Patrick Cantlay won $15 million using golf equipment that is up to seven years old
In the 1996 movie “Tin Cup,” Roy McAvoy wins $400 by after beating a guy using a pink ball and baseball bat off the tee, a shovel from the fairway, a hoe in bunkers and putting with the end of a rake, pool-style.
Dewey Boone, the macho guy McAvoy beats, tells Tin Cup and his caddie, Romeo, “Get the hell off my golf course,” as he slaps the $400 on Romeo’s chest.
It wasn’t exactly like that Sunday at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta as Patrick Cantlay won the Tour Championship and the overall FedEx Cup, along with $15 million. Still, several of his clubs are ancient by PGA Tour standards and might only be found in the discount bin at your local golf outlet.
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Driver
Titleist TS3 driver (David Dusek/Golfweek)
DRIVER: Titleist TS3 (10.5 degrees), with Mitsubishi Diamana ZF 60X shaft This club is not too old, but it is not Titleist's newest driver either. The TS3 and its sibling, the TS2, were first made available to pros at the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock. Seventeen players put one in the bag that week, including Justin Thomas, Adam Scott and Jimmy Walker. The TS stands for Titleist Speed, and the TS2 and TS3 were the first drivers released by the company as part of the new family, with the TS4 and TS1 coming later. Each driver features an all-titanium construction, adjustable hosel and aerodynamic shape, but the TS3 was also given a moveable weight cartridge in the back called a SureFit CG. It allows golfers and fitters to create either a draw or fade bias. The TS drivers were replaced by the TSi drivers in September 2020, but you can still get a new TS3 driver online for $349 at Dick's Sporting Goods.
Fairway wood
Patrick Cantlay at The Memorial Tournament (Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)
FAIRWAY WOOD: Titleist 915F (15 degrees), with Mitsubishi Diamana ZF 70X shaft Some pros hold on to a fairway wood for a few years, but by Tour standards this is a relic. The first Titleist 915F fairway woods began to show up on the PGA Tour in June 2014 and were released at retail that September. Back then, the feature that raised some eyebrows was the Active Recoil Channel (ARC). The ARC was a slot cut into the sole of the club behind the leading edge that was designed to allow the lower portion of the hitting area to flex more effectively at impact. That helped increase ball speed on thin shots and reduce spin for a lower flight and more ball speed. The ARC was covered by a polymer to keep water and debris out and improve turf interaction, and it's a feature that is still designed into Titleist fairway woods today. The 915F was not the first club to feature a slot cut into the sole, but it was Titleist's first fairway wood to include the design, so golfers took notice. The 915F was replaced by the 917 fairway woods in September 2016, but Golfweek found several used clubs on eBay, like this one, for between $75 and $125.
Hybrid
Titleist 816H2 hybrid (Titleist)
HYBRID: Titleist 816H2 (21 degrees), with Fujikura ATMOS Black 9X shaft Another old one here. Titleist made the first 816H1 and 816H2 hybrids available to pros during the summer of 2015, and Jordan Spieth put one in his bag at that season's PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. It was released to the public on September 22, 2015, and represented a philosophical shift for Titleist. Before the 816 series, Titleist grouped hybrids with woods and brought out new models when new drivers and fairway woods were released. Starting with the 816H2 and H3, hybrids began coming out with new irons because, according to the brand, the time to get fitted for a hybrid is when you purchase irons. The 816 hybrids hit the market alongside the 716 irons. The 816H2 produced about 150-300 rpm less spin than the 816H1 and was made for golfers who like iron-style hybrids. They were replaced by the 818 hybrids in July of 2017, but Golfweek found some used clubs available on eBay, like this one, for between $75 and $100.
Irons
Titleist 718 AP2 irons (David Dusek/Golfweek)
IRONS: Titleist 718 AP2 (4-9), with True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 shafts Typically, pros need to replace their irons at least once a year because they wear out the grooves in their most-used clubs, and Titleist has restocked Cantlay with 718 AP2 irons for a few years. The company started seeding them at the Quicken Loans National in 2017. In all, there were six irons in the 718 family, but for elite golfers, it was the 718 MB, 718 CB, the 718 AP2 and the 718 T-MB that garnered most attention. The 718 AP2 would be the last AP2 model Titleist released and was designed for better players who wanted a compact blade length, thin topline and minimal offset. Internal tungsten weights gave the irons increased forgiveness and stability. The 718 AP2 was replaced by the first generation of the T100 irons, which Titleist began seeding on the PGA Tour at the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. Golfweek found several used sets of 718 AP2 irons available on eBay for between $500 and $750.
Wedges
Titleist Vokey Design SM7 wedge (David Dusek/Golfweek)
WEDGES: Titleist Vokey Design SM7 (46, 52 degrees), SM8 (56 degrees bent to 57, 60 degrees bent to 61), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S300 shafts It was a happy Halloween for the players at the 2017 Shiners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas because that was the week Titleist brought out the first Vokey Design SM7 wedges. The grooves and the centers of gravity in the SM7 wedges vary by loft, with pitching wedges and gap wedges getting iron-style grooves that are deep and narrow, along with lower centers of gravity. The sand wedges and lob wedges have wider, shallower grooves to get debris and water off the face, and higher centers of gravity help golfers flight shots down and place more mass behind the ball on open-face shots. The SM7 was replaced by the Vokey Design SM8 in November 2019, but you can still buy them for $99 each at Carl's Golf Land.
Putter
Patrick Cantlay watches his putt on the ninth green during the second round of the Tour Championship. (Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports)
PUTTER: Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5 prototype Cantlay played a Scotty Cameron heel-toe-weighted Newport blade for years but switched this summer into a Phantom X 5. His specific putter is a prototype, according to Titleist, because he requested that Cameron add an alignment line to the top. The Phantom X 5 is milled from 303 stainless steel and has extensions in the heel and toe areas. However, Cameron replaced a large portion of the bottom of the head with aluminum, a lighter material, then added a pair of weights in the heel and toe areas. This pushed more of the head’s overall weight to the perimeter, making the Phantom X 5 more stable on off-center hits. The Phantom X 5 is available for $429.99 at Dick’s Sporting Goods.
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