Could this club help Jason Day win at Merion?

Dan Murphy

We sometimes use affiliate links to products and services on retailer sites for which we can receive compensation if you click on those links or make purchases through them.

The Australian has a unique weapon at his disposal at Merion this week

US Open golf: Jason Day using TaylorMade 1-iron

Even after the recent downpours, which deposited two inches of rain on Merion’s East Course, the USGA claim the historic layout is going to play just how they like it this week – very fast, firm and narrow.

Indeed, the tiny fairways are lined with ungraduated rough that, almost without exception, leaves no escape shot, and the world’s best players are turning to driving irons and strong hybrids to keep themselves in position.

The majority, including Lee Westwood and Luke Donald, have opted for 2-irons, but Jason Day has gone one step further, perhaps in a bid to emulate Ben Hogan’s famous shot here 63 years ago, and put a 1-iron in the bag.

As we reported last month, the Australian started using the club, which is a TaylorMade RocketBladez 2-iron bent to 16.5˚ with a graphite shaft, at the Byron Nelson.

After relative success, it seems Day will keep it in the bag at Merion.

RELATED: Jason Day WITB

Jason Day 1-iron

When asked how many fellow pros have a 1-iron in the bag, Day said: “I wouldn’t think there would be too many.

“TaylorMade doesn’t even make a 1‑iron, so we got a Rocketbladez 2‑iron and bent it to a 1‑iron. I was out there today and hit a couple of shots with it. It was downwind, and there was a couple that went 300 easy with the bounce and roll. The ball flight is very strong.”

The 25-year-old added: “Normally I feel like I’m more accurate with the 1‑iron, it doesn’t spin too much, it comes off with a pretty boring flight, penetrates through the wind and when I’m hitting downwind it stays up in the air a lot.

“Initially we thought of taking driver out and putting in 2‑wood. We fiddled around with a wood and we couldn’t quite get the right configuration with the shaft and the flight.

It turns out the one-time PGA Tour winner has a history with this club.

“I think I was 13 [when he last used one], and I had a Callaway set, and I think it was X‑12s and 1‑iron all the way through to sand wedge, and that was the last time, and that was, I want to say, 13 years ago.”

More information: TaylorMade website

About the author

Dan Murphy

Dan is a lifelong golfer. He had the great fortune to grow up within 200 yards of the 5th fairway of his local 9-holer, Rawdon, in Leeds.

Dan attended his first Open Championship in 1988 at Royal Lytham. The first action he saw, peering through the crowds behind the 8th green, was Paul Broadhurst holing out from the fairway below for an eagle. Which seemed perfectly normal at the time.

Since then, he has attended a further 27 Opens. Tragically, he can recite a phenomenal number of arcane statistics about The Open – whether you ask him to or not.

Dan has a post-graduate diploma in print journalism and is an experienced writer and editor. He is also a director of NCG’s parent company.

Dan specialises in the golf courses of the British Isles and heads up NCG Top 100s course rankings. He is not unacquainted with links golf and is closing in on a lifetime tally of 700 courses played.

In a former life, Dan was NCG’s equipment editor. Currently in his bag are: Ping G440 Max driver, Ping G440 Thriver, Ping G440 4-wood, Ping iDi 3-iron, Ping Blueprint-S irons, Ping S259 wedges and a Ping Scottsdale Tec Ketsch Onset putter.

Twitter