The Loop

Winner's bag: Tiger Woods at Doral

March 13, 2013

Normally, merely swapping out a 5-wood isn't a big deal. But when you're Tiger Woods, any equipment change gets put under the microscope. At TPC Blue Monster at Trump Doral, Woods benched his 19-degree Nike SasQuatch 2 5-wood -- a club he has been using since 2007 -- in favor of the company's new VR_S Covert 5-wood (also 19 degrees and with the same Mitsubishi Diamana Blueboard shaft that had been in his previous gamer). Although the shift seemed subtle, there was reasoning behind it.

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Woods tees off with his new 5-wood. (Photo by Getty Images)

Woods usually brings 15 clubs to each event, choosing between his 2-iron and 5-wood depending on the course. Still, Woods sought to hit his 5-wood even higher than he had been. The VR_S Covert has a deeper face, and Woods found he could get the ball higher in the air, a trait he had been seeking.

"I hit it a little bit further, so there's a little bit bigger gap between the 3-iron and the 5-wood," said Woods. "But I can hit this 5- wood a little bit higher, so I can actually take something off it and throw it up in the air, which is nice. So even though that gap is a little bigger, I still have the option of being able to spin it up in the air."

Here's a look at the rest of Woods' winning clubs last week at the WGC-Cadillac Championship:

Ball: Nike One Tour D

Driver: Nike VR Tour (Graphite Design DI 6X), 8.5 degrees

3-Wood: Nike VR Pro Limited, 15 degrees

5-Wood: Nike VR_S Covert, 19 degrees

Irons (3-PW): Nike VR Pro Blade

Wedges: Nike VR Pro (56, 60 degrees)

Putter: Nike Method 001