So Jon Rahm has added major number 2 to his trophy cabinet and it’s the coveted green jacket. So as a gear nerd it’s a great excuse to dive into his club set up (see pictures at the bottom of the article):
Driver: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees @11.5) Shaft: Aldila Tour Green ATX 75 TX (45.25 inches, tipped 1.5 inch)
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond T (High Launch, 16 degrees @15.1) Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 X
5-wood: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond T (18 degrees) Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 X
Irons: Callaway Apex TCB (4-PW) Shafts: Project X 6.5 (4-PW)
Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (52-10, 56-12 @55.25, 60-10) Shafts: Project X 6.5
Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG Rossie S
Ball: Callaway Chrome Soft X
Grips: Golf Pride MCC black/red midsize
KEY POINTS:
Tipping and soft stepping
As you can imagine, with a top level tour pro, Jon Rahm’s clubs are tweaked and adjusted in every possible way in order to guarantee performance. Some common tour black magic that the Callaway bods use on his clubs are tipping and soft stepping. Rahm’s driver is tipped by 1.5”, this means that when cutting the shaft to size, the shaft is cut from the tip end in order for it to play stiffer, this is great for controlling the club during high speed swings. On the other hand Rahm also has soft stepped irons which has the reverse effect, playing softer in order to create more launch and spin while feeling softer. Reason being is Rahm is steep and a delofter, especially with his irons, so needs the irons to play spinny in order to have optimum stopping power while retaining the power that his natural swing creates.
Old man lofts?
Obviously that subtitle is a joke, John Rahm plays weak lofts through his irons and woods with them all having an extra 1 – 1.5 degrees of loft. Reason being, as I alluded to above, he delofts the club through his swing. This means he can still get plenty of height on the ball and is a great example of loft not having any bearing on the speed. Often people will expect a slower swinger to have higher lofts and vice versa for a speed demon, Rahm shows that’s not always the case.
Bespoke fairways
Eagle-eyed readers may notice the “T”, on both Rahm’s 3 and 5 woods. This is a tour-only shaping for the fairway wood which is more rounded on the sole than the standard option. Reason for this iteration of the fairways is Rahm is a steep player (noticing a theme yet?) and the rounded sole allows him to comfortably hit down on the ball as much as he wants without sacrificing strike. He also plays the a more lofted 3 wood, which is lofted down to open the face and avoid a left miss.
Old reliable
Rahm’s trusty White Hot OG Rossie putter has been the star of the show lately, and like the fairways, it isn’t one that you can rock up to the shop and buy. His custom putter has had the sightlines on the top removed and he has had a custom, microhinge, insert on the face as well. This club has been key in most of the most important shots of his career, so if it aint broke don’t fix it!
Any other business
Other clubs that can make an appearance in Rahm’s bag that you won’t have seen him hitting last week are an Apex UT 21 degree iron which he’ll switch out for the 5 wood, with the punishing run off areas around Augusta the 5 wood allows him to prioritise stopping power. And if you see a club resembling an old Ping game improvement iron in his bag when he’s on the practise ground it’s a training aid called the DST Compressor, a club with a bent shaft that allows Rahm to practise his patented compressed iron shot by forcing his hands forward.
Another phenomenal performance in a year that’s starting to look dominant for the world number one that must have the rest of the field nervous, anyone for the 2023 Rahm slam?
