Tag: rust

Tiger Woods’ rusty wedges at the 2024 British Open are insane

Tiger arrived at Royal Troon’s Old Course with rusty TaylorMade wedges.

Tiger Woods has returned to Royal Troon for the first time in 20 years and is preparing to complete in this week’s British Open. Woods was injured in 2016 and missed that event, but finished T-9 back in 2004 when Todd Hamilton won at the seaside links.

On Monday, Tiger Woods’ wedges were so covered in rust that it appeared they might have been in his bag back in 2004, too.

While the standard TaylorMade MG4 wedges have a raw steel hitting area, most wedges that you see in pro shops are gleaming and spotless because all the steel has been covered by a chrome plating. Tiger, like many tour pros, opts to use wedges that are made completely with raw steel.

Woods, specifically, plays a TaylorMade MG4 Raw 56-degree sand wedge and and 60-degree lob wedge. Both clubs are fitted with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts and have Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord grips. The sand wedge has 12 degrees of bounce and the lob wedge has 11 degrees of bounce, and both are made using 8620 carbon steel.

After raw steel wedges are made, they are immediately wrapped in an airtight plastic coating that is removed before a player starts using them because with exposure to air and moisture, un-chromed steel starts to rust.

Tiger Woods wedges
Tiger Woods’s wedge was made on May 24 and has rusted into an antique-looking finish. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

While it’s unclear whether the wedges Tiger is using at Royal Troon are prototypes or not, marking on the hosel clearly show they were manufacturerd for him about within the last few months. Given the level of rust, if they were wrapped up and sealed, it wasn’t for very long because the salt air of Woods’s home state of Florida has done a number on them.

Why is Tiger using a rusty wedge and why do pros like raw steel wedges?

There are a few reasons why pros often request raw steel wedges instead of going with chrome wedges.

First, unlike chrome which shines brightly in the sun, even new raw steel wedges do not reflect light as harshly and reduce glare.

Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods Monday at the 2024 British Open. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Second, while rust will not massively increase the spin-generating power of a wedge, it has been shown to slightly improve performance in wet conditions by providing more surface roughness in the hitting area compared to chrome.

Finally, the biggest reason why pros often request raw steel wedges is if hand grinding or polishing are needed, raw steel hides the marks created by the grinding wheel. Over time, the sanded area will rust and look like the rest of the club, but if a chromed wedge is ground, the area that comes into contact with the wheel will rust while the chrome area will remain shiny, leaving a mark that most players don’t like.

Is this new for Tiger?

Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods’ lob wedge at the 2019 Northern Trust. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

This is not the first time that Tiger Woods has arrived at a tournament with rusty wedges. In 2019, Golfweek senior writer David Dusek photographed Tiger’s equipment at Liberty National Golf Club and captutred the images of Woods’s TaylorMade Milled Grind lob wedge in the photo above. The more Tiger uses the wedges, the more the light layer of rust could in the hitting area will wear away. Repeatedly cleaning the wedges and wiping them with a towel will also reduce the rust.

TaylorMade does sell MG4 Tiger Woods Grind wedges for $199.99 on its website.

Chiefs HC Andy Reid plans to rest some players against Chargers in Week 17

Reid weighs in on the “rest vs. rust” debate.

Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid confirmed on Monday that he plans to rest some players against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 17.

After clinching the No. 1 seed in Week 16, the game against the Chargers has no meaning in terms of the playoffs. It’s essentially a bragging rights game that will only impact the final record of the team. After the Falcons game on Sunday, Reid wasn’t so certain about his stance on resting players when Los Angeles came to town.

“Yeah, well, I’ve got to sit down and think about all of that, where we sit with it,” Reid said after the game on Sunday. “Obviously, if we need to rest a person, it gives us that opportunity, but also I look at it the other way—it gives us an opportunity to get some guys in that haven’t played much to get them some experience, and there’s nothing like that. And you don’t do anything other than try to prepare yourself to win games, so it doesn’t matter who’s in or not, that’s how you go about your business here. So, that’s the way we’ll go about this week. Whoever is playing, that’s how we’re going about it.”

When Reid spoke with the media on Monday, he was quite a bit more confident in his plan when it comes to resting players.

“I’ve been down this road a couple of times before,” Reid told reporters on Monday. “I’ve had the opportunity to rest guys, so we’ll do that. I mean we’ll rest up some guys. I’m sitting right here, Adam (Teicher), kind of waiting on the guys to come in and get their treatment and talk to Rick (Burkholder) and see exactly where we stand with any injuries and that. But there are certain guys that will have an opportunity to rest up. Everyone will be ready to go, as long as they’re physically ready to go, but we’ll make that decision down the road.”

Reid has rested players in the past, both with the Eagles and with the Chiefs. In Week 17 of 2013, with no seeding to gain in the playoff picture, Reid rested key starters like Alex Smith, Jamaal Charles, Dwayne Bowe, Brandon Albert, Derrick Johnson and Tamba Hali. Some players like Eric Berry, Justin Houston and Brandon Flowers were active but didn’t end up playing a snap during the game.

This situation is a bit different in comparison with the first-round bye week also coming into play for the Chiefs as they’ve earned the No. 1 seed in the AFC. It raises the age-old argument of “rest vs. rust.” Do you rest players and risk them showing up rusty in the divisional round of the playoffs? Reid feels confident that he won’t be hurting his players by providing them with some extra rest.

“Listen, in the past, I’ve been OK with it,” Reid said of resting players. “The way we’ve gone about it— the way we’ve practiced in between that dead period there— the bye week period. I feel comfortable if needed here to rest guys; which I’m leaning in that direction. I’m confident that we can do it the right way and I’m not worried about [rust]. Getting guys freshened up, I think can be a positive thing for you. These guys aren’t going to forget the plays, they won’t forget how to play. But I think, in some cases, a little bit of rest helps.”

The questions that remain are which players will receive rest this game and will it be for the entirety of the game? Reid wouldn’t commit to any specific players or plan quite yet, but he did confirm who the starting quarterback would be on Sunday if Patrick Mahomes was one of the players getting some rest.

“I would tell you If Pat (Patrick Mahomes) doesn’t go, Chad (Henne) will be the guy,” Reid concluded.

If Mahomes doesn’t play on Sunday, he’ll have finished the regular season with 390 completions for 4,740 yards and 38 touchdowns to six interceptions. That’s a career-high in passes completed for Mahomes and not a bad stat line for his third year as a starter.

Perhaps the plan will mimic that of Week 17 back in 2013. Chase Daniel had a near-win against the then-San Diego Chargers, falling four points shy of victory. Now, Chad Henne will likely get his shot to lead the team to victory against the same AFC West opponent.

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