Why this pro owns ... 2004 Nike irons and a 40-year-old putter?

Why this pro owns … 2004 Nike irons and a 40-year-old putter?

Posted by Admin November 13, 2024 Golf

November 12, 2024

Richard Green on Sunday at Phoenix Country Club.

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Richard Green, after gently shrugging his shoulders, says the three words everyone wishes to say when it comes to their golf clubs.

“Hey, it works.”

And hey, they really do. This weekend, at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, the season-ending event for the PGA Tour Champions, Green fired rounds of even-par 71, 68, 63 and 65 at Phoenix Country Club to tie for second, falling just short of win No. 1 on the 50-and-over circuit.

But then Green gives you a look into his golf bag.

Are those … 2004 Nike irons? Hadn’t the Swoosh gang announced in 2016 that they were leaving the club game?

And is that … a Titleist 913 hybrid? Haven’t those been around for a decade?

Green then pulls out a putter.

It’s a Ping Anser 2 that he thinks he picked up in … 1984.

But why? Isn’t the latest gear the greatest gear? Depends. In short, go back to those three words in the second paragraph. “Hey, it works.”

Via a video from the Champions social-media team, Green expanded on his choices. First, the irons.

“I’ve had these since probably about 2004 in a box, and I pulled them out of the box in 2019 and started using them,” the 53-year-old from Australia said. “I love the feel of them. I’ve always used blades well. You know, I’ve found a company that’s got some more of them to make some more of them up for me, and I’m waiting on another set, so that’s going to be really nice to see when they come along. You know, they’ve got a bit of life left in them.

“My 9-iron is probably the most that’s worn out. You know, it’s got a little bit of wear on the face there. Got a little Tiger [Woods] spot. I could do it, too.”

And the hybrid?

“I’ve got an old hybrid that’s a 913, I think it is,” Green said on the video. “A hybrid that’s worked really well for me over the years. I’m not really sure what the shaft is … but it works. Steve Stricker uses the same set-up — he has a hybrid, too, same shaft. So you know, it works for us. Really, really good club, you know for around that 220-yard sort of range.”

As for the putter?

Green said he thinks he was 6 or so when he first eyed it in a pro shop, he told his dad he wanted it, and eventually he got it. At the Charles Schwab, he appeared to use another putter during tournament play, but spoke glowingly of the blade he grabbed from his bag on the Champions video.

“Although it’s an old putter, you know, I’ve used it for a fairly long time now, done some really good stuff under pressure with it,” Green said. “You know it’s a putter that gets me more and lets my subconscious go with putting. I don’t line the putter up. I don’t try and line the putter up with a line. I just put the putter in behind the ball and I sense what I’ve got to do with the ball. And to me, that’s the art of putting. You know, if you can do that well and read putts well, it doesn’t matter what you send it on the line with, as long as it goes down that line. So this is a favorite for me. You know, I think it’s from 1984 or something like that.

“It’s an old-model putter, but you know, hey, it works.”