Following his improbable PGA Championship triumph, Phil Mickelson is right back in the thick of the action. Twice a champion at Colonial Country Club, Mickelson returns for the Charles Schwab Challenge. The 50-year-old’s current setup has certainly changed from the artillery he chose early in his career. Indeed, the equipment landscape itself is entirely different than it was when Mickelson won his first of now 45 PGA TOUR events (as an amateur) in 1991! Titanium drivers were only beginning to show up on TOUR in Lefty’s early years, and Mickelson’s longtime sponsor, Callaway, didn’t release the Great Big Bertha until 1995. The history of modern golf equipment has literally played out in Mickelson’s bag as a professional. The differences in Mickelson’s current setup compared to 2000, when he won the first of his two Charles Schwab Challenges, are immediately apparent. His Yonex Super A.D.X. driver was a fraction of the size of his 450 cc Callaway Epic Speed Triple Diamond. Mickelson has been leaning on a TaylorMade Original One Mini Driver as his second fairway wood this season – the total amount of technology in his two Yonex fairway woods of 2000, or even his Callaway FT-5 driver and FT Tour 3-wood of 2008, is the difference between the Ford Model T and the Ford GT. Interestingly, Mickelson played Ping Eye 2 wedges throughout his early years and had a 60-degree Eye 2 in the bag for his 2000 win at Colonial. One look at his current PM Grind wedges, and it’s clear the Eye 2 shaping was the original inspiration for the design Mickelson and Callaway engineers continue to refine. Also notable on the similarities front: the 8802-style heel-shafted blade putter Mickelson has preferred throughout most of his career was present in the bag for both victories and will be in Phil’s hands this week as well. In 2000, Mickelson gamed a custom Bettinardi blade. In 2008, it was the same Odyssey “Phil Mickelson” blade shape that he won with at last week’s PGA Championship. Check out Mickelson’s WITBs for his 2000 and 2008 wins at Colonial and what he has in the bag this week. 2000 Driver: Yonex Super A.D.X. (8 degrees) Shaft: Yonex PM Proto 3-wood: Yonex Super A.D.X. (13 degrees) Shaft: Yonex PM Proto Irons: Yonex Super A.D.X. Tour Forged (2-PW) Shafts: Precision Rifle 7.0 Wedges: Yonex PM Forged (56), Ping Eye 2 (60) Shafts: PM 7.0, Eye2 X100 Putter: Bettinardi PM Blade Ball: Titleist Professional 100 2008 Driver: Callaway FT-5 Tour (8.5 degrees) Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana White Board Proto 73 X 3-wood: Callaway FT Tour (13 degrees) Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana White Board 73 X Irons: Callaway X Forged (2-4), Callaway X Proto MB (5-PW) Shafts: Project X Rifle 7.0 Satin Wedges: Callaway X Forged (52, 56, 60) Shafts: Project X Rifle 7.0 Satin Putter: Callaway White Hot XG PM Blade Ball: Callaway TOURix 2021 Driver: Callaway Epic Speed Triple Diamond (6 degrees @5.5 , green dot cog) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X (47.9 inches) 2-wood: TaylorMade Original One Mini Driver (11.5 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X Irons: Callaway X Forged UT (16), Callaway X21 UT Proto (19 degrees @20.5, 25), Callaway Apex MB ‘21 (small groove) (6-PW) Shafts: (16) MCA MMT 105 TX, KBS Tour V 125 S+ Wedges: Callaway PM Grind ’19 “Raw” (52-12@50, 55-12, 60-10) Shafts: KBS Tour V 125 S+ Putter: Odyssey Milled Blade “Phil Mickelson” Grip: SuperStroke Pistol GT Tour Ball: Callaway Chrome Soft X (Triple Track) Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Click here to read the full article…
