Mickelson using Callaway Phrankenwood
Phil Mickelson has a new wood in his bag for the Masters that he hopes will give him additional distance on several key holes at Augusta.
The Callaway X Hot Phrankenwood is a prototype club and a bold extension of the X Hot fairway wood technology. Like other X Hot fairway woods, Phrankenwood has a stainless steel construction with a Speed Frame Face Cup, made of high strength Carpenter 455 stainless steel, and an ultra-thin cast stainless steel body.
The X Hot Phrankenwood is the brainchild of Callaway Staff Professional Phil Mickelson, who wanted a modern 2-wood and collaborated closely with Callaway R&D to bring the product to life in time for the first Major championship of the season. Having experienced significant gains in distance using Callaway’s new X Hot fairway wood technology, Mickelson began looking for a fairway wood built from this technology that he could hit off the tee as far as his driver, but with a flatter ball flight and with greater control of the left-to-right shot shape. With a unique combination of shape, size, X Hot ball speed and a significantly lower spin rate he can do this effectively with the X Hot Phrankenwood prototype.
"If you watch, you’ll see a lot of the shots off the tee that I hit have a lot more scoot on them." – Phil Mickelson
Phil Mickelson’s X Hot Phrankenwood prototype has an 8.5˚ of loft and is 250cc. Mickelson is using a 45” Fubuki k 70X Prototype shaft in the club.
“It’s a driver, but it just looks like a 3-wood, because our drivers are so big now,” said Mickelson. “But this one is smaller, because it’s an enhanced 3 wood.
“If you watch, you’ll see a lot of the shots off the tee that I hit have a lot more scoot on them. Tee shots on No 9 are getting down to the bottom of the hill, and I haven’t been able to do that in years.
“Tee shot on No 10 is getting another 15 to 20 yards, giving me a club or two less than I’ve had in years. The tee shot on No. 15 is getting down to where I’m getting one or two clubs less in because it comes off fast, as well as low-spin. So it’s running, which is exactly what I wanted here.”
Dan Murphy
Dan loves links golf, which doesn't mean he is very good at it. He is a four-handicapper at Alwoodley. A qualified journalist and senior editor with 25 years’ experience, he was the long-time editor of NCG. His passion is golf courses and he is the founding editor of NCG Top 100s course rankings. He loves nothing more than discovering and highlighting courses that are worthy of greater recognition.