TEEING OFF

MY BAG

Matt Kuchar

FOR THE ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL

"I love my driver. It's shaped a little different, closer to an old-style head, a little smaller, just clean and classic-looking."

1. DRIVER

Bridgestone J40 (9.5°)

bridgestonegolf.com

SHAFT: Graphite Design

DJ-6 (X flex)

gdintl.com

2. FAIRWAY METAL

Ping G20 (15°)

SHAFT: Fujikura

Motore F3 (X flex)

fujikuragolf.com

3. HYBRID

Ping i15 (20°)

SHAFT: Matrix Ozik

Program 95 (X flex)

matrix-golf-shafts.com

4. IRONS

Fourteen Golf TC710 (four-iron)

fourteengolf.com

SHAFT: Aerotech

SteelFiber i95 (X flex)

aerotechgolfshafts.com

Bridgestone

J40 Cavity Back (five through PW)

SHAFTS: Aerotech

SteelFiber i95 (S flex)

5. WEDGES

Bridgestone J40 Black Oxide (52°, 58°); Titleist Vokey Design SM (62°)

vokey.com

SHAFTS: True Temper

Dynamic Gold Lite S400

truetemper.com

6. PUTTER

Scotty Cameron Studio Select Kombi Long

scottycameron.com

7. BALL

Bridgestone Tour B330-S

GRIPS

Iomic Sticky 2.3

iomicusa.com

TECH TALK

GOING SOFT

Titleist rolls out a softer version of its popular NXT Tour

WHEN TITLEIST talked to golfers who play the NXT Tour, most of them liked the ball but some wished that it had more feel on full shots. That was a problem for the company's engineers, since there is no way to measure feel, yet they knew they'd have to make a softer ball. After experimenting, they came up with the NXT Tour S, a solid-core construction with a low-compression core. In side-by-side distance tests across a range of swing speeds, the two models showed nearly identical performance—within a yard one way or the other. And since the covers were identical, they had matching spin rates and flight characteristics on short shots.

Dual-core balls, like the original NXT, tend to be harder or "clickier."

The S has a single core but the same cover and dimple pattern.

The S's core formulation contributes to a compression 10 to 15 points lower than the NXT's, but it flies just as far.

SEE

TRY

BUY

@GOLF.com

TWO PHOTOS

DAVID WALBERG (BALL, BAG)

PHOTO

KOHJIRO KINNO (KUCHAR)

THREE PHOTOS

COURTESY OF TITLEIST

THREE ILLUSTRATIONS