Equipment Insider: Srixon vs. Srixon at TPC Sawgrass

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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.

The second Srixon vs. Srixon down-the-stretch chase in the last four weeks got a lot of TV exposure -- exactly what companies bank on when signing TOUR players to endorsement contracts.

Check out more of Adam Barr's equipment coverage at AdamBarrGolfGearGuide.com.

Video: In the Bag

What do players carry when they head out on TOUR? We take an inside look at the adjustments they make to their clubs ... and they show us other things (ball markers, training aids) that make their tools of the trade unique. Archive: In the Bag MORE IN THE BAGS Nick Watney Hunter Mahan Sergio Garcia

Tim Clark's scrappy PLAYERS win over Robert Allenby gave many viewers another look at equipment by Srixon, a division of Japanese company SRI Sports, and SRI's other brand, Cleveland Golf. The first happy happenstance for the Srixon faithful came at the Verizon Heritage in April, when Jim Furyk won in a playoff over Brian Davis. Both are Srixon endorsers, and Davis got a major character nod from the sports world when he alerted officials that he had violated a rule. (He inadvertently moved a loose blade of seagrass in the hazard by Harbour Town's famous 18th green.)

Clark's reputation as a scrapper -- and a patient one -- may make this victory just as valuable for Srixon and Cleveland as the Furyk-Davis duel. We got close looks at Cleveland's CG14 wedges, which feature what Cleveland calls ZIP grooves. A special milling bit grinds out the grooves to their maximum allowable size, and a proprietary plating process makes certain that the club head coating does nothing to diminish the spin-enhancing effect of the grooves, Cleveland says.

That yellow medallion on the back that shows up so well on TV is the center of Cleveland's "gel-back" technology. The medallion, a bit of visco-elastic material, dampens unwanted vibrations while allowing the good frequencies -- the ones that provide shot feedback -- up to the hands, Cleveland engineers say.

Srixon's recent visibility on TOUR has brought new attention to the company's golf balls. Both Clark and Allenby were playing Srixon's Z-Star, a three-piece urethane-covered model that features a "mid-compression" core. With all the talk these days about marshmallowy, low compression balls for distance, the Z-Star and other tour balls provide an alternative for hard swingers. Low compression cores help recreational players get the energy of their swings deep into the reactive center of the ball, so elite players with fast clubhead speeds need a different formula. Medium compression balls, which pack a lot of power, respond to tour and better-amateur swings. Such swings are hard enough to get to the center, where the energy can rebound throughout the entire core of the ball to get maximum initial velocity.

The Z-Star's other layers do their job when called upon: The ionomer middle layer provides something to pinch against for iron spin, and the urethane cover provides short-game responsiveness and helps with spinning and stopping.

In his lob and sand wedges, Clark had a new shaft from True Temper called DG Spinner (Featured recently on www.AdamBarrGolf.com). The steel shaft, which True Temper offers as a partial solution to the reduced spin from wedges in light of this year's new rules on grooves, features a specially stepped section just below the grip. The steps help the shaft to move the club head into an approach position that optimizes spin, True Temper engineers say.

PRACTICE TOGS: Basketball players get to practice in cool warmups, so why not golfers? We'll be calmer practicing in new "rangewear" from adidas; that's because the three-stripe brand took its inspiration from yoga clothing. The look for both men and women involves a slightly-fitted jacket and matching pants, which adidas recommends matching up with one of their ClimaCool t-shirts. The jacket has a special pocket for an MP3 player with an eyelet hole for passing through the earphone cord. Both men's and women's are available now; suggested retail prices are $65 for the jacket ($70 for the women's) and $55 for the pants.