Rich Beem: `I like to shake things up a little.'

Golf Digest, March, 2003 by Mark Soltau

You might think I'm a little goofy by the paint job on my shoes at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf or my dance steps after I won a major. Or you could look at my headcovers, which in the last year have included a lion, an eagle, a chicken, a gopher and one of the Seven Dwarfs, among others. But I like trying new stuff. I'm always tinkering. That's why I'm precise with my clubs--or at least the guys who work on my clubs are precise. For instance, I have 2 millimeters offset throughout my irons, and my 7-wood is really the loft of a 4-wood, but I prefer the look of the 7-wood head. My putters and wedges change more than other things, like when I switched to a new lob wedge the week of the PGA Championship. I just want something that looks and feels good. But that doesn't mean things won't change. I've already changed irons and putters at least once since I won the PGA. I know what I like. It's just that sometimes what I like changes.

IRONS

TaylorMade RAC MB in 4- through 9-iron, TaylorMade RAC OS in 3-iron, all with Aldila Tour Gold graphite X shafts. Lofts are a degree or so strong. Shafts are cut down one-quarter inch. That makes them a little light, so I add some lead tape. I'll slap lead tape on anything. It's a good invention. All of my clubs are D-1 with Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord grips.

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WOODS

Driver: TaylorMade 580, 9.5 degrees loft, X flex, 45 inches long. I use Aldila Tour Gold graphite shafts in all my woods. Fairway: TaylorMade 200 Steel Tour 3-wood and 7-wood, 15 and 17 degrees loft. (I took a 7-wood head and bent it to get the loft down to where I need it. I just like the size of it, and it sets up real square.)

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WEDGES

My three wedges are TaylorMade RACs. The pitching wedge says 52 degrees, but I've bent it to 47 degrees because I like the offset at that angle. I grind the soles to get the right shape and bounce angle.

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BALL HOG

I use the Callaway CTU 30 Red. I'm pretty hard on balls. I usually go through 12 to 18 in a round. I once used 21 for 18 holes.

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PUTTER BOY

Honestly, I could change putters every week. This STX Sync Tour was the putter I used to win The International and the PGA. I first used it at Doral last year. But I've switched out of it to a Scotty Cameron Studio Design 1 recently. I just like shaking things up.

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IN THE PINK

My bag includes colored tees, a pocket knife and some old coins for ball markers (if it's been around this long, it has to be useful), but my Pepto-Bismol gets the most attention. I went through a whole bottle at the PGA. But I'm OK. My doctor said you can't OD on Pepto.

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COVER-UP

generally go with the John Daly-signature lion (driver), the chicken (3-wood) and the eagle (7-wood), but I also have a lobster, fish, beaver and elephant, among others. But the chicken is the worst-looking. It's sick.

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IT TAKES A LICKING

I always want to know what time it is, so I clip a watch on my bag. I just wanted something on there that we could bang the heck out of. I usually get a new one each year in Hawaii.

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MY YARDAGE (carry, loft)

WOODS

Driver:    272, 9.5[degrees]
3-wood:     245, 15[degrees]
7-wood:     235, 17[degrees]

IRONS

3-iron:     210, 22[degrees]
4-iron:   200, 24.5[degrees]
5-iron:     190, 28[degrees]
6-iron:   180, 31.5[degrees]
7-iron:   170, 35.5[degrees]
8-iron:     158, 38[degrees]
9-iron:     140, 43[degrees]
PW:         127, 47[degrees]
SW:         105, 54[degrees]
LW:          60, 60[degrees]