Equipment
Bryson DeChambeau claims drivers from 2009 are ‘relatively the same’ as modern day models
Bryson DeChambeau is no stranger to making bold comments, and his latest take on drivers has raised plenty of eyebrows.
Speaking ahead of this week’s LIV South Africa, Bryson was asked the following:
“There’s been a lot of conversations in the last few years about equipment getting out of hand, guys striking the ball just longer, more straight than they ever have in any other golf tournaments. Does that really make such a big impact, or is physical conditioning, looking after yourself, doing weight training, getting in the gym, do you think that’s progressed the sport more than equipment has?”
In response, DeChambeau claimed that not much has changed between drivers from 2009 to now, and it’s due to athletic ability as to why we are seeing players now hit the ball farther than ever:
“I think there’s a legal limit set for everything. There’s really not a way to go around it. If you want to say that a driver back in 2009 is worse than now, I would actually disagree with you on that. I think they’re relatively the same and not much has changed. You can’t change it that much with the rules being the way they are.
So I think it’s a lot more the athletic ability, and not being as afraid to go after shots or swing harder or be more aggressive. I caution anybody that tries to change the rules in the game because they’ve already been established. Let the athletes be the athletes and let’s go have some fun.”
Bryson also added that when it comes to the incoming rollback that the governing bodies have serious questions to ask regarding what they want to accomplish, saying:
“I think it’s very important to set the baseline, from a question standpoint. What are the bodies of golf trying to accomplish? Are they trying to preserve the traditions and history of the game, or are they trying to grow the game, because those are two different things. They can cross over in some facets, in some regard, but when you’re trying to preserve the traditions and history of the game, yeah, you’re going to want to go back to a golf ball that’s going shorter because players are more athletic. Yeah, you’re going to want to shrink the heads. You’re going to want to do this or that.
But if you want to grow the game, that’s not how you get kids to hit the golf ball farther and enjoy it and want to be a part of this game. They’re at a bit of crossroads right now and they have to answer those questions. What do these governing bodies really want? If they can answer that, then we can start moving in that direction, but right now, they have to answer that question before us players can get involved because if they want something different, well, us players may want to make it easier for others like I do. I like showing how much fun it is to play the game of golf, not how difficult it is. Yeah, there’s difficult moments but I want people to enjoy it, get out in nature.
My goals are as such that I want people to experience this more. So answering that question is, I think, the first step to knowing where the game of golf needs to move.”
As is often the case, interesting comments from Bryson, especially considering his chase for more innovative and revolutionary technology throughout his career.
Do you agree or disagree with his latest take, WRXers?
This week, we have our Tour Photographer, Greg Moore, on the ground at the OccuNet Classic at Tascosa Golf Club in Amarillo, Texas, for the 14th event of the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season. With that, we see some great things in the Lead Tape Report as we roll into Amarillo.
Joel Thelen
Monday Qualifier, Joel Thelen is in the field this week. He has played on the Korn Ferry Tour for a full season in 2023, and he is back in action this week. A couple of clubs caught my eye this week in his bag.
First off: His trusted Titleist 816 H2 hybrid. This club came out in October of 2015, and it still remains strong in the bag. Also, take a look at this Odyssey White Hot OG 7, putting a capital S in the 7S model. This custom neck has some impressive lean for an arm-lock-style putter. The bottom of the putter is covered in tape for optimal weighting.
Mitchell Meissner
Taking a look at Mitchell Meissner’s bag this week, we have some great lead tape coverage. Top to bottom working from fairway metals, irons, and wedges. We can see on the short irons and wedges that there is tape at the base of the grip, adding a little counterbalance. Along with that, some tape on the short irons and wedges as well. Moving to his putter, he rolls the Odyssey 7 Bird putter. Meissner putts left-handed and strikes the ball right-handed.
Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament.
Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: Titleist GTS3 (15 degrees, B1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 70 TX
7-wood: Titleist GTS3 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 80 TX
Irons: Titleist U505 (3), Titleist 620 MB (4-9)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 8 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putters: Scotty Cameron Tour Prototype, Scotty Cameron GOLO 6.3 Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
In our forums, one user has offered up a prompt for the true sickos, inviting fellow forum members to share every set of irons they’ve ever owned. As to be expected, this is a lengthy forum topic.
@Lamosteve began:
Can you name every set of irons you’ve owned? Here’s mine
Spalding Dots
Spalding Eclipse
Ram Lazer FX
Lynx Parallax
Mizuno EZ Comp
Ben Hogans
Cleveland CG Red
Taylor Made R9s
PING i20
PING iE1
Taylor Made M6
Our members in the forum have been offering up their own collections. Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- macedan: “Started with a hand-me-down Golden Bear set from my brother when I was in high school, never really played more than once a year or got into the game until about summer of 2017. First purchased a set of Cleveland CG4’s (I actually really miss this set sometimes, soft & not terribly large for a GI iron), moved into Nike Vapor Fly’s by the end of the year. Those lasted until spring of 18 when I decided I wanted new, so I traded them in for TM Rbladez. Honestly, although I liked the Rbladez, poor decision on my part, I think this was really about the only time so far that after a week or two I was kicking myself for not staying with what I had. Rbladez stayed with me until late last summer when I switched to P790’s and (knock on wood) I am hoping this will be my longest lasting set.”
- JimmyC59: “MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Triple Crown. Palmer The Standard. Still play these.”
- jgrzask: “Tommy Armour 845u
Mizuno MP-32
Mizuno MP-33 (2 sets)
Bridgestone J33cb – still own
Srixon i-302 (2 sets) – still own
Tourstage X-Blades – still own
Mizuno Hot Metal – still own
Nike Forged Blades – still own
Titleist 714 AP1 – still own
Cobra Forged SS – still own”
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Bud Cauley WITB 2026 (June)
Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament. Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura...
Hannah Green WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: Titleist GTS3 (10 degrees, D4 SureFit setting) Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Diamana RB 53 S 3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees,...
Asterisk Talley WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 S 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (16.5 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue...
Brianna Do WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (9 degrees) Shaft: KBS PGW 3-wood: Callaway Elyte Titanium (15 degrees) Shaft: KBS PGW 5-wood:...
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will
Mar 22, 2026 at 12:20 pm
I hate that this is a problem, but it is. I wonder how much advantage they gain from customizations? I don’t know that it’d effect much, but I’m always more interested in seeing how pros do with off the shelf equipment.
kumat63
Mar 19, 2026 at 7:36 pm
Agree. Rory has said he’d still be playing his 2015 driver if Taylor Made would let him, that it was better than what he has now. The COR hasn’t changed and shafts haven’t really changed either. Ali Taylor did a test with a 2021 Pro V1x and the original 2000 Pro V1 392 and the older Pro V1 was slightly better spin, carry and total distance with 7 iron and driver both. I personally care more about the traditions of the game and would like to see far fewer golfers crowding my favorite courses and to make private clubs affordable for an average income again, so I would like to see a rollback ball to ’80s spin rates and carry and COR limit at whatever a 1975 MacGregor persimmon had max shaft length of 44″ and max head size of 200cc. But I realize that is unrealistic because all the golf companies make money by more people playing and that only happens by making the game easier and the old courses obsolete. Hey Jack Nicklaus doesn’t want people to stop demanding he build new courses!
gordy3279
Mar 19, 2026 at 10:39 am
What nobody talks about is the fact that shafts are far better than they were 20 years ago. You can have lighter shafts that have a stiffer profile than 20 years ago. Long story short, if you wanted a shaft that allowed you to swing harder with low and stable kick points you had to go heavy and most likely into a steal shaft. Those shafts were at least double to weight than today’s shaft and less stable kick points. That is why Tiger took so long to move from a steel shaft in his woods than anyone else.
Jason
Mar 18, 2026 at 8:59 pm
shocking! did he come up with that all on his own?
HomeyD
Mar 18, 2026 at 4:41 pm
You can do both. Have a “Pro” ball for the pros, and leave everything the same for the amateurs.
O
Mar 18, 2026 at 11:02 am
They are the same.
Except for the new ones off the shelf are now about 4 grams lighter since about 2015 when most drivers got extended ½ inch
Joey5Picks
Mar 18, 2026 at 1:11 pm
And with today’s drivers you can miss the sweet spot and the lose very little distance. And there’s less penalty for missing the sweet spot. Swing hard and go find it.