Tommy Fleetwood added a 3-iron this week — and kept his 9-wood, too.
Despite the move to breezy links golf this week at the Genesis Scottish Open, Tommy Fleetwood is still playing a club designed to hit moon balls.
Yes, Fleetwood still has his trusty 9-wood in the bag at Renaissance Club and plans to keep it in the bag for next week’s Open Championship as well. But that doesn’t mean his bag setup is unchanged.
This week, Fleetwood has added one of his TaylorMade GAPR Lo utility irons (a 3-iron loft) from 2018 while dropping his 56-degree wedge, something he did earlier this year.
“He thinks that the 9-wood is just too valuable to take out, but he needs a club that he can hit off the tee and into greens with a really low trajectory,” said TaylorMade Tour rep Adrian Reitveld. “So in reality, the two clubs actually go more or less the same distance, but just have totally different ball-flight characteristics.”
Adding the 3-iron, a club Fleetwood has used off and on for links golf is nothing new. The winds on coastal layouts often require players to keep the ball low and that’s most easily achieved with a long iron.
But using a 3-iron in conjunction with a 9-wood that goes the same distance (roughly 235 to 240 yards) but at a completely different trajectory is a new tack. While modern high-lofted fairway woods offer much versatility, it would still be tough for a 9-wood to match the low peak height one could get with a utility iron.
Fleetwood has made moves like this before, including earlier this year in Miami, when he dropped his sand wedge to add a 4-iron between his 9-wood and 5-iron, specifically for long par-3s.
It’s likely that Fleetwood is adding the GAPR specifically for one hole or shot at Renaissance and plans to do the same next week at the year’s final major in his hometown.
“Both are great off the links turf, and he has a ton of options at that top end of the bag which means he can only play two wedges, a 52 and a 60,” Rietveld said. “In Tommy’s opinion, that’s the perfect set up for Birkdale.”
This article originated on Golf.com
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