Jason Day is playing with just 13 clubs in his bag at the Bank of Utah Championship after making a significant equipment overhaul.
The veteran Aussie has put 3D-printed Avoda Golf irons in play this week — the same curved-face prototypes that Bryson DeChambeau used to win last year’s U.S. Open. Day, who’s an equipment free agent, also added a 21-degree Callaway Apex UW hybrid and switched to lighter graphite shafts with JumboMax grips throughout his bag.
“Hadn’t been hitting my irons great at all,” Day explained after Thursday’s round. “I decided to have a chat to my coach, Colin, [Swatton] and say, ‘Do you reckon we can go out and just maybe have a look?’ I don’t have an OEM sponsor, so I’m a free agent there, so I can go out and see what the best of the best is. Stumbled across Avoda in a way that like obviously Bryson had some success with it. … But I just told my coach, just have a chat to the guys, see what they think. He got off the phone and called me and he goes, ‘Man, in all the years I’ve been doing this, I’ve never come across the guys the way they explained everything.'”
The equipment change makes sense considering Day ranks No. 125 in strokes gained approach this season. He’s cycled through multiple iron brands trying to find the right fit. The missing 14th club isn’t an oversight — Day is still testing a potential 23-degree option that would complete his gapping. He’s also looking for a bit more offset in the irons to help generate additional height on his shots.
“The goal is to be able to swing, just pretty much have one swing like whatever ball flight you want, whether that’s a draw or a fade,” Day said. “For me it’s a draw. To go up there and hit a draw and pretty much put the same swing on it, and hopefully it produces the same shot over and over again.”
The early returns look promising. Day shot 3-under 68 in Thursday’s opening round at Black Desert Resort, missing just two fairways and four greens with his new setup.
