Mickelson's iron distances

Status
Not open for further replies.
bcoak

bcoak

New
I know he is long, but some of the shots he hit with his irons yesterday were unbelievable. A 4 iron 242 yds into a par 5, a 203 yd 8 iron into 18. I can't fathom how he hits his irons that far.
 
J

jbrunk

New
bcoak said:
I know he is long, but some of the shots he hit with his irons yesterday were unbelievable. A 4 iron 242 yds into a par 5, a 203 yd 8 iron into 18. I can't fathom how he hits his irons that far.
Click to expand...



Too bad he didn't hit that 8 iron 203 yesterday or he would have won. I guess he thought he had a hell of a flyer.
 
mjstrong

mjstrong

New
Strong Lofts

Phil likes strong lofts on his irons; I remember a club manufacturer talking about Phil's irons in the past. Compared to other Pros, his clubs are probably close to a club stronger (less loft). Not a knock on him, that just happens to be his choice of club setup. Tiger prefers very weak lofts.

The loft of an iron is the biggest single determinant (from a club's specifications standpoint) for distance.
 
J

Jim Kobylinski

Super Moderator
mjstrong said:
Phil likes strong lofts on his irons; I remember a club manufacturer talking about Phil's irons in the past. Compared to other Pros, his clubs are probably close to a club stronger (less loft). Not a knock on him, that just happens to be his choice of club setup. Tiger prefers very weak lofts.

The loft of an iron is the biggest single determinant (from a club's specifications standpoint) for distance.
Click to expand...

Also, some of the yardages they quote on TV aren't always correct AND most of the pro's were playing for some bounce/kick on the firm greens.

If i remember correctly Phil plays off either a 45 or 46* PW versus most pro's which are in the 47-48* range.
 
mjstrong

mjstrong

New
lots of factors...

Jim Kobylinski said:
Also, some of the yardages they quote on TV aren't always correct AND most of the pro's were playing for some bounce/kick on the firm greens.

If i remember correctly Phil plays off either a 45 or 46* PW versus most pro's which are in the 47-48* range.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think Phil's was 45, whereas Tiger's is probably 48 degrees or so, which would probably put his 9 iron at 44 or 46 degrees.

Yardage depends on so many different things. There are times when I've known I have to hit a 6 iron 215 yards, and sometimes it's the right club for 160 yard shot.
 
T

Tball88

New
Yeah, that bad call of a 204 yd 8 iron on 18 might have cost him the tournament. He probably came up 30 yds short and bogeyed the hole, which led to the playoff.
 
D

Dustin

New
Phil plays strong lofts. When he had that Titleist combo set that was a retail release in his name PMsomething, they were very strong lofts through the set. A full club difference at least.
 
T

TSP4LIFE

New
Yeah that was suprising i watched him on friday at the nissan. Those guys all do have an extra gear though. On friday i stood there and watched baddeley hit a blade 3 iron into the 11th green from 242 slight downwind breeze and i mean slight almost unperceptible ripped it and flew it all the way there to 15 ft for eagle. That same day a few hours later i saw phil hit a 4 wood from same spot.
 
B

Brian Manzella

Administrator
Here it is folks:

The balls they play with are hotter.

The club they play with are better.

THEY are better.

If you FLIP a 8-iron and swing hard, it goes maybe 140-155. If you MASH IT it goes 175.

I guess that means that they mash it, huh? :eek: :cool:
 
T

Ty Webb

New
Balls are hotter?

Brian Manzella said:
The balls they play with are hotter.

The club they play with are better.

THEY are better.

If you FLIP a 8-iron and swing hard, it goes maybe 140-155. If you MASH IT it goes 175.

I guess that means that they mash it, huh? :eek: :cool:
Click to expand...

Brian,

I knew touring pros played better equipment, and I know they're better players, but did not know they played a hotter ball. So they play a ball completely different from the retail version---presumably lower spinning? Please elaborate.
 
J

Jim Kobylinski

Super Moderator
Ty Webb said:
Brian,

I knew touring pros played better equipment, and I know they're better players, but did not know they played a hotter ball. So they play a ball completely different from the retail version---presumably lower spinning? Please elaborate.
Click to expand...

Go to the USGA site and look at the conforming ball list.

Go see how many variations of each ball there is, many players get their ball companies to tweak the ball how they need it so they play it and get the ball counts up in the Darrell Survey for advertising purposes.

It isn't necessarily that they are hotter because they all have to conform but there are definately balls out there that the pros play with that we don't have access too.
 
Bell812

Bell812

New
I have a friend who caddies for a guy on tour. Last year I took my son out with me to watch the SHO, and my buddy gave him 10 ProV1X's, some hit once or twice, some brand new. Next day, I take some to the course to see if I can tell any difference. I was getting an extra 15 yds carry on drives, and extra club on irons. So I started thinking it was a mind thing, I think I'm going to hit these further, therefore I do. Well, I let a few of my friends try these out without telling them they were "tour issue" and they hit them further as well. Very un-scientific, and I'm sure there will be doubters, but that was my experience and I absolutely believe the tour stuff is way beyond what we can get.
 
T

tobell

New
At what level

Brian,

At what level of play do you get your hands on the good stuff? Do the guys on the Nationwide Tour play the hotter balls? Are the hotter balls only reserved for the top 30 or so players on the PGA tour? Very interesting topic.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top