U.S. Ryder Cup star makes surprising equipment change in Rome

The Ryder Cup isn’t exactly the ideal spot to break in new gear. Then again, the driver Brooks Koepka packed for the trip to Rome isn’t what you’d consider “new.”

In a move that’s sure to raise some eyebrows, the five-time major winner swapped his Srixon ZX5 LS MKII driver for TaylorMade’s SIM2 ahead of the biennial matches.

It’s important to note Koepka has a history with TaylorMade clubs that dates back to his time as an equipment free agent when he won four major championships in three years. Even when he inked a multi-year deal with Cleveland/Srixon at the end of 2021, Koepka retained the 16.5-degree TaylorMade M2 Tour HL fairway wood from his previous setup.

While the SIM2 might feel like a new addition, Koepka chose to reinsert the two-year-old driver last week during LIV’s Chicago event to see how it performed. He finished T24, eight shots back of eventual winner Bryson DeChambeau.

This is actually the second TaylorMade driver Koepka has used in the last year, dating to the 2022 U.S. Open where he briefly used an older model TaylorMade M5 driver before making the eventual transition into ZX5 LS MKII.

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As for SIM2, it was Koepka’s driver of choice for most of 2021 and was in the bag during his victory at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, so there’s some familiarity with the performance and setup. (Koepka actually switched from M5 to SIM2 that week.)

Something else that’s interesting about SIM2? It just so happens to be the last driver TaylorMade produced with a titanium face before they made the shift to a carbon composite construction with the introduction of Stealth.

Koepka’s driver change doesn’t come close to the time Phil Mickelson jumped from Titleist to Callaway and completely overhauled his setup nine days before the 2004 Ryder Cup, but it’s still an interesting storyline to monitor as the U.S. prepares to defend the Ryder Cup on foreign soil.

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