Jimmy Stanger explains bag experiments including regular 60-degree wedge swaps

Jimmy Stanger has opened up on his unusual bag setup and revealed why he changes his 60-degree wedge often.

Stanger uses a more forgiving driver and often hits his 7-wood off the tee as well.

He is happy to use Titleist’s TSR2 driver instead of the TSi3 which is often favoured by the pros.

“It definitely still has an incredibly hot face on it that allows me to hit the draw that I like,” Stanger said of the TSR2.

He found great versatility with his 7-wood at TPC Sawgrass and THE PLAYERS.

“(It) is a game-time move depending how windy it is,” Stanger said.

“This place (TPC Sawgrass), to me, is definitely a 7-wood golf course…the way I describe it is I’m hitting a flop shot from 240 (yards). It lands with a descent angle of over 50 degrees, which is essentially a wedge angle into a green. When I set it on the ground, it looks like I’m looking at a 60-degree wedge. It’ll go in the bag if it’s not very windy. A place like here (TPC Sawgrass), it’s a weapon out of the rough. If it starts getting windy, then we’ll quickly sub that thing out for my 3-iron.”

Stanger has a penchant for changing his 60-degree wedge often while he prefers his other wedges worn in.

“I’m pretty particular with it,” Stanger said. “My 60-degree I swap out quite a few times. This is probably already my second 60-degree of the year, maybe my third. The reason I do that this week (at THE PLAYERS) is these greens are tiny, they’re undulating. If you’re around the greens, you need to have maximum grip. So, you want that ball to spin and stop. So a brand new wedge is going to give you that. And it makes a big difference, even a wedge that’s two or three weeks old.

“Very, very rarely will you see me put in brand-new 50-degree, 56-degree or 46-degree wedges,” Stanger explained. “I want those things to be worn down. So when I get new 50, 56 and 46-degree wedges, I like to practice with them at home for two weeks to a month because I want to wear down the grooves a little bit. The reason being, I’m chipping with my 60, not hitting a lot of full shots with my 60.

“I’m only basically hitting full shots with my 50-, 56- and 46-degree wedges, and if that spin rate gets a little too high, it’s going to throw off my distance, and when the ball hits the green in its going to zip backward. Sometimes that can be good, but most of the time, that’s something that brings in uncertainty and unpredictability on the golf course. I know what a lot of guys do, (they) will take these wedges, take them to a bunker, and hit fairway bunker shots for a week. You do that, that’s going to wear down those grooves, add about a month of wear on them, and that makes them just about perfect.”

Stanger isn’t afraid to experiment with his equipment, and has had a specially customised Scotty Cameron made to give him more loft from his putter.

“The last few weeks, we played on greens down in the islands, like Mexico and Puerto Rico, that were a little bit slower,” Stanger explained. “I struggled in Mexico, so in Puerto Rico, the Scotty Cameron reps were able to build this putter… I played well last week, finished third, had a chance to win coming down the stretch, and part of the reason was because of the clutch putts I made with this thing. Because of that reason, I figured let’s continue that this week. I don’t think I want to change after nearly winning a PGA TOUR event, and it’s felt pretty good on the putting green, so I’m excited to take this one into play this week.”

Jimmy Stanger explains bag experiments including regular 60-degree wedge swaps Golf365.