 2-Ball Blade
BALL: Titleist Pro V1x
The irons that Ricky Barnes brought to Bethpage Black for the 2009 U.S. Open are Wilson prototypes called Staff FG. According Wilson, they are designed to enhance feel and control, but with a small cavity-back design, they're more forgiving than the muscle-back Wilson's Staff FG59 irons. Wilson plans on releasing the Staff FG irons late in 2009.
Here is a complete list of the clubs that Ricky Barnes is playing:
DRIVER: Callaway FT-9 Tour Authentic (8.5°) with Accra SC shaft
FAIRWAY WOODS: Callaway X (13°, 18°) with Accra SC shafts
IRONS: Wilson Staff FG prototype (3-PW) with True Temper Project X 6.5 shafts
WEDGES: Wilson Staff Tw9 (54°), Callaway X Forged (60°)
PUTTER: Odyssey White Hot Tour #9
(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
So far this season, Padraig Harrington has not played like a guy who has won three of the last seven major championships.
"When you win something, especially when you have success, I see that as a reason to stop and start changing things to get better," Harrington said in a press conference earlier this week. "I'm not trying to play as well as I played last year to win the two majors. I'm trying to play better than that."
To that end, Harrington is not just tinkering with his game; he's also continuing his search for a new driver.
During much of 2008, Harrington used a Wilson Dd6+. In January and February, he was swinging a Wilson Smooth. But as we reported, he switched to a TaylorMade R9 with a Grafalloy ProLite 35 shaft at the Shell Houston Open.
That club was pulled out of the bag in Augusta the following week, when Harrington put a Titleist 909D3 (9.5°) into play. Last week at Quail Hollow, he used a Titleist 905TR (9.5°), and in a practice round this week he tried a Callaway FT-9 (photo).
When it came time to tee it up on Thursday, the Wilson Smooth Harrington used through much of 2008—including at Royal Birkdale and Oakland Hills—was once again in his bag.
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(Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Padraig Harrington played last week with a TaylorMade R9 driver, but he said in his Masters press conference on Tuesday morning that it won't be in his bag this week.
"It looks like it's got the sack now," he said as the assembled reports laughed.
Harrington won the 2007 British Open, 2008 British Open and 2008 PGA Championship using 8° Wilson drivers, but because he has been making subtle swing changes, he has needed to add loft.
"At the moment, the driver I used here two years ago is going into the bag," Harrington said. That driver is a Wilson Dd6+. "I actually don't think I ever had as good a driving tournament as I did two years ago, so hopefully I can replicate that."
Just a few days before the Masters, Padraig Harrington appears to be doing some driver testing. At last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, the winner of the 2008 British Open and PGA Championship used a Wilson Spine driver, but this week at the Shell Houston Open he is playing a TaylorMade R9 with a Grafalloy ProLite 35 shaft.
Through the first two rounds on Redstone Golf Club's Tournament Course, Harrington had hit 50% of the fairways and averaged 293 yards per drive. For the season on the PGA Tour, he is hitting 52% of the fairways and averaging 279 yards per drive.
(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
You might think that after winning a major championship the last thing you would want to do is make an equipment change.
But after successfully defending his British Open championship by winning at Royal Birkdale, Padraig Harrington was spotted tinkering with a new driver two weeks ago at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio. It was a new Wilson prototype called the Smooth, but at the PGA Championship he was once again swinging a Wilson Dd6.
Here is a list of the clubs that Harrington used to win the PGA Championship.
Driver: Wilson Dd6+ (9°)
Fairway woods: TaylorMade Burner (13°), Wilson Staff Fybrid (18°)
Irons: Wilson Staff Ci7 (3-4) Wilson Pi5 (5-PW)
Wedges: Wilson Tw9 (54°, 60°)
Putter: Odyssey White Hot 2-Ball Blade
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Padraig Harrington won his second British Open championship using prototype 54° and 60° wedges made by Wilson.
The company just announced in a media release that those prototypes,
the Wilson Staff Tw9 Tour Milled wedges, will be available later this month.
According to Wilson, the Tw9 wedges are designed to increase spin, and therefore distance control and stopping power on the greens.
"I saw them for the first time two weeks ago and put them straight in the bag," Harrington said at the press conference after his win. "The Tw9 wedges were superb, a lob wedge and a sand wedge, so they worked great."
The Tw9 Tour Milled wedges have a grooved face and will be offered in both a satin finish and a black chrome finish. Both finishes will be available in 48°, 50°, 52°, 54°, 56°, 58° and 60° lofts.
At the beginning of the week, Padraig Harrington was battling a wrist injury, and there were whispers that he might not be able to defend the title he won last year at Carnoustie.
However, after 54 holes he's found himself in the final pairing with Greg Norman. And at the end of the tournament, Peter Dawson, the R&A Chairman, called his name as the Champion Golf of the year.
Here are the clubs he that he had in his bag this week during his successful British Open title defense:
Driver: Wilson Dd6+ (9°)
Fairway woods: TaylorMade Burner (13°), Wilson Staff Fybrid (18°)
Irons: Wilson Staff Ci7 (3-4) Wilson Pi5 (5-PW)
Wedges: Wilson Tw9 (54°, 60°)
Putter: Odyssey White Hot 2-Ball Blade
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
(Photo by Bob Martin/SI)
