Equipment
Tour Report: Bryson’s new 5-degree driver, a $4,000 wedge, and a righty wedge in a lefty’s bag?!
If you love golf equipment stories from the PGA Tour, then you’ve come to the right place. Every week, I’ll be giving a “Tour Report” from everything I saw and heard inside the ropes at that week’s event.
This week was especially packed with new gear, 26 WITBs, player insights, and cool stories from the 2022 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines
There’s no sense wasting time, let’s get right into this week’s report. Here are 11 gear takeaways from this week at Torrey.
1) Berger sees huge speed increases with new driver
Daniel Berger was a hot topic in our gear news this week because of his comments about the irons he “bought from some guy on the internet.” Berger, who’s been playing TaylorMade Tour Preferred MC irons since high school, started running out of backup sets. Being that the irons were first released in 2014, and TaylorMade no longer produces the iron, Berger took to his social media direct messages to buy his current set. You don’t see that everyday out on the PGA Tour. Click here for that full story.
In our conversation with Berger about his irons, though, he also revealed that he’s switched into a new TaylorMade Stealth Plus driver (with a slightly fade-biased weight setting). Berger, who’s notoriously slow to switch into new technology, saw undeniable distance gains with the new Stealth, and he switched immediately this week.
Here’s what he had to say about making the change:
“I just switched to the Stealth driver and picked up some ball speed, which was nice. I’ve actually never tested a driver and actually gained any ball speed. So that was really cool. Everything else is pretty much the same. I just kind of stick to what I got once I know it works…
“I hit some different drivers, but the biggest thing that I found with Stealth was that it’s faster. Like I said, I’ve tested hundreds of drivers over my lifetime and I found that I’m pretty much standard 176-177 mph ball speed when I hit one good. I was easily getting to 180 with the new Stealth and when I’m hitting it hard I can get to 182-183 mph, which is a huge jump for me, which I’ve never really seen before. It’s hard to not play a driver when you see an advantage like that, especially when in my past I’ve never seen that advantage.”
Daniel Berger’s full 2022 WITB
2) True Temper reveals new “Mid Tour Issue” shafts
True Temper’s Dynamic Gold steel shafts have been one of the most popular iron and wedge shafts on the PGA Tour for decades. Tour pros, and amateurs alike, use the shafts for their superior stability and spin-reducing capabilities.
Now, True Temper has revealed a new mid-launch shaft to tour players. With a wider mid-section diameter, the Dynamic Gold Mid Tour Issue shaft is designed to increase launch and spin for a higher ball flight and steeper landing angle.
If you’re struggling to hold the greens with your irons and you find the ball flies a bit too low, these will certainly be shafts to look out for in the future. Since the shafts just launched on tour this week, we’ll keep an eye on which players switch into the new shafts, and I’ll catch up with them to learn what they’re seeing performance-wise.
See what GolfWRX members are saying about the shafts here.
3) Dylan Frittelli’s $4k wedge
This story about Dylan Frittelli’s 1-of-1 prototype Apex TCB sand wedge is interesting for two reasons: 1) the wedge cost about $4,000 to make since it never existed before, and 2) a tour pro is now using an iron-like sand wedge rather than a more traditional wedge shape.
Could this be the start of a new movement? If so, Frittelli is leading the charge.
“I’m like, why do I use a sand wedge with a blade? I asked the Callaway rep and Roger Cleveland, they were all like, ‘No, there’s no reason, it’s just people do that,’” Frittelli told GolfWRX. “It took two or three months for them to make it, but I started using it last week and it’s really good. Roger said to me it’s a $4,000 wedge basically. I don’t know what steel it is, but they ground it out and milled it and did whatever they could to get to the shape. They 3D modeled somehow so they can reproduce it cheaper and quicker.
“For me, in my head, I just see spin numbers are more consistent on the longer shots, full shots, and slight mishits just fly to the yardage a lot better. And then out of the rough you have a little more mass behind it, which again, mishits and off-center it flies a lot better.”
Even better, Frittelli responded to GolfWRXer replies in an exclusive Instagram video.
4) Bryson’s 5-degree driver
By the sounds of it, the longest driver on the PGA Tour may have picked up some accuracy and consistency. Bryson DeChambeau has switched into a new Cobra King LTDx standard head (5 degrees), with a LA Golf prototype shaft, and he’s quite content with the performance thus far.
“(I’m swinging) a lot freer,” DeChambeau told GolfWRX. “The ball’s not going to go in places that I’m not expecting…it’s just allowing me to be over 190 mph consistently and I’m excited to continue to keep trying to hit it farther and farther. I’m not afraid of it, and I love trying to push barriers like always.”
For Bryson’s full thoughts on the switch into the new driver, check out the full story over on PGATOUR.com.
5) Cam Champ reveals Ping i525 irons
Cam Champ hits the ball absurd distances, but he’s unique because of how low he hits it. To help increase height in his long irons, Champ has opted for Ping’s hollow-bodied i500 irons in the past.
This week, he switched into unreleased i525 irons (3 and 4), and he’s seeing improved sound and feel compared to the previous version. He also hits them farther than most golfers hit their drivers; Champ says the 4-iron is his 250-260 club, and the 3-iron flies about 265-275 and then rolls out. Yeah, that’s insane.
“They’re good. They look kind of similar to the previous irons, but they have a little bit more defined look, which I like,” Champ said Tuesday at Torrey Pines. “And they sound better too. I have nothing negative to say about them. For me, they’re pretty much the same (as the i500s). That’s why I put them in. As long as they do what I need them to do, I can care less what it is.
“But yeah, they’re good. The sound is one thing. Definitely maybe a little bit softer on the face, which I like. You can feel it easier. But for me, for the ball flight that I want, it comes out perfectly.”
Click here for Champ’s full thoughts, and more photos of the Ping i525 irons.
6) New JumboMax Lite grips
You might recognize the JumboMax name because Bryson DeChambeau uses the company’s oversized grips on his clubs. Well, JumboMax has just revealed an all-new JMX Zen Lite grip that weighs in at 50 grams. It’s unknown for now what players will try the grip out, or whether DeChambeau is considering making a switch, but we’ll keep an eye out for any news.
7) Dustin Johnson switches right away
As we covered in-depth this week, Dustin Johnson has switched into the new TaylorMade Stealth Plus driver (10.5 degrees). While he struggled making the change into last year’s 2021 SIM2 Max driver, Johnson has wasted no time getting the Stealth Plus driver into the bag.
GolfWRX caught up with Johnson this week to get his initial thoughts:
“Speed-wise, it’s similar [to my previous driver],” Johnson told GolfWRX. “I’ve seen my spin rates are more consistent, and I’m getting consistently faster numbers. For me, the mishits have been much better. I love the new driver. It’s great.
“The feel is great. It doesn’t feel like it’s – it still feels like it’s titanium. Feel is funny, because feel is all sound, so as long as the sound is good, it’s gonna feel right. They did a really good job with the sound, and I think it sounds really good. It sounds solid when you hit in the middle. Obviously, I can feel if I hit it off the heel or the toe, so I’m getting really good feedback from it, so I really like that. Then, like I said, the numbers have been really good, consistent, and that’s all I’m looking for.”
Dustin Johnson’s full 2022 WITB
8) A righty wedge in a lefty’s bag?
When I was walking past Seth Reeves’ PXG golf bag on Tuesday, I paused in my tracks. Reeves is a lefty, so when I saw a right-handed wedge in his bag I was caught off guard. Was it a training club? Has he started chipping righty? What is going on here?!
His answer was simple:
“That’s for [my right-handed caddie],” Reeves told GolfWRX. “He’s a former player, and I’m lefty. It’s for him to like, when we’re talking through stuff, or we’re working on chipping, he can show me. It’s hard for a righty to pick up a lefty wedge. That’s strictly the reason why it’s in there.”
9) First look at Pat Perez’s new free-agent setup (and filthy headcovers)
Pat Perez is no longer technically on staff with PXG, but he’s still bagging a setup full of mostly PXG equipment. He has made a few changes, though.
Based on our WITB photos, it seems Perez is going with a new Stealth Plus driver and an Odyssey O-Works Jailbreak putter; it should be noted that the lead tape application on his putter is absolutely perfect. Having watched Odyssey Tour rep Joe Toulon apply lead tape onto putters before, I’m going to assume that’s his work. I’ll catch up with him next week for a tutorial.
Perez has also switched into LA Golf graphite shafts in his 0311P Gen4 blacked-out irons, and his elephant-printed headcovers and bag are absolutely sick. Ah, the perks of being a Jordan athlete.
10) A beautiful Masters bow
Speaking of headcovers, this custom job from Swag Golf is an awesome tribute to Hideki Matsuyama’s 2021 Masters win, and the beautiful moment where his caddie Shota Hayafuji bowed to Augusta National out of respect.
If you search the internet hard enough, you could track down one of these limited-run headcovers for yourself, but it’s unlikely you’ll find the ones pictured above. Matsuyama signed them himself on site at the 2022 Farmers Insurance Open.
We covered the full story earlier this week.
11) Phil Mickelson’s WITB
Finally! If you’re like me, you couldn’t wait to see an in-hand look at lefty’s new bag setup for 2022. Now, it’s here…
Driver: Callaway Rogue ST Max LS (7.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Red 6X
3-Wood: Callaway Rogue ST Triple Diamond (13. 5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Red 7X
Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Red 9X
Driving Irons: Callaway X Forged UT (18 and 25 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi MMT UT 105TX
Irons: Callaway Apex MB (6-PW)
Shafts: KBS Tour V 125 S+
Wedges: Phil Mickelson PM-LTD proto (50-14, 55-12 and 60-10)
Shafts: KBS Tour V 125 S+
Putter: Odyssey Phil Mickelson Blade
And that’ll do it for this week’s Tour Report. I’ll be out at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am next week to do it all again. To see all of our photos from this week out at Torrey Pines, click here!
Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D LS (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9 TX
Irons: TaylorMade P770 (3), TaylorMade P7CB (4), TaylorMade P7TW (5-PW)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 10 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold X100
Wedges: TaylorMade Prototype (50-SB09), TaylorMade MG5 (56-HB12, 60-LV07)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S400
Putter: TaylorMade TP Juno
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
Check out more in-hand photos of Christiaan Maas’ clubs here.
TaylorMade Golf’s MySpider program underwent a substantial overhaul over the last month. Firstly, the company launched the option to customize the Spider ZT model, and now the program has returned with the MySpider Tour and MySpider Tour X.
The revamped page now gives golfers complete control over every visual and functional detail of their putter on the popular Tour and Tour X head, with every cosmetic idea thought of. In MySpider Tour, golfers can choose from four head finishes, 16 paint fill colors, nine Surlyn face insert colors, three aluminum insert options, six sightline configurations, and four hosel options — L-neck, small slant, double bend, center shaft. Six sightline options are available in MySpider Tour, including the optically engineered True Path alignment system. MySpider Tour X gives builders the option of four head finishes, four hosel configurations, and five sightline options, also including True Path alignment.
One of the more interesting features of the new MySpider program is the availability of three distinct face insert options. Along with the usual Surlyn Pure Roll insert trusted by Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, which can be customized from nine colors, golfers can now also select firmer options. Two are offered with the black aluminum Pure Roll insert, slightly firmer than the traditional insert, or for the firmest feel, golfers can choose from two colors of milled aluminum inserts.
Another fun addition to the MySpider Tour is the ability to use the “Tommy Sightline.” The custom alignment aid design, which was first drawn onto Tommy Fleetwood’s putter by PGA Tour Rep James Holley, is based on the milled sightline on his Spider ZT head. There are five shorter lines on the left and right of a longer central line serving as the traditional short line alignment aid.
See below for the full specifications sheet for MySpider Tour and Tour X:
MySpider Tour
MySpider Tour X
Equipment
Then and now: Comparing Rory McIlroy’s current setup to his record-breaking 2019 Canadian Open victory
In Rory McIlroy’s first appearance at the 2019 RBC Canadian Open, he crushed the record books to earn his 16th PGA Tour title in dominating fashion, winning by seven shots over Shane Lowry and Webb Simpson.
McIlroy’s score of 22-under-par 258 is the lowest 72-hole score to date at the Canadian Open, and his closing 61 is also the best final-round score in the history of one of golf’s oldest tournaments. Finally, with his win in 2019, McIlroy became only the sixth player to win the career Triple Crown, adding to his victories at the U.S. Open in 2011 and The Open Championship in 2014, joining Tommy Armour, Walter Hagen, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Tiger Woods in a coveted list.
So, with that, why not compare his current setup to the clubs he used to break all the records?
Driver
2019: TaylorMade M5 (9 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees @8), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7X (45 5/8 inches)
McIroy led the Tour in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee in 2019; he’s doing the same in 2026. Between now and then, McIlroy has switched from the Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX (a shaft with slightly more feeling in the tip) to the original Fujikura Ventus Black 7X, having just made the change to the heavier version from playing the 60X.
What’s interesting about McIlroy’s 2019 setup is that the weighting on his driver is actually set in the high-draw setting, using the T-Track weighting system, whereas in the Qi4D, he’s currently using a heavily rear-weighted setup. (Two 13-gram weights in the rear and only two 4-gram front weights.)
The TaylorMade M5 driver he played in during his Canadian Open win was the company’s first head that they claimed to design to initially exceed the USGA’s COR limit, and then injected with tuning resin to bring it back in bounds.
Fairway woods
2019: TaylorMade M6 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 80 TX; TaylorMade M5 5-wood (19 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 90 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8X; TaylorMade Qi4D 5-wood (18 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9X
The TaylorMade M6 fairway wood that McIlroy was using during the 2019 season is still in the bag of some of the best golfers on Tour in 2026. Just check out Justin Rose’s winning setup from the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year. This year, though, McIlroy has still been searching for his top-end-of-the-bag setup, having played both the new Qi4D and the Qi10, which he won the Masters with.
The same shaft swap can be seen in the fairway woods as the driver, along with slightly less loft on the 5-wood.
Irons
2019: TaylorMade P750 (4) Buy here, TaylorMade P730 (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0
2026: TaylorMade P760 (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0
The biggest difference between McIlroy’s custom set and the stock P730s is the groove design. While the P730s were constructed with 14 MX-9 grooves on their milled faces, McIlroy’s proto heads instead use the higher-spinning, 16-groove layout of the TW2 grooves. Other big differences between the sets are that McIlroy’s 7- and 8-irons have thinner toplines, are 1 degree stronger in loft, and are 1/4 inch longer than the original P730 builds.
With McIlroy’s 4-iron, the switch from P750 to P760 sees a transition to a two-piece construction with Speed Foam in it, which allows McIlroy to launch the ball slightly higher, with more workability.
Wedges
2019: TaylorMade Milled Grind (48-09SB), TaylorMade MG Hi-Toe (52-09SB, 56-09SB, 60-LB09), Shafts: Project X Rifle 6.5
2026: TaylorMade MG5 (46-09SB, 50-09SB, 54-11SB, 60-08LB @61), Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46-54), Project X 6.5 Wedge (60)
Between 2019 and 2026, McIlroy’s focus on his short game has been much more apparent. It was the reason why he switched back to the TP5 golf ball, to help with launch, spin and control with his wedges leading up to his career Grand Slam victory in 2025. The most apparent changes to McIlroy’s wedge setup are his lofts and bounce. He’s slowly delofted his pitching to a sand wedge, but has increased the loft on the lob wedge, bending his current 60-degree to 61. With that, adding more loft to his lob wedge also slightly increases the bounce and leading-edge sit point, so, as a result, he plays a lower-bounce lob wedge compared to 2019. The MG5 wedges are also softer than the first Milled Grind option from 2019. McIlroy also no longer plays the full-face grooves found on the Hi-Toe.
Putter
2019: TaylorMade Spider X
2026: TaylorMade Spider Tour X
Notice anything similar. Yes, the copper finish on Rory McIlroy’s Spider X putter in 2019 is a slightly more reflective finish than the recently released torched PVD finish. McIlroy was using the True Path alignment system, but now uses only a single white sightline.
Ball
2019: 2019 TaylorMade TP5 (#22)
2026: 2025 TaylorMade TP5 (RORS)
As mentioned above, McIlroy had transitioned from the TP5 to TP5x golf ball since his victory in Canada in 2019, but now is black with the same style of golf ball as his victory at Hamilton Golf & Country Club.
Grips
2019: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
2026: Golf Pride MCC
Interesting, McIlroy actually used Golf Pride’s Tour Velvet Cord grips during his victory in 2019 (it was during a 2+ year switch to the corded TV) as opposed to his usual MCC grips, which he has played for most of his career.
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Chuck
Jan 28, 2022 at 10:26 pm
I count at least a half-dozen players on just this page — one report from one tournament — reporting that new equipment is helping them hit the ball farther. Either by producing faster ball speeds mechanically, or by mechanically reducing the amount of off-line hits allowing them to swing “freer” (DeChambeau) which I equate to swinging “harder” and “faster.”
In any event, more distance.
Meanwhile, the manufacturers continue to claim that because equipment testing standards remain the same, distance isn’t really much of an issue. At least not from distance=producing equipment.
This is now the most obvious problem in all of sports. OF COURSE elite golfers are hitting the ball much farther. And equipment is helping them do that. (Although, as the USGA and R&A once declared, whatever may be the cause of significantly increased distance, it does not matter. The solution must be to better regulate equipment.