In this week’s installment of The Bag Drop, we’ll take a look at last week’s U.S. Open Championship from the equipment perspective. What tools did Michael Campbell use in his stunning victory, what did the boys in the tour van create specifically for Pinehurst No. 2, and further proof of how right the saying “drive for show, putt for dough” really is.
In the world of competitive golf, Michael Campbell was the winner of the 2005 U.S. Open. In the world of competitive golf equipment manufacturing, Callaway Golf scored a big win at Pinehurst. Despite being one of the biggest equipment manufacturers in the game for more than a decade, the company had never had a player win a PGA Tour-level major with one of the brand’s drivers, irons, or ball despite many major wins on the LPGA and Champions circuits.
The genial Kiwi known on tour as Cambo changed all that with his strong showing at Pinehurst. Campbell was a Callaway staff player for a few years in the late 1990s, when he made his comeback from a bad wrist injury. He switched to Nike after Y2K, but returned to the Callaway fold this year. Good timing.
Campbell used the new Fusion FT-3 driver, which will hit golf shops in early July. Campbell also used one of the company’s Heavenwood hybrids, the forged X-Tour irons and a HX Tour golf ball in his victory. Good timing part 2: info about multiple new Callaway products, including the FT-3 driver and HX Tour 56 golf ball, is hitting retail websites today.
Campbell’s putter, made by Callaway’s Odyssey putter brand, was also of interest. Campbell used a tour-only version of the White Hot 6 putter that was modeled after the tour-only Odyssey Dual Force 334 putter that he used for several seasons. The retail model of the White Hot 6 has a “plumber’s neck” hosel, but Campbell’s custom model has a more flowing shaft-over-hosel goose-neck design. You can’t find that putter in stores, but you can bet some will show up on eBay (if they haven’t already).
Putting was a big part of Campbell’s win. He finished tied for fourth in putts per round at Pinehurst, averaging 28.25 putts per round (1.57 per hole). Campbell was only 36th in driving distance at 294.3 yards.
To prove the ever-lasting truth of the adage “Drive for show, putt for dough,” see the example of Tiger Woods. Despite leading the field in driving distance at 325.9 yards per poke, Woods was tied for next-to-last in putting, needing an average of 32 putts per round to get around Pinehurst No. 2 (that’s 1.78 putts per hole). If Tiger would have made one more putt in each round, we’d be talking about a Grand Slam attempt right now. Tiger’s Scotty Cameron by Titleist putter remains the only non-Nike club in his bag, but he’s said he’ll never switch away from the putter he used to win the “Tiger Slam.”
According to TaylorMade’s web site, several players customized their clubs for the U.S. Open. Among them were Retief Goosen, who ground some of the bounce off his RAC wedges to prepare for the tight lies at Pinehurst. Meanwhile, Paul McGinley had a custom 19° Rescue Mid hybrid club made — not for use on full shots, but for chipping and hitting bump-and-run shots around Pinehurst’s famous greens.
Parting Shots
The USGA used the U.S. Open as a chance to gather more performance data on tour players. It employed a sophisticated Doppler-based system called Trackman to cull data on ball flight from players on the range at Pinehurst. According to the USGA’s website, the data collected “is not likely” to be used to influence any upcoming rulings on equipment. Sure. And if you believe that, I’d like to sell you some old Alien Wedges that will help you get your ball on the green FROM ANY LIE! Sheesh.
While Callaway broke its losing streak in men’s majors, another company extended a very impressive winning streak. Titleist was the No. 1 ball in play at the U.S. Open for the 57th consecutive year. The streak started in 1949, two years before the first color TVs hit the market. Sadly, it took another 54 years for those great David Feherty “Nice ball!” commercials to be seen on those TVs.