The Masters has an outstanding tradition of having past champions donate a club used during their victory.
Every winner dating back to the inaugural 1934 Masters has given a club, and the collection is on display inside the Augusta National clubhouse.
The display was recently missing a club from one past winner—Fred Couples, the 1992 victor—who didn’t realize his mistake until 2021 when he brought the MacGregor Eye 85 persimmon driver he used to capture the green jacket.
“There were a few guys laughing,” Couples said at the time, comparing the clubhead size to the microphone at his press conference. “I think they were laughing because I think maybe they thought I won in 1970 instead of 1992.”
As Couples can attest, golf gear has evolved in countless ways over the past 90 years since the Masters started—but the clubs used still hold a special place in tournament lore.
What would it be like to make a hypothetical bag out of these unforgettable clubs?
Not to play with them in 2024—although what a trip that would be—but a mix of nostalgic glory.
These are the clubs that hit some of the most memorable shots in Masters history, and in many cases they are representative of the greatest champions the tournament has witnessed.
Tiger Woods’ King Cobra Deep Face Driver (1997)
I’m a sucker for Cobra drivers and have a lot of nostalgia for some of their 90’s and 00’s gear.
So when it comes to selecting a driver, I have to go with the 9-degree King Cobra (True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 steel shaft) that Tiger used to demolish the field during the 1997 Masters.
His average driving distance that week was 323 yards, which is pure insanity given the size of that clubhead.
The Titleist 975D was the next driver up for Tiger, and I’m sure others would lean that direction, but I’m just in awe that he could generate so much speed and hit the center of the face on the King Cobra.
Gene Sarazen’s Wilson TurfRider 4-Wood (1935)
We are going way back in time to the second-ever Masters Tournament.
Only a couple dozen people saw Gene Sarazen hole out for an albatross on the 15th hole during the 1935 Masters, a shot that took him from three strokes down to tied for the lead late in the final round. A day later, the Squire beat Craig Wood in a 36-hole playoff.
Sitting 235 yards from the hole, Sarazen deemed his ball to be sitting down a hair in the fairway. His caddie, Thor “Stovepipe” Nordwall, argued for a 3-wood, but Sarazen reached for a 4-wood because of the lie.
“And when I hit it, I just had a feeling,” Sarazen would later say.
The “shot heard ‘round the world” had an audience of Walter Hagen, Bobby Jones and Byron Nelson. Hagen, Sarazen’s playing partner that day, famously asked Sarazen to hurry up prior to the shot because the Haig, who was well out of contention, had dinner plans that night.
The shot didn’t just help Sarazen win his seventh major championship—it helped breathe life into the Masters.
Sarazen used Wilson Staff clubs for 75 years, which is believed to be the longest running contract in sports history. He invented the sand wedge in 1932—Wilson sold 50,000 R-90 sand wedges in 1933.
Although only two players have won a major using Wilson clubs since 2000 (Padraig Harrington and Gary Woodland), there have been 62 major championships won with Wilson. Hagen, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Billy Casper and Cary Middlecoff were among the contingent to play Wilson.
It’s only right that Wilson is represented here. For a history lesson on the brand and to see where Wilson stands today, check out John Barba’s recent piece.
Raymond Floyd’s 19-Degree Custom Persimmon 5-Wood (1976)
Before recent scoring records were set over the past 30 years, Raymond Floyd’s performance in the 1976 Masters matched the standard. He shot 17-under, tying Jack Nicklaus (1965) for the scoring record, to win by eight strokes.
That week, he relied heavily on a custom persimmon 5-wood—a new club he put in the bag that week—that served as a critical weapon for attacking the par-5s.
Floyd didn’t use the 5-wood for any other event the whole year. He needed that club at Augusta specifically for second shots on the par-5s, given the high trajectory and soft landing he could manufacture with a 5-wood.
Floyd carried a 1-iron in previous Masters but only counted four times he used it over the course of nine appearances in the event.
He went to a clubmaker in South Florida—who this was I couldn’t find—and had a custom club made.
“So I had me this little 5‐wood made at a shop in Hollywood, Florida, to use in major tournaments,” Floyd said at the time. “It’s great in the rough because you can move the ball forward better than with an iron.
“There’s no rough here at Augusta, but the 5‐wood is great because of the sidehill and downhill lies you get here. That’s how I hit the par‐5 holes in two today—215 yards, 220 yards, 235 yards, every time right on the money.”
Louis Oosthuizen’s Ping S56 4-Iron (2012)
Oosthuizen did not win the 2012 Masters—he lost in a playoff to someone else on this list.
But he did make one of only four albatrosses in tournament history (I refuse to say double eagle, a term that doesn’t make sense).
Oosthuizen holed out from the middle of the fairway on the par-5 2nd, which suddenly gave him a two-stroke lead during the final round. It’s the only albatross on the par-5 2nd in tournament history.
He used a Ping S56 4-iron (True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 shaft) for the shot. Ping later gave him a gold replica of the club.
I had to get Ping irons in here somewhere.
Jack Nicklaus’ Jack Nicklaus Limited Edition 5-Iron
I highly encourage everyone to read John Barba’s profile on the demise of MacGregor Golf, which factors into Jack’s gear history.
Jack used MacGregor SS1 and VIP irons for most of his major victories, but his 1986 Masters triumph came with Jack Nicklaus Limited Edition irons.
He used a 5-iron from that set to hit his tee shot on the par-3 16th during the final round, authoring one of the most famous moments in golf.
With the ball in flight, his caddie and son, Jackie Jr., said, “Be right,” while the ball was in the air.
Nicklaus, on his way to pick up his tee, said the magic words: “It is.”
The rest is history. Nicklaus shot a 6-under 30 and won his 18th major. The debate could be had, but Jack’s victory is my top Masters moment of all-time.
Phil Mickelson’s Callaway X Proto 6-Iron (2010)
Mickelson won three Masters titles (2004, 2006 and 2010) and had several memorable moments.
The one that always comes to me is the 6-iron he hit out of the pine straw, seemingly trapped behind a tree, on the 13th hole during the final round of the 2010 Masters.
Mickelson only had a one-stroke lead at the time and took a huge gamble going for the green with a 6-iron. His shot barely cleared the water and rolled to within a few feet of the hole.
Many forget that he missed the eagle putt—but he made birdie and pulled away from Lee Westwood.
Mickelson played a full Callaway bag that week, using Rifle Project X 7.0 shafts in his X Proto irons.
Sandy Lyle’s Mizuno TP-11 7-Iron (1988)
Sandy Lyle’s dramatic victory over Mark Calcavecchia in the 1988 Masters often gets overlooked, but it’s arguably the most clutch moment the 18th hole has seen in tournament history.
Lyle was tied for the lead on the 72nd hole when his tee shot found the first of the two fairway bunkers. He had a lip to clear and required perfect impact to get all the way to the hole.
He took a Mizuno TP-11 7-iron and picked it perfectly. The shot landed in the middle of the green as the backstop sent his ball down to about 10 feet. Lyle rolled in the birdie putt to win the Masters.
The TP-11s were in the first wave of Mizuno TP irons (the TP-9, TP-10 and TP-18 were around at the same time).
Tiger Woods’ TaylorMade P-7TW 8-Iron (2019)
I couldn’t put this bag together without including a club from Tiger’s historic 2019 victory (and spoiler alert, there are two more Tiger clubs coming).
Woods didn’t necessarily have one defining moment in the “return to glory” victory, but the memory that comes back for me is his tee shot on the par-3 16th.
Using a P7TW 8-iron—he is still playing the same irons as of this writing—Woods nearly made an ace and cemented what is one of the three most meaningful Masters victories ever.
For those wondering, he hit a 9-iron to the middle of the 12th green. Francesco Molinari, Tony Finau, Brooks Koepka and Ian Poulter all found the water on that hole.
Jordan Spieth’s Titleist 714 AP2 9-Iron (2016)
Well, being memorable is not always a good thing.
But given how Spieth won the 2015 Masters using the same AP2s, I feel like this selection is fair game.
You don’t need to hear the story again, but Spieth hit a 9-iron when he found a watery grave on the 12th hole during the final round of the 2016 Masters. His eventual quadruple bogey cost him the green jacket.
No more commentary necessary, other than to say that I’m thrilled to have the AP2s in my Masters bag.
Tiger Woods’ Mizuno MP-14 Pitching Wedge (1997)
Tiger is on this list four times (no apologies), but there are four brands and three different periods of his career represented.
Nothing defines his 1997 victory—which I would say is either No. 2 or 3 all-time in Masters wins—like the way he played the par-5 15th.
Woods, on his way to a 6-under 30 on his inward nine on day one, smoked his aforementioned King Cobra Deep Face driver and then tickled a pitching wedge down the hill to set up an eagle.
He would go on to be 13-under on the par-5s that week, tearing apart Augusta National limb by limb. His Mizuno MP-14 pitching wedge was used regularly that week as his prodigious length gave him countless wedge opportunities.
A few other gear notes from his 1997 win: Woods used a Titleist PT 3-wood, Cleveland 588 RTG wedges, a Scotty Cameron Newport Tel3 putter and a Titleist Professional 90 ball.
The Newport Tel3 was the only putter besides his Newport 2 GSS “Elder Wand” to capture a major.
Bubba Watson’s Ping Tour-W 52-degree Gap Wedge (2012)
There are very few legendary Masters moments where patrons can stand in the exact spot where the shot was played.
That is the opportunity Bubba Watson gave us all during a playoff with Oosthuizen during the 2012 Masters.
Watson made four birdies on his back nine during the final round en route to catching Oosthuizen and forcing a playoff. The two made par at the 18th and then both went right off the tee on the second extra hole, the par-4 10th.
Blocked out by trees, Watson had to hook a 52-degree Ping Tour-W gap wedge out of the pine straw, miraculously getting the ball to curve enough and get close to the back hole location 144 yards away. Oosthuizen made a bogey, allowing Watson to two-putt for the first of his two Masters wins.
The Tour-W wedges were not in his bag for the 2014 win. He had Ping Tour wedges with Gorge Grooves at that time.
Larry Mize’s MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Muirfield Model 56-Degree Wedge (1987)
Larry Mize, the hometown kid, chipped in to win the 1987 Masters in a playoff.
It doesn’t get much better than that.
Mize used a 56-degree MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Muirfield model for the famous shot. He had just put the club in his bag prior to the tournament.
This came at a time when lob wedges weren’t popular in professional golf. Only a few players used them.
Using a lower loft than what most players would take today, Mize landed his pitch short of the green and let it trickle on, tracking perfectly toward the hole. Greg Norman still had a putt to tie him, but it went begging.
You can relive the whole thing here.
MacGregor deserves some representation given how popular it was at the time.
Tiger Woods’ Nike Blade TW 60-Degree Lob Wedge (2005)
If you are ranking memorable shots in Masters history, Tiger’s chip-in at the 2005 Masters is a candidate for the top overall spot.
Leading Chris DiMarco by one stroke heading to the 16th hole, Woods pulled his tee shot and was faced with an awkward angle. He had to play a pitch shot left of the hole and let the slope carry it down.
He did just that with his Nike Blade TW lob wedge.
Pretty soon, Nike had a new commercial.
Ben Crenshaw’s Wilson 8802 Putter (1984)
There are several options for a Masters putter, but I’m going with “Little Ben,” the Wilson 8802 blade that seemed destined to be used by Ben Crenshaw.
A model of putter that Arnold Palmer made famous, Crenshaw used it to make a sweeping 60-foot birdie putt on the 10th hole en route to winning the 1984 Masters.
He won the 1995 Masters with a Cleveland Designed by Ben Crenshaw model, a similar looking flatstick.
Crenshaw donated a Walter Hagen wedge for the clubhouse collection—he didn’t want to part with one of the most famous putters in history.
So those are the 14 clubs in my Masters history bag. I would have liked to include more Masters legends but had a hard time making it work to come up with a complete set. I’m also more familiar with modern gear.
Here are some honorable mentions that easily could have made the list:
- Jack Nicklaus’ MacGregor Response ZT putter
- Arnold Palmer’s Wilson Dyna-Powered 6-iron
- Sergio Garcia’s TaylorMade P750 8-iron
- Adam Scott’s Scotty Cameron by Titleist Futura X prototype putter
- Charl Schwartzel’s Nike VR Pro X3X 54-degree wedge
- Mark O’Meara’s Ping Anser2 putter
- Horton Smith’s Walter Hagen International blade putter
- Bubba Watson’s pink PG25 driver
- Nick Faldo’s TaylorMade TPA VIII putter
Any omissions or additions? Let me know below in the comments.
And check out some of my other Masters coverage:
- The Perfect One-Day Itinerary For First-Time Masters Patrons
- Golf Nerd Numbers: How Masters Scoring Has Evolved Over 90 Years
- The Best Part of Attending the Masters? Being Fully Present Without a Phone
The post Making a Bag With 14 Memorable Masters Clubs appeared first on MyGolfSpy.
Article Link: Making a Bag With 14 Memorable Masters Clubs | MyGolfSpy