Winner’s Bag: Xander Schauffele, WGC-HSBC Champions

Xander Schauffele had no idea of the magnitude of his birdie-birdie finish at Sheshan International until he was signing his card after the final round of the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions.  “When I was signing my card, I was like, `Oh, wow. I actually went birdie-birdie to get in the playoff,” Schauffele said. “I was just in my own world out there.” Schauffele’s birdie on the 18th from roughly 30 feet turned out to be enough to get him into a sudden-death playoff with Tony Finau that he would eventually win with a birdie on the first playoff hole (par-5 18th).  For Schauffele, the fantastic finish came with a putter that had been in the bag for just over a month, dating back the Dell Technologies Championship. It was at TPC Boston that the 2017 TOUR Championship winner swapped his Odyssey Works Big-T #5 mallet for the putter manufacturer’s O-Works Red #7CH (34.5 inches).  Schauffele noticed an immediate improvement in his aiming with the new putter but felt the ball was coming off the Microhinge insert with too much speed.  Working with Callaway Tour rep Johnny Thompson at the BMW Championship, Schauffele went to a version of the putter with a slight counterbalance in the grip. Thompson removed 10 grams of weight from the head and repositioned it in the butt end of the SuperStroke Pistol GTR 1.0 grip.  The weight shift essentially helped Schauffele take out some energy at impact and dial in speed control. In addition to the new putter, Schauffele became the first player to win with a set of unreleased Callaway prototype irons. The forged cavity-back model was first spotted in Schauffele’s bag during the Travelers Championship, but it wasn’t until THE NORTHERN TRUST that he green-lighted the set.  “(The prototypes) don’t have a name but the differences are simple,” Schauffele told PGATOUR.COM via text. “A little smaller top line. A little less offset and maybe less bounce than (Callaway’s) other irons.” Schauffele remains the only player on Callaway’s staff using the one-off irons at the moment.  Here’s a look at Schauffele’s entire equipment setup. Driver: TaylorMade M3 460 (Graphite Design AD 7X shaft)  3-wood: Callaway Rogue Sub Zero (Graphite Design Tour AD-DI 8X shaft)  5-wood: Callaway Rogue Sub Zero (Graphite Design Tour AD-DI 8X shaft) Irons: Callaway Forged Prototype (4-PW; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts)  Wedges: Callaway Mack Daddy 4 (52 degress; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shaft), Titleist Vokey Design SM6 (56 and 60 degrees; True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts)  Putter: Odyssey O-Works Red #7CH (34.5 inches) Ball: Callaway Chrome Soft X 

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