Collin Morikawa using unreleased 3-iron at The Open
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Ahead of The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, a slew of players are switching out their highest-lofted fairway wood for an additional long iron. Compared to a fairway wood, low-lofted long irons help fly the ball lower for added control in windy conditions.
Rory McIlroy already proved that adding in a TaylorMade P760 2-iron works in links-style conditions, while fellow TaylorMade staffer Collin Morikawa is adding in a 3-iron to replace his usual 5-wood. But for Morikawa, the model iron he’s switching to is actually a never-before-seen TaylorMade P790 3-iron that’s unreleased to the public.
According to a TaylorMade representative, Morikawa tested a 2-iron and 3-iron of the P790 model, but he ultimately decided on the 3-iron because he preferred the offset and how it sat at address.
Morikawa’s new P790 3-iron has 18.5 degrees of loft, and it’s equipped with a True Temper Dynamic Gold Mid 115 shaft, which is designed for slightly higher spin than the Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts that he uses in the rest of his iron set.
He fills out his mixed iron setup with a TaylorMade P770 4-iron, P7MC 5-and-6 irons, and P7CM short irons (7-PW).
Morikawa is also making a change to his wedges.
While he’s continuing to use TaylorMade’s new Milled Grind 4 model for his 50-and-56-degree wedges, he’s switching into a new TaylorMade Hi-Toe 60-degree, because he prefers its sole geometry when playing links-style golf, according to a TaylorMade rep.
At last year’s 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews, a number of players switched into wedges with a lower bounce to combat the extremely firm conditions.
Royal Liverpool’s playing conditions are a bit different, however, leading to fewer wedge changes for the 2023 Open Championship.
“The conditions are softer than years past,” Titleist Vokey rep Aaron Dill told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday. “The amount of water the course received before and during the week has not only softened the greenside areas, but the bunkers, too. The grass areas feel like you’re chipping off a kitchen sponge. They are soft, but firm underneath the first inch of turf.
“The bunkers are heavily sanded, and when wet are very clumpy. The fingers on the rakes are far apart, and the wet sand sticks to the balls. Players commented on the amount of speed needed to get the ball out of the bunkers.”
Plenty of challenges face Open Championship competitors at Royal Liverpool, and they’re gearing up for the fight.