Why Adam Scott is changing irons at FedEx St. Jude Championship

Adam Scott swept through Scotland this summer, following a runner-up finish at the Genesis Scottish Open with a T10 at the following week’s Open Championship. It was the fruit of a crucial meeting with a trusted advisor, Titleist's Liam McDougall, which led to the veteran Australian changing iron and driver shafts to best match his swing.

So why is he now switching irons at this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship, from Muira custom blades to a mixed set? It comes down to the contrasting turf demands of this week’s host venue, TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.

“The turf conditions in Scotland are very different than here, so kind of using the irons that work the best,” Scott said Wednesday.

Scott believes he has found the best recipe at just the right time, saying that early-season adjustments, although well-intentioned, didn't always put him in the right spot. Now he feels comfortable into a crucial week, as he looks to hang onto his top-50 spot on the FedExCup to qualify for the BMW Championship and cement a spot in next year’s eight Signature Events. Scott enters the week at No. 46 on the FedExCup, a bit too close for comfort.

He hopes the savvy iron switch will increase that comfort level throughout the week at TPC Southwind.

Throughout 2024, prior to his trip to Scotland, Scott had been going back and forth between a set of Miura KM-700 irons, and a mixed set of Srixon irons.

In Scotland, however, the turf tends to be firmer, leading to tighter lies. With that being the case, Scott needed irons with less bounce to help him better cut through the turf. To achieve that performance characteristic, Scott switched back into the Miura AS-1 custom blades, which he first started using in 2022.

“It’s really just a bounce and sole thing for the grass conditions … I just wasn’t getting the strike and the spin numbers and everything on that links turf,” Scott said Wednesday at TPC Southwind in Memphis. “So I used the (AS-1 Miura), which is a really great sole. It’s wide and very low bounce. And you get your strike in the right groove and get some good interaction with the turf. So that was the theory behind that.”

Based on his strong finishes, Scott’s switch into the lower-bounce AS-1 irons worked in his favor across the pond.

TPC Southwind in Memphis, however, uses Zoysia grass on the tees and fairways, with Bermuda grass in the rough, thus creating a significantly different turf experience compared to Scotland. In response, Scott has switched back into a mixed set of Miura KM-700 irons (6-9) and Miura 302 CB irons (4-5), to go along with a Srixon ZX Mk II driving iron.

“This set is definitely more favored for certainly Zoysia (grass) this week, but anything, even Bermuda, where it can be a bit fluffy, and you need to get in and out of the turf a bit better,” Scott said Wednesday in Memphis. “Whereas the other sole will go in more, when the ball’s sitting up on the turf, you catch it a bit too high on the face. I had (the switch) pre-determined (heading into the week). I have the other set (of AS-1 Miura), but I was fairly confident that this would be correct. Hitting a few on the Trackman yesterday showed the numbers were good.”

While most PGA TOUR players maintained the same iron setup from Scotland to Memphis, Scott is especially in tune with how his equipment performs in different conditions. He’s historically a prolific equipment tester, so he’s more than comfortable switching things up when necessary, week-to-week.

He did just that for the FedEx St. Jude Championship, where he’ll look to hold onto his top-50 position on the season-long FedExCup standings and its accompanying laurels. If he had strayed away from nuanced equipment analysis in recent years, that has changed of late. It might just lead to a spot in next year's Signature Events.

“I caught up with kind of my trusted advisor (McDougall) from years of work with him on equipment back in the U.K., and a little bit of a heart-to-heart,” Scott said Wednesday. “Just got everything lined up a little better, and I think over the last couple years, probably undervalued that part of the professional game.

“Equipment and technology is a big thing. You see it every week, guys working on Trackman, and that's not really where I've grown up. Yeah, if I was critical of myself, although intentions being right, I probably didn't manage that as well as I could have, and certainly see the need to be more on top of that going forward.”