Golf World Monday - April 9, 2012

�gamechanger;it might not match gene sarazen’s double-eagle 2 on the 15th hole of the final round of the 1935 masters, but louis ooshuizen’s albatross (only the fourth in masters history) on the second hole sunday at augusta national gc will certainly live on in masters lore for years. oosthuizen used a ping s56 4-iron that he crunched 253 yards downhill. one of the design features is a steel body with variable tungsten toe-weighting to position the center of gravity for higher launching long irons.

�ceremonial;swats;when the big three of arnold palmer, Jack nicklaus and gray player teed it up for ceremonial starter duty at masters, two (palmer and player) used callaway’s new raZr fit driver. player, in fact, was custom fit for the club used for the tee shot on monday of masters week. nicklaus used, what else, a nicklaus driver. the clubs proved to be wise choices for all three men as each striped stellar tee shots. player’s was the longest of the group at 236 yards.

�big;doings sometimes players will try creative shots at the masters. luke donald said he noticed the grass around the greens gets “sticky” at augusta national when it is dry and because of that, sometimes used his driver to chip with. donald said he found it had the perfect loft ( 9 degrees) and the heft helped move the ball through the grass. when using it donald choked down on the club and stroked it like a putter.

�the;big;compromise seeking some extra yards off the tee, david toms made a rare mid-tournament ball change, opting for titleist’s pro v1x instead of the pro v1 he normally plays for saturday’s third round. toms picked up the desired distance (about 13 yards over the previous two rounds), but had trouble finding the touch on the greens with the firmer sphere, saying “i had no feel.” toms said he would putt trying to feel as though the hole were two feet shorter than it was.

�tinkering;on;the;greens Jason day brought two taylormade ghost spider putters with him to augusta national gc—one with

2. 5 degrees of loft, the other with 4.75 degrees. day has used both in competition on the pga tour, but for the masters he went with the lower-lofted version before withdrawing with an ankle injury. … y.e. yang had one putter, a taylormade ghost manta, but had the lie angle bent 3 degrees upright for a better hand position.

the;big;three’s;drivers,;luke’s;loft,;toms’;change equipment// e.;michael;johnson

�in;the;bag
(Bubba Watson’s lineup)
BALL: Titleist Pro V1x
DriVer: Ping G20 (Grafalloy
BiMatrx), 7. 5 degrees
4-WooD: Ping G20, 16. 5 degrees
irons (3-PW): Ping s59
WeDGes: Ping Tour-W (52, 56
degrees); Ping Tour-s rustique (64
degrees)
Pu TTer: Ping redwood Anser