Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees)
Loft: 7.6
Hosel: Flat Standard
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 6x
2024 Model
VeloCore+
Low launch and spin
Ultra stiff handle and tip, stiff mid
69g, 2.9* torque
Tipped 1″
Length: 45.75″
SW:D5+

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (15 degrees)
Bonded hosel
High launch
Forgiving
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X
2024 model
VeloCore+
Low launch and spin
Ultra stiff handle and tip, stiff mid
75.5g, 3* torque

Hybrid: Ping G440 (3)
20 degrees
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI Hybrid 85 X
Firm handle, medium mid, stiff tip
Mid launch, low/mid spin
88g, 2.4* Torque
Length: 40.25″
SW: D2

Irons: Ping i210 (4-9)
2018 Release
Highly regarded iron set
Smaller size, more compact
Players distance but had control and consistency
Very forgiving
Shafts: KBS Tour-V 120 X (4-PW)
Lighter weight, but stable shaft
Larger diameter
Stable tip section tighter dispersion
Lower spin and launch
120g

Wedges: Ping s259
50-12S
56-12S @55
Friction face
Updated look from 159

Ping Glide 2.0 60-TS
2017 Release
Tighter groove pattern
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Mid/low launch and spin
132g
Softer for more feel on partial shots
SW: D3+, D4 (56), D4+ (60)

Putter: Ping PLD DS 72 Prototype
Milled 1018 Carbon steel
360g
Horizontal grooves
Loft: 2*
Lie: 73*
Length: 36″
Grip: Winn 17″ AVS Red
128g

Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Firmer rubber + cord in upper hand
Softer rubber for feel in lower
1 Wrap

Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Lower long game spin
Softer feel
Great green side control

If there was ever a week to tour launch a shaft named “Green” then potentially the John Deere Classic would be the location of choice.

Project X continues the rollout of Titan wood shaft with the addition of the Green profile, joining both Black and Yellow out on the PGA Tour, which have seen instant success, with Titan Yellow winning on debut for Wyndham Clark at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and then again on the grandest of stages at the U.S. Open.

Now at the John Deere, Titan Green joins the family as the lowest launching, lowest spinning profile in the lineup, engineered for the strongest, most penetrating flight, and continues the tradition of being a green colored “spin killer” in the Project X Family.

The Titan family tells it’s story through the EI curve and while spec sheet data show that each Titan shaft is similar in numbers to the HZRDUS predecessor, the EI curve explains the shafts stiffness at multiple points along its length, from the handle to the tip, mapping exactly how it bends under load.

With the Titan lineup, the shafts feature a more elastic handle section, but with the addition of SYNEX technology and reinforcing the shaft’s outer structure with a multi-axial carbon fiber matrix, the handle doesn’t feel softer, but can be felt more in the hands. The mid and tip sections are stiffer than previous lines to help the shaft stay present with faster swing speeds. 

Titan Black

Built specifically for faster, more aggressive swings, it’s EI curve pairs a more elastic handle section that progressively firms through the mid and tip, to help feel shaft load smoothly during transition. Synex technology reinforces the outer structure and prevents ovalizing under load, and the progressively stiffer mid and tip sections deliver  low launch and low spin.

Titan Black carries the most elastic handle of the three, giving the smoothest sense of load during transition, and releasing slightly earlier at the tip to keep more available feel.

Titan Yellow

A counterbalanced graphite shaft engineered to deliver the ultimate blend of low launch, low spin performance and clubhead control. Built with a specialized counterbalanced design (a higher balance point), Titan Yellow is engineered for modern driver builds, helping offset heavier heads and giving players more room to dial in swing weight, head mass and overlength setups, while also the option controls vertical and horizontal spin by adding head mass. 

The Titan Yellow delivers a responsive feel in the hands with the tip stability needed for the faster swingers on tour.

Titan Green

“Green” historically represents the most aggressive low launch, low spin option for Project X wood shafts, and Titan Green  continues that identity with an EI profile that keeps launch down, reduces excess spin, and delivers a flatter, more penetrating ball flight, thanks to Tour feedback. 

Built off the Titan Black profile, where it is stiffer in the mid-section compared to that of the handle to allow a little more elasticity, but with the green the entirety of the shaft has added stiffness, to keep up with the fastest of swing speeds, and reduces unwanted face movement at impact, which is reflected in the family’s lowest torque values.

Ro! Ro!

Norwegian Viktor Hovland took down world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler on the first playoff hole during a Monday finish at the Travelers Championship to earn his eighth PGA Tour title, and did it after an incredible turnaround in driving performance, thanks to a change in setup off the tee.

Heading into the Travelers, Hovland ranked 104th on Tour in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, the first time he’s been outside the top-100 in the stat since earning his card. But a memorable week at TPC River Highlands saw the 28-year-old lead the field off the tee en route to victory, switching into the Ping G440 LST just a few weeks prior.

During the season, Hovland has worked with Ping Tour reps testing the newer G440 LST and also the K head, to take advantage of the better speed and spin consistency on the head, but would fall back to his reliable Ping G425 LST driver, which he had gamed in all but one of his PGA Tour wins up until Monday.

“I tried out the new 440 last year because it is faster,” Hovland said at the start of the season at the WM Phoenix Open. “The spin consistency off the face is a joke. If I hit it off the heel or the toe with a 425, the spin discrepancy is very large. Like if I hit it off the toe, I can spin it under 2000. If I hit it off the heel, I can maybe get up to 3000. Versus the 440, it’s very tight. It goes from maybe 2000 to 2600, so a huge gap.

“However, the problem is it launches a little bit higher for me. And for some reason, just with the setup that I’ve tested with, it tends to go a bit more to the right. Right now, with my golf swing, when I get stuck, my miss is already a high right miss. If I hit this driver, it’s just getting exenuated.”

Despite this, Hovland and the team kept trying to find an answer, experimenting with the team with hotmelt forward to get the desired launch he was looking for.

“With the extra spin he was getting, we knew we needed to go a little further and lighten the back weight a little bit, get that center of gravity moved just a touch forward to help reduce the spin,” Ping tour rep Spender Rothluebber told GolfWRX. “It’s something we’ve done with a lot of players, but in this case we had to go a little further. To both get the trajectory down, as well as the spin.”

After more testing and three weeks off after the PGA Championship, Hovland turned up in Canada for the Canadian Open without his security blanket, making a pretty drastic call to leave the G425 across the border. That week, Hovland went on to finish third in the tournament, third in driving accuracy, and positive in SG: Off the tee.

The change in head and spin consistency wasn’t the only helping factor for Hovland off the tee. He’s also moved to Fujikura’s Ventus TR Black 6 X with VeloCore+, and away from the legacy Fujikura Speeder 661 TR X that he has played for much of his career, in an attempt to reduce spin even further.

Hovland’s win was the first victory for the new Ventus Black with enhanced VeloCore+ technology which is created to deliver extra stability and improved energy transfer, with lower launch and spin rates.

See below for Hovland’s full driver setup:

Driver: Ping G440 LST 9.0 @ 7.6 degrees
Ping adapter: Flat Standard
CG Shifter: 29 grams neutral
Hot Melt: 5 grams forward
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 6X with VeloCore+
Length: 45.75 inches
Tip: 1 inch
Swingweight: D5+