This week, the West Coast swing continued at Torrey Pines on the cliffs in San Diego for the 2023 Farmers Insurance Open. We caught up with top players and celebrities to find out what clubs they have and what changes they are making.
GolfWRX discovered that Justin Rose, Jason Day, and Xander Schauffele made equipment adjustments ahead of the event. We also got to meet with Gareth Bale and Ben Baller, famous celebrities who showed us their equipment. Both players participated in Wednesday’s Pro-Am. We also saw some new equipment being tested by players, so we met Gary Woodland to see his Cobra setup.
Let’s not waste any more time, and let’s get into this week’s Tour Report at the 2023 Farmers Insurance Open in Torrey Pines.
View all our photos from Torrey Pines at
Day changes to a blacked-out Scotty Cam…and a 7 wood
Jason Day was at the 2022 Shriners Open, October 2018. I spoke with him about why he changed to a Scotty Cameron putter, and what he likes about his new mallet putter. He stated that the putters he had used in the past – TaylorMade’s Spider Tour and Odyssey’s Toulon Daytona, sat too squarely and seemed to be pointing left of target. Scotty Cameron’s rounder mallet seemed to point slightly to the right, which helped him get the ball in a better position.
Here’s an example of his original Scotty Cameron build.
Day changed into a virtually identical head last week at The 2023 American Express. However, this time, it was finished with a “Tour Black”. He finished 2nd in Strokes gained: Putting on the week. We caught up with Day on Tuesday at 2023 Farmers Insurance to see the new putter firsthand.
This could be Day’s putter?
You can read more about the putter switch on PGATOUR.com. You can also find more photos and discussions about the putter on our GolfWRX Forums.
Day used a TaylorMade Stealth 7 wood, which was equipped with a Mitsubishi Kuro Kage 8X shaft, to fly this week’s Torrey Pines-specific rough and greens. According to his caddie, he flies it approximately 245-250 yards and it lands softly.
See more photos and discuss Day’s switches
Schauffele finally upgrades his 3-wood
Schauffele was upgraded to a Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond driver during the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions. However, he still had his Epic Speed Triple Diamond 3-wood. We covered this story in . Schauffele struggles with 3-woods spinning too low when he hits a left-to-right shot. He doesn’t want to let the ball get too hot and lose the ability to hold the green.
He has since found a Paradym Triple Diamond 3-wood set that reduces this concern. Schauffele’s 16.5-degree HL fairwaywood, which is actually bent down at 15.3 degrees, has allowed him to tighten spin variation because of the consistency of the face spin.
On Wednesday, he put the new 3-wood to use at Torrey Pines.
Xander Schaffele’s complete WITB at 2023 Farmers Insurance Open
Woodland’s brand new Cobra setup
At the start of 2023, Gary Woodland signed an equipment contract with Cobra. We finally saw his complete WITB setup at the Farmers Insurance Open 2023. Woodland also switched to a new set Cobra King MB irons. He said they are ” literally right off the rack“.
See the rest of his 2023 WITBs here
Hideki tests a brand-new graphite design putter shaft
Erik Boysen, Graphite Design’s representative, said that there were only two prototypes of the new Graphite Design putter shaft. Matsuyama tried one of them at Torrey Pines this week. The shaft has been designed to increase stiffness and stability during the stroke. Matsuyama hasn’t yet put it into play, but we will be keeping an eye on Matsuyama’s putter shaft and Graphite Design for any developments.
Participate in the discussion here
Ben is a baller
Ben Baller is a famous actor/jeweler/designer/entrepreneur/avid golfer/TaylorMade staffer, and he was also on the winning Pro-Am team this week.
We had a quick look at Baller’s bag before he won at Torrey Pines.
We were expecting nothing less than a stunning custom Scotty Cameron Masterful putter. It was engraved with his name, and painted with Lakers yellow. Baller chose a driverless setup to avoid the Torrey Pines rough. He used a TaylorMade Stealth2 and Stealth fairway and hybrid woods as his top-end equipment.
He has TaylorMade Stealth Irons, TaylorMade HiToe wedges, and TaylorMade custom TaylorMade Golf balls with his logo.
View Ben Baller’s complete WITB here
Gareth Bale: Kickin’ it
GolfWRX (@golfwrx), shared this post
Gareth Bale, a retired Welsh soccer player or footballer, also played alongside Ben Baller in the Pro-Am winning team. We weren’t able to get photos of each club in Bale’s bag but we did manage to take a few photos.
He’s a good golfer, especially considering he was a former member of Real Madrid and Tottenham.
A post shared with PGA TOUR (@pgatour).
Justin Rose changes drivers
Rose was last seen at the Houston Open. The equipment-free agent had an old TaylorMade 2016 driver in his bag when we met him. Rose has been doing extensive driver testing in recent times.
He switched to a Callaway Paradym 8-degree head with a Fujikura Ventus Black 6X shaft this week.
Justin Rose full 2020 WITB at Torrey Pines
Ben Martin’s EvnRoll putter
Martin used an old Guerin Rafe mallet setter. However, he switched to a new EV5.2 mallet setter during the 2023 Farmers Insurance Open.
James Hahn arrives with a mixed bag
James Hahn, a former PXG staffer, appears to have gone free agent in 2023. He showed up at Torrey Pines with a mix-brand setup that included a Titleist driver and TaylorMade fairwaywood, PXG hybrids, Callaway irons and Titleist Vokey wedges.
Read what GolfWRX members have to say about Hahn’s new free agency, and the golf clubs
TaylorMade San Diego headcovers
TaylorMade’s Carlsbad HQ can be found just down the street from Torrey Pines. This is why the company often designs San Diego-inspired headcover heat for the PGA Tour. The sunset version of the 2023 Farmers Insurance was a hit.
Unfortunately, the sun is setting on this week’s Tour Report from Torrey Pines. Next week, we’ll be seeing you as the Tour continues up the West Coast towards Pebble Beach.
