Rightly or wrongly, there is a perception that a few major winners won despite their clubs, not because of them.
We count down the five most maligned, and some admittedly weird, clubs that succeeded on golf’s biggest stage.
1. COREY PAVIN’S CLEVELAND VAS 792 IRONS
There’s offset irons and then there’s Cleveland VAS 792 irons, the clubs a moustachioed Corey Pavin used to win the US Open in 1995.
The unusual hosel design was touted as being — warning, S-word approaching — shank-proof.
However, the bottom of the hosel is only half-an-inch away from the leading edge, which clearly isn’t enough clearance for a golf ball.
Shank-proof or not, they were hideously ugly and almost impossible to look at.
And with a vomit-inducing purple cavity badge, which had clearly been conceived by a pony-tailed 90s marketing executive, it begs the question: would you rather have the shanks or a bagful of VAS irons?
2. JACK NICKLAUS’ MACGREGOR ZT 615 PUTTER
It’s a putter that’s indelibly linked to one of the most famous images in golf.
At the 1986 Masters, Jack Nicklaus stared down his birdie putt on the 17th enroute to the most famous of major win of his career.
But ever noticed that the head of the Golden Bear’s putter looks about the same size as his bonce?
For an oversized putter, the MacGregor Response ZT 615 was absolutely massive and eye-wateringly ugly; Nicklaus himself apparently said “Is this a joke?” when he first saw the prototype.
Despite being one of the most cumbersome putters of its time, the MacGregor Response ZT 615 sold remarkably well when it was released it later that year.
3. JOHN DALY’S WILSON INVEX Ti DRVIER
Way before John Daly became a sideshow at Hooters during Masters week, he was known for gambling, cheeseburgers, ciggies, going bankrupt… and being one of the most exciting and unpredictable golfers the world had ever seen.
In 1995, JD won the Open at St Andrews using a Wilson Invex Ti driver, a club that definitely received a fair beating with the ugly stick.
While modern drivers have a tear-drop shaped head, the Invex featured a tear-drop face.
And if that didn’t make you sad things only got worse in the hosel area, which had a tangible VAS-like vibe about it.
Unsurprisingly, the Invex Ti driver was gamed by JD and just about nobody else.
It didn’t look great back then and has since aged about as well as Keith Richards.
4. TODD HAMILTON’S SONARTEC Md HYBRID
Remember Todd Hamilton? The bloke who beat Ernie Els in the 2004 Open at Troon then disappeared into obscurity?
While his name now regularly bobs up as an answer at sporting trivia nights, his Sonartec hybrid that he used so brilliantly at Troon has been largely forgotten.
It’s probably not a bad thing either because it is a bit of an ugly duckling. But, to be fair, back then it was a pioneering example of the hybrids most golfers now have in their golf bag.
While the Sonatec Md hybrid did have an amateur hour look about it, it was an absolute rocket.
Bent from 17° to 14°, Hamilton was hitting the Japanese-made club in excess of 300 yards off the tee at the Open, prompting the R&A to follow up after the win to confirm it was legal.
But it was also Todd's sublime ability to chip with the club that highlighted its versatility.
Unfortunately, 2004 proved to be the high point for both Todd and Sonartec.
Hamilton never won again and Sonartec went broke less than four years later.
5. PERNILLA LINDBERG’S PING G Le DRIVER
File this one in the unusual category rather than the downright weird/ugly basket.
When Sweden’s Pernilla Lindberg won the ANA Inspiration in 2018, she did so with a PING G Le women’s driver in her bag.
Pernilla is indeed a woman golfer, so that might not seem like a big deal.
However, players on the LPGA Tour generally game men’s equipment because their swing speeds are well and truly above that of the average woman golfer.
But Pernilla obviously took a liking to the PING G Le’s lightweight, draw-biased design, which was engineered exclusively for women with slow swing speeds.
It remains the only major win for a women-specific PING driver, a record that looks unlikely to ever be broken.
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Written by Jamie Martin Jamie Martin is currently locked in a battle to keep his handicap hovering around the mid-single digits. Despite his obvious short-game shortcomings, Jamie enjoys playing and writing about every aspect of golf and is often seen making practice swings in a mirror. |