GEAR SHORTS: Willett’s Odyssey, Bryson’s switch back

Just recovering from a memorable night watching The Masters? Here’s the lowdown on all the major gear stories from Augusta National.

Where better to start then, than with winner Danny Willett? The Englishman’s Odyssey Versa #1 Wide putter was on fire all week as he ranked fourth in putting stats, while also had just one three-putt throughout his four rounds in tough conditions.

But it was his wedges that caused the most surprise. Willett still uses the Callaway Mack Daddy 2 wedges (released June 2013) which helped him win the 2015 Omega European Masters and 2016 Dubai Desert Classic, remaining loyal to them despite the release of the Mack Daddy 3 wedges last summer.

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Spieth’s cracked driver

It was heartbreak for Jordan Spieth at The Masters after blowing a five-shot lead with nine holes to play, but to be in that position was pretty remarkable considering he cracked his Titleist 915D2 driver on Masters eve.

A replacement was quickly put into play, but it seemed to affect the 22-year-old’s confidence throughout the week, eventually faltering with a quadruple-bogey on the par-3 12th.

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Switch back for Bryson

After testing out a set of same-length Cobra irons at the Georgia Cup the week before The Masters, Bryson DeChambeau switched back to his trusty Edel irons for Augusta National, where he went on to win low amateur.

However, DeChambeau, who plays in his first event as a professional this week at the RBC Heritage, did have a Cobra King F6+ Pro driver in play with the club helping him to sixth in Driving Distance stats and ahead of the likes of Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Justin Rose.

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Westwood changes driver and putter

It was another ‘nearly’ moment for Lee Westwood in a major as he three-putted the 16th to fall too far behind to challenge Willett.

And, after struggling at the WGC-Dell Match Play, the Englishman made a bold change for Augusta, switching drivers from the Ping G30 LS Tec (10.5˚) to a Ping G (10.5˚).

He, and Louis Oosthuizen, also put these custom Ping ‘EyeMark’ putters into play for the first time.

Lee Westwood and Louis Oosthuizen used custom @PingTour “EyeMark” prototype mallets for the first time at Augusta. pic.twitter.com/ch3JRU39Gu

— Jonathan Wall (@jonathanrwall) April 11, 2016

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All smiles for Shane!

And finally, Shane Lowry made one of THREE hole-in-ones at the par-3 16th on Sunday, and he did so with his Srixon Z745 8-iron, finding the cup from 181 yards.

Watch @shanelowrygolf make the sixteenth hole-in-one at No. 16 in #themasters history. https://t.co/YClo2d7xmW
— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 10, 2016