This week, the PGA Tour headed across the pond to North Berwick, Scotland, site of the Genesis Scottish Open, where the two-week links golf swing of pro golf begins.
After this week, the best in the world jump across the Irish Sea to Northern Ireland for the Open Championship at Royal Portrush and a question we get often at GOLF is what clubs those pros will have in their bags for the trip.
As Johnny Wunder explained on this week’s episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped, there’s really only one switch that pros are making for links golf anymore.
“The only real change is that you’re going to see in any bags is the guys that don’t have utility irons or some sort of a long iron option are going to have them in there,” Wunder said. “That’s mostly what they’re going to be building this week. A lot of loft and light changes. You’re not going to see a lot of wedges getting swapped in and out.”
Wunder explained that there used to be a lot more wedge swaps a few years ago, but Tour reps and fitters have gotten so good that players typically travel with both a high-bounce and low-bounce lob wedge. Once they get to the UK, it’s simply about picking one as opposed to having a new one built and going through the whole testing process.
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And for the pros that do add a long or utility iron to the bag, it’s also likely not a club that’s new to them that week. It’s probably a club they had built up previously and might even be one they carry regularly from week to week.
For example, Xander Schauffele will typically bring his 4-wood, Apex UW and Mizuno Pro Fli Hi driving irons and picks a combination of the four clubs to work with. Jon Rahm makes a similar decision between his Apex UW and Callaway Apex UT iron.
What you won’t see is the same high-lofted fairway wood craze you saw at the PGA Championship and U.S. Open.
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“I don’t think you’re going to see a lot of 9-woods and all that stuff that we saw at the open and we saw it at Quail Hollow,” Wunder said. “I think a lot of that’s going to go because it’s the practicality of hitting something that high isn’t really needed there.”
For more from Wunder, listen to the full episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped here or watch it below.
Jack Hirsh is the Associate Equipment Editor at GOLF. A Pennsylvania native, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State University, earning degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his high school golf team and recently returned to the program to serve as head coach. Jack also still *tries* to remain competitive in local amateurs. Before joining GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a Multimedia Journalist/reporter, but also producing, anchoring and even presenting the weather. He can be reached at jack.hirsh@golf.com.
