Not wanting to risk a potential failure while in Asia, Ping's Wrx department had three backups made and sent overnight to Watson so he could take one with him to Shanghai. Though his gamer remained intact, the two-time Masters champion brought one of the backups with him and put it in the bag in China. The new driver came in handy during the week and on the first hole of his playoff with Tim Clark where Watson made birdie on the par-5 18th to win the title after eagling the same hole to forge a tie earlier.
Watson also had a trio of Ping prototype wedges in the bag for the first time, and while there was a learning curve at times (some chunked shots), he used one to hole out from a greenside bunker for an eagle on the 72nd hole that tied Tim Clark and forged a playoff, which Watson won on the first extra hole.
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Driver: Ping G30 (Grafalloy BiMatrx), 9 degrees
4-wood: Ping G25, 16.5 degrees
Irons (3-PW): Ping S55
Wedges: Ping prototype (52, 56, 60 degrees)
Putter: Ping Anser Milled 1
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