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Brooks Koepka WITB

 

 

Brooks Koepka is one of the most interesting players in the world of professional golf, an individual who talks the talk and has walked the walk with numerous trophies, most notably in the majors.

As an individual who has been at the top of the world rankings and then fell precipitously, only to rise back again to respectability, he has long professed that all he cares about is majors. To date he has five, including three in the PGA Championship (2018, 2019 and 2023) and two in the U.S. Open (2017 and 2018). He has also tied for second twice in the Masters (2019 and 2023) and tied for fourth in The Open Championship (2019). He was the PGA Tour Player of the Year in 2017-18 and PGA Player of the Year in 2018 and 2019. He led the PGA Tour in money won in 2018-19 with more than $9.6 million and has been a member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team, Presidents Cup and World Golf Classic and has a career singles record of 14-8-2.

He joined LIV Golf in 2022 and is the first to win four events as of July 2024.

He is known as a premier ball striker who is long off the tee and has an excellent short iron game, in particular from the bunkers.

He was featured in Season 1 of the Netflix golf series Full Swing, during which he lamented his inability to make a putt inside 10 feet. He subsequently bolted the PGA Tour for LIV Golf. While he isn’t seen as much on TV since his defection, Koepka is a regular in the majors and is routinely given short odds by the betting houses purely based on reputation and, of course, past results.

Koepka had been a so-called free agent without any contract with equipment manufacturers when he signed a multi-year gear deal with Cleveland/Srixon in 2021 to use a Srixon driver and irons, Cleveland wedges and a Srixon ball.

“I’ve been an equipment free agent for the past few years, so it will be fun to be involved with a company on a daily basis and be able to contribute to the development of their future equipment,” he said when joining Srixon.

Koepka subsequently changed drivers and manufacturers and opted for the TaylorMade SIM2 Max, though he later switched to TaylorMade’s newest driver, the Qi10.

Here is an overall look at the equipment:

Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 “Dot” (10.5 degrees @9.75), Mitsubishi Diamana D Limited 60 70 TX (44.5 inches, tipped 1 inch) shaft. According to Lewis Fraser of bunkered.co.uk, the Qi10 has become popular among several top players. It debuted earlier this year and TaylorMade promoted the Qi10 family (11 in all) for forgiveness using advanced multi-material constructions to increase inertia. The Qi10, in particular, features CG projection and higher MOI than its predecessor, delivering balanced performance without any tradeoffs. Koepka switched to the TaylorMade driver leading up to the 2023 Ryder Cup. He had used it previously in the year. An Instagram post noted Koepka has been notoriously picky with regard to drivers, so this is “big” win for the TM. The dot model Koepka and various other pros use on the PGA Tour and LIV Golf is different than the retail model.  

3-wood: TaylorMade M2 Tour HL (3W, 16.5 degrees), Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX shaft. GOLF Monthly.com writer Sam Tremlett said Koepka continued to stick with this club even after switching to Srixon. Tremlett said Koepka has used it for several years and given the success he has had with it the likelihood is it will stick in his bag. TaylorMade says the refined shape and size of the club provides a compact look at address while a more forward weight port improves workability. It comes with a recessed six-layer carbon composite crown, inverted Cone Technology and Geocoustic sole design. Additionally, the longer, more flexible Speed Pocket and lighter Fluted Hosel create a low CG that produces fast ball speeds for an incredibly long, high-launching and low-spinning fairway.

Driving Iron: Nike Vapor Pro (3), Fujikura Pro Tour Spec 95 X shaft. Clearly Koepka is happy with this club considering Nike ended manufacturing golf equipment in 2016. GolfBox.com says he uses it on tight holes.

Irons: Srixon ZX7 MK II (4-9), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shaft. Tremlett said Koepka had previously used Mizuno JPX919 Tours and Srixon’s ZX7s, before switching to the ZX7 MKII irons in late 2022. He is now using the 2024 irons. According to GOLFMonthly.com’s Joel Tadman, the 2024 edition is a playable forged iron with a little more distance built in versus most of its competitive set. Moreover, he notes it is not only forgiving but good strikes are rewarded with sensational feel.

Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore (46, 52, 56, 60), True Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (46) shaft, True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (52-60) shafts. Koepka said he switched to Cleveland wedges because the company has a strong reputation for making some of the best wedges. According to GolfBox.com, the ZipCore wedges have specs for tour use and offer superb feel and precise feedback. They feature a sharp, narrow and deep groove pattern that produces more bite while the low-density ZipCore at the heart of the design shifts CG for enhanced control, spin, consistency and performance.

Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom x 5.5, Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord (Midsize) grips.

Lewis Fraser of bunkered.co.uk notes Koepka had been using both a blade and mallet putter earlier this year. But he opted for the mallet at the Masters and won with it the following month at the LIV Golf Singapore event. GolfBox.com notes the Phantom X 5.5’s large head and perimeter weighted fangs create significantly more stability than his previous Newport blade putter.

Ball: Srixon Z-Star Diamond: This is slowly becoming more popular among tour pros. Koepka said the ball was a big factor in signing with Srixon. He practiced with on the range all the time, and in 2016 used the ball while doing a bunch of testing. GolfBox.com notes that Srixon made a prototype ball especially for Koepka and he liked it so much they put it into production for general retail usage. It is a soft three-piece Tour ball that features mid-spin, mid-launch traits and dimple arrangement that reduces friction for extra distance. It also features the thinnest cover of any ball on the market.

 

 

 

 

Perry Lefko
Perry Lefko
Perry Lefko is an award-winning writer who has published nine books, three of them bestsellers. He has been involved in sports writing for more than 35 years and has interviewed many superstar athletes. He lives in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada and enjoys watching golf and playing it.

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