Vijay Singh is one of the most hard-working and precise golfers, and he can feel and see tiny changes to his clubs. It’s therefore important for him to be comfortable with their look and feel.
When I saw Singh on Tuesday, at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix Country Club with his Srixon Irons, I was amazed to see that he had large red numbers all over them.
Interesting.
The numbers on the irons were all one digit above the “actual” number that was stamped by the manufacturer.
What’s going on? Why are the red numbers mismatched?
Brian Rhattigan confirmed that Singh dislikes the offset look on his irons. If you’re not familiar with the term “offset”, it refers to distance between the leading edges of the face of the iron and the hosel. The club will have a high amount of offset if there is a big gap between the hosel, and the leading edge.
Singh is not a fan of offset. Singh prefers that the leading edge of the blade and the hosel match or have “onset”, which is where the leading edge is in front.
It makes sense, since Singh likes to cut his shots, and a more offset trajectory would lead to a ball trajectory that is opposite to Singh’s preferred ball flight.
Singh bent each iron four degrees weaker, to help align the leading edge of the iron with the hosel, and reduce the visual offset. Singh has written “8” (and so forth) on his 7 iron because it is bent four degree weak.
Rhattigan says that Singh has used this tactic since decades. It’s only the red numbers which are different. The red numbers are simply there to reduce confusion.
View more photos of the 2023 Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
