Callaway 2019 Products

X ander Schauffele is in his third year on the PGA Tour and already has ascended to No. 6 on the World Ranking after his win at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. In an interview with Golf Digest’s equipment editor E. Michael Johnson, Schauffele talks about his equipment, including why the look of a driver is vitally important to him, how eliminating glare from his irons helps him and why that “topped” tee shot Sunday at the Sentry was actually the shot he was trying to hit.

The Epic Flash metalwoods have a pret- ty complex tech story regarding the face and the use of artificial intelligence. How much of that do you want to know about or do you focus more strictly on what it can do for you? What the club does for me. I know what Callaway is doing and the technology they’ve put into this club with the Flash face is very interesting to me, but at the end of the day I don’t think of that stuff. I’m trying to play and hit shots. The boys at Callaway came up to me and said, “This is going to be a club you’re really going to like” and af- ter three swings I was ready to believe them and after 15 I was ready to put the club in my bag. When I find something I like, it doesn’t take long for me to figure that out. A lot of tour pros tell me fairway woods are the most difficult club to get com- fortable with. But given the shot you hit on the 72nd hole it looks like you’re plen- ty comfortable with Rogue Sub Zero. Is a fairway wood more difficult to get right than others because it is part fairway wood and part second club off the tee? My dad taught me how to get into clubs and what to look for in clubs and he always stressed to me that a 3-wood, 4-wood or 5-wood was the toughest club to dial in and if you find a good one to keep it. You have to think about the shaft

What’s your process for testing drivers? I guess it seems pretty basic. My dad, who I rely on a lot, and I look at hitting a variety of shots from a trajectory perspective. High and low; curve and less curve both ways. Does the club roll when I try to hit a cut or draw because the bottom needs to be able to roll a little bit There’s also the sound and how it feels it in my hands when I do try to move the ball. With the driver I tend to know pretty quick. I’ve been in the same shaft [Schauffele uses a Graphite Design BB 7X shaft in his driver] for a while. I’m just able to load it and control it the way I want to and that makes seeing differences easier since I’m not wondering if it’s the club or the shaft. That helps the fitting process a ton. We’ve talked in the past about how im- portant the look of a driver at the ad- dress position is to you. What about the Epic Flash appealed to your eye? It’s still very important. Square one. The first thing you do before you take a swing with a driver is put it down and see how it looks to your eye. If you don’t like how it looks, it’s going to be diffi- cult to hit a good shot. Most companies keep the graphics up top pretty simple and not too ag- gressive. But something as simple as whether the decal is lined up properly or the the lines on the face are parallel. The topline is very important. I like something that is a little more open looking or at least neutral to open.