The prototype Ping irons that one Open champ has in the bag at St. Andrews

Stewart Cink is preparing to play in The Open Championship at St. Andrews with unreleased irons and an unreleased putter. The 2009 Open champion combining veteran experience with new-school technology at the Old Course. In recent years, the 49-year-old Cink has shown no signs of slowing down, winning two times last season and reaching the TOUR Championship. Catching up with Cink ahead of this year’s Open Championship, GolfWRX spotted new prototype clubs in his bag. These aren’t just prototypes made specifically for him, however; they may actually be a looking glass into future Ping releases. His irons, given their “i230” nomenclature, could possibly be upcoming replacements to Ping’s previous i210 irons. It’s been nearly four years since Ping launched its i210 irons to the public, but PGA TOUR players such as Viktor Hovland and Matt Fitzpatrick still have them in the bag. Cink himself previously had i210 irons in the bag but he’s evidently upgraded. Ping currently has a number of new iron models that are used on TOUR, including the i59 (three-piece forged irons that replaced the popular iBlade irons), the i525 (hollow-bodied distance irons used mostly as driving irons on the PGA TOUR), and Blueprint Forged irons (blade-style, one-piece constructions for maximum control). Compared to the previous i210 irons, the unreleased i230 cavity-back irons appear to have a slimmed-down topline and slightly less offset. Ping also appears to have added a screw into the toe section of the irons. In its recent releases – such as the i59, Blueprint, and i525 irons – Ping has used tungsten screws to help improve forgiveness by manipulating weight in the heads. The company has yet to reveal design details about the i230 irons, so we’ll have to wait and see what the new technologies are all about. Ping did confirm, however, that pros Tyrrell Hatton and David Lingmerth are also currently using Ping i230 irons. Additionally, Cink showed up to The Open with a Ping PLD prototype mallet with a white finish and a black alignment line. The putters were first revealed to Tour players at this year’s U.S. Open, as reported by @GolfWRX on Instagram. Cink took a particular liking to the white mallet putter after testing it at the recent Travelers Championship. While he didn’t use the putter that week, it was the only putter in his bag as of Tuesday at St. Andrews. Cink is set to play in his 21st Open Championship this week. On Thursday, he’ll tee it up alongside Sergio Garcia and Aaron Jarvis at 12:35 p.m., with a bag full of prototypes.

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