Small equipment tweaks paying off big for Dustin Johnson at Open Championship

Two-time major winner Dustin Johnson backed up his first-round 68 with a second-round five-under 67 to stand at nine under par at the halfway point of the 2022 Open Championship.

Like many golfers that headed over to the firm and windy links, Dustin made a number of tweaks to his gear, and this is a look inside his golf bag at St Andrews.

Gear

Driver: TaylorMade Stealth Plus (10.5°), with Fujikura Speeder 661 Evolution 2.0

4-Wood: TaylorMade Stealth (16.5°), with Fujikura Ventus Black

7-Wood: TaylorMade Stealth (21°), with ProjectX Smoke Black

Irons: Taylormade DJ Proto 3-PW, with True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 Tour Issue

The biggest change to Dustin’s setup is towards the top end of his iron set. Instead of opting for a driving iron like many players this week, he decided to put his traditional blade 3-iron back in the bag and removed the 24° Stealth 9-wood that he has been using during the season. At DJ’s speed, the extra long iron allows him to flight the ball in the wind and keep it out of the elements as much as possible.

Gear

Wedges: TaylorMade MG1 52° and 60°

Another underrated element is Dustin’s wedge setup which only relies on two wedges beyond his set pitching wedge. The 52°/60° loft combo is an extreme outlier in a world where most golfers are using three wedges with smaller loft gaps past their pitching wedge ⁠— but not DJ. In a way, it’s a smart move and helps prevent overanalyzing that some players might experience when faced with a number of choices around the tricky greens.

Putter: TaylorMade Spider GT Black