WITB: Brian Harman, 151st Open Championship winner, used a full set of Titleist clubs to bring home the Claret Jug. What is surprising isn’t Harman winning, despite being lesser known. It’s his unique combo set of U-500 irons and CB irons and wedge shaft selection. Harman pulled off one of the greatest differentials (6 strokes) of all-time at an Open Championship. He finished first in SG: Putting with a staggering +11.57 for the week. Notably he was 44 for 44 inside 10 feet through the first 54-holes. And he went on to make 56 of 57. His putting made the difference.
Brian Harman’s Winning WITB, 151st Open Championship
With the help of PGA Tour, Golf WRX and Titleist, we go inside Brian Harman’s winning bag of Titleist clubs. Notably, this is the same setup Brian had in 2022 for the 150th Open Championship where he tied for 6th.
- Driver: Titleist TSi2 9-degree with a Graphite Design Tour AD IZ 5 S shaft. See details on our review of the TSR drivers. Read more about choosing the right Tour AD shaft.
- Fairways: Titleist TSi2 13.5 degree 3-wood with a Fujikura Speeder 661 Evolution II S shaft.
- Irons: The Titleist U-500 3- and 4-iron with a Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 90 hybrid shaft. A Titleist U-500 5-iron with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S300 shaft. Plus, the Titleist 620 CB 6-iron through PW with the True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S300 shafts.
This is definitely a unique combo set of irons. It’s pretty much common now, but tour pros more often use combo sets to increase precision and forgiveness within their long irons. Uniquely, Harman chose the U-500s. Uniquely, he chose a hybrid shaft for both the 3- and 4-iron. And uniquely uses the Dynamic Gold S300 shafts for his U-500 5-iron. The S300 shafts can seem “soft” for a tour player, but must be perfect given Harman’s transition and release. See how the Project X HZRDUS hybrid shafts stacked up in our Best Hybrid Shafts for 2023.
- Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 50-, 54-, and 60-degree wedges with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts.
Also unique for Harman is his utilization of a stiffer shaft in his wedges than irons. It’s much more common, and our recommendation, to maintain a consistent shaft for irons and wedges. Our guess is that Brian needs that extra stiffness, especially in the tip to help reduce dispersion with his wedges. There is likely some secret customization in how his irons and wedges are tipped.
- Putter: TaylorMade Spider OS CB.
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