GEAR SHORTS: Mickelson dives Sub Zero, Rory in control

One of biggest names in golf made his 2016 debut last week at the Career Builder Challenge and he did it with a revamped swing and a new driver.

Phil Mickelson returned to action in California and it seemed he has found a new lease of life when it comes to his golf game, turning in an impressive performance.

You mentioned a new driver? That’s right. Lefty was gaming a new Callaway XR Sub Zero prototype. An extremely low-spinning head, it’s not available to the public yet and there are no plans to make it so as far as we know. That might all change now after the popularity of the head on tour.

So how did Mickelson’s stats shape up compared to last year? Well he saw an improvement in driving distance, moving up from an average of 300.5 yards in 2015 to 307.5 at the CareerBuilder Challenge. His driving accuracy also increased from 55.98% last year to 62.50% in California last week. Winner winner!

Read more – Callaway reveals 2016 woods

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Jason Gore falls in love

Another big fan of the Callaway XR Sub Zero? That would be Jason Gore. In fact, he couldn’t wait to tell everyone about it and the rest of his Callaway clubs on the GolfWRX.com forum.

A Ping staffer last year, Gore has signed on the dotted line with Callaway for 2016 and he took to the equipment specialist website forum to detail how he picked the clubs that he is now using. You know what? He’s not any different to the rest of us. He picked some of his clubs because of appearance and feel, he picked others because of performance, and he picked some because, well, he instantly fell in love with them.

You can check out what Gore had to say here.

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Ben Hogan stays classy

It has been a year since the Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company made its comeback at the 2015 PGA Show with its concept of creating your set of irons by fitting to the right distance gaps instead of offering standard lofts.

Now, for 2016, it has released the new VKTR Hybrids. They’re not available to buy in the UK just yet but it’s only right that we admire this great piece of design.

What’s the story behind them? Terry Koehler, president and CEO of the Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company, explained: “It is no secret that Mr. Hogan was a precise long iron player. But we also have found prototype clubs in his personal collection dating back to the 1960s that would have to be classified as ‘hybrids’. We believe these VKTR hybrids are the kind of clubs that Mr. Hogan would have enjoyed playing.”

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Photo credit: GolfWRX.com

Headline-making irons

A lot has been said and written about Bryson DeChambeau over the past seven days, especially about the quirkiness of his bag set-up.

As you will already know, all of DeChambeau’s irons have been built to standard 7-iron length, 37.5 inches, but what brand was it that made them for him?

That would be Edel Golf. Little known this side of the Atlantic, Edel Golf makes custom fit, purpose-built irons, wedges and putters.

DeChambeau’s irons are Edel’s Cavity Back model and are set at 20, 26, 30, 34, 38, 42 and 46-degrees. His wedges, interestingly, are also cavity back and set to 7-iron length with lofts of 50, 55 and 60-degrees.

Oh yeah, he has a funky swing, too.

Slow motion look at Bryson DeChambeau’s unique swing. pic.twitter.com/ZUT39mhXu1

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) January 23, 2016

Further reading -> 18 things to know about Bryson DeChambeau

And finally…

Rory’s Nike RZN Platinum ball may not be brand new this week but it is for 2016. Want to see how well it performs? Check out this stopping power with a 3-wood!

270 yards ➡️ 6 inches https://t.co/QNSX1XP1rS

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) January 23, 2016