Collin Morikawa Thought His 9-Wood Was 'Like Cheating'... Until He Faced The Oakmont Rough

High-degree lofted fairway woods such as a 7-wood or a 9-wood may not be everyone's first choice of club to put in their bag, especially not for a professional. However, over the last few years, there has been a moving trend for tour pros to use this type of fairway wood.

These clubs' qualities such as adding more height, increased ball speed, more versatility and ease of use, have meant they have overtaken clubs like a 3-iron or a 4-hybrid, in players' preferences.

According to a report from Sports Marketing Surveys, just over 10 per cent of Tour professionals now have a 7-wood, or a higher lofted fairway wood in their bag.

This week, the US Open is being held at Oakmont Country Club, which will provide incredibly difficult conditions for the players. The rough especially, which is long and heavy, will make it very challenging for the players to score well if they miss the fairway.

Colin Morikawa, who uses a 9-wood said, "Look, I've got a 9-wood. It's like cheating. I told that to myself yesterday, and then I had some lies that were not playable.

"On a course like this, step number one is to hit it in the fairways, and hopefully we can do that."

Even with the high degree of loft on these fairway woods (20-26 degrees), they may not be enough to get the ball out of the Oakmont rough - as Morikawa said.

"Look, at the end of the day, when you have really long rough, hitting a 9-iron is going to be more beneficial than trying to hit a 6-iron if the ball is really down just because you need loft to get out of the rough," Morikawa said.

"I don't think people understand how thick the rough is.

"It's just being smart. When you're in the rough out here, there's still bunkers you have to carry. It's not like you just play it out to the front of the green.

"There's bunkers you might have to carry if you hit it off line. You're just honestly trying to make 4 from 150 yards."

Tour pros using higher-lofted fairway woods

A 7-wood or 9-wood therefore may not be the best solution out of the rough this week, depending on its density and lie of the ball. However, it will definitely be of use off the tee or from the fairway, for players trying to keep the ball in play.

Other tour players such as Scottie Scheffler, who carries a 7-wood, have also turned to the more forgiving fairway wood.

Tommy Fleetwood and Dustin Johnson both use 9-woods, while LIV Golf star Joaquin Niemann who is in serious form going into the third men's Major of the year after winning his fourth LIV Golf event last week in Virginia also carries a Ping G425 Max 7-Wood as well as a 26-degree hybrid.

Another golfer looking to find more fairways this week and avoid the rough, is current Masters Champion Rory McIlroy. He has been spotted using the TaylorMade Qi10 driver again following a brief switch to the Qi35 last time out at the RBC Canadian where he missed the cut, after struggling off the tee.

He said, "I feel like, as the last few weeks go, I think I learnt a lot on Thursday and Friday last week and did a good bit of practice at home and feel like I'm in a better place with everything going into this week."

Regarding the rough at Oakmont this week, McIlroy said, "Yeah, just the lie. Just whatever club you think you can get on it. The good thing about this course is most of the greens have run-ups onto them. It's not as if they're forced carries on to greens."

"So if you have a half-decent lie in the rough, it gives you a chance to at least run the ball up to the front of the green if you've got a decent lie. But decent lies in the rough are few and far between, you don't want to ride your luck on this golf course.