What's the latest equipment news from Augusta?
Masters Equipment Round Up: Mickelson Using 47.5 Inch Driver Shaft
We're here to round up all the latest equipment news from Augusta National this week as the third and final Major of 2020 takes place with The Masters.
As always in huge tournaments, players want to get their equipment spot on, and aside from all of the coolest gear, we've noticed a few interesting stories and changes from players ahead of the event.
Related: Best Black Friday Golf Deals
Read on for all the latest equipment news this week featuring Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Bryson DeChambeau and more...
Masters Equipment Round Up:
Phil Mickelson - 47.5 inch driver shaft
Lefty has confirmed he is using a longer driver shaft this week having used it in a few tournaments recently.
He also said that he thinks in the next 5-15 years, all players will be using a maximum-length driver shaft of 48 inches.
"I think ultimately a good friend of mine who I have a lot of respect for has an opinion, and I agree with it; that ultimately, it might be five years, ten years, fifteen years, but every driver will be standard at 48 inches, and then you'll have kind of a weak driver, kind of a 2 wood, if you will, which is kind of what I've gone to now," Mickelson said.
"For me, it's actually really good in that I've always used length of swing and leverage to create speed rather than a violent, physical, rotational force. I've actually quieted my body down a little bit as I try to create more speed with a bigger, longer arc.
"So transitioning to a longer driver is not that much more difficult because it's just a timing issue. I'm able to quiet or having to quiet my body down to let the club catch up and swing on a much bigger, wider arc, takes more time.
"It's more consistent with my swing than, say, some of the others, the young guys that are so physically strong and able to create speed just through a quick turn and rotation; that I think for some of those guys, it might be a little bit more difficult to get the timing down, but eventually they are going to do it and they are going to hit the ball even farther."
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Bryson DeChambeau - will he use a 48 inch driver shaft?
The US Open champion confirmed that he has been testing a maximum-length driver shaft but is unsure yet whether to put it into play.
"I tested it yesterday for the first time. And we've gone through at least three or four iterations of the shaft, and this is the most promising one yet. Yesterday I had about four to five miles an hour in ball speed increase. I got my swing speed up to 143, 144 on the range yesterday, and the dispersion is the same and spin rate was even down.
"I mean, it looks really promising right now. I did not expect it to work yesterday. I was like, this is going to take even more time, but it did work yesterday, and I'm not 100 percent sure if I'll put it in play yet just because of the unknown; it's so close to the Masters, but it is an improvement if every facet of launch conditions, then I don't see why not."
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Patrick Reed - new Titleist TSi3 Diver
The 2018 Masters champion has switched into the new Titleist TSi3 driver for this week's Masters tournament.
Reed won two years ago using the Ping G400 LST driver and he has almost exclusively had that in the bag up until this week.
- Coolest Masters Gear - Custom balls, shoes, bags and more
Woods and DeChambeau Renew Bridgestone Deals
Both Tiger Woods and Bryson DeChambeau have renewed their deals to use Bridgestone golf balls.
Woods plays the more spinny Tour B XS whilst DeChambeau's preference is the Tour B X.
Tiger essentially confirmed in a tweet that Bridgestone were making the Nike ball he used for most of his career, saying he has used Bridgestone balls for more than 20 years.
Tiger helped design his B XS and it looks like DeChambeau is also moving into a role where he can help design and create the ball.
“I’ve seen a lot of other guys sign up just to be spokesmen for a brand and collect a cheque,” DeChambeau said.
“I have a much deeper role in mind with Bridgestone. I want to be a bigger part of their R&D process and help develop golf ball technology for the future of the game while pushing the limits of golf ball designs to benefit the full spectrum of players.”
US Buy the Bridgestone Tour B X Ball at Bridgestone for $44.99 UK Buy the Bridgestone Tour B X Ball at at Amazon for £34.95 US Buy the Bridgestone Tour B XS TW Ball at Worldwide Golf Shops for $44.99 UK Buy the Bridgestone Tour B XS TW Ball at Amazon for £34.46
Bernd Wiesberger's Pond-Skimming Vokey Wedge
Augusta's 16th hole is famous for the skim-shots players like to try out in practice rounds (which produced this unbelievable hole-out from Jon Rahm) and Bernd Wiesberger showed off an incredibly-cool stamped Titleist Vokey SM8 wedge he is using this week.
The Austrian's Titleist Vokey has an amazing stamping of a player skimming it over the water on the 16th.
Wiesberger uses a full bag of Titleist clubs including the new TSi3 driver.
US Buy the Titleist Vokey SM8 Wedge at Worldwide Golf Shops for $159.99
UK Buy the Titleist Vokey SM8 Wedge at Scottsdale Golf for £139
Adam Scott - New TSi4 and Pro V1x
Adam Scott put a new 46-inch TSi4 driver in the bag at last week's Houston Open and it worked out very well for him.
He led the field in Driving Distance at 326.4 yards - including the tournament’s longest single drive of 369 yards.
The 2013 Masters champion also used the brand new Titleist Pro V1x.
Related: Masters Betting Tips 2020
Tyrrell Hatton to wear a hoodie at Augusta
The World No.9 hit headlines during his BMW PGA Championship win for wearing an adidas COLD.RDY hoodie on all four days and he has confirmed that he will be wearing it again this week at Augusta National if it gets a bit chilly.
"I'm wearing one today, so yeah, I'll wear it throughout week if the weather's kind of cool enough to do so," he said."
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Titleist at the Houston Open
Titleist was the top equipment choice across seven major categories at the Vivint Houston Open, with more players using Titleist equipment in the Golf Ball (72%), Driver (29%), Fairway Metal (31%), Hybrid (36%), Utility Iron (39%), Iron (26%), and Wedge (51%) categories.
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