Nike Golf has new irons - three new varieties, in fact. And three of the company's athletes put the new sticks in the bag for The Barclays last week.
Paul Casey, Trevor Immelman and Stephen Ames all used the new Nike Victory Red irons, which ocome in a forged blade, a forged split cavity and a full cavity option.
Casey did the best with the new clubs, finishing tied for seventh for the week. He tied for sixth in greens in regulation, hitting 73.6 percent of greens for the week.
"For me, they go about two to three yards further than my old set," Casey said of his new Victory Red Forged TW Blades. "I very rarely change equipment. I've got the same driver I've been using for two years and the same wedges. I wouldn't put something in if I wasn't comfortable with it."
The new irons have a traditional muscleback design and are made of 1025 forged carbon steel with a CNC milled face. They have a bit more backpad and thicker toe than Nike's previous blades.
The addition makes a full set of 14 Nike clubs for Casey, who first tried the new irons at Bridgestone.
"For me it wasn't a big transition, same shaft and loft and lie and profile," Casey said. "Mike Taylor who grinds my irons... does a great job. So it's just a case of putting them in, trying them in two practice rounds and I take a leap of faith and put them in play."
A new putter helped Casey to finish T15 in putts per GIR for the week (1.717).
"(The putter has a) sort of slight insert with grooves kind of combined which allows me to roll the ball better than I've rolled it before," Casey explained. "If I can get a small performance gain out of something, that's why it goes in."
Nike will make the Victory Red irons available at retail in November. Suggested retail price is $999.99 for a set of 3-iron through pitching wedge.
LIMITED DRIVER FINDS WAY TO WEIR: Besides growing a "playoff beard" for a new look, Mike Weir changed his driver. He put one of TaylorMade's new r7 Limited drivers in his bag and ended the week in a tie for seventh.
Weir, who relied on a TaylorMade r7 Quad for more than three years, has also experimented with a new Tour Burner this season.
In addition to Weir, David Toms, Brandt Snedeker, Charles Howell III and Shane Bertsch used the r7 Limited last week. Word from the TaylorMade tour van is that Snedeker thought the Limited was hotter and had better dispersion than his previous driver, while Bertsch thought the ball came off the face hotter.
CHOI GOES TO YES!: After winning earlier this season with an Odyssey putter, K.J. Choi has turned to Yes! Golf's Callie putter for the FedEx Cup playoffs.
Choi finished tied for 12th at The Barclays, where he averaged 29.8 putts per round and 1.679 putts per green in regulation - fourth best in the field.
One thing that hasn't changed - Choi's oversized grip. The story behind the Super Stroke grip that Choi has used since last year is that he saw a late-night infomercial on Golf Channel and ordered one. Since then, he has begun to endorse the grip, which helps reduce tension in the hands and prevent the wrists from breaking down.
BACK AND FORTH: While he didn't make the cut at The Barclays, two-time major winner Padraig Harrington did go back to the new Wilson Staff Smooth driver for the week.
Harrington has used both the Smooth and the Dd6+ drivers in recent weeks. He had the Dd6+ driver in the bag for both major wins.
Last week was the first time Harrington started the week with the Smooth driver. The new offering from Wilson Staff adds speed off the clubhead and distance. It will be available in stores later this year.
