Fred Couples - he of the nickname "Boom Boom" - apparently hit his driver just a little too hard at the PGA.
That's where he cracked the face of his Bridgestone J33 driver after using it for more than three years. At the Mercedes-Benz Championship last week, where Couples finished in a tie for 35th, he lamented the problems he'd been having finding a new driver.
"I've never struggled to find a driver in my life, and Bridgestone has been trying very hard, but it's the oddest thing," he said.
One of the hardest parts of finding the new big stick was hitting several drivers on the range. Couples has struggled with back problems on and off for several years.
"Hitting that many with a driver, I'd rather hit 7- and 8-irons to work on my swing than hitting a driver. I've had overdone it a couple of times and had to relax a few days," he said.
The J330, which Couples used along with a TaylorMade driver over the past couple of years, had 8.5 degrees of loft and a 44-1/2-inch Fujikura 757 shaft. Even though Bridgestone has tried to duplicate the specifications of Couples' favorite, it's not quite been right.
"I had one driver the whole time, and now I've tried 30. Really, it's an eye thing," Couples said. "I'll hit them good on the range, but then you go out on a hole and you have to cut it or draw it or hit it straight or whatever."
For many pros, finding a new driver after a beloved one breaks can be a challenge. Jim Furyk, for example, broke his Srixon driver in late 2006 and was unable to replace it with a duplicate. He's recently been using a Titleist 909 driver.
In addition to the driver, Couples carries Bridgestone J33 Forged Cavity Back irons and a Bridgestone J33 sand wedge. He also uses the Bridgestone B330 golf ball.
