A closer look at Collin Morikawa’s groovy wedge at the U.S. Open

Collin Morikawa doesn’t always use a TaylorMade Hi-Toe wedge, but he does when he plays in a U.S. Open.

On a week-to-week basis, the five-time PGA TOUR winner and two-time major champion travels with multiple lob wedges. For example, GolfWRX.com photographed Morikawa with four 60-degree wedges in the bag during a practice session at The Genesis Invitational, including a TaylorMade MG2 with 8 degrees of bounce, a TaylorMade MG3 with 9 degrees of bounce and a TaylorMade Milled Grind Hi-Toe wedge with 9 degrees of bounce.

“Bounce” refers to the shaping of the bottom of a wedge, which is called the sole. Generally speaking, higher bounce options are best in soft conditions to keep the wedge from digging too much, and low bounce options are best in firm conditions.

Morikawa keeps his options open by carrying lob wedges that have different sole shapes so he can easily adjust to the different courses and conditions he experiences during the season. He figures out what 60-degree wedge he’ll use for the week during practice rounds and practice sessions.

When it comes to the U.S. Open, though, Morikawa opts for a TaylorMade Hi-Toe lob wedge, which has a unique shape and face design. This week, he’s using a model that has 7 degrees of bounce.

Compared to a traditionally shaped wedge, the Hi-Toe has a raised toe section and grooves that stretch across the entire face, which is appealing to Morikawa when navigating the U.S. Open rough.

“When people talk about U.S. Opens, they always talk about the rough and tough conditions,” Morikawa told GolfWRX on Wednesday. “I think every U.S. Open I’ve used a Hi-Toe. …When there’s really long rough and the ball sits down, and you’re going to have a lot of different lies, I think the Hi-Toe obviously gives you a lot more surface area on the face to hit the grooves. It just allows you to get away with the misses. I think it’s a lot easier to chip out of the rough. If you find a grind that works out of the fairways, it’s awesome. To be honest, I don’t know why I don’t use it more. It works.”

Like most U.S. Open setups, The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., has long and thick rough surrounding the greens. Even though Morikawa is ranked fifth on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green, he’s bound to miss some greens this week due to their small size and the usually firm conditions. He uses the Hi-Toe to increase his chances of saving par, even from thick lies.

When he does get the ball onto the putting surface, Morikawa is still rolling with a new TaylorMade Spider GT Rollback that he switched to at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday ( ).

The switch to a mallet came as somewhat of a surprise, because Morikawa has traditionally used a blade-style putter. He’s relied on the TaylorMade TP Juno for most of his career, and he used it to win the Open Championship in 2021. While he has experimented in brief stints with mallet styles throughout his career, he putts most often with a blade.

So why the recent change?

Morikawa told GolfWRX.com that the Spider GT Rollback helps him better match speed with his feels, and it all comes down to TaylorMade’s Pure Roll 2 insert that has wide, downward facing grooves (which are designed to produce a quicker roll, rather than skidding).

“It has wider grooves. I don’t really know the science behind it. It just comes off the face how I want, and that’s the biggest thing,” Morikawa told GolfWRX. “At least it’s reacting to how I’m feeling. And from there hopefully we can put a good stroke on it.”

As Morikawa explained, the mallet style also helps with the way the putter sits on the surface, and the plumber’s neck on his Spider GT Rollback is similar to his previous Juno blade gamer, so there’s a sense of familiarity.

These tools helped Morikawa to a 1-under 69 in the first round as he seeks to win the third leg of the career Grand Slam.