Did Someone Say...Hybrid!? Watch Out for These Interesting Gear Changes at The Open

Links golf presents challenges not typically found on the PGA or DP World Tours, and many of these challenges require specialized tools to navigate. In the case of Royal Portrush, the home for this year's Open Championship and the final men's major of the year, it offers a very different links test than other courses in the Open rota, thanks to its dramatic elevation changes and finer sand.

To take on these design elements, along with the wind and potential rain, here are some of the club changes to look out for this week.

Let's Start With The Obvious

With the Genesis Scottish Open taking place last week, a lot of players had been working on putting new driving irons into play, and those look to be staying in play this week in Northern Ireland. Adam Scott, for example, who has at times used a 7 and a 9-wood throughout the season, has Titleist’s new T250 2 and 3 irons in the bag.

Talking to a number of reps throughout the practice days, the message was clear: players switch to driving irons because they offer a naturally lower flight window and lower spin than their usual fairway woods, but still afford a lot of the ball speed. This comes in the most handy off the tee to help keep the ball out of the wind, and hopefully out of pot bunkers too.

Bunkers, you say?

The sand at Royal Portrush presents a unique challenge because of its finer grain. Remember that not all sand is created equal because grain size and shape alter the density, and it's that density that either speeds up or slows down the club as it travels through. Not enough club speed through the sand, and the ball won’t have enough velocity to exit the higher walls of the bunkers.

Here’s what Titleist's Vokey wedge rep, Aaron Dill had to say about the popular low-bounce K-Grind option at Portrush.

"K Grind is a popular option this week because the bunkers have a lot of sand. These bunkers are also taller, so height is a premium here. Players need stopping power because the greens are firm, and a wider bottom flange will allow that ball to get up in the air easily.

For more details on other popular wedge grind options in play this week, check this out:

Less Than Obvious Changes

Ok, so now that I’ve gotten the more obvious stuff out of the way, let's get into a less obvious club type that several players will likely have in play: hybrids.

Sure, they have been surpassed in usage by higher-lofted fairway woods on the PGA TOUR week to week, but they’re still in the conversation. Hybrids offer height easier than a comparable driving iron, but a lower flight than a fairway wood. This comes in very handy since Royal Portrush has more elevation change through the course, and additional height will come in handy when approaching any elevated greens or when trying to find positioning off the tee.

Two players likely to have hybrids in the bag this week are Collin Morikawa and Cameron Young. As it was explained to me by their respective OEM club reps, both players found the hybrid allowed for better ball flight control in the wind, without sacrificing too much stopping power if needed to approach greens.

Morikawa has a TaylorMade Qi35 (above), while Cameron Young looks to be using a Titleist GT3.

Speaking of Greens and Putting

One player making a notable change to the flatstick this week is Tom Kim, who was spotted with a TaylorMade L-Neck Spider.

It's not news that Tom has struggled this season, especially on the greens, and whether it's his friend Scottie rubbing off on him, or just the results of some big time testing sessions, seeing any player put a Spider in play should no longer be a surprise.

Give me the chance to once again share the below video but with an update. As of last week and the Genesis Scottish Open, Spider putters have won 24 times on the PGA TOUR since the start of 2024, and in the case of Tom Kim, it looks like he's trying to make it 25 this week at The Open.