Gearing Up for Golf at the Masters

Casual golf fans might be surprised to learn that the Masters, the most revered of golf's four major championships, generally features the quartet's weakest field. But the equipment in play is the latest and greatest.

The Masters' home course, Augusta National Golf Club, is even hillier than it looks on TV, making high-performance footwear critical. FootJoy, a division of Fortune Brands(FO Quote), usually supplies most of the shoes players wear at PGA Tour events. Fans will likely see 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson, reigning British champion Padraig Harrington and sleeper pick Steve Stricker in the company's new SYNR-G shoe. The shoe uses memory foam, the same stuff from mattresses, to mold the shoe to a player's foot.

Ping, the maker of the iWi D66 putter, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

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