Tommy Fleetwood will need to tame Tiger’s new prototype irons if he is to snare a third Falcon trophy.
By Kent Gray
New year, new equipment, fresh hope. It’s a common scenario up and down the range at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship but for Tommy Fleetwood, the winds of change are just a little bit more personal.
The two-time defending champion has finally benched the beloved set of Nike VR Pro Blade irons that have served him so well since 2012-ish and especially so in the past two years as he became European No.1 and a Ryder Cup rookie sensation.
With the Nikes discontinued and the risk of a broken club being irreplaceable, the 27-year-old Englishman had to upgrade eventually and has chosen a favoured hunting ground to make the upheaval in his bag.
In come a prototype set of TaylorMade “P-7TW” irons, stamped with the initials of the greatest golfer of Fleetwood’s generation. Fleetwood will certainly be hoping to channel some Tiger Woods magic as he chases an unprecedented third successive Falcon trophy.
It’s a bold move with history on the line, especially as he has a new TaylorMade M6 driver on debut too. But a practice round and victory in Tuesday morning’s Pro-Am have Fleetwood confident the time is right.
“Yeah, I think they are very close,” the Southport pro said of the replacement blades on the eve of the newly upgraded $7 million Rolex Series event.
“The thing about testing clubs is that we have all the technology in the world at the moment, so you can stand on the range and you can make any number that you want to happen. But when you get out on the golf course, it’s a completely different story.
“At some point, I need a more long-term solution. If you think about it, my career, I’ve had the same set of clubs for six, seven years-ish. Like I need to look at the next kind of that period of time.
“We’ll see. I know I have full confidence in them. If it doesn’t go well, it won’t be because of the irons. It will be because of me.”
Fleetwood’s bag shot during the Pro-Am ahead of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on Tuesday. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
After winning the Race to Dubai in 2017 and kick-starting the next season with a repeat victory in Abu Dhabi, Fleetwood concedes the winless remainder of 2018 was a slight disappointment – notwithstanding his runner-up finish to Brooks Koepka in the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. But the world No.14 still oozes confidence at the beginning of a year where a major championship victory is the lofty priority.
First things first though. It must be comforting being back on a course you love, even with the likes of three-time major champion Koepka and world. No.3 Dustin Johnson hoping to snare that Falcon from your grasp?
“This is a course where if you play well, you can do well and if you don’t, you kind of struggle. The course kind of battered me for a few years. I’ve missed four or five cuts around here but it just so happens the last two years, I played really well, kind of like tee-to-greened it to death in a way. I’ve played so well that, you know, it was hard [not to win]. I made very little bogeys over two years, and ultimately that’s ended up in me winning a couple of times.
“It’s not really to say that this year will be the same. The rough is a little bit thicker this year. It’s a slightly different test. You’ve got to be on your game.”
