Jason Day Finds Success In Utah With New Irons

Over the past couple of seasons on the PGA TOUR, Jason Day has proven that he's not one to shy away from what is considered traditional, especially when it comes to his clothing choices. But, this week in Utah at The Bank of Utah Championship, being hosted at the Black Desert Resort, Day is proving that he can bring that willingness to experiment to his gear, in the shape of some custom irons and a whole lot more.

When asked about the club changes after his first round, 3-under 68, Jason said he wasn't happy with how he's been hitting his irons lately so he implored his coach Colin Swatton to look into some other options. Since Jason Day does not have an equipment sponsor, shopping different brands is a unique opportunity for the 13-time PGA TOUR winner.

"I'm a free agent there so I can go out and see what the best of the best is, Day said. "Stumbled across Avoda in a way that like obviously, Bryson [DeChambeau] had some success with it. He won with the Avoda irons at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst. But I just told my coach, just have a chat to the guys, see what they think.

Swatton got on the call with the direct-to-consumer brand known for unique curved face irons that everyone has been talking about since DeChambeau won the U.S. Open with with them in the bag and the process kicked off. Day isn't afraid to tinker, he's tried out multiple different sets from different brands just this season—using both cavity back and blades. When Swatton finished his intro call with the Pittsburgh-based Avoda, he and Day rushed to meet with the boutique brand in person.

"He got off the phone and called me and he goes, man, in all the years I've been doing this, I've never come across the guys the way they explained everything. So we met in person. Did a lot of 3D printing of the iron head the way that I wanted to look at it. Obviously it's -- there is a process there. After this week, we're obviously going to get back together and see what needs to kind of be improved."

So that's a lot to digest, but what it shows is several things that are quite interesting in the way Jason approaches his gear, especially as an equipment free agent, meaning he can pick and choose what he sees fit when it comes to his clubs.

First off, his new Avoda irons are custom 3D printed, which, to be fair, isn't that new anymore since Cobra has been doing it for years to create custom products for their tour players. Everything from driving irons to wedges and putters, Cobra has 3D printed them. But what it does show is how involved Day wants to be in creating clubs that work best for him, along with his willingness to keep an open mind, especially when talking about curved-faced irons.

It also shows that tour players, just like us regular golfers, look to their fellow pros and peers to find out what clubs they find success with and see how they work for them. One of those "See, even former world number ones are checking out other players golf bags" kind of moments.

Another tidbit Day mentioned when reviewing the changes was that his iron heads aren't the only major change to his setup, he has also moved to a full set of KBS Graphite iron shafts, plus Jumbo Max Grips (yep the same brand Bryson uses) to help reduce stress on his back and the rest of his body. The major winner has struggled with lower back pain for the majority of his career and has undergone several surgeries and treatments to manage pain and injuries stemming from back, wrist and neck issues that have sat him out of events over the years.

"Instead of playing the X7s that I have played in the past, which is 136 gram shaft, I would play a 110 gram shaft, which is nice," 37-year-old Day said referring to his switch from the Dynamic Golf X7 Shaft to the KBS TGI Tour Graphite Shaft, adding that the lightweight shaft was "definitely easier on the body."

This is where amateur golfers need to take note, because if we do some simple math on his switch from 136 gram steel shafts to 110 gram graphite - that's a 19.1 % (for fun let's round it up to 20%) reduction in shaft total weight and as mentioned a switch of materials. It's this combination that can allow Day to swing the club just as fast as usual without putting as mush stress on his body, while the graphite naturally absorbs more impact vibration to also reduce shock and stress to the his joints—specifically his wrists and elbows.

That shock reduction is compounded even more, by using oversized grips. Although we don't have the exact specs they look to be Jumbo Max JMX Zen Lite based on the grip graphics we spotted during coverage.

But going back to the iron shafts for a second, I think the 20% rule is a good one for a lot of players who are looking to transition to lighter weight graphite to reduce stress and unwanted impact vibrations. I see and hear of too many golfers who transition to the same weight as their previous steel shafts with limited success.

When asked about the wholesale changes to his set, Day went on to add that while the changes may seem wide-ranging, the primary goal is singular: consistency.

"So there is just a number of things, from the curved irons to the graphite shafts and the JumboMax grips. The theory I think I have the same profile shaft from 60-degree all the way up to driver," Day said. "The goal is to be able to swing, just pretty much have one swing like whatever ball flight you want, whether that's a draw or a fade. For me it's a draw. To go up there and hit a draw and pretty much put the same swing on it and hopefully it produces the same shot over and over again."

Other Setup Changes In Jason's Bag

Oh, I could talk about this one for a while because I've become a huge fan of this club, and apparently Jason Day is too because on top of the iron switch he has put into play a new 21° Callaway Apex UW.

Half fairway wood, half hybrid, all power, the newest UW has picked up a lot of momentum on tour, and beyond his irons, is the latest addition to Jason's bag. He likes it so much he already has plans to test the 23° to see how it fits his gapping.

"Yeah. I'm actually playing 13 clubs here this week. I'm missing a club," Day said. "I would like to play a 23-degree, and that would fit perfectly between the 21-degree and the 5-iron that I'm playing. It goes about 230, 229. The 21-degree Apex, Callaway, that goes about 250 in the air, so I need something right smack between it and that should cover the whole thing."

Last but not least, one more note on Jason's new irons is that not only is the set custom and 3D-printed, but from images captured by GolfWRX, the irons also look to be built around a combo set configuration at standard length gaps versus Bryson's single-lengths.

Day's irons are also a blade and cavity combo set to shift the center of gravity through the set to help flight the shorter irons lower and the longer irons higher.

Now we wait and see how the they play out for the rest of the week here in Utah, and hopefully we get more information from Jason on his newest club experiment.