Branden Grace closed with a final-round 66 to notch his first PGA TOUR victory at the RBC Heritage.
At a course where success from tee-to-green usually determines the winner, Grace stood out from the field, fishing second in strokes gained tee-to-green at Harbour Town Golf Links.
Over the course of the last month, the South African made two notable changes at the top of his bag, replacing his Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 816 Double Black Diamond driver with the company’s new XR16 Sub Zero at the World Golf Championships-Dell Match Play. He also added a 16-degree Big Bertha Alpha 816 3-wood this week.
The new driver was first introduced at the Sony Open in Hawaii and is geared for players who want to dial-in spin. In an effort lower the club’s center of gravity (CG), engineers added a new proprietary Carbon Triax Crown the made it possible to redistribute discretionary weight and position it below the neutral axis.
Lowering the CG not only increases moment of inertia (forgiveness), it also improves the efficiency of the head. The deep-faced XR 16 Sub Zero features two interchangeable weights (2 grams and 10 grams) in the sole that help control spin rate and trajectory.
When the 10-gram weight is positioned in the forward setting (closer to the face), the driver produces a flatter trajectory with low spin. However, when the heavy weight is put in the back of the head, the club has a slightly higher trajectory and more forgiveness.
According to Callaway Tour reps, Grace, who typically gravitates towards low-spin characteristics, preferred the shape, finish and sound of Sub Zero to that of his previous driver. He also liked how easy it was to flight the ball up and shape it off the tee.
Along with the driver, Grace switched to a Big Bertha Alpha 816 with two degrees more loft — 16 degrees instead of 14 degrees — than his old 3-wood. The change was due in part to the tight course conditions at Harbour Town. For the new build, Callaway Tour reps used a softer overall shaft profile with no tipping. Grace called the fairway wood “a weapon” for the RBC Heritage.
Here’s a look at the rest of the equipment in his bag.
Driver: Callaway XR16 Sub Zero (Fujikura Six Tour Spec 60X shaft), 8.5 degrees
3-wood: Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 816 (Fujikura Speeder 757X Evolution shaft), 16 degrees
Utility iron: Callaway Apex UT (3-iron; True Temper Project X 6.5 shaft)
Irons: Callaway X Forged ’13 (4-PW; True Temper Project X 6.5 shafts)
Wedges: Callaway Mack Daddy 2 Tour Grind (52-10T, 56-11T and 60-9T degrees; True Temper Project X 6.5 shafts)
Putter: Odyssey Versa V Line (White-Black-White)
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
