Extra driver becomes constant companion

It would be unwieldy for golfers to travel to tournaments with a full backup set of clubs, but carrying an extra driver is another story.

Many do that, including Hunter Mahan, Zach Johnson, Brandt Snedeker, Bill Haas and Ryan Palmer. They like to have a backup in case their driver is damaged in transit or during play.

Some keep it in the car they drive to the course; others have it in their hotel rooms.

"I carry a backup driver and 3-wood because they're the longest clubs and if they are in my travel bag, they might get broken," said Haas, a six-year PGA Tour pro who has never had to put his backup clubs into service during a tournament.

Neither has Ryan Palmer, who also carries a backup putter.

Mahan has changed out a damaged club during a round, which helped him win the Waste Management Phoenix Open in 2010.

"I always carry a backup driver because they are so hard to find and change," he said. "The driver is kind of special. You want to keep that with you pretty close."

He keeps it in the trunk of a car at the tournament site.

In the final round in Phoenix, Mahan discovered a crack in his Ping Rapture V2 driver on the second hole. Under the Rules of Golf, officials first had to determine that the club was damaged.

"It took a little time to make sure that you could take it out of play because the driver has to be cracked, and it has to be deemed kind of unplayable and not conforming," Mahan said. "But we got that straightened out."

Mahan was allowed to change it as long as it did not delay play.

"That's why I bring it; for occasions like that," he said.

Girlfriend Kandi Harris, now Mahan's wife, was following his group, so he had his backup driver by the next hole. It took about 15 minutes for her to return, Mahan said.

"She had the keys and everything," he said. "It was good timing. Luckily, the rules staff ran her out to the car, and I got it before the next tee shot, which was nice, because the next hole is a par 5. I really didn't want to hit a 3-wood off the par 5."

Mahan went on to shoot 65 and win by a shot over Rickie Fowler.

"Hitting fairways and driving is a big part of my game, so it was huge to be able to get a good driver there that was a good backup, and it performed great," he said.

Johnson, the 2007 Masters champion, said his driver cracked before the first round of last year's British Open. Having the backup driver was invaluable.

Snedeker's driver cracked on the 17th tee in the first round of the 2008 Mercedes Championship in Hawaii. Because he had only one hole left, he teed off with his 3-wood on the final hole and finished with 71.

He put the backup driver in his bag the next day and shot rounds of 69-70-70 to tie for 10th place.

"The backup driver is pretty much exactly the same, but no club is ever the same," Snedeker said. "But it was about as close as you could get."

Nick Watney, who won at Doral in March, is among the players who don't carry a backup driver. If something happened to his driver at a tournament, he said, he would go to the manufacturers' trailer on site after the round and try to have a duplicate made.

"Hopefully, it doesn't happen," Watney said.

Because golfers change drivers occasionally when a new model comes out, what happens to their backup that they might have never put in play?

"Somebody back home probably gets to hit it," Haas said.

Reach David Westin at (706) 823-3224 ordavid.westin@augustachronicle.com.