Scottie Scheffler Makes Equipment Change For Genesis Invitational

World No.1 Scottie Scheffler has made a surprise equipment switch at the Genesis Invitational, with a TaylorMade Qi35 7-wood making it into his bag at Torrey Pines

Scottie Scheffler takes a shot at the WM Phoenix Open
(Image credit: Getty Images)

There was a time when top golfers always favored the long irons over fairway woods, but those days are gone with even World No.1 Scottie Scheffler getting involved with a 7-wood making its way into his bag.

TaylorMade says Scheffler has put a Qi35 7-wood into his bag for the Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines as a secret weapon for escaping the wet, juicy rough that is in play. The model is one of the best fairway woods on the market for 2025, having been revealed last month.

Scheffler usually carries just a 3-wood and a 3-iron for his long game, but after consulting with the club fitters at TaylorMade he opted to switch in a fairway wood for long shots out of the rough.

"Scottie worked with our TaylorMade Tour reps to build a club that could give him the best chance to advance the ball forward out of the rough," TaylorMade said.

"The way the Tour is setting up these courses for Signature Events demands being adaptable to the golf course," said TaylorMade senior tour manager Adrian Rietveld.

"Scottie’s 7-wood is not only more versatile than a 3-iron out of the rough, but can be used on the long par 3’s.”

Versatility is indeed a key with the club change, as Scheffler can use his 7-wood not only off the deck and in the rough, but also off the tee and even from a fairway bunker.

And Scheffler showed that he was instantly dialed in with the 7-wood as he used it seven times for all kinds of shots during the Pro-Am ahead of the Genesis Invitational.

TaylorMade said Scheffler took his 7-wood off the tee on long par 3s at the 11th and 16th at Torrey Pines, and also off the fairway on the par-5 13th.

Scheffler also used his 7-wood to escape the fairway bunker on the 12th, showing the height he can get from the club, which may well stay in the bag if he keeps hitting shots like that with it.

The 19.5 degree 7-wood was brought in to fill a gap between 3-iron and 4-iron with a yardage of 245 for Scheffler, and with a maximum height of 128 feet he's shown that it could be an all-purpose club for him in the future.

He is one of a number of pros using high-lofted woods on tour. Tommy Fleetwood and Dustin Johnson have both previously used 9-woods while 7-woods are becoming more and more common in the bags of the world's best.

Paul Higham
Contributor

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website.  Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush. 

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