Ben An won the DP World Tour last week with a time traveler in his bag.
An is one of Few players in pro golf still play a 1-iron and he got his first win with the unique moving iron in the bag at Genesis Championship in his home country of Korea. Even more unique is that An was using the Titleist U505 driver iron as the longest club in his bag behind the driver (perhaps the only player on the PGA or DP World tours to use such a setup).
With the tendency for Tour pros to copy what works for others, is this something that could start a trend at the highest level of the sport? That would be a departure from the latest trends in professional golf, say GOLF’s Fully Equipped co-hosts Kris McCormack and Wadeh Maroun.
“If we go back like five, six years, the driving iron was so important in the professional’s bag that it would be very rare not to see one in there,” Maroun said. “It used to be like they had a 3-wood and a swing iron.
“That’s probably a turning point, where the drive iron is pretty much non-existent on tour.”
Nowadays, says Maroun, pros are more likely to have high-pitched woods like 5- and 7-woods— also 9-forest in some cases – while even modern hollow-body long irons have gradually disappeared from the bags. Even mini drivers the shelter took the place of the moving iron.
But when McCormack is talking to players in a fairway, he’s thinking about the clubs at the top of the bag that will help players advance the ball so their next shot is closer to the hole. Because you’re not talking about clubs you’d normally hit on the green, you have to think about practical applications, he said.
“I like the idea of creating a very plump and comfortable bottom of the bag to offer more full range of motion options,” he said. “And then as you move to the top of the bag, that’s where every club should have a goal of proximity.”
As for An’s no-sticks approach, time will tell if that trend ends up catching on with other players.
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