How this started…
It was in early 2023 when I got the call from my old boss, Jeff Neubarth. The Paradym launch was off like a runaway train, and at the time, in mid-February, I had already been on a whirlwind of travel: LA, Dubai, London, Palm Springs, Torrey Pines, Scottsdale, and back to LA—that was all in 30 days.
“I need you to go to New York and fit Eli Manning for a full kit at Five Iron Golf in Manhattan.”
That was the message…my reply at first glance was WTF? Is this real?
It was.
His goal was simple:
“I am playing with my dad and brother at Augusta National in a month, and I want to beat Peyton into the ground. Can you help me?”
Yes. Yes, I can.
To be fair, the fitting was fairly easy. It’s not rocket science with either of the Manning brothers. One guy hits a nice cut, and the other hits a useful pull draw.
Eli is what you would expect: an elite athlete. He is responsive, takes direction, and, most importantly, has a one-way miss. His natural shot is a mid-launch cut with good spin, and his miss is a little wipey cut off the bottom of the face.
The fitting was a complete reboot from his previous set, which was inconsistent in terms of specs and performance.
What we landed on…
Driver:
Paradym TD 9 (Flat Cog S/D)
Shaft: Ventus Black TR 6X (Straight in) 45.25 EOG
D4 Heavy weight back, 3G Toe
3-wood:
Paradym STD 15@15
Shaft Ventus Black TR 7X (straight in) 43.25 EOG
D4
Apex UW: 19
Shaft Ventus Black 8X (Tipped 1) 42 EOG
D4
Irons:
Paradym STD 4-AW
LA Golf L 120 (4)
+.75 Length
Std Lie
D4
Wedges: Jaws Raw 56/12X@55
“Beat Peyton”
60/12X
“Chad Powers Rulz”
+.75 length
Std lie
D4
Putter: White Hot OG 7 CH
35.5 Inches
Stroke Tour 2.0
3 Loft
71 Lie
Head Heavy
The result of that fitting was a text from Eli with the picture of a scorecard from ANGC, Eli birdied 18 to shoot 79 and beat Peyton by 1. Mission accomplished.
What he gained from this new setup, for the most part, was spin mitigation on his misses. The Paradym irons kept his launch and spin down compared to his old set, and his misses not only maintained the right start line but also stayed in a happy place, taking his floaty ones to SLIGHTLY floaty. HUGE.
Peyton
Weeks after Eli’s successful mission at ANGC, I was in the car picking my kids up from school and got a call from a random Colorado number. I answered, feeling frisky and knowing it was probably someone from Amway calling.
“Johnny Wunder this is Peyton Manning, I got your number from my brother. I need to get dialed in.”
Now the OG fitting with Peyton happened over the phone, he was already in most of our stuff and he talked me through what worked and what didnt and it was fairly easy to make the tweaks without seing much and what can I say, I got it all right.
He hooks EVERY CLUB, with the miss being a quick hook. His spin numbers are low, so optimizing that with loft and a ball switch was simple. For this exercise, it was woods only as his Apex 21 was fully cooked. This is where he landed:
Driver:
Paraydm Ai-Smoke TD 10.5 (heavy weight back) N/S
Ventus Blue 6X (straight in) 45.25 EOG
D3
3-wood:
Paradym Ai-Smoke Max 3HL N/S
Ventus Blue 7X (tipped .5) 43 EOG
D3
Onto the new…
Peyton
While the woods Paradym to Ai-Smoke was an easy plug-and-play, Peyton picked up 2MPH ball speed, 300RPM spin, and a degree of launch. The most substantial gains came from going into Apex Ti-Fusion 6-PW, which increased ball speed, improved turf interaction, and increased his ball speed, launch, and spin. WHY? For one, the titanium face gave him a level of ball control he hadn’t seen, AND the turf interaction helped him mitigate some of his sharp right angles.
We did do a slight combo, slipping in the Apex Ai200 in the 4 and 5 irons, which increased his launch just enough to maximize his numbers.
The Final result:
Eli
In Eli’s case, going toe to toe with his Paradyms from a ball speed perspective was a hair more complicated, especially with the new Ai-Face and any uptick in spin he would get from the Apex Ai200. We didn’t go into Apex Ti-Fusion with him as he needs any extra muscle he can get, and any platform that spins more will be a struggle.
The Ai-200 worked perfectly for one main reason: the turf interaction.
The modified sole design of the Apex Ai200 substantially improved where he was getting it on the face compared to Paradym. On stock strikes, he was living two grooves higher up the face with Apex Ai200, which, in turn, increased ball speed substantially and raised spin. However, the added spin complimented the ball speed gains to perfection. So overall, it was plus/plus.
The final result:
Biggest Takeaways for YOU
Look, it’s easy to talk about world-class athletes like the Manning Bros. They are both Hall Of Fame athletes with good hands, instincts, and everything else. But this is golf, and like you and me, they have struggles and deficiencies in their games that need to be solved.
With this experiment, I saw some concrete evidence of how AI has really turned up the volume in terms of performance. For both players, the ability to increase ball speed and manage spin at optimal levels TRULY helped both of them. Misses became very manageable, and center strikes looked exactly how they wanted, all while being a bit faster than before.
Overall, I’m proud of the work we did here. Since they both received their kits, I have received multiple texts about how happy they are with what’s happening on the golf course.
If I had to ballpark it, I’d say they both got 2-3MPH faster across the bag, both misses got 50% better, Turf interaction is night and day better, and both players have more confidence than ever before. Ti-Fusion and Apex Ai200 did EXACTLY what I thought they would do: perform. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters.
Happy Hunting
LFG
JDub
