Winner's bag: Jhonattan Vegas rides two major equipment changes to victory at 3M Open
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Entering the season on a Major Medical Extension, Jhonattan Vegas stepped into the winner’s circle for the first time in seven years at the 3M Open. The four-time PGA TOUR winner recently changed putter and golf ball to try and make a push towards the FedExCup Playoffs and match No. 125 from the 2022-23 FedExCup Fall and Eligibility Points List, and it paid off in the best way with a trophy presentation Sunday night at TPC Twin Cities.
Vegas made the move like many others to an L.A.B. putter, changing to a L.A.B. Golf Link.1 at this year's Rocket Mortgage Classic.
“I made a change of putters the week of Detroit a few weeks ago and started seeing the ball roll really good,” Vegas said after the win at TPC Twin Cities. “It's been giving me a lot of confidence and I made some really key putts today, which was massive to keep the round from going the other way”
Vegas led the field in Minnesota for Putts per Green in Regulation, averaging just 1.60 for the tournament. He also ranked eighth in Strokes Gained: Putting saving nearly five strokes to the field on the putting surfaces. A stark contrast to what has been a difficult year on the greens for the Venezuelan. Entering the week, Vegas was 171st out of 178 in SG: Putting for the season.
Another major change that helped improve the form for Vegas was his golf ball. Entering the RBC Canadian Open, off back-to-back missed cuts, Vegas decided to switch from the Titleist Pro V1x Left Dash to a standard Pro V1x. After a couple of seasons with the Left Dash, Vegas made the change to increase his spin with his irons and wedges. Since the switch, Vegas has finished T27 (RBC Canadian Open), T25 (Rocket Mortgage Classic) and T20 (John Deere Classic) before earning victory at the 3M Open.
See the clubs he used for victory below.
Driver: Titleist TSi3 (9 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Speder NX 70 TX
3-wood: TaylorMade M6 Rocket (14 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Atmos Tour Spec Black 9 TX
Irons: Titleist T200 (3), Mizuno MP4 (4-PW)
Shafts: Project X 125 6.5
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (50-12F, 54-10S bent at 55-degrees), TaylorMade MG Hi-Toe (60)
Shafts: Project X 6.5
Putter: L.A.B. Golf Link.1
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Alistair is a senior staff member at the PGA TOUR. Born and raised in England, he played golf professionally on the European Alps Tour before joining the PGA TOUR. Follow Alistair Cameron on Twitter.