Welcome to Wall-to-Wall Equipment, the Monday morning gear wrap-up in which GOLF equipment editor Jonathan Wall takes you through the latest trends, rumors, and breaking news. This week’s Wall-to-Wall is brought to you by Jonathan’s partner in gear nerdiness, GOLF senior equipment editor Ryan Barath, who was on the grounds at Detroit Golf Club for the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Rickie wins again!
As a change of pace from our traditional weekly gear wrap-up, we’re going to do a deep dive into Rickie Fowler’s gear setup — not only to cover what he had in the bag last week for his win at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, but also to create some greater context around how he got here with some of his unique club specs.
Driver
When it comes to his driver, Fowler has found something that works with his Cobra Aerojet LS. Although Cobra, like many other OEMs, offers a new driver release every year, Fowler hasn’t always been quick to switch to the newest model and had gone back a number of times to a Cobra F9 from 2019 — which just so happens to be the last year that he won.
Fowler moved into his new Aerojet LS model with a 70-gram Diamana prototype at the start of the year and hasn’t looked back since, racking up great finish after great finish on Tour. Judging by the impact pattern we snapped earlier this year, I think this new club is working as well as anything he has ever used.
Cobra Aerojet, Aerojet LS and Aerojet Max drivers.
3-wood
Just like his driver, Fowler moved into the Cobra Aerojet LS model after going through a number of options from Cobra and other OEMs earlier this year but the one thing that hasn’t changed is the shaft he uses: the Aldila Synergy 75X.
Cobra Aerojet, Aerojet LS and Aerojet Max Fairway Woods
What makes this combo unique is that when going from his driver to his fairway wood, the shaft weights are closer than most players traditionally use. Even though Fowler isn’t the only player on Tour to set up the top end of his bag like this, it is much more common to see a 10-20 gram step up in (uncut shaft) weight instead of 5 grams when going from the driver to the fairway-wood shaft.
5-wood
Fowler’s 5-wood isn’t just unique to him, but it is a club that we could point to as starting a trend on Tour.
What makes it so interesting has much less to do with the model itself and more to do with the way it is set up — a stronger lofted 5-wood built only 40.25″ inches long, or the same length as a standard 3-4 hybrid.
This combination of a smaller rail-soled fairway-wood head with a shorter shaft offers improved shotmaking, especially from the rough, and the ability to flight the ball lower when needed. Fowler has been using these general specs going all the way back to the Cobra F6 released in 2016 which goes to show that it’s possible to upgrade models without having to overhaul how those clubs fit into his set.
We spotted a similar club in the bag of Gary Woodland as he was preparing for the U.S. Open this year.
Irons
It was only a few short years ago (2020-21) when Fowler had one of his worst ball-striking and approach play years on Tour, dipping all the way to 157th in stroked gained approach shots. During that period he went through a number of changes with his irons, including switching to a set of RF proto blades — which, if we’re being honest, were actually pretty sweet clubs. He also switched iron shafts on multiple occasions.
Fast-forward to today and Fowler is back to a more familiar forged-cavity iron with his Cobra King Tour irons and all the way up to 7th on Tour in stroked gained approaches, which is an incredible jump.
Rather than using a combo set like Fowler has in the past, his set consists of the same model from the longest iron (4-iron) all the way to his pitching wedge. Speaking of getting back to a familiar feeling, Fowler also has gone back to KBS C-Taper S+ shafts.
Wedges
Although most clubs in Fowler’s bag can be found in golf stores or online, the one thing that you won’t find anywhere are his Cobra wedges. These wedges are made custom for Fowler and other members of the Corba tour staff and offer a completely raw finish and heavy head weights allowing the Cobra’s tour equipment techs the opportunity to match the grinds and soles needed for each player, Fowler included.
Putter
Make it three straight wins for the red-hot @odysseygolf Versa Jailbird. Truly insane. pic.twitter.com/vFyJNRMKvM
— Jonathan Wall (@jonathanrwall) July 2, 2023
Just in case you haven’t been paying attention to gear news, Fowler, along with a number of other players — including recent U.S. Open winner Wyndham Clark — use a mid-length Odyssey Jailbird putter.
Fowler switched to the Odyssey putter around January of this year after going through a revolving door of putters over the last couple of seasons, including some pretty cool one-off designs from both Scotty Cameron and Cobra. But come Sunday, it was the Jailbird that delivered the goods on the 72nd hole and then in the playoff.
A champion once again 🏆
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 2, 2023
The winning moment for @RickieFowler @RocketClassic. pic.twitter.com/LEQ8f05gHN
Ball
After growing up and turning pro using a Titleist ball, Fowler switched to the TaylorMade TP ball in 2019 and saw instant results with his win at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Since then, he has continued to rely on the TaylorMade TP5 for its combination of distance off the tee and spin around the greens.
Although he had previously used the TP5X, he has relied on the standard TP5 for the 2023 season, which goes to show that just like his 5-wood, once you find something that you can rely on, there isn’t much reason to switch.
Want to overhaul your bag? Find an industry-leading True Spec Golf fitting location near you, and for more on the latest gear news and information, check out our latest Fully Equipped podcast below.
