Will Rory do it? Is Bryson going back-to-back? What about Brooks? Setting up a wild final round at the U.S. Open

To help fit his golf swing, Rahm prefers to have a bit more loft on his clubs. For example, his 10.5-degree Callaway Rogue ST Triple Diamond LS driver head has 11.2 degrees of actual measured loft, which is much higher than most of his contemporaries. When it comes to his fairway woods, Rahm uses Callaway Rogue ST Triple Diamond “T” prototype heads (16.5 and 18 degrees) that have slightly deeper faces and more rounded soles to help Rahm find more consistent turf interaction on his relatively steep impact conditions. The higher-lofted fairway woods help Rahm achieve the necessary height and spin to hold greens on his approach shots into par 5s. When he isn’t relying on his 5-wood, Rahm keeps a custom Callaway X Forged UT raw driving iron (22 degrees) around for different course setups and conditions. If he needs an option that flies a bit lower to penetrate the wind, the driving iron comes in handy versus a 5-wood, which flies a bit higher with more spin. Also, according to a recent WITB video with Callaway Golf, Rahm uses Apex TCB irons with relatively weak lofts. This allows Rahm to “deloft” the head through impact when he desires, and he doesn’t need to worry about hitting the ball too low, or long. Another interesting way that Rahm keeps his ball striking consistent from year-to-year is that he doesn’t often change up his golf shafts. For example, Rahm has been using the same Aldila Tour Green shafts in his driver and 3-wood since around 2013, and Project X 6.5 steel iron shafts for more than a decade. This allows Rahm to eliminate variables, so even when he switches to a new head, he already has a level of familiarity with how the club performs. As for his flatstick, Rahm has been using an Odyssey White Hot OG Rossie putter with no sightlines on the crown (although he did switch it out briefly in 2022). According to Rahm, he prefers no alignment lines or dots because he says he aligns it better that way “99 percent of the time,” per Callaway’s WITB video. Below, we take a look at all the clubs in Rahm’s bag. It should be noted that Rahm carries 15 clubs, and he decides between his custom Callaway X Forged UT driving iron and Rogue ST Triple Diamond T 5-wood, depending on course conditions and layout. Look out for Rahm in this week’s Mexico Open at Vidanta, where he’s the top-ranked player in the field. Driver: Callaway Rogue ST Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees, 11.2 degrees of actual loft) Shaft: Aldilda Tour Green 75TX (45.25 inches, tipped 1 inch) 3-wood: Callaway Rogue ST Triple Diamond T HL (16.5 degrees, 15.2 degrees of actual loft) Shaft: Aldila Tour Green 85TX (43.25 inches, tipped 1.5 inches) 5-wood: Callaway Rogue ST Triple Diamond T (18 degrees, 17.9 degrees of actual loft) Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD-DI Black 8X (42 inches, tipped 2 inches) Irons: Callaway X Forged UT 2021 (22 degrees, 20.5 degrees of actual loft), Callaway Apex TCB (4-PW) Shafts: Project X 6.5 Wedges: Callaway Jaws Forged (52, 56 and 60 degrees) Shafts: Project X 6.5 Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG Rossie S (37 inches) Ball: Callaway Chrome Soft X Jon Rahm, a six-time PGA TOUR winner and the reigning U.S. Open champion, is one of the premier ball strikers in the game. The second-ranked player in the world, Rahm leads the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and Greens in Regulation (73.5%), is second in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and 11th in Driving Distance (313.9 yards). What separates Rahm from the competition is his uniquely short, consistent and powerful golf swing that’s partly the result of a physical limitation. He also swings the club with a bowed left wrist, which results in a slightly lower ball flight than other PGA TOUR players.

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2019 PGA Championship, End of Round 1. Course scoring averages: Overall: +3.01 strokes per round Morning wave: +2.55 Afternoon wave: +3.47 Current cutline: 73 players at +2 or better (T51st position) Top 3 most likely projected cutlines: 5 over par: 28.5% 6 over par: 22% 4 over par: 21.5% Top 10 win probabilities: Brooks Koepka (1, -7, 31.1%) Dustin Johnson (T9, -1, 7.4%) Tommy Fleetwood (3, -3, 6.6%) Danny Lee (2, -6, 5%) Rickie Fowler (T9, -1, 3.8%) Jason Day (T9, -1, 3.6%) Patrick Cantlay (T9, -1, 3.6%) Jon Rahm (T17, 0, 3%) Justin Rose (T17, 0, 2.6%) Xander Schauffele (T17, 0, 1.9%) NOTE: These reports are based off the live predictive model run by @DataGolf. The model provides live “Make Cut�, “Top 20�, “Top 5�, and “Win� probabilities every 5 minutes from the opening tee shot to the final putt of every PGA TOUR event. Briefly, the model takes account of the current form of each golfer as well as the difficulty of their remaining holes, and probabilities are calculated from 20K simulations. To follow live finish probabilities throughout the remainder of the PGA Championship, or to see how each golfer’s probabilities have evolved from the start of the event to the current time, click here for the model’s home page.

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SAN DIEGO – As each week went by without a win Jason Day became a little more frustrated. A little madder. And a little harder to be around. He watched young guns Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth and long-time rival Dustin Johnson dominate 2017 and finally turned the annoyance of not being part of it into motivation. It was less than a year ago he was still world No. 1 before Johnson took it from him and hasn’t looked back. Meanwhile, without a win since the 2016 PLAYERS Championship, Day had free-fallen to 14th on the world stage entering the Farmers Insurance Open this week. There were extenuating circumstances – a cancer scare for his mother curtailed his regular focus and practice time – but he still expected more of himself. With every win from Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson his goal of being the best was slipping further and further away. He also dealt with a mini split from Colin Swatton – who reverted to full-time coach and moved away from caddy duties – because Day was afraid of damaging the friendship. He was snapping at everyone. But over the off-season he got things back in sync. And in his first start in 2018 he grabbed career win No. 11 with his triumph over Alex Noren in a six-hole playoff. Now his sights are firmly set on winning the FedExCup – he moved to ninth in the standings – and climbing back to world No. 1 – he is now 10th. In short – he is telling his rivals – look out. “Last year was a good kick in the butt, you know, not really being talked about — and being talked about for the wrong reasons,â€� Day said. “Last year I felt mentally stressed but also rundown, burnt out. It was hard for me to be on the golf course, but this year my whole mindset’s different. I’m very motivated to get back to the No. 1 spot and I know that the only way to get back to the No. 1 spot is win and that’s what I’ve just got to do. “I’ve said it for the longest time, I’ve always wanted to be the No. 1 player in the world. I got there for 51 weeks but I’ve always wanted to be a dominant No. 1 player in the world. “I’ve got to keep trying to build and build and build and hopefully win the FedEx Cup at the end of the year.â€� The biggest question mark on Day’s ability to make the long climb back is just that – his back. He pulled out of the pro-am with soreness this week and admitted he couldn’t bend over to hit a golf ball just a few weeks ago. He now must continue to manage it going forward, saying it takes about an hour or 90 minutes worth of work every day. “My facet joints just got a little bit larger over the years just through constant wear and tear of hitting golf balls,â€� he explained. “When they get a little bit larger, they get a little bit closer to the nerve, and when they get close to the nerve and things kind of all align, your back can go out and you can get shooting pains down both legs. Even last night to a certain degree I had pain going down my right leg. “But I know that I need to do my posture, my mobility exercises. I know that I need to go back and ice it straightaway and I need to heat it up every morning before I come. I’m constantly doing stuff trying to maintain my back.â€� Next up for Day is the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am where he intends to make further statements against his rivals. He will be joined there by the likes of defending champion Spieth, Johnson and Rory McIlroy … what a great year we have in store.

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