Equipment

The 5 best golfers in approach play at the Masters (and the irons they play)

Published

1 month ago

Apr 7, 2026

While many will look to the greens at Augusta National as the defining factor in crowning the winner of the 90th Masters tournament, statistics suggest that approach play has become more important.

Just look at Rory McIlroy’s victory last year. He gained over 10 shots on the field with his approach play and actually lost strokes on the putting greens. In the last five years, three of the winners gained more shots on approach than any other strokes-gained stat.

So, as preparations for Augusta National are being made, let’s take a look at the top five players in approach over the last three months and what they have in the bag.

Collin Morikawa

Already a winner this season at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where he gained a whopping 9.681 strokes in his approach play, Collin Morikawa tops the table with his impressive iron play.

On average, Morikawa is gaining 1.33 strokes on the field with his laser-like irons. He plays a split set from TaylorMade, featuring a hollow-bodied PDHY driving iron, cavity-back P7CBs, which he says “finds that perfect window” for him, and the forged muscle-back designed P730s. The blade features a smaller, sharper look than the CBs and it’s the iron that McIlroy’s Proto blades are designed off of, which he won with at Augusta last year. Coincidence?

Making his seventh Masters start, Morikawa’s best finish came in 2024, where he finished T3.

Irons: TaylorMade PDHY (4), TaylorMade P7CB (5, 6), TaylorMade P730 (7-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-PW)

Si Woo Kim

Si Woo Kim might have the coolest setup on Tour, and he’s playing golf to match it. He’s yet to miss a cut this year, going 9-for-9, and has already had a runner-up and four top-10 finishes.

As for his bag, Kim is one of many Callaway staffers to add the tour-only, Japanese-style Apex MBs into his setup. They feature a longer blade and a less rounded toe, which fit Kim’s eye. His irons are also bent two degrees strong to also help Kim with how the clubs look at address.

Kim is making his ninth Masters start but has yet to crack the top 10. His best finish came at the 2021 tournament, where he finished tied 12th. He’s gaining 1.11 strokes a round this year in approach, so there’s potential for Kim to have his best week to date in Augusta.

Irons: Callaway Apex MB ’26 3-PW
Shafts: KBS Tour V 125

Shane Lowry

Shane Lowry should arguably be a PGA Tour winner this season, but fell at the last minute at the Cognizant Classic. He enters the Masters, gaining 1.09 strokes a round on approach.

Lowry plays a split set of Srixon irons, including a ZXi Utility at 20 degrees. He then moves into the ZXi5 irons for 4- and 5-iron, created with Srixon’s i-FORGED process for improved feel, before transitioning into the ZXi7 in 6-iron to pitching wedge. Both the ZXi5 and ZXi7 feature the Tour VT Sole, which blends sole width, bounce, and relief to help the club glide through the turf.

Already a major champion, Lowry is making his 11th Masters start, and could be a dark horse heading to Augusta.

Irons: Srixon ZXi Utility (3/20 degrees), Srixon ZXi5 (4, 5), Srixon ZXi7 (6-PW)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus VeloCore+ Blue HB 9 X (3), KBS Tour 130 X (4-PW)

Adam Scott

Adam Scott knows how to win at Augusta National. He did it in 2013, beating Ángel Cabrera in a dramatic playoff, becoming the first Australian to win the tournament. That year, he played a Titleist 710 MBs.

Now in 2026, Scott is still playing musclebacks but has transitioned to the Callaway Apex MBs, like Kim. This may change, though, as Scott has meddled with both Miura KM-700s and a special set of AS-1 irons over the past year.

Scott is also gaining 1.09 strokes on the field, like Lowry, over the last three months. Along with the Apex MB irons, Scott has a Titleist T250 3-iron equipped with Graphite Design Tour AD VF Hybrid shaft.

Impressively, entering his 25th Masters, Scott has made every cut this season ,with a best finish coming at The Genesis Invitational, where he came fourth.

Irons: Titleist T250 (3) Callaway Apex MB ’26 (4-9)
Shafts: Graphite Design Tour AD VF Hybrid 105 X (3), Project X LZ 6.5 125 (4-9)

Akshay Bhatia

Rounding out the top five in approach play at the Masters is recent Tour winner, Akshay Bhatia. The smooth-swinging lefty earned the biggest victory of his career at the 2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Bhatia’s setup is comprised of a Callaway X Forged UT iron and Apex TCB Raw irons, both custom-painted with Masters’ green.

The 24-year-old is gaining 1.06 shots a round this year and in his third Masters will look to improve on a tournament-best T35 finish.

Irons: Callaway X Forged UT (22 degrees), Callaway Apex TCB Raw (5-PW)
Shafts: KBS $-Taper 125 S+

Equipment

Spotted at the PGA Championship: Koepka’s new putter, L.A.B. Golf’s latest prototype and custom Philly gear

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2026

Alistair Cameron

Aronimink Golf Club takes center stage for the 2026 PGA Championship, as the world’s best, along with America’s top club pros, take on the Donald Ross classic, just outside Philadelphia in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

Even on the first official practice day of the championship, there was plenty of gear news and storylines to dive into, with a three-time champion going through an extensive putter testing, as well as new prototype putters spotted and custom gear galore. Let’s dive into it.

Brooks Koepka’s putter testing

Three-time PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka spent plenty of time Monday morning and into the afternoon on the practice putting green in front of the Aronimink clubhouse, working with coaches and Tour reps and putting plenty of different flasticks through their paces, after apparently recently breaking his new TaylorMade Spider Tour X last time out at the Myrtle Beach Classic.

Koepka tested out a couple of Scotty Cameron heads, similar to that of Cameron Young’s Phantom 9.5R with a full sightline. It’s not the first time a Tour pro has asked to follow in Young’s footsteps. Justin Thomas had the same request last week at the Truist Championship. Why not follow the hot hand?

Koepka’s custom Cameron featured the same style Teryllium insert that he has used previously, most notably during his PGA Championship wins in a Newport-style blade. The putter, however, that looks to have the best chance of making its way into the bag come Thursday is a TaylorMade Spider Tour V, the model of head recently launched on Tour at the RBC Heritage.

What’s unique about Koepka’s new Tour V putter is the custom length L-Neck (plumbers) hosel that he has equipped. The extended version looks ot reduce the toe-hang of the putter along with adding stability to the stroke.

The putter change comes with a plethora of additions to Keopka’s bag after his split with Srixon/Cleveland. Along with already playing a Titleist ist Pro V1x golf ball, Koepka added Vokey wedges to his Grove XXIII staff bag last week in South Carolina. The 36-year-old is using SM11s in 48.10F, 52.12F and 56.10, along with the WedgeWorks 60B, a special grind with an interesting letter choice.

Look at Koepka’s full bag here.

L.A.B. Golf’s new vision

As GolfWRX continued the long tradition of capturing players’ bags and equipment, we got a glimpse of the latest L.A.B. Golf putter in the bag of Adrian Saddier. The Frenchman, who’s making his PGA Championship debut at Aronimink, is rolling with the newly added VZN.1i putter, which features a closed-back, winged-mallet design, resulting in a square cutout in the middle of the mallet.

Saddier’s new stick is center-shafted with two thick white alignment lines. The VZN.1 is the latest L.A.B. putter to be spotted. It comes after the traditional blade-style LINK.2.1 & LINK.2.2 were released on Tour, featuring a heel-shaft.

Take a look at the full gallery here.

Custom Philly-themed gear

As with every major championship, the PGA sees a bevy of custom gear from equipment manufacturers to highlight the theme of the week. With Aronimink sitting just west of Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love takes full focus.

Callaway is ringing the Liberty Bell with its Philly special-edition staff bag that tour players will be rocking at Aronimink. The bag features a pin-striped design, embossed with the Liberty Bell itself and a special green-fluff strap for the Philadelphia Phillies’ mascot, the Phillie Phanatic.

TaylorMade is also theming the staff bag around the birth of a nation, with a specially crafted staff back to celebrate the city where American independence was born. The bag features Philadelphia’s fingerprints with Independence Hall lives on the ball pocket, the Liberty Bell graces the valuables pocket, and Benjamin Franklin holds court on the back. The bottom collar reads – City of Brotherly Love – and custom “LOVE” zipper pulls pay tribute to the iconic Robert Indiana’s sculpture situated in the city center.

Tileist has adopted a different design for its GTS headcovers, going with Kelly Green, for the 2025 Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles.

Check out more custom gear in the forums.

Whats in the Bag

Alex Fitzpatrick WITB 2026 (May)

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 7 X

7-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9 TX

9-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9 TX

Irons: Titleist T100 (5-9)
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus 3 Tour 120 X (5-9)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (46-10F, 50-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60-A+)
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus 3 Tour 120 X (46, 50), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (56, 60)

Putter: Odyssey Ai-One #7S

Grips: Golf Pride MCC

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Equipment

Lead Tape Hall of Fame: Hideki Matsuyama

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2026

Andrew Von Lossow

Today is a very special day for the Lead Tape Hall of Fame. Our second inductee is announced, and with great honor, we welcome Hideki Matsuyama to the Silver Jacket ceremony. Hideki’s meticulous attention to detail and precision have earned him his place in the Lead Tape Hall of Fame.

Hideki turned professional in 2013 and began his career on the Japan Tour. He was the first rookie on the Japan Tour to lead the money list, highlighted by five wins in his first season. His first appearance on the PGA Tour was the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion, where he came in 10th place in his debut. In 2014, he won his first PGA Tour event at Memorial. Hideki is currently at 11 PGA Tour wins, including a scoring record at The Sentry in January 2025 at 35 under par. In 2021, he won The Masters. An incredible career and still full of momentum, what kind of tools does Hideki use to get in the mix week in and week out?

Matsuyama has been a career Srixon and Cleveland staff player. Typically with Graphite Design shafts in his woods and True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 shafts in his irons. A unique trait is that in his wedges, he will play X100 shafts that suit his launch preferences. Rarely do you see a stiffer profile in wedges compared to irons.

Speaking of wedges, Hideki plays the Cleveland RTX4 Forged wedges. These debuted in 2018, but due to his level of detail, this is what he plays today. You can see the lead tape placed on the wedges in different places on the back flange. Usually erring towards the heel promoting certain launch characteristics and if anything a slight draw ball flight. In a 2021 GolfWRX interview, we found Hideki does not want to see the ball fall to the right. He wants the ball to fall to the left.

We see the use of lead tape on clubs like his fairway metal, where we see a small strip near the ferrule and even at the base of the grip. Looking at the details, Hideki operates; everything is done with purpose and measured for his stats. Not the type of feel player that doesn’t know how much weight is where and says, “That’s fine.”

Srixon told us, “We also travel with pre-cut lead tape in half-gram and one-gram increments, and Hideki will apply the tape to different areas of the club (muscle, flange, hosel, shaft), depending on how the club feels while testing.”

Hideki and his team have his club spec’d to the half gram for what to add or subtract from his set. This is Hall of Fame level here, nearly alone, but with Hideki’s meticulous attention to detail for each club is amazing to see.

This attention to detail carries down to the putting green as well. Hideki rotates through a series of Scotty Cameron Newport putters with subtle changes on sightlines, bumpers, and welded plumber’s necks. Sometimes on the bottom of the putter? A strip of one-inch lead tape. The tape has been on there so long that you can see the hand-stamped logo underneath. That is absolutely Hall of Fame grade!

It is incredible to see through the lens of the level of detail that Hideki operates in. We see lead tape anywhere from the shaft, above the hosel, in different positions on the back flange of wedges, and on the bottom of the putter. The precision he brings to the course has translated into a record of winning results from the beginning. We will have to stay tuned if his new Silver Jacker accompanies his Green Jacket in the trophy room!