Category: Equipment

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Adam Scott has been one of the best ballstrikers of his generation, having a powerful, flowing swing that not only allows him to excel off the tee, but also hit towering iron shots. The Australian won the 2020 Genesis Invitational last weekend at Riviera Country Club. Tuesday evening he spoke with a small group of writers on a conference call from Mexico City, where he is preparing for this week’s WGC-Mexico Championship.

The 29-year-old talked about his recent driver changes, why he plays old irons and how he first started testing broomstick putters. Here are four things we learned.

1. Scott’s driver needs have evolved, a lot, over the years

“The equipment has come a long way since I turned pro, and I’ve been in Titleist my entire career, which is incredible. This is my 20th year with them,” Scott said. “The DNA of my golf swing has had to adapt as changes have been made.”

Scott noted that when he turned pro, he used a 137-gram steel shaft in his Titleist 975D driver, and that club was 43 1/2″ in length. Today, he is using a Titleist TS4 driver that is 45 inches long and has a volume of 460 cubic centimeters. It is fitted with a shaft that is about 50 percent lighter.

“I’ve always liked feeling where the clubface is, and as heads get bigger, the center of gravity goes back and you can lose that,” he explained.

Scott switched into the low-spinning TS4 last season because it has a slightly smaller head (430cc), and he could feel the head more than he could with his 460cc TS3.

Since 2010, Scott has used either a Mitsubishi Kuro Kage or Graphite Design Tour AD Di-8 shaft.

He switched back into the Mitsubishi shaft last week at Riviera, saying, “As we increased the head weight last week to feel the head even more, just having that slightly more stout tip in the Kuro Kage might balance out the extra head weight.”

2. Scott knows exactly what he wants in his irons

One of the best iron players since he arrived on the PGA Tour, Scott plays Titleist 680 irons, but don’t look for those clubs on the wall of your local pro shop.

“I switched to those irons when they came out in 2003, maybe 2004,” he said. “I had some 681s back then too, I believe. Then I used AP2s for a while when they first came out. Then I used the 710 blades and actually won the Masters with the 710 blades.”

However, as Titleist’s muscleback blades evolved over the years, they slowly went away from the 680-style look that Scott liked.

“I like offset, and (680 irons) have a more-offset look. They have a longer blade and a higher toe and are less boxy,” he said. “Today’s irons are beautiful, but they are a little different than what I grew up looking at. There’s very little offset (in today’s musclebacks), and not many guys out here these days play with offset. But that’s what I grew up playing, and that’s what the 680s have.”

Scott also noted that the 680s have a sharper leading edge, which he likes because it forces him to avoid swings that could dig into the turf.

3. Scott is a 4-wedge guy now, usually

Two years ago, Titleist’s Vokey wedge rep, Aaron Dill, worked with Scott to create two completely separate sets for wedges, with one collection consisting of three clubs and the other being comprised of four clubs. The idea was that Scott might tweak his fairway woods or driving iron setup based on the course, and when he did, he wanted to be able to make changes to his wedges to accommodate an extra club.

Today, Scott said he uses the four wedge system almost exclusively, opting for the new SM8 wedge in 48, 52, 56 and 60-degree lofts.

“That was really based on statistics and how golf courses are playing,” Scott explained. “When there were over a certain number of wedges into greens, it was better to have four and have the gapping be a little easier to manage than three. TPC (Sawgrass) was an example of one where I was at a disadvantage because I was hitting a lot of half wedges.”

The only time that Scott goes back to a three-wedge setup now is when he’s on a links-style course.

“When you get to the (British) Open, loft kind of becomes your enemy,” he said. “You want to keep the ball on the ground a little more, so the three wedges work there and then an extra iron goes in at the top end.”

4. He doesn’t care what you think of his broomstick putter.

It’s not uncommon for Scott to practice with a putter that he has no intention of using in that week’s PGA Tour event because it keeps his gamer, a prototype Scotty Carmon Xperimental Rev. 11 mallet, looking new and exciting to his eyes. That includes occasionally using a traditional-length putter in a practice round. When he gets confident with the shorter putter, then switches to his broomstick, he feels he putts even better.

In 2010, Scott won the Valero Texas Open and the Barclays Singapore Open, and more than $2.4 million in prize money, but he left a lot on the table. Scott ranked first in strokes gained tee to green, but 186th in strokes gained putting using a conventional-style putter.

“My frustration levels were too high, I was putting either really good or really terrible, there was nothing ever in between and I wasn’t sure what was going to show up on any given week,” he said with a laugh.

His coach, Brad Malone, bought a broomstick putter at a pro shop in Australia and was tinkering with it one day on the practice green behind Scott’s house. Scott saw it, was curious and tried it. He discovered he putted well with it.

“I knew there would be a few interesting looks at the (2011) WGC-Match Play when I came out putting with a broomstick,” he said. “But to be honest, I didn’t really care. I was more interested in achieving some results.”

It took a little getting used to on tour, but a few weeks later, Scott finished third at Doral and second at the Masters using his broomstick.