News

John Deere Tour Report: Fowler’s putter experiments continue + Hulk Green’s appropriate debut

Published

3 hours ago

Jul 3, 2026

Rickie Fowler is “xperimenting.”

For those who didn’t get the reference, Fowler decided to switch things up on the greens at last week’s Travelers Championship, benching his Scotty Cameron GoLo 7 center-shafted putter for a new Xperimental Phantom 11+ prototype. It’s larger profile shape also featured a center shaft, but it was nothing out of the ordinary for Fowler, who also played another oversized mallet in the L.A.B. Golf DF2.1 just last year.

One week later at the John Deere Classic, and the tinkering continues; this time, Fowler’s deciding on both a new head and shaft. Sticking with a Scotty Cameron, Fowler’s rolling with the newly released Phantom 12 head in a single-bend configuration.

In fact, the putter that Fowler used during the first round at TPC Deere Run was one of the putters on the Scotty Cameron bags that line the practice putting greens week-to-week on the PGA Tour to show off newer putter styles. Fowler spent plenty of time working with the stock Phantom 12 on the GRASP Smart Putting Gate – a new putting aid covered in last week’s “Inside the Ropes” episode – and saw positive results with tighter aim and start lines.

“I mean, start line for the most part and then consistency on speed, you know, there’s, there’s really only a few variables in putting,” Fowler said during an on-course interview Thursday. “It’s fairly simple if you start to break it down, but if one of the variables is off, it doesn’t matter how good the other ones are.

“So, start line is very important as well as consistent speed. So those were two of the main things working on the gate there and, so yeah, trying out a new putter where I was seeing a lot of, a lot of benefits in the start line and like I said, the consistent speed.”

A Scotty Cameron Phantom 12 single-bend spotted earlier in the season. (GolfWRX)Fowler’s second putter switch of the year comes during his best season on the greens since 2019, and he ranks 40th on Tour in Strokes Gained: Putting.

The Phantom 12 putter won the race into Fowler’s bag over a pair of custom center-shafted Scotty Cameron blades. Both were Craftsman Squareback heads featuring the Bullet Sole cavity. See all the in-hand images of the putters here.

Speaking of custom Camerons…

There was no rest for the Scotty Cameron team heading into the holiday week, with plenty of other custom builds on display in Silvis, Illinois. J.T. Poston, who recently won the Memorial tournament playing a TaylorMade Spider Tour X, was given a custom Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.2R prototype to test on the greens at TPC Deere Run. This putter is very similar to that of the one Robert MacIntyre played for a few rounds earlier this summer, featuring the custom face, which is an aluminum insert with the standard milling found on other Scotty Camerons, but also with the addition of horizontal grooves.

The head itself has a custom-welded plumber’s neck, and additionally, two welded wings on either side of the putter’s rear, a style we first saw on MacIntyre’s putter as well. Check out the full gallery here.

Moving on to Haotong Li’s custom Scotty Cameron, he was given the new Phantom 3 head, which we’ve seen in the hands of Ludvig Åberg and Ryan Gerard already on Tour. Li’s flatstick features a welded center shaft, Studio Carbon Steel face insert and a single white alignment line that really pops with the torched finish to the head.

See all the images of Li’s putter here and the rest of the custom Scotty Camerons at the John Deere.

Hulk Green

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 its 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 shaft’s 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.

Check out the full breakdown of the Titan family here.

New clubs spotted

Who would have thought that the John Deere during the week of the Fourth would be a melting pot for new gear on Tour. Well, with the addition of Project X’s new Titan Green, step up TaylorMade and PXG.

First, our Tour Photographer Greg Moore was on-site capturing bags with plenty of new goodies worth seeing. Firstly, in Davis Chatfield’s bag were what could be the latest editions of TaylorMade’s Hi-Toe wedges. From a glance, it looks like the wedge team at The Kingdom has improved the leading edge and reduced offset considerably, but this could just be a Tour-only option.

Along with the new wedges on display, a version 2 of the PXG Secret Weapon was spotted in the bag of big-hitting South African Aldrich Potgieter. Still using the quad-weighting design, the sole looks to have been reworked, with a new bridge running across adjacent to the face.

Check out his full bag here.

Odds and Ends

Daniel Berger and Aaron Wise became the latest non-Titleist staffers to add the GTS driver lineup to their bags. Berger moved into the GTS4 at 10 degrees and Wise added the GTSX. It must be TRTL nesting season on Tour, with Mark Hubbard moving to a slant neck with a short top line, while Webb Simpson is the first to use a broomstick-length version.

News

The secret to Tom Kim’s success: Lead Tape Report, John Deere Classic

Published

1 day ago

Jul 2, 2026

Andrew Von Lossow

This week, the Lead Tape Reports roll into the John Deere Classic.

Ben Silverman

This really caught my eye in Ben Silverman’s bag. A fresh Ping setup with his irons, but the putter really stood out. First and foremost, the alignment aid on his Bettanardi putter. The three dots in a triangle shape form the top line to the back flange. We rarely see this, and it’s an awesome blend of creativity and equally custom milling. Then we see the lead tape. Layers of tape cover the bottom and back of the putter. Judging from my experience, which comes from years of use, sometimes you need a little boost for a new feel with the silver stuff. Another thing that caught my eye was the S159 Ping Eye2 sand wedge. A timeless classic in a raw finish.

Tom Kim

After a solo third-place finish at the U.S. Open, Tom Kim is in action this week at the John Deere. I was unfamiliar with his blanket coverage of tape on his irons — no wonder he was so dialed in during the U.S. Open!

Luke Gutschewski

Son of long-time PGA Tour player Scott Gutschewski, Luke is in the field this week. With some very cool head covers, Gutchewski also appears to have a very fresh set of Srixon irons in the bag. We also see a combo set of the ZXi5 and ZXi7 irons, and the 8-iron is matched up with some lead tape.

News

Dual drivers, Ping Eye2 revival, custom alignments: Ben Silverman’s bag has it all

Published

2 days ago

Jul 1, 2026

Alistair Cameron

I admit that, like many, when I’m not traveling week-to-week on tour, I spend far too much time in the GolfWRX forums – even though it is my job.

So when I stumbled on Ben Silverman’s eclectic setup at the John Deere Classic this week, hosted annually at TPC Deere Run, I knew more was needed to understand what was happening.

The first thing that caught the eye was the existence of two different driver headcovers. While this is normal early in the week on the PGA Tour, with many players testing out different setups ahead of that Thursday morning or afternoon tee time, Silverman’s bag was different in that the two drivers, plus the rest of the clubs, totaled to the maximum 14 that can go into play. With that, only one thing could be the answer – a dual driver setup.

We’ve seen it before, most notably when Phil Mickelson won the Masters in 2006. With Mickelson, it was all about shot shapes, one setup for a draw, with the other helping him hit a fade.

In Silverman’s case, his secondary driver is all about one thing: finding the fairway.

“At the time, it was back in 2019, throughout that season I was struggling to find a 3-wood that I liked and traditionally, I’d either have one that felt great off the tee, but then that one wouldn’t perform well off the ground that I wanted or vice versa,” Silvermand told GolfWRX. “I’d get one great off the ground and then it would be too spinny off the tee … So I decided, you know what? I’m going with a second club off the tee that I’m never going to miss and when I need to gear down from driver, this one, I’m still going to rely on the distance and hit its center face every time.

“So that’s why I went with the big size driver head and it’s built 3-wood length with about 12 degrees of loft, so it spins a lot kind of in the 3000s, and I can control it, kind of curve it all over the place and it’s mainly an off the tee club.”

Silverman’s “Thriver” is a Ping G410, set at around 12 degrees with a cut-down Accra TourZ RPG 400 Series 472 M5+ shaft, and he feels that he can get it out solidly to the 270-yard mark.

“I also liked that head tended to be a spinner for me, and I wanted the extra spin in that setup, so it worked out perfectly,” Silverman said on the older driver head choice.

Diving deeper into Silverman’s bag, his 5-wood draws some attention, with the inclusion of a lighter-than-usual Fujikura Ventus Red 6X shaft, but bent lower than 18 degrees to bridge the gap between the two drivers.

Progressing to the bottom of the bag, Silverman’s wedges are both literally and figuratively eye-catching. Both his S159 56- and 60-degree wedges are in Ping’s E grind, a design based on their iconic Ping Eye 2 shaping, with the sharp high-toe and increased offset.

“When they showed me the grind, I got so much extra spin on chip shots around the green with it and so I started out with the lob wedge and then eventually did it with the 56 degree as well just to have a similar look when I’m chipping with either one around the green,” Silverman said on the grind choice. “And it just created a lot more spin for me on shots around the green.

“I’d naturally open it to get rid of the offset look when I’d set it down on the ground, but then it would just look like I had so much face to work with, especially in deep lies in the rough and stuff like that. And if I catch it high toe going through a lot of rough, there’s tons of face up there with this setup. So it works really nice.”

Finally, Silverman’s bag includes a custom Bettinardi, with all kinds of bells and whistles. Covered in lead tape, the face includes custom Hex milling and F.I.T. face design. It doesn’t stop there. The flatstick also features a custom alignment aid, built specifically for Silverman’s needs.

“I’m a very abstract visual putter,” Silverman said. “I like to see curves and see lines on the greens and I don’t put with a line on my ball… I literally kind of use my eyes, triangulate the two dots on top, the one in the back, and I see kind of a triangular sight line as I look down and then I just see the curve and the path of the putt from there.”

Check out Silverman’s full WITB gallery here.

News

Justin Rose’s return to an Axis1 putter has WRXers watching closely

Published

2 days ago

Jul 1, 2026

Brendon Elliott

In our forums, GolfWRX members are discussing Justin Rose’s move back into an Axis1 putter, with the conversation centering on the equipment change, the early putting numbers and the familiar WRX debate over whether a premium putter can be worth the price.

Member @Barracuda started the thread after seeing that Rose had moved into the new Axis1 model. The discussion did include some sticker-shock talk, but the more useful part of the thread was the positive equipment conversation around face stability, fit and whether a putter that works should ever leave the bag.

A few GolfWRXers weighed in:

@pga43 (our tour photographer) posted the first-round putting numbers, noting +2.372 strokes gained putting and 118 feet of putts made.
@hammergolf said he honestly did not know why Rose ever took the Axis1 out of the bag and later made the point that players will spend heavily on a driver but hesitate to spend on a putter and fitting that could have a bigger scoring impact.
@dmeeksDC said Axis1 putters can offer unreal face stability for players who push or pull putts and liked the look of the newer, more compact model.
@Barracuda called Axis1 putters the real deal, while still noting that the price is high.

Entire thread: Rose back to Axis1 putter