Jordan Spieth is playing the 2016 Emirates Australian Open, his first golf tournament since taking a six-week break after the Ryder Cup.
Spieth has worked on aspects of his game in his self-fashioned off-season, and he has apparently found a new set of irons. At Royal Sydney, Spieth has been using the Titleist 716 AP2 irons, replacing the 714 AP2 irons he has been using faithfully to win two majors and a FedEx Cup title.
The world No. 5 has previously tried out the 716 AP2s, but he only put them into play for one week. He missed the cut with them at the 2015 Barclays (now The Northern Trust) and immediately went back to the 714 AP2s through the FedEx Cup playoffs.
“I have never had trouble transitioning between my (Titleist) AP2 irons,” Spieth said at the time. “I did not see any issues or differences, so I figured there wouldn’t be any problem. And then, I just felt that they were sliding through the turf a little differently and the look was a bit of an adjustment. They look slightly different."
Now, the timing of the change, if permanent, is slightly curious. Since Titleist works on two-year product life cycles, and it offers new irons in odd-numbered years, the company will release its new iron sets sometime near June and the U.S. Open. Would that mean Spieth would have the 716 AP2s in play for just half a year before considering another new set?
We'll see.
