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Kings of the West Coast Swing: stats and equipment

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By Seth Kerr

GolfWRX Staff Writer

With the World Golf Championship-Accenture Match Play Championship marking the official end to the West Coast swing; let’s take a look back at some of the more important stats and what we learned so far.

Americans have won all nine PGA Tour events, with Kyle Stanley and John Huh being the only first-time winners. Huh is the only rookie to win on Tour, finishing off Robert Allenby in a marathon eight-hole playoff at the Mayakoba Golf Classic.

Despite Stanley’s disappointing loss at the Farmers Insurance Open, he is still the current Race for the FedExCup point leader over Johnson Wagner and Phil Mickelson thanks to his  impressive win at the Waste Management Open.

Phil Mickelson had an up-and-down West Coast Swing, struggling early in the year before dominating Tiger Woods by 11 strokes in the final round to win at Pebble Beach. Tiger made the switch to the Nike Method 001 putter and it hasn’t worked so far, missing a number of makeable putts at Pebble Beach and the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in his loss to Nick Watney.

Mickelson followed up his victory at Pebble Beach with a disappointing finish at the Northern Trust Open. He had the lead for three rounds but could not finish off the tournament, losing to Bill Haas in a playoff.

Stanley is the only player in the top-25 of driving distance to win on Tour this year. He is average 303.3 yards off the tee, well behind No. 1 Bubba Watson and his pink PING G20 driver (Watson is averaging 312.7 yards). Gavin Coles has the lowest driving average on tour at just 267.1 yards.

Gary Woodland used his Titleist 910 D3 driver for the longest drive of the year at an outrageous 450 yards on No. 18 at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. The top-39 drives of the year were all 400 yards or more and all were from the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

Using the new Cleveland Classic driver, Jason Kokrak had the longest drive from a tournament other than the Tournament of Champions at 399 yards at the Sony Open.

Paul Goydos leads the Tour in driving accuracy, hitting 73.76 percent of fairways. Hunter Mahan is the highest ranked winner in driving accuracy at No. 4, with an average of 71.26 percent of fairways hit.

Webb Simpson used Titleist 680 irons to hit 75.93 percent of greens in regulation to lead Bubba Watson and his PING S59 irons by just over 1 percent. It is a shocking stat for Watson, who is also the leader in driving distance.

You would expect the leader in driving distance and second in greens in regulation to be in contention each week to win. But Watson is just 21st in FedExCup points with only one top-10 finish. For Watson, it shows just how badly he has putted this year.

Watson and his PING Anser putter rank 170th in total putts with an average of 30.60 putts per round. That is a whopping 3.22 more putts per round than Greg Chalmers, who leads the tour in putts per round at 27.38. Chalmers is one of few players on Tour to use a Bobby Grace putter.

Brian Gay, who now wears TaylorMade gear but still uses Mizuno irons, gets up and down 74.68 percent of the time, making par or better an outstanding 59 out of 79 times. Scott Brown is worst on tour in scrambling only getting up and down a paltry 38.71 percent of the time.

Titleist gamer, Bobby Gates, leads the Tour in eagles with eight, while fellow Titleist pro, Ben Crane, who is not known for prodigious length, is second with seven eagles this year.

Perhaps the most well-known American Titleist player, Steve Stricker, leads the tour in scoring average at 68.13, but has only played eight rounds after taking five weeks off following the Sony Open.

In a sign of how well Stricker has played this year, he leads the Tour in seven total performance stats.

Stricker leads the tour in:

1) Birdie Average                                   5.13 per round

2) Sand Save Percentage                     73.33 percent

3) Par-5 birdie or better                       75 percent

4) Scoring Average                               68.13

5) Scoring Average before cut           66.50

6) Consecutive Cuts                              45

7) Back Nine Scoring Average          33.13

So what do all these stats tell us entering the Florida swing?  Probably not a whole lot.  None of the 2011 players who won on the West Coast won again before the Masters. In fact, Bubba Watson and Luke Donald were the only multiple winners who won on the West Coast last year.

Tiger Woods and Gary Woodland are just two players happy to hear that. While Woods has had a few good rounds, he has yet to show he can put together four solid rounds. Woodland has looked lost for most of the year, though he and his new coach, Butch Harmon, promise he will be ready for Augusta. And for pros that is what it’s all about. They would all trade there rankings in every stat for one major, because while no one remembers who finished No. 1 in scoring, putting, or birdies, everyone remembers who won major championships.

Below are a list of the winners and the clubs they played.

Hyundai Tournament of Champions — Steve Stricker

Driver: Titleist 909 D3 (8.5°)

Fairway wood: Titleist 906F2 (13°)

Hybrid: Titleist 909H (19°)

Irons: Titleist 710 AP2 (3-PW)

Wedges Titleist Vokey (54°, 60°)

Putter: Odyssey White Hot #2

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Sony Open — Johnson Wagner

Driver: TaylorMade R11S (8°)

Fairway Wood: TaylorMade Burner SuperFast 2.0 (13.5°)

Hybrid: Adams Idea Pro a 12 (18°)

Irons: Titleist CB 712 (3-9)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey (48°, 54°, 60°)

Putter: Scotty Cameron proto

Ball:  Pro V1x

Humana Challenge — Mark Wilson

Driver: PING I20 (8.5°)

Fairway Wood: Cleveland HiBore XLS (13°)

Hybrid: Ping i15(17°, 20°)

Irons: Ping i20

Wedges: Ping Tour (52°, 60°)

Putter: Ping Karsten Anser

Ball: Pro V1x

Farmers Insurance Open — Brandt Snedeker

Driver: TaylorMade Burner SuperFast (10.5°)

Fairway Wood: TaylorMade Superfast (15°)

Hybrid: Adams Idea a12 Proto (20°)

Irons: Bridgestone J40 Cavity Back (4-PW)

Wedges: Bridgestone J40 (52°, 56°), Titleist Vokey (60°)

Putter: Odyssey White Hot XG Rossie

Ball: Bridgestone Tour B330

Waste Management Phoenix Open — Kyle Stanley

Driver: Titleist 910D3 (8.5°)

Fairway Wood: Titleist 910Fd (13.5°)

Hybrid: Titleist 503i (19°)

Irons: Titleist 712MB (4-PW)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey (52°, 56°, 60°)

Putter: Scotty Cameron for Titleist Timeless (GSS) Proto

Ball: Pro V1x

AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am — Phil Mickelson

Driver: Callaway RAZR Fit (9.5°)

Fairway Wood: Callaway Big Bertha Diablo (15°)

Hybrid: Callaway X Proto (19°)

Irons: Callaway X-Forged (4), RAZR X Forged Muscleback (5-PW)

Wedges: Callaway X Series JAWS (52°, 60°, 64°)

Putter: Odyssey White Hot XG Blade Prototype

Ball: Callaway Hex Black Tour

Northern Trust Open — Bill Haas

Driver: Titleist 910D2 (8.5°)

Fairway Wood: Titleist 910F (13.5°)

Irons: Titleist 712 CB (2), 710 CB (3-PW)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey (54°, 60°)

Putter: Scotty Cameron for Titleist Studio Select Kombi

Ball: Pro V1x

Mayakoba Golf Classic — John Huh

Driver: Ping G10 (7.5°)

Fairway Wood: TaylorMade Burner (13°)

Hybrid: Titleist 910H (17°)

Irons: Ping S57 (3-PW)

Wedges: Ping Tour (52°, 58°)

Putter: Ping Scottsdale Wolverine

Ball: Pro V1

World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship — Hunter Mahan

Driver: PING G20 (9.5°)

Fairway Wood: PING G20 (15°)

Hybrid: PING i15 (17°)

Irons: PING S56 (3-PW)

Wedges: PING Anser Forged (56°, 60°)

Putter: PING Nome

Ball: Pro V1x

Click here for more discussion in the forums.

Seth is an avid golfer playing year round in Florida.

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Coastal Duck

    Mar 2, 2012 at 1:14 am

    ‘Huh is the only rookie to win on Tour, finishing off Robert Allenby in a marathon eight-hole playoff at the Mayakoba Golf Classic.’

    Apologies, but I am just now coming back to the game after a 30-year hiatus. I would have liked to have known the whereabouts of the above mentioned tourney.

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BK’s Breakdowns: Cameron Young’s winning WITB, 2025 Wyndham Championship

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Cameron Young’s WITB from his win at the 2025 Wyndham Championship. Cameron is a Titleist staff player but his bag is definitely filled with some unique clubs. Here are the clubs he used to secure his first PGA Tour win!

Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX

3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX

Hybrid: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus HB Black VeloCore+ 10 X

Irons: Titleist T200 (4), Titleist T100 (5), Titleist 631.CY Prototype (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X7 (4-9)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F @57), WedgeWorks (60-K* @62)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X7

Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5 Tour Prototype

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Prototype

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Whats in the Bag

Peter Malnati WITB 2025 (August)

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Driver: Titleist GT3 (10 degrees, C2 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Project X Denali Blue 60 TX

3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 X

7-wood: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 X

Irons: Titleist T150 (4, 5), Titleist T100 (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper AMT Tour White X100

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F, 56-08M @57, 60-04T @62)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Style Fastback 1.5 Tour Prototype

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Yellow

Check out more in-hand photos Malnati’s clubs here.

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GolfWRX Members Choice presented by 2nd Swing: Best driver of 2025

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We’re proud to once again partner with 2nd Swing Golf to bring you GolfWRX Members Choice 2025! 2nd Swing has more than 150,000 new and pre-swung golf clubs available in six store locations and online. Check them out here

What is the best driver in 2025? At GolfWRX, we take great pride in our online community and the cumulative knowledge and experience of our members. When it comes to the best driver of 2025, we want to know what our forum faithful think.

Since our founding in 2005, the bedrock of GolfWRX.com has been the community of passionate and knowledgeable golfers in our forums, and we put endless trust in the opinions of our GolfWRX members — the most knowledgeable community of golfers on the internet. No other group of golfers in the world tests golf clubs as frequently or as extensively, nor is armed with such in-depth information about the latest technology.

Below are the results of GolfWRX member voting for the 2025 best driver, along with the vote percentage for each club.

Best driver of 2025: The top 5

5. Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond: 6.02%

Callaway’s pitch: “For golfers looking for a fast, forgiving, yet workable driver, the Elyte Triple Diamond features a tour-inspired shape and is the preferred model by most Callaway tour players.”

You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond here.

4. Ping G440 Max: 6.86%

Ping’s pitch: “The most forgiving G440 model, MAX has a hotter face to generate speed and distance, and a lighter overall system weight with a longer shaft (46″) for faster clubhead speed, higher launch and longer carries. The Free Hosel and Carbonfly Wrap crown save weight to create our lowest CG ever and increase forgiveness while contributing to a more muted, pleasing sound.”

You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Ping G440 Max here.

3. Ping G440 LST: 9.53%

Ping’s pitch: “LST is an especially good fit for faster swings, offering less spin and more control with a penetrating trajectory. A hotter face, lighter overall system weight and longer shaft (46″) deliver more speed and distance while maintaining tight dispersion.”

@phizzy30: “Not a fan of Ping drivers in general, but 440 LST takes the cake. It’s super forgiving across the face for a low spin head, looks and sounds good and the ability to make it play neutral or slightly fade biased through the hosel settings is very appealing.”

You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Ping G440 LST here.

2. Titleist GT3: 16.55%

Titleist’s pitch: “The GT3 Driver offers Titleist’s boldest combination of power and personalization through adjustable performance. Dial in the CG Track to your frequent contact location to make your biggest drives even bigger while taking total control over flight and shaping.”

@mrmikeac: “I’ve been Anti-Titleist for years and years and years (outside of Vokey, of course). With that being said, HOLY BEGEEZUS the GT3 driver is an absolute NUCLEAR MONSTER! This thing blew my G430 10K Max out of the water in every single category. Forgiveness is the biggest thing that stands out of me, the 3 model has always been one of the less forgiving models in the past but this GT3 can take bad shot after bad shot and still end up in the fairway, I think a ton of that has to do with the adjustability, it’s actually effective. Feel and sound is perfect, that solid crack is so addicting to hear and when you hit it out the screws this thing can absolutely bomb it. Titleist, I’m sorry for doubting you. You have converted me.”

You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Titleist GT3 here.

1. Titleist GT2: 22.91%

Titleist’s pitch: “Delivering impressive distance from any impact point, the Titleist GT2 Driver extracts maximum performance through a forgiving design. Get the stability and added confidence of a high-MOI driver without sacrificing speed.”

@DTorres: “The Titleist GT2 has proven to be the best driver of the year. Packaged in a classic profile, GT2 perfectly balances performance and forgiveness while consistently being a high performer across all categories.”

You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Titleist GT2 here.

Other drivers receiving >2% of the vote

Driver Vote percentage (%)
Cobra DS Adapt Max K 4.85%
Ping G430 Max 10K 3.85%
Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond 3.68%
TaylorMade Qi35 3.51%
Callaway Elyte 3.18%
Cobra DS Adapt X 2.34%
Cobra DS Adapt LS 2.17%
TaylorMade Qi35 LS 2.17%

 

 

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