Equipment
WRX Insider: Inside the bag of Kevin Chappell
Over the past several years, equipment sponsorship deals on the PGA Tour have changed dramatically with more players opting to go the “free agent” route and not sign a deal that ties them to a single manufacturer. As this “use what works best” approach continues to pick up steam, Kevin Chappell has become the first tour player to officially partner with brand-agnostic club-fitter True Spec Golf, as it launches its Tour Department Program.
To dial in his new gear, Kevin worked with Tim Briand, True Spec’s Executive Vice President—who we should note took part in our GolfWRX’s fitter panel to help determine our “Best driver 2020“. Interestingly, Chappell went through the same fitting process any other golfer that chooses to get fit at True Spec Golf would go through; using launch monitor data alongside the company’s club component matrix.
I had the opportunity to speak with Tim about what it was like working with Kevin on dialing in his gear, any equipment preferences he had going into the process, and the areas where Kevin saw the greatest improvements.
RB: When you started working with Kevin, did he come in leaning towards certain clubs based on previous experience, or was he looking for a top to bottom overhaul of his equipment?
TB: When we started working with Kevin, he was 100 percent committed to the process of finding the best 14 clubs for him and his game. The one factor we didn’t change and used as a constant during the process was his golf ball—the Titleist Pro V1x Left Dash. Kevin was really comfortable with its performance around the greens and the window it created on full shots.
Beyond that, it was game on from top to bottom in figuring out which clubs would ultimately end up is his bag.
RB: How did it work when you started the fitting process?
TB: Like with any golfer that comes to us at True Spec for a fitting, it all began with a conversation around what he likes, and any issues he felt he had with hitting certain shots, distances or trajectories, along with blueprinting his current clubs.
It was through those conversations that Kevin told us his favorite irons he had ever used were his old Nike VR Pro Combos. Since he had worn out and no longer had the short irons we blueprinted the remaining 4-iron from the set that he did have and used that as a testing baseline. For Kevin, that iron checked every box; feel, looks, ground interaction, flight window, everything. As you can see from his WITB, it’s a club he still carries, and in a way it further justifies our agnostic fitting process—if it’s not broken don’t try and fix it!
RB: With that in mind, let’s talk about irons. How did you narrow it down to the final set?
TB: The great thing is Kevin truly came in with an open mind to look at, and test everything. We basically laid out all of the available iron heads and began the process of elimination.
What started at roughly 20, quickly got chopped down to around 10 based on looks, and Kevin’s preferred head shape. From that 10 we started to test and hit balls to whittle down clubs based on feel and ground interaction. At that point, we had 4-5 irons that checked all the boxes, and then we began the detailed process of looking at total performance to determine the best irons for him. The end result was as mentioned already, meant keeping his Nike VR Pro Combo 4 iron and going with a set of Wilson staff model blades from the 5-PW.
RB: Let’s move into the longer clubs, specifically the fairway woods. Looking at his final setup, he has non-matching fairway woods from 2 different OEMs. Did he start with a matching set?
TB: When we started out, Kevin was using a matching 3 and 5-wood, but we quickly determined the 3-wood was underperforming in the areas where he needed that club for particular shots. Just like with amateur players, a 3-wood has to be extremely versatile since it is used in all kinds of scenarios, so just like with the irons, we started with every option before coming to the final decision.
The interesting note with his 5-wood is, it actually plays like what I would call a “6-wood”, to get the ball higher in the air and increase the descent angle to hold greens.
RB: Last but not least, since you just mentioned greens, did you do much work with Kevin’s putter, or was that another club that didn’t need any tweaking like the Nike 4-iron?
TB: Kevin came in with a putter he loved (custom weld neck Scotty Cameron) so we used Quintic to take a look at his launch conditions and made some minor lie and loft tweaks to optimize roll. He also ended up in a new grip.
Beyond that, we left it alone and worked with Kevin to send the new specs of his putter to the team as Scotty Cameron to produce a backup since its a total custom weld-neck and not something that could be easily replaced.
Kevin Chappell WITB 2020
Driver: TaylorMade SIM
Shaft: LA Golf Partners Trono
3-wood: Titleist TS3 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 8 X
5-wood: Cobra SpeedZone
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 8 X
Irons: Nike VR Pro Combo (4), Wilson Staff Model Blade (5-PW)
Shafts: Nippon Modus3 120 X
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM8 (52, 56, 62 degrees)
Putter: Scotty Cameron Custom Circle T
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x (Left Dash)
Cameron Young’s WITB from his win at the 2025 Wyndham Championship. Cameron is a Titleist staff player but his bag is definitely filled with some unique clubs. Here are the clubs he used to secure his first PGA Tour win!
Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX
Hybrid: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus HB Black VeloCore+ 10 X
Irons: Titleist T200 (4), Titleist T100 (5), Titleist 631.CY Prototype (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X7 (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F @57), WedgeWorks (60-K* @62)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X7
Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5 Tour Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Prototype
- Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Titleist GT3 (10 degrees, C2 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Project X Denali Blue 60 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 X
7-wood: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 X
Irons: Titleist T150 (4, 5), Titleist T100 (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper AMT Tour White X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F, 56-08M @57, 60-04T @62)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Style Fastback 1.5 Tour Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Yellow
We’re proud to once again partner with 2nd Swing Golf to bring you GolfWRX Members Choice 2025! 2nd Swing has more than 150,000 new and pre-swung golf clubs available in six store locations and online. Check them out here.
What is the best driver in 2025? At GolfWRX, we take great pride in our online community and the cumulative knowledge and experience of our members. When it comes to the best driver of 2025, we want to know what our forum faithful think.
Since our founding in 2005, the bedrock of GolfWRX.com has been the community of passionate and knowledgeable golfers in our forums, and we put endless trust in the opinions of our GolfWRX members — the most knowledgeable community of golfers on the internet. No other group of golfers in the world tests golf clubs as frequently or as extensively, nor is armed with such in-depth information about the latest technology.
Below are the results of GolfWRX member voting for the 2025 best driver, along with the vote percentage for each club.
Best driver of 2025: The top 5
5. Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond: 6.02%
Callaway’s pitch: “For golfers looking for a fast, forgiving, yet workable driver, the Elyte Triple Diamond features a tour-inspired shape and is the preferred model by most Callaway tour players.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond here.
4. Ping G440 Max: 6.86%
Ping’s pitch: “The most forgiving G440 model, MAX has a hotter face to generate speed and distance, and a lighter overall system weight with a longer shaft (46″) for faster clubhead speed, higher launch and longer carries. The Free Hosel and Carbonfly Wrap crown save weight to create our lowest CG ever and increase forgiveness while contributing to a more muted, pleasing sound.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Ping G440 Max here.
3. Ping G440 LST: 9.53%
Ping’s pitch: “LST is an especially good fit for faster swings, offering less spin and more control with a penetrating trajectory. A hotter face, lighter overall system weight and longer shaft (46″) deliver more speed and distance while maintaining tight dispersion.”
@phizzy30: “Not a fan of Ping drivers in general, but 440 LST takes the cake. It’s super forgiving across the face for a low spin head, looks and sounds good and the ability to make it play neutral or slightly fade biased through the hosel settings is very appealing.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Ping G440 LST here.
2. Titleist GT3: 16.55%
Titleist’s pitch: “The GT3 Driver offers Titleist’s boldest combination of power and personalization through adjustable performance. Dial in the CG Track to your frequent contact location to make your biggest drives even bigger while taking total control over flight and shaping.”
@mrmikeac: “I’ve been Anti-Titleist for years and years and years (outside of Vokey, of course). With that being said, HOLY BEGEEZUS the GT3 driver is an absolute NUCLEAR MONSTER! This thing blew my G430 10K Max out of the water in every single category. Forgiveness is the biggest thing that stands out of me, the 3 model has always been one of the less forgiving models in the past but this GT3 can take bad shot after bad shot and still end up in the fairway, I think a ton of that has to do with the adjustability, it’s actually effective. Feel and sound is perfect, that solid crack is so addicting to hear and when you hit it out the screws this thing can absolutely bomb it. Titleist, I’m sorry for doubting you. You have converted me.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Titleist GT3 here.
1. Titleist GT2: 22.91%
Titleist’s pitch: “Delivering impressive distance from any impact point, the Titleist GT2 Driver extracts maximum performance through a forgiving design. Get the stability and added confidence of a high-MOI driver without sacrificing speed.”
@DTorres: “The Titleist GT2 has proven to be the best driver of the year. Packaged in a classic profile, GT2 perfectly balances performance and forgiveness while consistently being a high performer across all categories.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Titleist GT2 here.
Other drivers receiving >2% of the vote
| Driver | Vote percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| Cobra DS Adapt Max K | 4.85% |
| Ping G430 Max 10K | 3.85% |
| Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond | 3.68% |
| TaylorMade Qi35 | 3.51% |
| Callaway Elyte | 3.18% |
| Cobra DS Adapt X | 2.34% |
| Cobra DS Adapt LS | 2.17% |
| TaylorMade Qi35 LS | 2.17% |
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Benny
Nov 4, 2020 at 6:58 pm
Completely agree. Awesome stuff guys!
jnak97
Oct 16, 2020 at 5:27 pm
Cool article. I am surprised it isn’t getting more attention! I would love to see more info about fitting the pros!!