For years, Erik van Rooyen’s bag was a legacy, from driver to 3-wood (apex UW in recent years) and then straight to a driving iron and his iron set.
But in the past year, Van Rooyen has adopted some of the Tour’s hottest trends, adding a minidriver, 5-wood and even testing a 9-wood at the US Open.
Van Rooyen is far from the only pro ditching utility irons for high-lofted fairway woods and adding a mini driver, but he explained on this week’s episode of GOLF’s Fully Exhaust how he went from a reluctant tester to adopting both trends.
“I’ve never been the guy to test a lot of things and change a lot of things. But I think my eyes have opened up to other possibilities,” van Rooyen told Fully Rested co-host Johnny Wunder. “The Mini came in the bag in Utah last year, so it’s been almost 12 months. It’s hardly gone out of the bag. It’s freaking awesome. Off the deck, off the tee, so consistent.”
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When it comes to the fairway woods, which are a big deal for Van Rooyen at all, as he played exclusively an Apex Utility Wood as his “3-wood” for several years, the 5-wood and the occasional 7-wood have become course-dependent options.
Callaway even gave him a 9-wood to try at the US Open.
“It’s more, I think, out of curiosity, trying to let the equipment help me instead of me, like, trying to figure something out, hitting a three-iron through this tough rough battle, you know?” said van Rooyen. “It took me a long time to get to the point where you realize there is so much you can do to change the club. If there is too much bias you can do something on the heel or change the driver’s attitude.”
For more Wunder and van Rooyen, listen to the full episode of GOLF’s Fully Rested hereor watch it below.
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