Equipment Insider: Muscle back irons help Bohn win Zurich

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Each week in the Equipment Insider, Adam Barr -- PGATOUR.COM's equipment columnist -- will provide breaking news, notes and analysis focused on PGA TOUR players. Adam will also appear in video segments for PGATOUR.COM.

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For his wire-to-wire win in New Orleans, Jason Bohn was wired in with a complete Titleist bag: 909D3 driver, 909F3 3-wood, two 909H hybrids (17 and 21 degrees of loft -- roughly 2- and 3-iron lofts), 710 MB irons (4-9), and three Bob Vokey Spin-Milled wedges (48, 52 and 60 degrees of loft). The putter was a Scotty Cameron Newport SLT T10; the ball was a Pro V1x.

Jason Bohn's Titleist 710 MB 9-iron

In a heavily game improvement world, it's good to see choices that serve better players as well. And even though many TOUR pros use cavity back technology in their long irons, quite a few still prefer the old muscle back construction in their shorter irons. So it was that when Bohn hit the shot of the tournament, his third on the par-5 18th to within a dollar bill's length of the hole, he chose his 9-iron, a muscle back Titleist 710 MB.

For those who hit it on the center of the face more often, the muscle back fundamentals make a lot of sense. Much of the weight is low, but behind the impact area -- a heavy sweet spot, as it were. This design feature leads to the "solid-soft" feel for which this kind of iron has been famous for generations. The trajectory with such heads will be medium to low, which a lot of better players like. But most of all, it will be uniform and predictable, which they insist on.

That's not to say that modern forged muscle and cavity back clubs are completely without game enhancement features. For instance, the 710s have some offset. It's just minimal. While the Titleist AP1 and AP2 models (both cavity backs; the AP1 is cast and the AP2 is forged) have .110 and .090 inches of offset, respectively, the forged MBs have only .080 inches. Combine that with the traditional model-skinny topline, and you have the kind of look many pros prefer.

Jeff Overton's Mizuno MP-68 irons

Another key thought, in case you're thinking about your own game (and who isn't?): assess yourself honestly, which means give yourself credit for being good where you are good. If that means you can mix a set and have game improvement features through, say, your 6-iron, with muscle back forged irons for 7, 8 and 9...well, why not? Those scoring-iron impacts and results can be satisfying long after you leave the grill room with your opponents' money.

And lest you think traditional shape trumps technology, think again. Plenty of companies are working with the basic muscle back concept and coming up with ideas to extend it. Look at Mizuno's MP-68, the model favored by Jeff Overton, who finished second in New Orleans. To get that sculpted muscle shape, which Mizuno describes as "3D," designers used a computer process that told them how to "flow" the contours of the back of the club for optimal center-of-gravity placement. Also, the sole is flattened out and the leading and trailing edges are rolled for smoother turf interaction, Mizuno says.

ELSEWHERE ON THE RANGE: Jay Williamson is clobbering TaylorMade's SuperDeep tall-face driver. The spin-fighting design is getting him a low flight, but he likes runners, so that works. Tom Watson releases a two-DVD instructional set called "Lessons of a Lifetime." Even without his invigorating performance at the Open Championship last year and his planned return this summer to the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, where he won memorably in 1982, this would be a big seller. Will MacKenzie may be one of the most easygoing guys on TOUR, but the grips have to be just so. Lamkin reps are making sure he has enough for a planned regrip in Charlotte. And they all have to be Royal SandWraps, hash marks between the wraps, no white lines top or bottom, .58 round. And yes, the Lamkin rep made certain that all the .56 rounds were moved out of the TOUR van ... just to be sure.