Akshay Bhatia co-leads the Players after these 3 key gear changes

Rory McIlroy isn’t the only player using an older model driver to help him get into contention at TPC Sawgrass.

Coming into the week, Akshay Bhatia had lost strokes off the tee so far this season and was outside the top 100 in the category. So Bhatia decided to make a change this week at the Players and re-insert his Callaway Rogue ST LS driver he’s used since 2022.

Bhatia is notoriously difficult when it comes to changing equipment. Once he finds clubs he likes, he usually doesn’t like to switch as evidenced by the fact that he’s used the Rogue ST each of the last three years as he’s risen his way up the PGA Tour ranks.

Coming into this season, Bhatia was actually an early adopter of Callaway’s new Elyte driver, playing the core model as early as last December before eventually settling into the lower-spinning Elyte Triple Diamond.

But after a middling start to the year and a missed cut last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Bhatia decided to go back to the old faithful. He added that the older model is more neutral-biased than the drivers that have come out recently.

“Just some of the newer drivers are a little more fade bias, so the more and more I get wind off the right or just trees in the start line, the more and more it’s like, man, I feel like I have nowhere to kind of hit it,” he said. “So this one’s a little more, I would say, right biased, but still has a little bit of fade, just because the loft is down. So I’ve played it for a long time and I just go back to kind of what I trust.”

Along with the old head, Bhatia went back to an even older Project X HZURDUS “Hulk” shaft from 2021.

“Just went back to my older driver and then I went back to a shaft I played four years ago and it’s a little longer and so it’s kind of been a nice recipe,” Bhatia said, adding that he was also working on his swing with his coach.

The Project X shaft, at 45 inches long, is just an eighth of an inch longer than the Fujikura Ventus Black he had been using in the same head last year and this year with his two Elyte drivers, but sometimes just a fraction of an inch can make all the difference when it comes to finding the sweet spot and timing.

The new weapon seems to do the trick as Bhatia is 11th in SG: off-the-tee through two rounds, picking up more than 2.2 shots off the tee.

Bhatia’s driver specs:

Callaway Rogue ST LS 9.0
Actual loft: 7.2˚
Head weight: 199.7g
Shaft: Project X HZURDUS “Hulk” 70g 6.5TX
Length: 45″ EOG
Tipping: 1 inch

Bhatia adds Callaway’s new Elyte Mini

The Callaway Elyte line isn’t totally out of the bag for Bhatia as he’s going in with the old and in with the new at the same time as he dropped his 3-wood and inserted a new Callaway Elyte Mini driver.

Bhatia used Callaway’s Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini Driver at times last season, so it’s no surprise to see him add Callaway’s newest prototype mini driver to the bag at a course where many pros are using less than driver.

“I put a mini driver in play this week, which has been a nice attribute to some of the awkward holes for me which when I need to turn it left-to-right,” he said. “So just kind of a nice setup for me this week.”

The Elyte Mini is still unreleased but several players have put it in the bag since it debuted last month at the WM Phoenix Open. Stay tuned to see what Callaway ends up doing with a retail option. With more and more companies releasing mini drivers, it wouldn’t be surprising too see more players test them out at TPC Sawgrass with its narrow corridors and bending fairways.

Bhatia’s mini driver specs:

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini Driver

Ti 340 Mini Driver delivers driver-like action, with the launch of a fairway wood. The titanium construction and Ai smart face provide exceptional ball speeds with tight dispersion. The Mini Driver will give players a higher ball flight and softer landing off the tee resulting in improved distance consistency on challenging tee boxes requiring precision. World’s First Ai Smart Face Designed Using Real Player Data The all-new Ai Smart Face optimizes driver performance using swing dynamics from thousands of real golfers. These swing dynamics, or Swing Code, consist of swing speed, club delivery, and face orientation just prior to impact. This promotes optimal launch conditions and tight downrange dispersion, optimized precisely for the Mini Driver. Micro Deflections Create Multiple Sweet Spots With Ai Smart Face technology, micro deflections are activated upon impact helping to optimize launch and spin on off-center shots. The result is sweet spots not just in the center, but all over the face. Front & Back Weighting for Optimal Launch Utilizing a front / back weight screw design, players can further dial in their optimal launch and spin numbers. A 4g front weight and 12g rear weight can be flipped to lower spin and encourage a more piercing ball flight.

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Callaway Elyte Mini 13.5
Actual loft: 12.4˚
Loft sleeve: N/-1
Shaft: Project X HZURDUS “Hulk” 80g 6.5TX
Length: 43.125″
Tipping: 1.5″
Swingweight: D3.5
CG Weight: Neutral

Next man up

After his round, Bhatia revealed in an interview with Golf Channel that he’s been is using a new putter this week.

OK, it’s not actually that new. It’s Bhatia’s nearly identical backup to his Odyssey Jailbird Broomstick he’s used for the year or so. But he wasn’t happy with his performance at the Genesis Invitational last month and went to this putter, which he had never used in competition.

“I putted really bad at Genesis in the first round, had four three-putts and said, ‘You know, I’m going to go to my backup,'” Bhatia told Golf Channel’s Cara Banks after the second round. “It’s never really seen a golf course, never seen a green.”

After losing nearly 3.5 strokes to the field putting in Round 1, Bhattia gained more than 5.3 strokes the final three rounds with the backup and earned his first top-10 of the season at Torrey Pines.

Odyssey Ai-ONE Cruiser #7 CS Broomstick Putter

This Odyssey Ai-ONE Cruiser Line offers three distinct configurations for three different styles of putting (Cruiser, Arm Lock and Broomstick). All of these putters feature our Ai-ONE insert which delivers more consistent ball speeds, even from off- center hits, leaving putts closer to the hole AI-ONE INSERT Designed using Artificial Intelligence, we’ve created contours on the Aluminum backer of the insert which we co-mold to a White Hot Urethane striking surface to promote consistent ball speed across the face with the classic White Hot feel that Tour players and amateurs love. AI WINDOW Our designers and engineers developed a Panlite window, which is a unique automotive grade polymer, that allows us to showcase the unique topology of the back of our insert. SL 140 AND 200 SHAFTS These heavier steel shafts are designed to complement the heavier heads, longer grips and longer overall lengths of these models UNIQUE NAVY BLUE PVD FINISH These putters all feature a beautiful navy blue PVD finish that really sets them apart and gives them a premium look. INTERCHANGEABLE FRONT WEIGHTS Available in 5, 10, 15 and 20 grams these removable weights allow you to dial in your head weight to your exact preference.

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This week, he decided to call on the now more experienced backup again.

“This week, it just suited my stroke a little better. It has a touch more offset,” he said. “I kind of do what my putting coach says. If it looks a little better in my hands and it sets up a little better, I’ll go with it.”

The only difference between the putter Bhatia is gaming this week and his original gamer is just a quarter shaft more offset. Extra offset allows players more time to square the putter face, which is probably what Bhatia was looking for.

Bhatia’s putter specs:

Odyssey Jailbird Double Bend Broom Stick
Loft: 3˚
Length: 50″
Offset: 3/4 shaft

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