Tiger's 2 iron troubles

[CRutherford]

I realize that everyone knows Tiger has been using a 5 wood as of late in place of the 2 iron. But I'm curious about something. Why doesn't he do like so many other players have done by using a different type of 2 iron? I know he can't hit hybrids because they go too high. But he always had great success with his stinger. I thought that maybe like a Pro Combo 2 iron or even a slingshot tour 2 iron to go along with his 3-pw blades would be the best of both worlds.

Ex,

driver, 3 wood, Pro combo 2 iron, blades 3-pw, ....

[flamtap]

i guess he prefers the 5 wood because he can draw and fade it easier and it is way easier to hit than a 2 iron

[golfernut78]

or even a split cavity 2-iron?

 

he said he isn't using the 2-iron because he is not generating the club head speed to get the ball up high enough to land on some of the hard greens. he has been experimenting with a lot of clubs. with him using the t-40 tour, i would think that he still wants to keep the ball boring, but just a bit higher than the 2 iron. i have the t-40 tour 3, 4, and 5 wood and having jus made a recent change to the t-60 and v-steel, these, the t-40 tour are definetly a lower flight wood then many of the new ones.

[sandy]

I don't think it is as simple as club head speed. That certainly is part of it. But virtually everyone didn't stop having the ability to use a 2 iron. It is the ball design and spin rates they are producing. Even Davis Love switched this year. It isn't an erosion of skills as much as it is dealing with the ball design--which gives them other advantages. Some of the big guns in the old days used to use 5.5 or 6.5 for example in the old Titleist 975D (Tiger and Davis among others). Now today they are using 8.5s and 9.5s once again because of the ball design.

[taityboy]

Tigers new swing is alot flatter than his old swing so has trouble generating enough height. So changing to a more forgiving iron isn't really going to help as he will probably hit it right in the centre every time. The wood will help him get the ball up in the air more.

[Ultimate]

I don't think it is as simple as club head speed. That certainly is part of it. But virtually everyone didn't stop having the ability to use a 2 iron. It is the ball design and spin rates they are producing. Even Davis Love switched this year. It isn't an erosion of skills as much as it is dealing with the ball design--which gives them other advantages. Some of the big guns in the old days used to use 5.5 or 6.5 for example in the old Titleist 975D (Tiger and Davis among others). Now today they are using 8.5s and 9.5s once again because of the ball design.

Correct!!! :cheesy:

It is not that Tiger physically can't make certain kinds of swings anymore. It is that his lower-spinning ball (lower-spin to go straighter off driver) behaves differently. Tiger doesn't need "help" hitting Par 5's so much; he's going to hit more than ever, thanks to today's obscene driver length. He's just going to use the added length and loft of 5w to get height on shots of 230-250, whereas with a high-spinning balata Titleist, he could have gotten that height with spin with a 2 iron.

[Triple-Double]

Possibly if he got a milled face 2-iron with squarer and deeper grooves, he could spin it more. I seriously doubt he took out the 2-iron because of lack of clubhead speed. It is most likely because he has made some big swing changes.

[dpwrx]

I read that Tiger stated that with his new swing after hitting 4-5 2 iron stingers durring a round he had a hard time hitting his Irons normal again.

 

That was actually a problem with his old stinger technique (he was changed the technique somewhat), I think, and happened with old swing or new.

 

http://www.golfdigest.com/instruction/inde...1tigertips.html

 

"I hit my old "stinger"--essentially a knockdown shot with a longer club--by bowing my left wrist early on the downswing and keeping it bowed through impact, feeling as though the emblem on my glove was facing the ground. After hitting 10 or 15 of those during a tournament, it would take me a couple of weeks before I could get the ball in the air again with my normal swing."

[jzatl04]

A bit off topic here but I received my GolfWorld today and they listed Tiger's 5-wood as a 19* Ignite T-40. Do you guys think Nike actually badged it "Ignite" or do manufacturers actually dictate what the Darrell Survey releases to the media?

[dpwrx]

A bit off topic here but I received my GolfWorld today and they listed Tiger's 5-wood as a 19* Ignite T-40. Do you guys think Nike actually badged it "Ignite" or do manufacturers actually dictate what the Darrell Survey releases to the media?

 

Hard to know for sure, but I wouldn't think that Nike would have done that. I have not seen the Golfworld article, but they may have just snuck in that "Ignite" by mistake next to the T40.

 

GolfDigest simply calls it a T40 in it's WITB for Tiger at the Buick: "5-wood: Nike T-40, 19 degrees"

http://www.golfdigest.com/equipment/index....601winners.html

 

And Tiger's website itself simply calls it a "Nike T40 5 Wood (19 degrees)"

http://www.tigerwoods.com/content/default.sps?iType=6270

[Clemson656]

Why can't it be just because the 5 wood is more versatile? He hits it better than the 2 iron, so he keeps it in the bag.