MY BAG: Lee Westwood
"The G25 driver is quite a bit straighter than my previous driver—my dispersion is clearly tighter, and ball speed has increased."
1. DRIVER
Ping
G25 (9.5°; actual loft 10°)
ping.com
Shaft: Aldila
Tour Rogue 6X
aldila.com
2. FAIRWAY WOOD
Ping
G25 (15°; actual loft 14.75°)
Shaft: Aldila
Tour Green 75X
3. DRIVING IRON
Ping
Rapture (18°)
Shaft: Aldila
Tour Green 105X
4. IRONS
Ping
i20 (4-PW, UW)
Shafts: True Temper
Dynamic Gold
truetemper.com
5. WEDGES
Ping
Tour (54°/WS bent to 52°; 60°/TS bent to 61°)
Shafts: True Temper
Dynamic Gold
6. PUTTER
Ping
Anser Milled 1, 35"
7. BALL
Titleist
Pro V1x
titleist.com
GRIPS
Ping
ID8 (irons);
Lamkin Crossline (woods)
lamkingrips.com
TECH TALK
Gravity Pull
TaylorMade's adjustable SLDR driver
TaylorMade's testing found that metal heads with a low, forward center of gravity (CG) produce faster ball speeds, less backspin and a lower dynamic loft than ones with a low, rearward CG. It follows that the SLDR driver is engineered to maximize distance with a low, forward CG. A movable-weight device—along the sole and close to the face—offers 20 grams of adjustable mass. (The R1 has nine grams.) According to the company, this translates to 30 yards of draw/fade shot-shaping capability compared with 20 yards in the R1. The SLDR comes in lofts of 8°, 9.5°, 10.5°, 12° and 14°. Each head has 12 loft settings, so you can add or subtract as much as 1.5° to modify launch angle and spin. SLDR is the most-played driver on Tour—Dustin Johnson, Martin Kaymer, Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson are among the pros who have used it. $400; $500 with TP shaft
PHOTO
DAVID WALBERG FOR SPORTS ILLUSTRATED (BAG, BALL)
PHOTO
CARLOS M. SAAVEDRA FOR SPORTS ILLUSTRATED (U WEDGE, PUTTER, DRIVING IRON)
PHOTO
SIMON BRUTY/SPORTS ILLUSTRATED (WESTWOOD)
PHOTO
COURTESY OF TAYLORMADE (SLDR DRIVER)
The 20-gram sliding weight (in blue) is easier to adjust, has more settings and is heavier than any of TaylorMade's previous movable-weight mechanisms.