The equipment changes keep coming for Adam Scott. After shaking up the irons at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the former Masters champion made another adjustment leading into the BMW Championship. Only this one wasn’t a surprise.
Scott’s gear composition has remained fluid for much of the season, which makes sense considering he’s an equipment free agent. If the gear isn’t working, Scott has zero obligations to keep it in the bag. When Scott traveled to Scotland for the Genesis Scottish Open, he reinserted a set of Miura AS-1 blades designed with his direct feedback.
“The turf conditions in Scotland are very different than here,” Scott said last week, “so kind of using the irons that work the best.”
Through Scott’s testing, he found the wider sole and lower bounce on the AS-1 to be a good fit for the firmer links-style conditions. However, once he returned to the States to begin the FedEx Cup playoffs, the different grasses and turf conditions led Scott to employ an iron composition featuring Srixon’s ZX MK II utility iron and Miura’s CB-302 (4-5) and KM-700 (6-9).
When things didn’t play out as he hoped in Memphis — Scott finished T18 — the mixed setup received the hook in favor of the AS-1 blades. The change paid immediate dividends as Scott posted 63 during the second round of the BMW Championship to build a five-shot lead.
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For most of the golfing population, choosing blades over cavity-backs doesn’t make much sense. Outside of improved workability, two of the most important metrics (off-center forgiveness and ball speed) take a hit as the golfer struggles to find the center of a noticeably smaller club face.
Good thing Scott is one of the most accomplished ball-strikers on the planet and rarely misses. Asked about his decision to go away from cavity-back irons and back to blades, the Aussie said it came down to a familiarity and confidence he has with the AS-1.
“I’ve basically used a blade my whole life, but I kind of felt like watching this new generation, a lot of them play cavities, and it’s probably the future,” Scott admitted. “It seems more forgiving. I think it is more forgiving. But it’s just not, like, what I’m used to. I thought it was worth having a go. I didn’t play terrible when I did that. There was some good stuff in there, too. But I think when it comes down to it, under the most pressure, I feel most comfortable with kind of that blade. I’ll use that as long as I can.”
Scott’s AS-1 is a throwback to the blades he grew up playing in Australia with noticeably more offset than many modern blade offerings. The other trait he wanted to incorporate was a unique sole design to handle the different turfs he deals with throughout a Tour season.
