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SSP Chowrasia successfully defended his title at the Hero Indian Open 2017 to record his 6th Asian Tour victory and in the process, beacme only the third player to record a successful title defence of his National open. SSP produced a masterclass performance at the tough layout of DLF Golf & Country Club and walked away with a remarkable seven-shot victory.
A fact worth keeping in mind while considering all his achievements is that he finished runner -up four times at the Indian Open before he broke through. SSP’s father was a greenskeeper at Royal Calcutta Golf Club which was where he pcked up the game at the age of 10. He continues to practice there and lives close to the facility.
He has a fine short game which has even earned him the nickname of “Chipputtsia”. SSP Is going through a purple patch in his career unlike any before and picked up his first win abroad at the Resorts World Manila Masters in 2016.
Here, we take a look at what’s in his bag and the equipment he used on his way to the Hero Indian Open 2017 title over a stellar field that included global stars:
Driver
Model:TaylorMade M2,
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI-6S 65 grams stiff flex, tipped an inch,
Loft: 10.5 degrees adjusted to 10.7 degrees
3 Wood
Model: TaylorMade M1 2017
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD TP-7S, 70 grams with stiff flex, tipped an inch
Loft: 15 degrees weakened to 15.5 degrees with a slight draw bias
4 Wood
Model: TaylorMade M1 3HL 2016
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI-7X, 75 grams with X-Stiff flex
Loft: 17 degrees adjusted to 16.5 degrees with a slight draw bias
Hybrid
Model: Callaway Diablo Edge 3 Hybrid
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI-85S, 88 grams with Stiff flex
Loft: 21 degrees bent to 17.8 degrees
This club has been in the bag for several years and SSP hasn’t found a newer model that matches the performance of this club for him. It has been in his bag for 8 years.
4 Iron Utility Club
Model: Srixon Z-UTI
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD UT-95X, 95 grams with X-Stiff flex
Loft: Standard 4 iron loft
Irons 5-PW
Model: Ping i200 red dot
Lie Angle: 0.75 degrees flat
Shaft: Ping True Temper ZZ-65, tipped (1/4 inch) to slightly stronger than stiff flex
These clubs are new to SSP’s bag and have only been in his bag for 2 months now.
Wedges
Lob Wedge- Titleist SM 4 with 5 degrees of bounce
Loft: 60 degrees bent to 59 degrees
Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Gold
Sand Wedge: Titleist SM 6 with 08 degrees of bounce (M grind)
Loft: 54 degrees bent to 52 degrees
Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Gold
Puttter
Model: Odyssey Metal X #6 CS
Loft: 2.5 degrees
Length: 33 inches
Ball
Titleist PRo V1x 217 version.
He always marks his golf ball with a black dot on the right and up side of the Titleist logo both on the front and back of the ball.
The Hero Indian Open 2017 Champion uses FootJoy shoes and gloves.
Marker and Pitch Fork
He has had the Indonesian 500 Rupiah as his marker for a while. He doesn’t consider it to be lucky or anything such. He uses whatever is in his bag as his marker. However, his pitch fork has been with him for a while as he finds it very effective while repairing pitch marks.
SSP doesn’t believe in any superstitions at all and goes with what’s in his bag. He isn’t concerned by the number of tees or markers in his pocket, However, he does make sure he has all the necessary tools to assist him in playing a good and hassle free round of golf.
He carries bananas, energy bars as snacks and water for his round.
For a typical tournament round, he arrives at the golf club 2 hours prior to his round. He likes to stretch first thing and then eat his breakfast or lunch, depending up on the tee time, at the club. An hour prior, he goes to the driving range where he spends about 30-40 minutes going through his bag.
He hits 3-4 balls with every club in his bag except for his 8 iron. He doesn’t ever use his 8 iron on the range prior to the start of a round as he feels that is the one club he can afford to miss out on to limit the number of balls he hits while warming up.
He spends another 20 minutes in the short game area practicing bunker shots, chip shots of different types, long range and short range putts.
Then, SSP makes his way to the first tee to get his round in progression.
SSP’s bag doesn’t include a 3 iron but he does have a 4 wood and a strong 3 hybrid which functions more like a 2 hybrid to give him an added arsenal going into the longer holes. He averages about 270-275 yards on tour and makes up for his average distances off the tee with a stellar short game.
