Equipment

Why Do PGA Tour Players Change Equipment?

Published

9 years ago

May 26, 2017

So far in 2017, we’ve seen some of the best golfers in the world drastically shake up their equipment, more so than in any other year in recent memory. TaylorMade has added possibly two of the most popular golfers in the world in Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. PXG has signed a number of players away from their existing golf equipment companies, including Lydia Ko and Pat Perez. And Callaway’s new driver technology has tempted plenty of Tour Professionals to experiment with it.

These equipment changes at the highest level of professional golf have led many of my students to ask me, “Why would one of the best golfers in the world change their clubs? Isn’t this a risk?” So I’m here to give you my opinion on why PGA Tour players would switch from one golf equipment sponsor to another.

Money

Let’s face it, regardless of anyone’s financial status on Tour, money talks! I promise you that if X company offered Phil Mickelson enough money he’d leave Callaway. The same is true of Sergio Garcia with TaylorMade. That’s not a knock on their loyalty; there’s simply no substitute for long-term financial security in a game like golf where there are no guarantees.

Deep down, every PGA Tour player has the fear that he could be the next guy to lose his game, and there are several notable examples of this in every golf generation. Having a long-term, guaranteed contract guarantees that the golfer and his family will taken care of regardless of how he plays after he signs on the dotted line. Who wouldn’t take that security?

To become “the” franchise player of a company

Every top athlete has an ego to some degree. In the professional ranks, it has typically been “all about them” since the day they laced up their first pair of spikes. Every player wants to be the focal point of a company’s marketing strategy. Seriously, would you want to be the player in the very back of the pack when the promo photos for each golf equipment company are released at PGA Show? Of course not; we all want to be front and center. We want to be the man!

Existing in the shadow of one of their rivals on the PGA Tour can drive PGA Tour players crazy, so when a new company wants to focus on them as its franchise player, most jump at the chance.

Following the success of other players and their friends on Tour

Some PGA Tour players are like sheep; they play follow the leader whether it comes to instructors and new golf equipment. Most of them have been beating everyone’s brains in since their junior days, so when they’re struggling or getting beat they first look to external factors.

We see it every week; player X is putting with the newest putter in play from a certain company and making everything as he wins. The next week, five other players have switched to that putter in hopes that their putting will also improve.

The other influence are the guys PGA Tour players tend to hang around with on Tour. Players at the same levels tend to pal around together, so when your buddy starts to get the upper hand on you after switching to a different club or set of irons, you follow suit. Look at how Tour players from the same area of the country see the same swing coaches. See what I mean?

To eliminate the shot patterns that plagues their game

I was working with a certain PGA Tour player when I was teaching in Southern California who continued to miss the ball slightly left when he made his stock swing, and the miss was creeping in at least once per nine holes. It was not a swing flaw, but a club issue. He was under contract to play the woods from a certain company, but he no shaft or amount of hot melt could eliminate his leftward miss. Thus, he opted out of his contract. At the time he was not considered a “top player,” so it was not that big of a deal for the company to let him go. He was lucky.

He tested drivers until he found one that worked for him, signed a deal to play that company’s equipment and started driving the ball better than ever. He just moved into the top-50 in the Official World Golf Rankings after his first win at the end of last season.

Sometimes, no matter what you do you cannot make club X do what you want. When that happens, you cannot continue to push a rope uphill… or you won’t be on Tour for much longer. You can either wait for next season’s model or switch companies ASAP. Sometimes, flight is better than fight when it comes to golf equipment.

To use different technology that improves their ball flight

Closely related to the points above would be switching companies to hit a club that helps change ball flight for the better. Different center of gravity locations in metal woods can cause different launch conditions. Different golf balls balls can react and feel different to players. Wedges can interact with the ground differently. All these factors help give Tour players a reason to change.

Sometimes it’s nothing more than a club’s ability to help a player hit the ball higher, spin less, or spin more. On the PGA Tour, golf is a game of inches. A new wedge could make the difference between making and missing the cut; cashing a paycheck or going home empty-handed.

Freedom to play your favorite clubs

You might not know it, but certain companies require their staff players only to play X number of clubs, or a certain type of club so the company can promote its “strengths” to the masses. Most of the time, you sign with a company whose products you like, but you might not prefer its golf ball, putters, or wedges. So if you have the freedom to use the clubs you want to play, you keep your favorite clubs in the bag and life is good.

All too often, PGA Tour players start to switch to a new company’s clubs and find out that they’re not playing well with that company’s putters, balls, or wedges, etc., so they change their contract in order to do so. It happens all the time. Check out any player’s bag on Tour and you will see that most do not play 14 clubs from one single golf equipment company; now you know the reason.

So overall, is switching equipment a good or bad idea? To me, it all comes down to what you’re trying to accomplish as a player. It’s hard to say “yes” or “no” before the fact, and much easier to play Monday morning quarterback. Fortunately, the clubs today are much more consistent and easier to custom fit, which makes them much easier to switch out than they used to be. That’s to say, you can’t really go terribly wrong since all of the equipment today is good. So if you think it will help, do some experimenting with Trackman and on the course. Then analyze the results and your scores. It won’t take long to recognize whether something is worse, better or the same.

As always, enjoy the process. Happy testing!

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Tom Stickney II

Tom F. Stickney II, is a specialist in Biomechanics for Golf, Physiology, and 3d Motion Analysis. He has a degree in Exercise and Fitness and has been a Director of Instruction for almost 30 years at resorts and clubs such as- The Four Seasons Punta Mita, BIGHORN Golf Club, The Club at Cordillera, The Promontory Club, and the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort. His past and present instructional awards include the following: Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher, Golf Digest Top 50 International Instructor, Golf Tips Top 25 Instructor, Best in State (Florida, Colorado, and California,) Top 20 Teachers Under 40, Best Young Teachers and many more. Tom is a Trackman University Master/Partner, a distinction held by less than 25 people in the world. Tom is TPI Certified- Level 1, Golf Level 2, Level 2- Power, and Level 2- Fitness and believes that you cannot reach your maximum potential as a player with out some focus on your physiology. You can reach him at [email protected] and he welcomes any questions you may have.

15 Comments

Gorden

Jun 14, 2017 at 1:35 pm

For top golfers equipment can be a big issue, for any one over 30 with the ability to reach about a 15 handicap (men’s regular tees) your the guy that can play what he wants. Your ability puts you in the best position to HAVE FUN playing the game (make good scramble players). There is a time to play to enjoy more and improve less.

Reply Report comment
Vanessa Carlysle

May 31, 2017 at 1:49 am

Arguing the money point is pointless – there is money in the game and players aren’t able to put that aside and make club choices without it — wait..didn’t that happen when Nike left golf clubs? Seems like I remember that 15/17 (check it, it’s close) chose to go with TM – why was that?

The question shouldn’t be why they switch but why they choose to play what OEM, because at the end of the day these athletes are measured up against one thing and that is “did they win?” Or “did they lose?” And if they choose equipment that hurts their performance…then why do we care what they play? They arent going to be around long enough to bother

Reply Report comment
D

May 26, 2017 at 9:26 pm

Yeah, before both of u got here

Reply Report comment
- Benny
  
  May 30, 2017 at 6:30 am
  
  I am a fan of this. Great website and nice to see positive open minded comments instead of snobby negative jamokes telling us how bad their life sucks by whinning about, literally, everything. Great article!
  
  Reply Report comment
RogerinNZ

May 26, 2017 at 9:03 pm

Thanks Tom, as always, a great informative read!!

Nothing worse than a Hook or Auto Lefts club.
This ruins confidence more and more
I;m currently Straight or a Lite Fade and thats just great!
All old timeless gear too!!
Thanks Tom.

Reply Report comment
Jack

May 26, 2017 at 10:12 am

So it’s the money

Reply Report comment
- rebfan73
  
  May 29, 2017 at 7:58 pm
  
  Exactly…….
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Benny
    
    May 30, 2017 at 6:33 am
    
    I fully agree… but Zach Johnson switched to PXG for slightly less $.
    Why? Because the money was the same but he could now be the star at PXG while back of the pack at Titliest. So not always is it the $, but bet its 95%!
    
    Reply Report comment
Joro

May 26, 2017 at 9:37 am

Most players are under contract and will change to a new club so people will see them and run to the store as fast as their little feet will carry them to buy a new game, which for years has not worked. At any rate to tell if a club is that good watch what the player is using after a month or so, if the new is still in the Bag, that says it is better than his old stuff, but,,,,,, if they go back to their gamers as most do, that tells you new is not the best.

Reply Report comment
- CoryUS
  
  May 26, 2017 at 10:30 am
  
  This is not true, every time I go buy new clubs my handicap goes down by a minimum of 3 shots. Every taylormade driver I buy I hit it 5 yards farther than the previous model and I am now a scratch golfer and plan on being better than that with my next set and hitting the ball around 480 carry…………………….
  
  Reply Report comment
  - cgasucks
    
    May 26, 2017 at 11:03 pm
    
    What a weakling you are. My carry is over 520….with a PW.
    
    Reply Report comment
AndyUK

May 26, 2017 at 9:07 am

I take it you can’t name the OWGR top 50 player that changed their equipment to help tame a miss?

Reply Report comment
- Mike
  
  May 26, 2017 at 9:55 am
  
  Sounds like Kisner
  
  Reply Report comment
  - AndyUK
    
    May 26, 2017 at 10:01 am
    
    I’m thinking more Pat Perez now I’ve looking at who won at the end of last year?? Kisners been with Callaway for a while
    
    Reply Report comment
    - Jack
      
      May 26, 2017 at 1:49 pm
      
      Kisner uses a teacher in Georgia. I agree it’s most likely Perez.
      
      Reply Report comment

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Equipment

Then and now: Comparing Rory McIlroy’s current setup to his record-breaking 2019 Canadian Open victory

Published

1 hour ago

Jun 11, 2026

Alistair Cameron

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.

Equipment

From the GolfWRX Classifieds: Titleist Vokey Proto Wedges 54M, 60T

Published

4 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Will Schube

At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @Putt4Dough is selling some prototype wedges from Vokey Wedgeworks. These include a 54 degree wedge with the M grind and a 60 degree wedge with a T grind.

From the listing:

(1) Titleist Vokey Proto Wedge 54M with a Tour Issue DGS400 shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet (logo down). Standard length, lie, and loft. BB&F ferrule. Raw wedge in good condition. No initials. Price is $200 shipped. Buy both wedges for $380 shipped.

(2) Titleist Vokey Proto Wedge 60T with a KBS Tour 130X shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet. Standard length, lie, and loft. Raw wedge in good condition. No initials. Price is $200 shipped. Buy both wedges for $380 shipped.

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules.