This surprising club is the secret of Richard Bland’s recent success

At the age of 51, Richard Bland is having the best season of a professional career that started way back in 1996.

In addition to a string of impressive performances on the LIV Golf League, the Englishman has also won two senior majors: the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship and the US Senior Open.

One of the secrets of his success? A club that most amateur golfers would turn their noses up at.

A 7-wood!

• Tiger Woods’ five surprisingly easy ways to score better

• Driver or 3-wood off the tee? Shot Scope has the answer

Speaking to a small group of reporters ahead of the recent LIV Golf UK event at JCB Golf & Country Club, Bland revealed that he has been using a 7-wood since the 2021 US Open at Torrey Pines having been convinced to give it a go by fellow countryman Justin Rose.

“We were playing a practice round together on the Tuesday,” said Bland. “He was throwing some balls in the rough and they were just coming out great. I went over to have a look and he said to, ‘Blandy, you’ve gotta have a 7-wood in the bag for the US Open.

“So, I went straight to TaylorMade and had one made-up. It took a little bit of time for me to put it in there full-time, but it’s a club I enjoy hitting. It’s very versatile. I feel like I can kind of manipulate a 7-wood a little bit more than I can a 3-iron.”

An equipment free agent since 2017, Bland is currently using a 21-degree TaylorMade Qi10 7-wood that he says it goes around 230 yards.

He’s far from alone in using the club, too.

• Sergio Garcia is using TaylorMade’s most forgiving driver ever

• Jordan Spieth: Drivers are nearly maxed out

According to a Golf Digest report from 2022, around a quarter of tour pros regularly carried a 7-wood, amongst them Dustin Johnson, Adam Scott, Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann. Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland and Xander Schauffele have also been known to use them from time to time.

However, according to Shot Scope data, first spotted by My Golf Spy, the club remains largely missing from the bags of amateur golfers.

Only 5% of those with a handicap from one to ten currently use a 7-wood.

That increases to 7% for those with a handicap between ten and 15 handicaps, and to just 10% for those off 16 or more.

That’s right: only one in ten golfers off 16 or more use a 7-wood… but several of the best players in the world do.

Go figure!

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor