Hi everyone,
Here is another note from the team that made the trip over to Muirfield. Some really great stuff from Zach Johnson on his setup and thoughts after his opening round. Enjoy!
Notes from The Open Championship...
Zach Johnson was the first round leader at the Open Championship following a T2 finish at last week's John Deere Classic in a three-way playoff. He was in 2nd place after the first round of last year's Open at Lytham. He is confident in his play right now and stressing patience given the hard and fast course conditions.
"Patient. I think that's the biggest word of the week," said the longtime Titleist Brand Ambassador following his first round 5-under performance. "You don't know what the course is going to do as far as the elements involved, so you've just got to continue to plod along. I don't know if there's a perfect formula for it. However, I do know that patience and perseverance are the two ingredients that are required to get to that finish line. So that's going to be my approach."
Johnson also took a different approach to his set composition prior to the event. substituting his Titleist 913Fd 18-degree fairway metal in favor of a 712U 3-iron. According to Titleist Tour Representative Chris Tuten who worked on the range and walked a practice round with Johnson early in the week, Zach was looking for a club that he could hit lower than his 5-metal and found a good combination in the 712U 3-iron with a Fubuki 500 hybrid shaft. "With the fairways being so firm, a lower shot with the long iron will chase down the fairways better than the 913Fd 18 degree that he normally carries."
That is not to say, Johnson was holding back on his driver off the tee. He hit six of them on Thursday and is extremely confident in his Titleist 913D2 (8.5). We'll let him explain:
"I feel like I'm driving it as good now, if not better than I was last year (at Lytham). So I'm very comfortable on the tee box this year. Specifically with my driver. I know a lot of guys are saying there's not a lot of drivers out here. But it's one of my best clubs, so I'm going to take advantage of that when I can. I hit one on 1, certainly hit one on 5, the par-5. I hit one on 9, the par-5. I hit one on 10. 15 and 18 ... 18 probably being the best. Hopefully I can continue my driver form."
What's in Zach Johnson's Bag at The Open Championship:
Titleist Pro V1x golf ball
Titleist 913D2 driver (8.5) w/ Mitsubishi Diamana Blue 73
Titleist 913Fd fairway metal (15) w/Fujikura Motore VC 7.0 X
Titleist 909H hybrid (21) w/Fujikura Speeder 904 S
Titleist 712U 3-iron w/ Mitsubishi Fubuki 500 hybrid series
Titleist AP1 4-iron w/True Temper Dynamic Gold X100
Titleist AP2 irons (5-9) w/True Temper Dynamic Gold X100
Titleist Vokey Design SM4 pitching (48) and sand (54) wedges w/True Temper Dynamic Gold S400
Titleist Vokey Design Spin Milled lob (60) wedge w/True Temper Dynamic Gold S400