'Number 2' Ram's Bold Move "Club Change"... Will the New Weapon Work?

Replacing 5-Year-Used TaylorMade with Callaway Starting This Year, Immediately Deployed in Practice at Sentry Tournament Opening on the 8th

World No. 2 Jon Rahm is practicing with his new golf clubs ahead of the Sentry Tournament.

[Asia Economy Kim Hyun-jun, Golf Specialist Reporter] "Club change."

This is the 'winning move' of Jon Rahm (Spain), ranked 2nd in the world. Instead of TaylorMade, which he used for the past five years, he switched to Callaway starting this year. Callaway recently announced that "Rahm has signed a comprehensive golf equipment contract covering golf clubs, golf balls, and golf bags." He immediately brought them out at the Sentry Tournament of Champions (total prize money $6.7 million), which opened on the 8th (Korean time) at the Plantation Golf Course (Par 73, 7,518 yards) at Kapalua Resort on Maui Island, Hawaii, USA.

The driver is the 2021 version 'Epic Speed.' It is described as "creating overwhelming distance by minimizing head deformation through the advanced Jailbreak Technology upgrade." Along with this, a prototype wood and muscle-back design X-Forged TCB irons are used, and the short game is handled by the Jaws MD5 forged wedge. For the putter, he is coordinating various Odyssey models. Chrome Soft X golf balls are added.

For now, the new clubs are a good fit. It is interesting that Rahm already won 11 times with Callaway and Odyssey during his time at Arizona State University. He boasted, "The testing process went smoothly right after the 2020 season, and I gained confidence." In fact, during a practice round at Scottsdale Silverleaf Course, he set a course record of 59 strokes. Ahead of a full-fledged 'Number 1' competition with Dustin Johnson (USA), he has equipped himself with new weapons.

Rahm is from Barrika, Spain, and gained attention by winning the Ben Hogan Award, given to the best amateur, two years in a row in 2015 and 2016. He turned professional in 2016 and immediately won the Farmers Open in January 2017. The highlight was his victory at the Memorial Tournament in June last year. He became world number 1 for the first time in 31 years for a Spanish player since Seve Ballesteros (1989). On the final day of the BMW Championship in August, he hit a winning birdie from an impressive 20 meters in a playoff, drawing the spotlight.

However, the 'new weapon effect' is still uncertain. World stars who changed clubs and fell into slumps include Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), Justin Rose (England), and Lydia Ko (New Zealand). Patrick Reed and Brooks Koepka (both USA), and Francesco Molinari (Italy) do not sign contracts with specific brands at all. This is to mix different models that suit their tastes. It is becoming even more intriguing to see what score Rahm will record at the Sentry Tournament.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.