Professional golfers are constantly experimenting to find an extra 1% advantage in their games.
Everything is on the table. Bryson DeChambeau is inventing a new golf ball, and some players switch putters seemingly from one week to the next. Caddies come and go, and there can be a merry-go-round of clubs in players’ bags as the game evolves.
As players find those 1% improvements, the entire game scrambles to keep up. Suddenly, there’s a migration of general consensus about how the game should be played and which technology it should be played with.
Adam Scott, the 2013 Masters winner, explained the significant change he’s noticed on the PGA Tour with the irons players are opting to put in their bag.
Adam Scott says PGA Tour players are using forgiving irons
In years past, professionals on the PGA Tour have used blades for their irons. Those are clubs reserved for the most consistent ball strikers in the sport, allowing for better shot shaping and distance control at the expense of a lack of forgiveness for poor ball striking.
Meanwhile, amateurs and less skilled players have stuck to irons with bigger club heads, which prioritise forgiveness over accuracy.
Scott is among the professionals who have used blades in the past, but is switching to a more forgiving club. It’s a trend he’s noticed on the PGA Tour.
Speaking to reporters, he said, “I’m just always looking for the best I can find out there for myself. I feel like I’ve always played a very traditional blade, but I can’t help but notice that most players out here now don’t play traditional blades.
“There’s some kind of tour cavity, slightly larger head size, a little more forgiving. So I wouldn’t call it an experiment trying the new irons, but they’re certainly a slightly larger head size. They feel like there’s a little more mass, maybe a little more forgiveness, certainly in the longer clubs.”
So if you’re an amateur searching for the right irons for you, don’t be afraid to seek a bigger clubhead and more forgiveness. Even the best players in the world are doing it!
Adam Scott reveals the club he has replaced his 3-wood with
Another development in professional golf in recent years is the rise of the mini driver. Tommy Fleetwood uses the mini driver as effectively as any player in the world, and his proficiency with the club helped him win the Tour Championship this year.
Scott explained why he’s added a mini driver to his bag: “I don’t really use it as a 3-wood but it replaces the 3-wood.
“It just feels like we play a lot of golf courses where you can’t always use driver off the tee, and I feel like the mini driver is more reliable than a 3-wood and also it goes further than a 3-wood, shorter than the driver.
“I feel there’s an advantage to using a mini driver for most of the courses we play on the Tour. I use it 90 percent of the weeks.”
It’s not a club that’s exclusively useful to the PGA Tour, however. For those who struggle with accuracy and consistency in their driver but need more distance off the tee than they can achieve with a 3-wood, the mini driver is a solid option.
For amateurs especially, finding a club that can be trusted for consistent ball striking is far more important than a few extra yards of distance.
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