Marc Leishman, Gary Woodland lead CIMB Classic after Round 2

Hideki Matsuyama is never complacent, especially when it comes to equipment. The defending Masters champion is constantly testing and tweaking his gear to find the perfect fit for his game. As a Cleveland/Srixon staffer, Matsuyama works closely with the company’s fitters, builders and designers to refine head shapes, dial in launch parameters, and get the right setup. “Hideki is always looking for a way to be better, even after winning the Masters,” a Srixon representative told GolfWRX. “There is a purpose for the processes, such as finding a solution for a current issue or preparing for an upcoming major tournament. Hideki is not afraid to change his specs, even if they have been successful for him. There is always room for growth.” MORE THE MERRIER Matsuyama’s passion for experimentation is illustrated by the fact that he regularly has 20-plus clubs in his bag during practice days, exceeding the 14 he’s limited to in competition. Aside from making the bag very heavy during practice rounds, the extra clubs and shaft options make it easy for Matsuyama to test equipment every week. When GolfWRX took photos of Matsuyama’s clubs at this year’s Farmers Insurance Open, he had 20 clubs in his bag, including extra wedges and shafts. SWITCH IT UP Matsuyama also had two different Srixon ZX7 drivers in the bag at the Farmers. If you look closely near the hosel of the driver pictured on the left below, you can see that it has different labeling than the other version; this likely means the driver has different loft or internal weighting for slightly different launch and spin than the driver pictured on the right. Matsuyama isn’t afraid to make changes, even if a club helped him win a major. He’s using a Srixon ZX7 driver this week after winning last year’s Masters with a ZX5. The ZX5 may create a bit more ball speed, but the ZX7 is slightly more forgiving and thus provides more accuracy, according to Srixon. A NOTCH ABOVE Matsuyama is one of the top iron players on TOUR. His average ranking in Strokes Gained: Approach over his eight seasons is 6.6. One interesting characteristic of his Srixon Z-Forged irons are the small notches on the heel and toe sections of the sole. Back in 2021, Srixon told GolfWRX that Matsuyama is a strong believer in the benefits of these notches. “Hideki is one of the leaders in developing the toe and heel notches,” Srixon said. “He strongly believes the toe and heel notch creates a more consistent, smooth turf interaction. Hideki has always had these notches in his irons, and he was a huge part of bringing the notches back in the ZX line.” EYE TEST Matsuyama also is very particular about offset, which is the space between the leading edge on the face of the iron and the hosel. More offset gives players more time to square the club because the clubface is behind the hosel. The clubs for your everyday player have more offset than those used by TOUR players. “With regards to offset, Hideki prefers some offset over zero offset in his irons,” Srixon told GolfWRX. “He has the most specific eye, and he loves to tinker and test all products. The key areas for Hideki when it comes to irons are the general hosel shape and taper consistency, the blend between the face flat and hosel, and most importantly the smooth transitions from the hosel into the leading edge – there needs to be offset as he wants the transition to be smooth and almost straight.” GRIND TIME When it comes to his wedges, Matsuyama is especially discerning about the sole grinds and how they match up with specific course conditions. “Hideki doesn’t change his 52-degree sole often, but he is constantly tinkering with his 56 and 60,” Srixon told GolfWRX. “All three soles have a subtle C-grind shape. The 56- and 60-degree have an aggressive heel relief. Hideki also utilizes a similar subtle leading-edge grind to the one that is in his irons. Hideki will vary the width and bounce angles of the three (soles) depending on the conditions and shots that he is looking to hit. These three tiers as well as the sole radius (the sole curvature from heel to toe) allow us to manipulate the sole design to achieve the turf interaction and versatility that he may be asking for without changing the address shape. In the 56 and 60, Hideki plays a very straight leading edge with little-to-no offset. He plays his 60 and 56 weaker to help remove the offset and maintain a very straight, smooth transition from the hosel to leading-edge.” ON THE GREEN Matsuyama is also constantly testing new Scotty Cameron putters, mostly opting for a Newport-style blade head made of GSS (German Stainless Steel) material, with a single line on the black flange, a red-and-black color scheme, and a smooth milled face. While the particulars of Matsuyama’s gear setup are always changing, and he keeps plenty different options around during practice days, below is Matsuyama’s expected WITB setup come competition time on Thursday at the Masters. Driver: Srixon ZX7 (9 degrees) Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD-DI 8TX 3-wood: TaylorMade SIM2 (15 degrees) Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD-DI 9TX 5-wood: Cobra RadSpeed (17.5 degrees) Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD-DI 10TX Irons: Srixon Z-Forged (4-9 iron) Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Wedges: Cleveland RTX 4 Forged (52, 56 and 60 degrees) Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Putter: Scotty Cameron GSS prototype Ball: Srixon Z-Star XV

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Martin Laird lost a chance to win by making bogey on the 18th hole, only to redeem himself in a three-way playoff by making a 20-foot birdie putt on the second extra hole Sunday to win the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. RELATED: Final leaderboard | What’s in Laird’s bag? Laird ended seven years without a victory in a year filled with so much doubt, which included knee surgery right about the time golf was set to resume from the COVID-19 pandemic. The 37-year-old Scot suddenly is flying high. He needed a sponsor exemption to play the tournament he won in 2009. He ended it with a birdie to beat Matthew Wolff and Austin Cook. It was the third three-man playoff in Las Vegas for Laird, who won in 2009 and lost the following year when Jonathan Byrd made a hole-in-one on the 17th hole at the TPC Summerlin. Laird contributed a pair of big shots on the par 3. He had a one-shot lead with two holes to play Sunday when he sent his tee shot on the par-3 17th off a cart path and some 30 yards right of the green with the pin to the right. He hit a chip-and-run over the cart path, under the trees, between a pair of bunkers and then made a most improbable par with an 18-foot putt. But he missed the green to the right on the 18th and chipped to 30 feet, two-putting for bogey and a 3-under 68 to fall into a playoff at 23-under 261 with Wolff and Cook, who each closed with a 66. They all made par on the 18th in the playoff, and then Laird ended it on the 17th with his birdie. Laird, at No. 358 in the world, becomes the third winner in the last four regular PGA TOUR events to be ranked outside the top 300. Now he has a two-year exemption and stands at No. 4 in the FedExCup standings. Laird appeared to have everything going his way when he caught a buried lie near the lip of a bunker while facing a front pin on the par-5 ninth. He blasted away, turned his head and looked back to see the superb shot trickle into the cup for eagle. That gave him a three-shot lead heading to the back nine. But he couldn’t hold it. Cook never really went away, closing within one shot with a 40-foot birdie putt on the 17th and burning the edge of the cup on his birdie attempt on the closing hole. Wolff was never far away and arrived in a powerful burst with a two-putt birdie on the reachable par-4 15th, blasting a 375-yard drive on the par-5 16th and stuffing wedge to 10 feet for eagle. Laird never lost the lead, though he was grinding to the finish line. He had to make a 15-foot birdie putt on the 15th, the easiest hole at TPC Summerlin. He played away from the flag and water on the par-5 16th to 70 feet and came up 15 feet short, leading to a three-putt par. And then he made his great escape on the 17th after a tee shot off the cart path. A par on the 18th was all he needed for the victory, and he hung it out to the right, down to a collection area with a drain a yard in front of his ball. Patrick Cantlay, who shared the 54-hole lead with Laird, was the biggest surprise of the day. Cantlay won the tournament in 2017 and was runner-up each of the last two years. Fourteen of his 15 rounds at the TPC Summerlin were under par. He opened with four bogeys in six holes and didn’t make birdie until the 13th, closing with a 73. Bryson DeChambeau closed with a 66, and that was the worst he could have done. With a helping wind, he played the par 5s on the back nine in 1 over. He also bogeyed the last from a bunker. Abraham Ancer birdied the last two holes for a 67 to finish alone in fourth. Will Zalatoris closed with a 69 for a three-way tie for fifth, leaving him just short of enough FedExCup points to earn special temporary membership on the PGA TOUR. His next chance is in three weeks in Bermuda.

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Lefty puts family first, career Grand Slam on back burner

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