Hey Team Titleist,
It’s time again for the PGA TOUR’s signature event, THE PLAYERS Championship. TPC Sawgrass plays host on the layout that made Pete Dye famous, the par-72, 7,189-yard Stadium Course. Scoring conditions have been ideal as the year’s strongest field of players gears up for the challenge of claiming the TOUR’s unofficial 5th Major.
One player who has bolted out of the gates in Ponte Vedra is Titleist Brand Ambassador Chesson Hadley (Pro V1x), who recorded six birdies and an eagle en route to a 6-under-par 66 on Thursday. He followed that with a 3-under-par 69 on Friday to claim a share of the lead (at the time of this writing) with fellow Titleist Brand Ambassador Patrick Cantlay. After Round 1, Hadley remarked that he fell into a groove early in his opening round, a condition he describes as a blackout.
“A blackout,” Hadley explained, “is when you're out there on the course and you just get in the zone and you just let it take over. I entered the blackout mode today probably on 4. I hit a great 3-wood and I just got in the zone. I hit a great wedge and then made that and then made a mile putt on 5 and hit a great shot on 6. Any time that you get out there and you just kind of let the momentum of your good play take over, it's a good spot to be.”
The Stadium Course can be visually intimidating for many players, but Chesson embraces the quirks of the layout.
“I think this place is awesome, it sets up well for me. Maybe that's why this tournament is so great is because of the course. Anybody can win. It doesn't necessarily favor one player or the other. Short hitters have won and so have long hitters. Obviously the PGA TOUR, this is our major and I just like seeing my name on top of that leaderboard. It makes me feel good.”
Let’s take a look at the equipment that Chesson will be relying on as the action heats up this weekend:
Golf Ball: Pro V1x
Driver: 917D3 (10.5º)
Fairway: 917F2 (16.5º)
Irons: 718 T-MB (3, 4) and 718 MB (5-9)
Wedges: Vokey Design SM7 pitching (48.10 F grind), gap (52.12 F grind), sand (56.08 M grind) and lob (60.08 M grind)
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His Vokey SM7 shafts: TT Dynamic Gold Spinner, S40020/20
Scroll to take a look inside Chesson’s Titleist staff bag…1/20
Let’s start with the most important piece of equipment in Chesson’s bag, his Pro V1x golf ball, which he relied on to win two tournaments on the Web.com Tour last season. Those wins, along with strong performances in the Web.com Tour Finals vaulted Chesson to the top of the priority ranking list as he led the group of 50 Web.com Tour players who earned PGA Tour cards for the 2017-2018 season.2/20
Hadley trusts a 917D3 (10.5°) driver. 3/20
Chesson’s 917D3 is set to the A1 standard setting on the SureFit hosel. This setting optimizes his launch angle and spin rate off the tee.4/20
His 917D3 shaft: Aldila NV 65g, Tour X.
5/20
Hadley uses GolfPride Multi Compound grips on all his clubs. Though he’s a Georgia Tech graduate, his Tarheel blue color choice may be a nod to his home state of North Carolina.6/20
Chesson also carries a Titleist 917F2 fairway metal.7/20
This 16.5° 917F2 is also set to A1 on the SureFit hosel setting. The higher loft allows Chesson to hit high-flying shots from the fairway that land softly and hold par-5 greens.8/20
His 917F2 shaft: Aldila NV 75g, Tour X9/20
Bridging the gap between his fairway metal and his irons, Chesson is gaming 718 T-MB 3- and 4-irons. The T-MBs still present a traditional top line for Chesson, but their hollow construction and high MOI technology provides greater speed, higher launch and steeper descent angle, a perfect combination for holding long approach shots on PGA TOUR greens and attacking tight driving holes.10/20
His 718 T-MB shafts: Fubuki AX, X-Flex.11/20
In the irons, Chesson trusts the traditional look and feel of 718 MB (5-9). The MB’s allow Chesson to work the ball left-to-right or right-to-left and flight it up or down with ease.12/20
His 718 MB shafts: TT Dynamic Gold AMT, X100. Chesson switched to AMT shafts from Dynamic Gold after realizing he needed better peak heights out of his longer clubs to hold greens on the PGA TOUR.13/20
Chesson carries four Vokey Design SM7 wedges, beginning with his 48.10 F grind pitching wedge (not pictured) and his 52.12 F grind gap wedge.14/20
Vokey Tour rep Aaron Dill drills out weight ports in all of Chesson’s wedges to precisely fine tune the swing weight of each club.15/20
Next up, Chesson relies on a 56.06 M grind sand wedge.16/20
Another view of this beautiful wedge in Jet Black finish. This cool new finish is one of three options in the SM7 line, along with Tour Chrome and Brushed Steel.17/20
And last but not least, Chesson’s 60.08 M grind lob wedge.18/20
A good view of the heel, toe and trailing edge relief in Bob Vokey’s M grind. Fast Fact: Did you know that “M” stands for Bob Vokey’s “Most Favorite” grind?19/20
His Vokey SM7 shafts: TT Dynamic Gold Spinner, S40020/20
Scroll to take a look inside Chesson’s Titleist staff bag…1/20