Equipment

Building the Bag: Cameron Young’s equipment is centered around one thing

Published

3 weeks ago

Apr 22, 2026

Usually, equipment rundowns start with the driver. I mean, why not? It’s the club that players swing the fastest and goes the furthest. But for Cameron Young’s “Building the Bag,” his journey to a complete setup focuses on the thing used on every shot – the golf ball, and more specifically, the recently announced Titleist Pro V1x Double Dot.

For Young, the golf ball has become the key to his success. Since turning to the Double Dot, Young claimed his maiden PGA Tour title at the Wyndham Championship last year, before cementing his status as one of the PGA Tour’s best by winning the flagship Players Championship.

“I think as you look at his golf bag, he’s a high-speed player and needing help with control,” Nick Geyer, Titleist Tour Rep told GolfWRX. “You look at that golf bag and it’s all full of control and his golf bag has evolved kind of over the time that we’ve been with him on tour and it seems like every iteration is just, he’s gaining more control and that golf bag kind of reflects that.”

His journey began during a 2025 visit to the Titleist Performance Center in Manchester Lane, Massachusetts, where Young, who was previously playing Pro V1 Left Dot, spent an extensive range session with golf ball guru Fordie Pitts, director of Titleist’s Tour research and validation for its golf ball output. During this testing, Young and Putts tried multiple prototype models.

Testing continued on-site at Sedgefield, ahead of the Wyndham Championship. During the Tuesday practice round, Young found that the prototype ball they had brought to North Carolina was flying one club farther than the Pro V1 Left Dot, giving him more control and confidence with his iron play.

“Performance-wise, he was hitting tight draws everywhere,” Pitts shared. “His misses were staying more in play. He hit some, what he would call ‘11 o’clock shots,’ where again he’s taking a little something off it. He had great control there.”

After the nine-hole practice round on Tuesday, Pitts spent more time with Young the following day. After that second practice round, Young asked the team to put the Pro V1x Double Dot in his locker. The rest is history.

“I think it definitely contributed to some of the good play this week, so I’m excited about the next few weeks,” Young said after winning for the first time at Wyndham with the new ball. “I’ve always been a super high spin person, so it’s really just trying to manage that. And given I hit it pretty hard, so if I hit it hard and hit down on it a lot, that just generates spin, so it’s just trying to manage that.”

Other changes have taken effect thanks to the switch in golf ball, and as Young’s golf swing has progressed.

Initially, in a Titleist GT2 driver at 9 degrees, and as time went on with new swing changes taking effect, Young was looking for a bit more launch and spin off the tee, without changing the golf ball. Young decided to move to an 11-degree GT3 head (set at D1 on the SureFit setting at 10.25 degrees) after working with the Titleist team earlier this year, during the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

“As he works on his golf swing and seeing different flights with the driver, him (Young) and JJ (Van Wezenbeeck) worked at Bay Hill on making sure that when he wanted to hit draw, … that it had enough spin on it and it had enough underneath it,” Geyer added. “I think one of the underrated things out here that we often talk about within the truck is kind of spin is your friend, and that for him, making sure that that number stayed up enough so that there was control was kind of his priority.”

The change in head and loft gave Young 2 more degrees of launch, from 9 to 11 degrees, and increased his spin from 2,400 RPM to 2,500 RPM.

“Just gave him a little bit of spin, a little bit of control, a little bit of launch too to get it up in the air,” Geyer said. “All things that he felt like were, he was able to kind of reign in and feel like he had command of his golf ball.”

Young’s 3-wood is another club in the bag that was impacted by the switch to Titleist’s Double Dot golf ball. He switched into the GT1 wood to help his launch.

“We’ve noticed that the increased launch of GT1, both in the fairways and the hybrids without necessarily an increase in spin with the ability to shift forward aft weighting, has been really cool for some players that like that little bit shallower look because it feels like it’s going to go up in the air, it launches really high quickly, but it doesn’t necessarily rise,” said Geyer.

Young’s prototype 3-wood features a custom silver face to help with loft, similar to the recently added 7-wood in his bag.

Initially, in a Titleist GT1 hybrid, lofted at 20 degrees, Young decided to swap it out for the newly released on Tour GTS3 7-wood. Young added a high-lofted fairway wood at the Masters to likely improve stopping power on the difficult Augusta National greens.

Finally, with the golf ball swap and swing changes throughout the fall of 2025, Young spent time with Van Wezenbeeck at Riviera in February this year to adjust the lie angles on his Titleist 631.CY short irons, moving them more upright to produce his desired start lines, after swing changes were in full force.

Young’s prototype 631.CYs originated from the custom grinding the team at Titleist had to add to the 620 MBs he was initially playing to help with turf interaction due to his steeper swing and shaft lean.

“The short irons in the 631.CYs have a little more leading-edge bounce, and then they float to a little bit wider sole than the 620 MBs into his 6-iron,” Van Wezenbeeck said to the PGA Tour when they were first added to the bag in 2023. “All the (631.CYs) are higher-bounce than the 620 MBs, but there’s also a little more sole width as you graduate (through the set).”

The rest of the bag

Young’s biggest wedge story came at the 2024 PGA Championship. During a wet week at Valhalla, Vokey wedge rep Aaron Dill first introduced Young to the K* grind for his lob wedge. Having played the low-bounce T grind, Young has found the K*’s wider sole tremendously helpful with his bunker play that week and ever since.

“I said, if the simple play is just to create some height and forgiveness, it’s a K star, it’s a no-brainer,” Dill told GolfWRX about the sawp. “… Within just three or four hits, he was like, oh my gosh, okay. This is more of what I was hoping to feel. I’m not getting it with the gamer, but I feel like now I can swing the way I want, be a little faster and it’s coming out easier and landing and falling softer.”

Rounding out Young’s bag is his Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5R Tour Prototype. Young’s journey to finding the right putter started at the 2025 Cognizant Classic. Previously, in a Scotty Cameron Phantom 5.5 Tour Prototype, Young messed around with the 9.5 versions that had just been released. Liking the way it felt at setup, Young tested different neck styles to see how the putter could flow in the stroke.

“The big thing to him was different bends and different neck and different ways of putter set and he felt the way the 9 was sitting,” said Scotty Cameron’s Brad Cloke. “Finally, he could go into that jet neck, that little flow neck and it’s really kind of just been from there on out. “I think the way that it sets up to him, the way it sits for him week to week, different grasses, different green complexes, I think that’s really helped his confidence knowing that hey, he can just sit it down, line it up and go.”

Young settled on a putter with a short slant neck to give the putter more toe hang and flow, and doing so, he’s now become a top-10 putter on the PGA Tour.

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!