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What clubs do equipment free agents choose to use on tour? We found out

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There are 14 “equipment free agents” in the OWGR top 100, as of June 9, 2024, which is the Tuesday ahead of the 2024 Genesis Scottish Open.

“Equipment free agents” are defined here as players who do not have a sponsorship or a brand deal to play a specific company’s golf clubs. If the player has a brand deal to use a company’s staff bag, or their driver, or their irons, or their putter, or they wear an OEM hat, then they’re excluded from the “equipment free agent” list.

Full disclosure, I’ve excluded borderline players such as Maverick McNealy, Justin Rose, and Matt Fitzpatrick from the list, due to their putter relationships. I probably could have kept them in, since they use varied brands throughout their full setups, but we have to develop some basic definitions here to keep this clean.

Given the amount of golf-ball brand deals there are on tour, however, “equipment free agents” are still considered “equipment free agents” if they have golf ball deals.

Since I’m making the rules here, that’s just something everyone will have to live with for this article/research study. I do think, however, that most “gearheads” would agree with me, that an equipment free agent is someone who can play any 14 clubs that he chooses, thus, he’s an “equipment free agent.” Golf balls just don’t count in this circumstance, in my opinion, and I hope you agree.

Aside from some sort of under-the-table deal that no one knows about, as far as I can tell, and based on what I know, the 14 “equipment free agents” listed below are not compromised by any current club deals. These are players who are free to test and use any golf club, made by any brand that they want to, unrestricted by a contract.

Maybe I’m wrong, and a few of the players do, in fact, have contracts to play certain clubs, but I guarantee that I do not know about it. I’m doing the best I possibly can here to keep these results unbiased.

Also, we have to keep in mind that we’re dealing with equipment free agents here. These are players who tend to enjoy the freedom to test equipment from different brands, and they tend to switch clubs on a regular basis. So, what’s listed below could change by the week, or even by the day. However, I’ve done my best detective work, using our GolfWRX.com weekly WITB photos, using information obtained from equipment companies, and by analyzing the most up-to-date photos on Getty Images, or otherwise. Despite my best efforts, however, I’m sure to get something wrong, because these free agents switch clubs on a whim, and their bag setups often vary day-to-day.

I apologize if I got any information incorrect, but I do guarantee that the information listed below is accurate at a moment of time in 2024. For each of the 14 players, their club information is accurate as of the most recent information possible, as of the day before the Genesis Scottish Open. When you’re reading this article, however, things may have changed slightly. Or, a player listed below could have already signed a new brand deal. That’s just the nature of the “equipment free agent” business, and it’s just something we’re all going to have to accept here.

Lastly, before we get to the results, a few brief notes on the categories.

The categories here are drivers, fairway woods, 7-irons, lob wedges, and putters. For the fairway wood category, I’ve excluded the TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver. It just makes things a little too confusing, because most players who have a mini driver in the bag also have a 3-wood that they use depending on the course or conditions. In this case, I used the lowest-lofted fairway wood in the bag for each player. It just kind of evens the playing field this way, because the Mini Driver is a specialty club, and it can’t necessarily be called a fairway wood – it literally has “driver” in the name! But, just know, that about 1-4 Mini Drivers are in play on a given week by free agents.

Also, I researched just the “7-iron” to avoid any confusion around mixed sets, and to avoid trying to determine what’s considered a “driving iron” and what isn’t. It’s a cleaner list going with just the 7-iron, and I think it gets us what we’re all looking for. Maybe I’ll do some further study on “mixed sets,” but for now, we’ll start with just the 7. Additionally, we’re breaking down just the lob wedge, rather than all wedges used throughout the set. Not only do I think that the lob wedge is the specific club that most people want to know about, but it’s also super messy to include all the wedges in a player’s bag, because many players use some sort of mixed-model or mixed-brand wedge set.

Anyways!

Below, I’ve compiled a list of the most popular drivers, fairway woods, 7-irons, lob wedges, and putters among the 14 “equipment free agents,” who are each ranked inside the top 100 in the OWGR.

The information compiled below is listed numerically, by most usage to least usage, and listed alphabetically.

Note: This list originally included Cam Smith, but he’s since been removed because it’s been confirmed that he is on staff with Titleist. 

Driver

Ping G430 LST (4 players)
Titleist GT2 (4)

Krank Formula Fire
Ping G430 Max 10K
Ping G430 Max
TaylorMade M6
Titleist GT3
Titleist TSR3

Fairway Wood

Ping G430 Max (4)
TaylorMade Qi10 (4)
Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (2)

Krank Formula Fire
TaylorMade Qi10 Tour
TaylorMade Stealth Plus
Titleist 915F

7-iron

Titleist 620MB (2)

Avoda Golf Prototype
Callaway Apex TCB
Callaway X Forged CB
Miura KM-700
Mizuno MP-18 SC
Ping Blueprint S Forged
Ping S55
TaylorMade P770
TaylorMade P7TW
Titleist 620CB
Titleist AP2 718
Titleist T100

Lob Wedge

Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks (7)
Titleist Vokey SM9 (3)
Titleist Vokey SM10 (3)
Ping Glide 4.0

Putter

Odyssey (6)

Odyssey Ai One 2-Ball
Odyssey O-Works Jailbird Mini
Odyssey Toulon San Diego
Odyssey Toulon San Diego prototype
Odyssey White Hot OG #7
Odyssey White Hot Pro Rossie

Scotty Cameron (3)

Scotty Cameron GoLo N7
Scotty Cameron P5 prototype
Scotty Cameron T5 Proto

TaylorMade (3)

TaylorMade Spider Tour Limited Red
TaylorMade TP HydroBlast DuPage SB
TaylorMade Spider Tour X

L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Proto
SIK Pro C-Series Armlock

Individual Breakdown of Free Agents inside the Top 100 (according to the latest WITB information and photography)

Patrick Cantlay

Driver: Titleist GT2
3-wood: Titleist 915F
7-iron: Titleist AP2 718
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey SM9
Putter: Scotty Cameron T5 Proto

Patrick Cantlay WITB 2024

Bryson DeChambeau

Driver: Krank Formula Fire Pro
3-wood: Krank Formula Fire
7-iron: Avoda Prototype
Lob Wedge: Ping Glide 4.0
Putter: SIK Pro C-Series Armlock

Bryson DeChambeau WITB 2024

Jason Day

Driver: Ping G430 LST
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10
7-iron: TaylorMade P770
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks
Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour Limited Red

Jason Day WITB 2024

Denny McCarthy

Driver: Titleist GT2
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10
7-iron: Callaway Apex TCB
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks
Putter: Scotty Cameron GoLo N7

Denny McCarthy WITB 2024

Davis Thompson

Driver: Titleist TSR3
3-wood: Ping G430 Max
7-iron: Titleist 620MB
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks
Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #7

Davis Thompson WITB 2024

Stephan Jaeger

Driver: Ping G430 LST
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond
7-iron: Ping S55
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey SM10
Putter: Odyssey Ai One 2-Ball

Stephan Jaeger WITB 2024

Aaron Rai

Driver: TaylorMade M6
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10
7-iron: TaylorMade P7TW
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey SM9
Putter: TaylorMade TP HydroBlast DuPage SB

Aaron Rai 2023 WITB

Adam Schenk

Driver: Ping G430 Max 10K
3-wood: Ping G430 Max
7-iron: Mizuno MP-18 SC
Lob-wedge: Titleist Vokey SM10
Putter: Odyssey White Hot Pro Rossie

Adam Schenk WITB 2024

Adam Scott

Driver: Titleist GT2
Fairway wood: TaylorMade Qi10
7-iron: Miura KM-700
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks
Putter: L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Proto

Adam Scott WITB 2024

Brendon Todd

Driver: Ping G430 Max
3-wood: Ping G430 Max
7-iron: Ping Blueprint S Forged
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks Proto
Putter: Odyssey Toulon San Diego

Brendon Todd WITB 2024

Patrick Rodgers

Driver: Titleist GT3
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond
7-iron: Titleist T100
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey SM9
Putter: Odyssey Toulon San Diego prototype

Patrick Rodgers WITB 2024

Mark Hubbard

Driver: Ping G430 LST
3-wood: Ping G430 Max
7-iron: Titleist 620MB
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks
Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour X

Mark Hubbard WITB 2024

Ben Kohles

Driver: Titleist GT2
3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth Plus
7-iron: Titleist 620 CB
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey SM10
Putter: Scotty Cameron P5 prototype

Ben Kohles WITB 2024

Matt Wallace

Driver: Ping G430 LST
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 Tour
7-iron: Callaway X Forged CB
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks
Putter: Odyssey O-Works Jailbird Mini

Matt Wallace WITB 2024

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He played on the Hawaii Pacific University Men's Golf team and earned a Masters degree in Communications. He also played college golf at Rutgers University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. Larry

    Jul 12, 2024 at 10:16 am

    I think Cam Smith is a Titleist brand ambassador. They list all his Titleist gear so pretty sure he’s under contract. https://www.titleist.com/tour/2328/cameron-smith

    • Andrew Tursky

      Jul 12, 2024 at 4:20 pm

      Yes, you’re right! We just confirmed this and removed him from the list. Thank you!

  2. Benny

    Jul 11, 2024 at 1:14 pm

    Love this and all the details as well as the rules and break down.

    Thanks Andrew.

    Good stuff man as usual!

  3. PG

    Jul 11, 2024 at 12:54 pm

    Awesome work! Thank you!

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Whats in the Bag

Stephen Stallings, Jr. WITB (July)

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  • Stephen Stallings’ WITB accurate as of the ISCO Championship.

Driver: TaylorMade Stealth Plus (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 6 X

4-wood: Titleist TSi2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 70 TX

Irons: Srixon ZX Utility (3), Srixon ZX7 Mk II (5-PW)

Wedges: Cleveland RTX6 ZipCore (50-10 MID, 54-10 MID, 60-10 MID)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: TaylorMade Spider X

Grips: Golf Pride MCC

Check out more in-hand photos of Stephen Stallings’ WITB in the forums.

 

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Whats in the Bag

Adrien Saddier WITB 2024 (July)

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Driver: Mizuno ST-Z 230 (9.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 70 TX

3-wood: Mizuno ST-Z 230 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X

Hybrid: Mizuno ST-Z (19 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 9 TX

Irons: Mizuno Pro Fli-Hi (1), Mizuno Pro 243 (3, 4), Mizuno Pro 241 (5-9)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 9 TX (1), KBS Tour-V 130 (3-9)

Wedges: Mizuno T24 (46-08S), Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (50, 56-08M), WedgeWorks (60-A)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Putter: L.A.B. Golf DF3

Grips: Golf Pride MCC, Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Check out more in-hand photos of Adrien Saddier’s clubs here.

 

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Product Reviews

Three Swing Challenge: Testing the Edel Array F-2 putter

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This week on the Three Swing Challenge, we have the Edel Array F-2 putter. With the Array line of putters, Edel gives golfers several different options to match their putting styles and tendencies. It is a cool concept, but let’s see how it performs.

Why three swings?

Many years ago, the legendary Barney Adams, founder of Adams Golf told us this:

“My formula as a fitter was three shots only. I discounted No. 1 just because it was the first one, counted 100 percent of No. 2 and discounted No. 3 because the player was starting to adjust.”

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