WITB: Lee Hodges, 2023 3M Open Champion, pulled off a wire-to-wire, 7-stroke advantage win. His first win on the PGA Tour, but just in his second year. And he’s been close before sharing a 54-hole lead at the 2022 American Express. According to interviews, Lee set his mind to stay aggressive through the final round. While not the approach often taken with a big lead, mentally his mind was set, and it paid off. The result, Hodges is the first wire-to-wire winner in 3M Open history.
While Hodges plays a full bag of Titleist, like many other tour pros he utilizes a combo set of irons. Know this, Lee Hodges is a precision player. His mix of irons is a bit unique though. For his 4-, 5- and 6-iron, Hodges plays the Titleist T100 irons. For his 7-, 8- and 9-iron, Hodges plays the Titleist forged CB. Typically, we see a combo set with a break point at the 4- or 5-iron. But every golfer should find the personalization that Hodges has found with his combo set.
Winning WITB: Lee Hodges, 2023 3M Open Champion
With the help of PGA Tour, Golf WRX and Titleist, here’s what you need to know about Hodges’ winning equipment.
- Driver: Titleist TSR2 8.0-degree with a Fujikura Speeder 757 Evolution VI X shaft.
- Fairways & Hybrids: Titleist TSR3 15-degree 3-wood with a UST Mamiya LIN-Q M40X 8F5 shaft. And a Titleist TSR3 21-degree hybrid with the KBS Tour Hybrid Prototype 95 X shaft.
Hodges set up his set of woods precisely as we recommend for custom club fitting. The Fujikura Speeder Evo Vi 757 X shaft weighs ~75-grams. The UST Mamiya LIN-Q M40X shaft is ~85 grams. And his hybrid shaft, the KBS Tour Hybrid Proto 95 X shaft is ~95 grams. Learn more about the best fairway wood shafts for 2023 and the importance of stepping wood and hybrid shafts by ~10 grams for performance. Along with stepping flexes and optimizing angles, it is a critical approach to improve consistency, accuracy and distance.
- Irons: Titleist T100 4-, 5- and 6-iron with KBS Tour C-Taper 130 X shafts. And, Titleist 620 CB 7-, 8- and 9-iron with matching KBS Tour C-Taper 130 X shafts.
- Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 46- and 52-degree wedges with the same KBS Tour C-Taper 130 X shafts. And Titleist Vokey Design 56- and 60-degree wedges with KBS HI-REV 2.0 125S wedge shafts.
The KBS HI-REV wedge shafts feature a more active tip section that increases launch angles and spin. The result is more control when attacking the greens from short distances. KBS is among numerous shaft manufacturers that offer custom wedge shafts.
- Putter: Scotty Cameron Golo 6 tour prototype