Tour Pros Buying Off-The-Rack Clubs

KJ Choi with Jack Nicklaus after his Memorial win in 2007.
[FRED VUICH/SI]

At this week’s Memorial Tournament there are no Tour Vans allowed on property, per the rules of tournament host, Jack Nicklaus. That means that when tour pros want a new clubs (or set of clubs) they don’t have an equipment rep there to build their equipment.

For 2007 Memorial Champion K.J. Choi, he was left to do what all of the “normal golfers” have to do. He went to the local Golf Galaxy and bought a set of Mizuno MP-64s (retail price $999.99 per golfgalaxy.com).

This was first reported by GolfWRX.com, Choi tested the clubs and several other sets with a sales associate and decided on the MP-64s.

…Choi went into a hitting bay at the store and hit each club about five to 10 times. Choi had store employees check the swing weights and lies on the clubs, and commented that all of the irons with the exception of the MP-64′s had swing weights that felt inconsistent.

When the swing weights were measured, [the sales associate] said that the other clubs had swing weights that ranged from D2 to D4, while all of the swing weights of the MP-64′s (4 iron through PW), were D2.

I have to wonder if KJ was given a discount or paid the full price. Given the reports of KJ’s upstanding character, I’m sure he paid in full.

Bigger question: how does this affect my fantasy lineup? I have Choi in both Yahoo! and Golf Channel!