Akshay Bhatia co-leads the player’s leader after these 3 key gear changes

Rory McIlroy isn’t the only player to use older model drivers to help him compete for controversy at TPC Sawgrass.

Entering the week, Akshay Bhatia has lost from the tee so far this season and is in the top 100 in the category. So Bhatia decided to make changes in the players this week and reinsert the Callaway Rogue St LS driver he used since 2022.

As we all know, Bhatia is difficult when it comes to replacing equipment. Once he found a club he liked, he usually doesn’t like to switch, which proves that he has used Rogue St for the past three years as he has been upgrading on the PGA Tour.

Entering the season, Batia is actually an early adopter of Callaway’s new Elyte driver, playing the core model back in December before eventually settling down to the lower Elyte Elyte Triple Diamond.

But, starting mid-year, Bhatia decided to return to the old believer after missing out on the cuts at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week. He added that older models are more neutral than drivers that have appeared recently.

“There are only some newer drivers who fade out the bias, so the more I look at it from the right perspective, the more trees, the more and more, like, man, I feel like I have nowhere to impress it,” he said. “So, what I want to say is, it’s the right bias, but there’s still a little fade out just because the attic falls. So I’ve been playing for a long time and I’m just back to something I trust.”

Bhatia returns to the older project of the 2021 X Hzurdus “Hulk” axis with the old head.

“Just back to my older driver and then I went back to the axle I played four years ago, and it was a great recipe,” Batia said.

The project’s X-axis is 45 inches long, just one-eighth of an inch longer than the Vine-ku Ventus Black he used on the same head last year, and this year with his two Elyte drivers, but sometimes just one inch makes everything different in finding the best points and timing.

The new weapon seems to solve the problem, as Bhatia ranked 11th in SG: stood out in two rounds, pulling over 2.2 shots from the tee.

Bhatia’s driver specifications:

Callaway Rogue ST LS 9.0
Actual loft: 7.2˚
Heavy head: 199.7g
axis: Project X Hzurdus “Hulk” 70G 6.5TX
length: 45-inch EOG
tip: 1 inch

Bhatia adds Callaway’s new Elyte Mini

The Callaway Elyte series is not entirely from Bhatia while it is also not entirely from Bhatia, and with him, he dropped the 3 wood and inserted the new Callaway Elyte Mini Driver.

Bhatia sometimes used Callaway’s Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 mini driver last season, so it’s no surprise to see him add Callaway’s latest prototype mini driver to the bag when many professionals use less than their drivers.

“I put a mini driver this week, which is a great property for me for some awkward loopholes when I need to turn left to right,” he said. “So this week was a good setup for me.”

The Elyte Mini is still not released, but it has kept it in a bag since its debut at the WM Phoenix Open last month. Stay tuned to see what Callaway does with the retail options in the end. As more companies release mini drivers, it’s no surprise that more players have seen them test on the narrow corridors and curved fairways of TPC Sawgrass.

Batia’s mini driver specifications:

Callaway Paradym ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini Driver

$449.99

The Ti 340 Mini driver provides driver-like action when pushing out the fairway wood. Titanium’s structure and AI smart face provide excellent ball speed and has a tight dispersion. The mini driver will provide players with higher balls and land from the tee, thereby improving distance consistency of challenging tee boxes that require precision. The world’s first AI Smart Face designed with real player data The new AI Smart Face optimizes driver performance using the swing dynamics of thousands of real golfers. These swing dynamics or swing codes are composed of swing speed, club delivery and facial orientation before impact. This promotes optimal launch conditions and tight down-range dispersants, optimized for mini drivers accurately. Microdeflection creates multiple desserts through AI intelligent facial technology, and after the influence, microdeflection activates microdeflection, thereby optimizing launch and rotating center shooting. The result is sweet spots not only in the center, but throughout the face. Using the front/back weight screw design, front and rear weighting is available for optimal launch, and players can further dial the best launch and rotate numbers. The 4G front and 12 grams rear weight can be flipped to lower the spin and encourage more piercing balls.

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Callaway Elyte Mini 13.5
The actual loft: 12.4˚
Loft sleeves:n/-1
axis: Project X Hzurdus “Hulk” 80G 6.5TX
length: 43.125 inches
tip: 1.5 inches
Swing weight: D3.5
CG Weight: Neutral

The next man

Bhatia revealed in an interview with Golf Channel after the round that he was using a new putt this week.

OK, it’s not that new. This is a nearly identical backup of Bhatia as the Odyssey prison bird broom he used this year or so. But he wasn’t happy with his performance at the Genesis Invitational last month and went to putters he had never used in the game.

Batia told the Golf Channel’s Kara Bank after the second round. “I’ve never really seen a golf course, I’ve never seen a green one.”

After losing nearly 3.5 to round 1, Batia scored more than 5.3 games on the bench and won the top ten of the season with Torrey Pines.

Odyssey AI-One Cruiser #7 CS Broomstick Putter

$349.99

This Odyssey AI-One cruiser series offers three different configurations for three different styles of putters (cruiser, arm lock and broom). All of these putters have our AI-One inserts, even with a more consistent ball speed from the central hit rate, bringing the putter closer to the A-One Ai-One insert designed using AI, we created a profile on the insertion aluminum supporters, which we collectively added to the white hot urea striking surface to promote urea striking players across the urea to promote the classic player and play the classic player. AI Window Our designers and engineers have developed a flood window, a unique automotive-grade polymer that allows us to demonstrate the unique topology on the back of the insert. SL 140 and 200 axes These heavier steel axes are designed to complement the heavier heads, longer grips and longer overall lengths of these models, unique Navy Blue PVD finishes of these putters all feature a beautiful Navy Blue PVD finish that really sets them apart and gives them a premium look. 5, 10, 15 and 20 grams interchangeable front weights These moveable weights allow you to dial the head weight for exact preference.

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This week, he decided to call for now experienced backups again.

“This week, it’s better for my stroke. It has more offsets,” he said. “I kind of follow what my coach said. If my hands looked better and would be better, I would choose it.”

The only difference between putters Bhatia is the game this week, his original gamer is just a quarter-axis offset. The extra offset gives players more time to make the putter face front, which is probably what Batia is looking for.

Bhatia’s putter specifications:

Odyssey Jail Bird Double Bent Broomstick
attic: 3˚
length: 50 inches
offset: 3/4 axis

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