CLose-up of Tiger's Clubs in 2001 Phoenix Open and 2002 Masters

Here we go again folks...

Attached please find the pictures. I attached a pic of David Duval's bag in 2001 Phoenix Open in Japan. Nothing much here - just have a look on TW's wedges at 2002 Masters; I was surprised that he went to satin chrome on both of them and the stamping was different

In 2001 the stamping on both wedges was "T" whereas "TIGER" on both in 2002. As I said earlier he used to switch wedges pretty often and most of the time he liked it raw - in 2005 Masters his lob wedge was satin chrome as well, however ever since he has switched to entire Nike wedge set his 56 has been raw pro combo. The plating was always the same for the 56.

Take a look at his driver in 2002 Masters. Pay attention to the serial number and most importantly, an alignment mark! - it was one of the very few times you get to see a serial number and an alignment mark on his driver; I asked a friend who works in the factory (as you know there's a Taiwanese company producing Nike club heads) and he said he did produce them but he could not leak them out, dang!

That's about it...Enjoy!

tigers irons look like mp 33's

=O

I'm rather taken with the irons and wedge set-up of Duval... :)

I'm rather taken with the irons and wedge set-up of Duval... :)

Terrible wedge setup :)

I forgot DD used to use that Steelhead Plus 4+ as well. I thought it was Justin Leonard's bag at first glance. Still the best fairway wood Callaway have ever made in my opinion.

Still find it confusing as to why Vokey couldn't make Tiger a custom 56? Why did he have to have a 58 bent? I know he spent some time with Jose Maria Olazabal working on his short game. Jose has a load of offset on his irons and wedges. Could the increased offset be the reason?

I was also unaware that he ever used satin chrome wedges. I was going to guess that those wedges are new and haven't yet gone 'raw' but I'm not sure now. If they are satin chrome, they didn't stay in the bag for long.

Strange that Duval has changed his clubs in that shot from the set-up he won with 3 or 4 months earlier at Lytham. I managed to have a really good gorp into a few bags on the practice ground that year and remember Duval's pretty well - and his caddie who was a right miserable sod and draped a towel over the clubs when he saw me looking. In the Open he was hitting a Sonartec 3 wood (which I'd never even heard of at the time) and a Titleist 975Z Proto driver with an EI70 in it. He also had a different sand/lob wedge that was a gunmetal 588 56 with all the back edge ground off. The old faithful DCI Black 2 iron is also conspicuous by its absence in that photo.

It wasn't long after seeing those Nikes that I begged, stole and borrowed, and called in every favour I had left to get hold of an early UK set of blades via a contact (thanks John!). I'm still playing the 2 and 3 iron from that set in fact... :)

Cracking photos again by the OP. :)

DCI Black 2 iron is also conspicuous by its absence in that photo.

 

Cracking photos again by the OP. :)

I was going to hazard a guess that the DCI Black 2 iron was the missing club. I've still got one that used to do the rounds and I used to love it. Similar feel to the Ping eye2, Lynx Parallax, Tommy Armour 845 etc.

DD was the player that made me aware of Sonartec as well. Hard to believe that a company with at least three major wins (David Duval, Zach Johnson, Todd Hamilton) has gone the way it has. One of my friends recently described it as the curse of Nick Price (Ram, Goldwin etc).

Forgot to thank Tigerwooooo for the pics as well. Cheers mate :)

That Price thing is interesting. Almost akin to the old Viz 'Curse of Dad's Army' gag. Add Chipshot.com and Atrigon to the list of companies that went belly-up after the quick-swinging, chain smoking Zimbabwean got involved... The demise of Ram is amazing to me; given that they had an effective World No 1 in Tom Watson pre-McCormack, and another 'genuine' World No 1 in Price in their time and now they're knocking out utter tat instead of Tour Grind blades like they used to do.

My mate's still got an old Mk I Nike staff bag like Duval's in that shot - with the white and silver logos on it and the original Nike Golf 'crossed clubs' shield on the side. He still refuses to part with it, despite me offering quite reasonable sums for it down the pub after a few pints. Far better than the garish yellow jobs that they're knocking out nowadays with backwards Nike logos on the side and a daft SQ clubhead ball pocket.

I remember hitting one of those 275cc Nike drivers back then too. They were a decent driver in all fairnesss, but I ended up putting a 975J.VS in the bag instead.

I've never really understood the whole Ram situation either. How did a company go from producing some of the best blades ever made to making mass produced discount crap? I remember they gave it another go in the mid 90's with the FX range (including some gorgeous nickel blades) but even that wasn't enough. Spalding was another one who had huge success but at least they had something to fall back on.

I used to quite like those Nike bags as well. I remember Baddeley using one when he was with Nike for a short time. A friend of mine was once sponsored by the local Volkswagen dealership and they had one made with their name down the side instead of the Nike Golf writing. You used to see a load of them on the LPGA with various sponsors logo's on them.

Interesting you should mention those irons of Olazabal Steve. God-knows where the mega-offset thing came from because, as far as I remember, he played bog-standard TP-9s for years with decidely ordinary hosels on them.

I saw a set of his old MacGregor VIPs up close at the PGA a year or two back and they were amazing things. The long irons looked like he'd left his bag loafing in the garage behind the car and then run over it whilst reversing out that morning. Hideous things that evoked memories of those of Wilson Gooseneck abominations. How he plays with them I'll never know. He also has about the squarest toe grind I've ever seen. His 1 iron lookedlike it was made out of Lego.

I probably saw that exact same set of battered VIP's when he won the B&H at the Belfry in 2000. As you know, I play that course quite a bit and for me, the 15th is a driver 3 wood all day long (even that might not get there). He hit driver off the tee and took an iron out of the bag for his second shot. I presumed he was going to lay up until I realised it was a 1 iron. The thing flew about 10 feet of the ground with a little draw and rolled up to the front of the green.

I read an interview with Don White a few years ago and he said he had to blend in as much offset as a set of Big Bertha's in to Olazabal's irons (his exact words). He said it was due to one of his previous Japanese sponsors having loads of offset on their clubs and he loved the feel. I can only presume that was the Maruman Conductors because as you say, the TP-9's looked fairly standard. I had a set of the Conductors and they did have more offset than most blades at the time but I certainly wouldn't have compared them to Big Bertha's. Maybe Olly's were different?

Great pics by the OP!

I remember when Duval put in that Sonartec 3 wood. I remember thinking, "what the heck is a Sonartec?" He played a Callaway S2H2 3 wood for a loooooong time as well.

As far as I remember, at least one of the sets of Marumans he had were a bit fancy - and were apparently Miuras with a Maruman stamp on them. They were certainly nothing like the regular Conductors you could get in the shops, anyway. A mate of mine had some Maruman Conductors (31CX?) that were similar to the set Woosie was using in '91 and '92 by the looks of them - with that 4 way rolled sole on them. Those ones of Ollie's were much more 'normal' looking blades and a pretty regular design with a squarish grind albeit I don't know about the offset on them. One thing I do remember is that his old Maruman sand wedge was basically a Mizuno TP-9 that had had the logos filled in and been restamped. Literally a carbon copy of his old faithful Mizuno.

I've always been one to have a look at Ollie whenever I've been at an event where he's in the field. Glorious striker and, as you say, a bit of a smooth operator with the long irons. Some of his tee shots with a driver get a bit eye-watering though - I've seen him hit some alarming snappers over the years. I'm still hoping for a bit of a renaissance and a Ryder Cup berth for the lad; albeit there's probably more chance of him getting married, sadly.

Miura made Maruman's for Olazabal and Woosnam (who both won the Masters with them) but you're right, Olly's didn't look like the standard Conductor's. I can only presume that was the set with the abundance of offset? I've seen that sand wedge and he either got Maruman to make him an exact copy or it's just a re-stamped TP-9.

I can't remember how many times I've seen him tee the ball low with the driver and try to hit a chasing fade only to hit that double cross and drag it somewhere in the left rough. Who knows how many more tournaments (and Majors) he could have won had it not been for his his poor driving?

P.S I presume you know the reason why he's not married? :)

My mother has a soft spot for Jose, and is firmly of the belief that 'he simply hasn't found the right girl yet...'

Speaking of those Maruman/Miuras and that *ahem...* Maruman sand wedge. It's hard to tell from pictures alone, but the 6 iron does look a bit wonky now I look at it...

Yes, hasn't found the right girl. That must be it.

Thanks for finding the pic mate. That 6 iron does look like it has a fair amount of offset on it. They must be the set that started his trend?

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord (Reversed)

KOOL........thanks

That's a handsome set.

This is just stupid.

When i get new irons i just go ahead and etch such a wear mark on every iron . Still i´m wondering about these wear marks - shouldnt there be any dirt wear marks around the sides also?

 

This is just stupid.

My 8I looks just like this one :cheesy: that's just stupid.

Hmm... Callaway Steelhead huh?

That 8 iron is rediculous, good god

Wow, that 8 iron is just silly

[quote name='KK524' timestamp='1209184927' post='1039746']
tigers irons look like mp 33's
=O
[/quote]

What makes you say that? Aren't they 681's with his loft specs and a similar but different grind? I thought I read on here that Titleist purchased the dies from Mizuno and Tiger used to use a combo of MP 14 and MP 29 blades. Was Titleist the first brand of club he was was endorsed to play? I wish Titliest would bring back the 681's with conforming grooves.

[quote name='PKMillerJr' timestamp='1317264374' post='3601125']
[quote name='KK524' timestamp='1209184927' post='1039746']
tigers irons look like mp 33's
=O
[/quote]

What makes you say that? Aren't they 681's with his loft specs and a similar but different grind? I thought I read on here that Titleist purchased the dies from Mizuno and Tiger used to use a combo of MP 14 and MP 29 blades. Was Titleist the first brand of club he was was endorsed to play? I wish Titliest would bring back the 681's with conforming grooves.
[/quote]


Don't 681s have conforming grooves?

awesome pics, cool to see that tiger used to be a titleist guy