While pundits and prognosticators were busy studying Tiger Woods’ swing on Friday during the PNC Championship Pro-Am and trying to see how his body would reach to playing golf again, equipment junkies were immediately focused on the clubs in Tiger’s bag.
Woods had already announced that he would be using a new, prototype version of Bridgestone’s Tour B XS ball this week, but after the USGA and R&A added the yet-to-be-released TaylorMade Stealth and Stealth Plus+ drivers to their Conforming Driver lists on Monday, making them legal for play, you had to wonder whether Tiger (or Charlie) might have one in the bag on Friday.
In fact, Tiger not only had a new TaylorMade Stealth Plus+ driver in play during Friday’s pro-am, but he also had Stealth Plus+ 3-wood in the bag, as you can see in the tweet below.
Asked about the driver after his round, Tiger said, “First of all, they have moved the more forward so I’m able to curve the ball more, and you guys all know that I’ve always been a player that has worked the golf ball.”
The Stealth Plus+ driver has a moveable weight in the sole that appears to give players and fitters the ability to shift the center of gravity (CG) location toward the heel or toward the toe, creating a draw or fade bias. On Friday, Woods had the weight set toward the heel, encouraging a daw.
“It’s given me the ability to hit draws and hit cuts,” Tiger said. “I didn’t like having just only one shot. The driver setup that we have for Augusta allowed me to draw the golf ball. But when I hit the cut, it was really short. I don’t have that difference anymore. They are very similar, which is huge. And hey, got to love the colors.”
A close up of the red-faced driver Tiger Woods is using at the 2021 PNC Championship pro-am round on Friday, Dec. 17, 2021, in Orlando, Florida. Photo by Scott Audette/Associated Press
While the driver appears to meet with Tiger’s liking, the 15-degree Stealth Plus+ 3-wood may not have earned its spot yet. On Friday, Tiger also had his old 15-degree SIM 3-wood in the bag too.
Finally, while TaylorMade released the new Milled Grind 3 (MG3) wedges this summer and there is a Tiger Woods Grind version of the MG3, Tiger was still playing the MG2 wedges on Friday.