Ben Griffin & Andrew Novak winning WITBs: 2025 Zurich Classic

Andrew Novak and Ben Griffin won the 2025 Zurich Classic team event in New Orleans this weekend for their first PGA Tour wins! Here are the clubs that helped both guys win!

https://www.golfwrx.com/758321/team-griffin-novak-winning-witbs-2025-zurich-classic-of-new-orleans/

Ben Griffin
Driver: Ping G430 Max 10K (9 degrees)
Shaft: UST Mamiya Lin-Q Proto V1 7 TX

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi35 (15 degrees)
Shaft: UST Mamiya Lin-Q Proto V1 8 TX

Irons: Mizuno JPX 923 (3), Mizuno Pro S3 (4-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Mizuno Pro T1 (50, 56-10), TaylorMade MG4 (60-SB)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Scotty Cameron Concept 2 Tour Rat Prototype
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy 1.0PT

Grips: Golf Pride MCC

Ball: Maxfli Tour X

Andrew Novak
Driver: Ping G440 LST (7.5 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green RDX 75 TX

3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Black 80 TX

5-wood: Ping G440 Max (19 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green RDX 85 TX

Irons: Srixon ZX7 Mk II (4-6), Srixon Z-Forged II (7-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Cleveland RTZ (50, 54, 60)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Odyssey Ai-One Milled Seven T S

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord

Ball: Srixon Z-Star Diamond

Hey, welcome back to G the BRX’s winning what’s in the bag where this week we are taking a look at two winners because Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak won the 2025 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. So, congratulations to them. Both first time winners uh out on tour. They did it together. Uh so, pretty amazing fun time. Love the Zurich. Different format, team format. Uh so, pretty cool to see them both win. So, congratulations to both of them. Uh we’re going to start at the top and uh yeah, we’re going to just we’re going to start with Ben Griffin. No alphabet alphabetical order or anything like that. We just flipped a coin and we’re going to start at the top. He is playing the Ping G430 Max 10K driver. So yes, a 10K driver in a pros bag. Uh probably looking to do something less of probably with stability but more with launch and spin on that hand for head for him. It’s a 90°ree head and the Huzzle one is set to standard. So just playing the standard 9°. Now this one shafted up with a US Mamia Link Proto V1 7TX. Now, yes, that is a whole lot to say, but this is a prototype new link shaft from US that we’ve seen previously uh out on tour. We’ve snapped some photos of it. Uh this one, it could be a white profile. I know they make a few different profiles of the link. Uh all the graphics, the paint on this one are white. So, it’s either a true proto, they’re throwing us off, or it is maybe a white profile, uh which tends to be kind of more mid-launch, low spin. Uh now, that could be totally different. And this is the V1. We’ve seen some V2s and maybe even a V3 out on tour previously as well. Uh they all look the same, same paint, just different version numbers. So, total prototype. Not sure what this one is going to be uh quite yet. I’ve reached out to US uh and my guys over there uh kind of are still hush about it. Not telling me anything yet, said it’s not quite time. Uh so, we don’t know much about the shaft. Now, for 3-wood, he is playing the Tailormade Qi35 3-wood. So, this is the core 3-wood model. Uh we unfortunately don’t have photos of it. He was playing a different 3-wood. Uh he was playing the Qi10 uh just earlier in the year. So switched over to the Qi35. This is the standard core model. I’m not sure if it’s one of the tour issue bonded ones. Uh or if it does have the interchangeable uh adjustable hoszle like we get at retail. So not sure there, but it is the standard model. Uh 15°. Not sure the settings, anything like that. Uh and it is shafted up with a US Mamia Link uh Proto V18 TX. So again, prototype, not sure exactly what it is. 80 g range on that one. 70 g range uh on the driver. Uh but unfortunately, not much. And US is keeping their mouth shut on that one. Now we move into irons and his irons uh are a little bit of a combo set. Uh he is a Mizuno staffer, so of course he’s going to play the Mizuno irons. So the first one is the Mizuno JPX 923 Tour. Uh now, yes, the 925s are out. They’re not making a 925 Tour uh this year. So, this is the 923 Tour. And the interesting thing about it is it’s a three iron, but if you look on the sole, uh there’s no there’s no number, there’s no marking, anything like that. Uh so, it’s evidently either been welded, uh over and then refinished. Uh but the unique thing is is that sometimes, you know, they’ll do like a special grind on a on an iron and you know, the the number will be lost. Well, this one here looks like it’s been replplated. So, it looks like it’s got the chrome plating finish on it. Uh so, not sure if it was something like where they were taking a 4 iron, bending it strong to maybe add a little offset. uh or if maybe there was like a two iron made that they were bending a little bit weak, something like that. Uh but it is no markings on it and it is replated. So uh it doesn’t even have something where you can tell it was either ground off or anything like that. So completely refinished. Uh so very interesting on that one. Uh it is shafted up with a true temper dynamic gold tour X100. Uh so again that’s a shaft that we all know. 130 g lower launch, lower spin. Uh just a classic out there uh that we see every single week. Now, for his rest of his irons, he’s playing the new Mizuno Pro S3 uh 4 through pitching wedge. These are the brand new irons that just came out to retail. So, the S3 is kind of a new thing from Mizuno. They’re making this really nice uh forge cavity back. It’s going to be in a line for like four years. So, you’re going to be able to get them uh single piece HD forge, got boron in it. Uh all the stuff that Mizuno uses. Personally, I’ve hit them and they are probably one of the softest irons I have hit in the current iron world. uh this year. They’re shed up also with True Temper Dynamic Gold X100’s. Uh so very uh consistent, very typical set there with those irons. Now with wedges, he actually just switched. We we shot them at the Sony. Uh he had some different wedges in the bag. He had some old like T22s and things like that. Uh he is into the new Mazuno Pro T1 wedges. So uh the first one there is going to be the Mizuno Pro T1, the gap wedge 508. Uh so this is the S grind standard sole. meant for kind of full shots, uh, reduce some digging. It’s got a little bit of relief on the back end to help it kind of release through the turf. Uh, but the standard 50° there. And it is shafted up with a true temper dynamic gold tour issue S400 wedge. So again, 132 grams, kind of lower launch, lower spin, a little bit softer uh, for those partial shots that you’ll hit with a 50°ree compared to say a full-blown pitching wedge. Now, a sand wedge is going to be the Mazuno Pro T1 5610. And uh this is the M grind. Uh so this one here is a little bit more versatile. It’s got toe, heel, trailing edge relief, a little bit more of a C-shape when you see it. Uh 10° of bounce, so pretty uh average bounce there. Uh but great for opening up the face, hit different shots. Leading edge doesn’t come off the ground so much. Uh but a versatile one that you can use out of the trap on some tight lies. You can play a bunch of different shots with it. This one is also shafted up with a true temper dynamic gold tour issue S400 wedge shaft. Now his uh lob wedge a little bit different. He moves over to a tailor made mil grind 4 or MG4. Uh he is the playing the 60 SB which is the standard bounce sole. This is a 10 degree uh bounce sole and it’s kind of a full sole. Got a little bit of tra uh heel relief into it. Uh got a little bit of camber, a little roundness to it. Uh so it does get through the turf fairly quickly. It is a completely mil uh sole. So when that does wear out, uh Ben can go get another one. It is identical in terms of uh the actual bounce and radiuses and all the shaping of it. uh hand polishing it offers a lot of inconsistencies and uh they do everything mil with the tailor made MG4s. Uh also definitely a little bit softer feel with MG4 compared to MG3. So standard balance there in the lob wedge and much like the other wedges, true temper dynamic gold tour issue S400 shaft in it. Now moving to putter and it’s got a kind of a cool putter. This is a uh a very wellused, well-loved Scotty Cameron Concept 2 Tour Wrap Proto. Again, a whole lot to say, but basically it’s a head shape based on the Newport 2. Uh back uh years ago, the two rats were kind of the ones that had a lot of bit more uh like movable weights and things like that in the soles. Uh so this one here based on a Newport 2, the more squared off boxy head shape. And this one also could be considered, even though it doesn’t say it, uh a lot of people consider it kind of what they call a super rat uh because it has weights on the sole that are interchangeable and it also has a face insert on it. So, the face insert is made out of GSS, which is Scotty Cameron’s German stainless steel. They claim it’s a little bit softer, uh, a little bit easier to machine. Uh, you know, comes from Germany. Now, there’s debate about, uh, how different it really is. And, you know, stainless steel, stainless steel, uh, but they, you know, use German stainless steel for that insert. And as you can see, the finish on the putter is a kind of matte, heavy matte black that’s starting to kind of pit and come away with all the use and love on it. Uh, now the grips on his, he is using uh golf pride uh MCC’s. Now, he’s using a couple different colors. Uh, he’s got like white, I think, or the black and white, the black and baby blue, and like a black and gray or black and black. Uh, kind of switches them up depending on clubs, uh, which is pretty interesting. but it is basically consisting of a firmer uh rubber with a cord running through the upper hand and a softer uh more responsive rubber in the lower hand. Now for ball, this is the interesting one. The ball he is using a Maxfly Tour X. Uh this is a four-piece ball, high launch, a little bit more spin, a little firmer feel in the Maxfly Tour lineup. Uh, but the Tour X is, yes, the same ball that you can go to Golf Galaxy or Dick Sporting Goods and buy for $120 or four dozen uh or $40 a dozen. This is a fairly inexpensive ball. Uh, but he actually uses this out on tour. Uh, so yes, he uses the Tour X. I know we reported it a little bit uh a little while ago, I think it was last year, that he actually signed with them. I actually got to go uh I’ve played this ball along with the other models and actually is a really high quality, nice tour ball for a great price. And uh yeah, actually I met Ben Griffin at a Maxfly event where he was hitting the Tour X right there on the on the on the course with us. So very interesting to see that. Uh but that is the ball he was using. So that is Ben Griffith’s what’s in the bag and we will jump over now to Andrew Novak. So Andrew Novak, uh we’ll start at the top with him again and he is using a Ping G440 LST. So this the LST, the low spin technology head. uh it’s going to be a little bit more neutral uh in terms of flight bias, a little bit lower spinning, a little bit lower launching than the Max version. Now, his is a little bit unique. It is a 7 and 12 degree head. 7 and 12 degree is not something is offered at retail. This is a tour only part uh very low lofted. Now, I know I’ve heard there’s some stuff through Ping’s uh works department that you can order some stuff that’s a little bit uh different uh digitally lofted, things like that. Uh but the seven and a half degree ahead I don’t know if it’s available if you call uh but it is something right now that we’re you know saying is tour only. Uh the huzzle is set in the standard position. So playing the standard 7.5 I don’t know why you would necessarily need to go lower. Uh and standard lie angle. The shaft in this one is a project X hazardous smoke green RDX 75TX. So again we’ve got a whole mouthful on these things but this is an extremely stiff profile from project X. So, Project X hazardous. Uh, the blacks are typically the stiff, low launch, low spin shafts. These have even a stiffer profile to them. They’re even more stiff to flex. Uh, still low launch, low spin. And these RDX greens are just slightly counterbalanced, meaning there’s just a little bit shift of weight more towards the handle. Uh, so if you were to build up this club, uh, the swing weight would be just a little bit more headlike compared to say a smoke RDX black. Um, it’s 72 g and 2.5° of torque. Now for 3-wood, he is using a Ping G440 Max 3-wood. This is a 15 degree head and the hoszle is set to the big minus. So the big minus is down or negative 1.5 degrees of loft and it also makes the head 1.5° more flat. So you’re looking at a bit lower launching, a little bit more neutral to slightly fade bias. Uh anytime you make something flat, it takes away a little bit of that draw. Uh and this is a very forgiving, very stable head. Uh but actually really easy to hit and great sound and feel on it. in a shop that opened a Project X hazardous smoke black 80TX. Uh, so I’m sorry, Hazardous Smoke Black RDX 80TX. Too many X’s in there. The next clip in his bag is a fivewood and the fivewood is the Ping G440 Max. So matching the 3-wood and driver uh and it’s a fivewood, which is a 19° uh set to the small minus. So the small minus is minus one degree of loft and one degree flat. So again, a little bit lower, a little bit uh flatter flight. That flat setting will offer a little bit more fade bias. This is shot though with the Project X hazardous smoke green RDX, but this time in the 85TX. So 85 gram range. Uh again, really stiff profile to to it. Slightly counterbalanced. Now this is a tour only part, so not sure what the exact weight and torque is on this. They never brought the 85 out to us at retail. So we got the 75, we never got the 85. So I’m not exactly sure on the specs on this one. did some searching around Google and I’ve saw some shafts, but nobody really had any of the specs available to to that I felt confident with. Now, I move to irons and irons for him. He is going to start out with the Strickson ZX7 Marks uh in 4 through six iron. So, these are the previous gen. We just got out the ZX i7s. He’s playing the Mark’s uh very similar designs. I think they’re both kind of slightly higher launching. Uh both have some spin to them. great single piece forge CB that’s actually got a little bit of stabil stability and forgiveness built into it even though it feels great. It’s meant to be a little bit more compact. Uh I think the top line on the Mark II might be just a hair thinner uh than the new ZXI but it’s got the Tour Vole on it as you can see from the photos. The Tour Vole is basically what you see. It’s a V. It’s basically there’s a a leading edge that’s ankled down and a trailing edge that comes back. Great turf interaction especially for soft condition steep players. Uh it’s probably one of the best soles for that. It just gets through the turf really quickly, creating shallow divots. Now, these are shafted up with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour issue X100’s. Why wouldn’t they be? Seems like everybody’s playing this shaft. Um, and then we move into the second part of his uh his combo set, which is Strixon Zorge 2 in seven through pitching wedge. So, this is the blade that Srixon makes called the ZForge 2. Uh, it’s a single piece forging uh slightly larger side than some other blades out there. Some blades get really short heel to toe or really kind of uh really super compact. These tend to be a little bit on the larger side and with that they tend to actually be a little bit more playable as well. People always ask, you know, what’s the most forgiving blade and this is actually kind of recommended sometimes because it is a little bit larger. Great soft feel on it. Very responsive. Uh this one again also has the tour V sole, so great turf interaction uh with this iron. It is shafted up with I bet you’re shocked the True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour shoe X100. If I have to say it again, 130 grams, lower launch, lower spin, just the epitome of iron shafts out there. Now, for wedges, Andrew is playing the Cleveland RTZs, the brand new ones. These have the new Z Alloy uh that is meant to be softer, more consistent, less voids, things like that. Uh, and he is playing all three of his wedges in the Tour Rack color, which before Tour Rack was raw. It had no plating. It would rust. Uh, with the old wedges, with the new RTZs, this Zoe actually doesn’t rust. So, it’s just got kind of a duller, darker finish. Uh, it does start to wear a little bit, but it does not rust. So, a little interesting there that the finish is different. Now, he starts off with the gap wedge. And the gap wedge is the 5010 midsole. So, this is kind of the classic sole. Uh, they only really offer it in 50. They only offer one one option. It’s the mid uh in 10°. It’s kind of a slight V show Vshape uh where the leading edge kind of is ankled down. There’s a little bit of trailing edge relief, but it’s a great sole for full shots or shots with the club playing square to your target. Now, this one here is shafted up with a true tempered dynamic gold toursue S400. Again, 132 g, a little bit lower launching, lower spinning, but a little bit softer than the X100 for some added feel. Sandwiched is his next club, and this is a 5412 full soul Cleveland RTZ. Uh, so this is a little bit wider sole. Uh, again, great for full shots or or shots where the the club face is kind of square to the target. Uh, it reduces digging, great float in the sand or in the traps. Uh, and just overall really playable. Uh, again, shafted up with a true temper dynamic gold S400. Now, for his lob wedge, he’s got something just slightly unique. This is a 609 full soul. So, a 60 full soul with only nine degrees of bounce. We don’t get this one at tour. I believe the full is a 12 degree or 10 degree. Uh, he’s got a nine degree. So, this is a tour only part. Uh, it’s got low bounce but wider sole. Uh, so you’re going to again when you open the face offer some float in the traps uh and have a little bit maybe uh more more reduced digging in the in the tight uh tight lies. But when you play it square uh you’re going to get that low bounce that you can pick it get the leading edge under the ball and hit some different shots. So extremely versatile there. Uh and it is shafted up with a true temper dynamic gold tour issue S400. I bet you were shocked to hear that. Then we move into putters and his putter is an Odyssey AI1 mil 7TS. Again, a whole lot to say there, but it is the classic Odyssey number seven shape or the fang. Uh, so you have those two kind of wings that come off the sides. Now, this one here is the short slant neck model. Uh, offers a little bit more tow. So, that short slant neck offers just a little bit of offset and off some tow hang. So, it kind of swings a little bit more like a blade uh than like a face balance mallet there. Uh the insert on this one is actually all titanium and it’s kind of finished in that copper color and it’s got a little bit firmer feel compl compared to the standard AI1. Uh and the face behind it has that, you know, Odyssey AI1 kind of uh topography to it. Uh there’s kind of humps and different valleys and things like that. All done to basically can keep ball speed consistent when you don’t hit the dead center. Now, if you see this the face shot of Andrew’s putter, he’s been hitting the center pretty much all the time. So, I don’t think he really has to worry too much about that AI face giving him too much help there. Uh, on this one, it is an AI1 pistol grip from Odyssey. So, it’s a traditional kind of like polyurethane or they call it wrap uh grip. Standard size pistol shape uh that you would get basically in the store. Uh for grips on his, he is actually playing the golf pride velvet cord. Uh so, these are a full cord rubber grip, a little bit firmer. Uh it’s a brushed cotton cord, so it’s a little bit softer. They changed that over a few years ago. go used to be a different uh material, much rougher. This is a little bit smoother, a little bit easier on the hands, but still great for moisture uh management if you either sweat a lot or play in wet conditions. Uh really good there. Now, for his ball, he is playing the Srixon Zstar Diamond. Uh so, this is the newest of the Srixon Zar balls. Came out just a couple years ago. Uh it is a three-piece ball. Has kind of a mid-high flight and higher spin. So, it basically takes a lot of what XV does. Uh, basically makes it go a little bit higher and spin uh just a little bit more with the short game, but then split spin less with the driver. So, they’re trying to uh basically kind of like decouple driver and iron wedge spin. So, a great ball there. Played decently on tour with the Zstar Diamond. So, that is Andrew Novak’s what’s in the bag. Men Griffin’s what’s in the bag. Uh, again, congratulations to them on winning the 2025 Zurich Classic. Uh, great first wins for both those guys. So, that is what’s winning, what’s in the bag for this week. Check back next week where we’ll jump into hopefully just one players what’s in the bag.