NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
BROUGHT TO YOU BY GOLF PRIDE, THE #1 GRIP ON TOUR
Back in 2018, all four men’s majors were won by players who did not have equipment deals. Nike had exited the hard-goods business two years earlier, and many notable golfers previously in the brand’s stable decided to go the free-agent route. Some thought it was a sign that significant gear contracts could be disappearing like baggy khakis.
But five years later, predictions of greater player independence in the equipment realm haven’t necessarily come to fruition. Only two players in the current top 20 of the world ranking are equipment free agents without meaningful club contracts: Patrick Cantlay, who decided not to renew his Titleist club contract for 2023, and U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick is an interesting case. Almost all of the top players in the world reliably change their equipment, upgrading to the latest models and searching for any advantage throughout their bag. However, the recent RBC Heritage winner values comfort and familiarity above all else. He has kept a nearly identical bag to the one with which he won at Brookline last June, and much of his equipment has remained the same for years on end.
The gear conversation about the English star starts at the top of his bag. During the 2020-21 PGA Tour season, Fitz ranked a meager No. 127 in driving distance. A season later, his well-documented speed training had him up to No. 70 in the category. The 10-yard gain paired with his outstanding accuracy to rank him 10th in strokes gained off-the-tee.
He opened his tour career playing a Ping driver and then switched into a TaylorMade M2 until the Titleist TSi3 driver came online in late 2020. He found the proper fit with that 9-degree TSi3 and has not switched since it went into his bag, eschewing newer models. Fitzpatrick, 28, who played one semester of college golf for Northwestern, keeps a second driver in his bag during practice rounds: a Titleist TSi3 with an oversized Flat Cat putter grip. The club is simply a training aid as the putter grip prevents his hands from flipping at impact.
Fitzpatrick also carries a Ping G425 Max 5-wood and a Ping G410 7-wood. He was among the first pros on tour to implement the now-popular 7-wood, and he is one of the only players not to carry a 3-wood.
While his choice of lumber is unique, Fitzpatrick’s iron setup is even more of an outlier for top players. He has long been gaming a set of 10-year-old Ping S55s, a set of irons released to the public in November of 2013. Though he briefly flirted with Ping’s Blueprint irons for a spell, Fitzpatrick has been ardently loyal to the S55s. Recent testing proved to Fitzpatrick that his old irons – and they do have the wear patterns on them to show their age – still were better than anything else he hit.
Earlier this year, Fitzpatrick consulted with Jack Nicklaus for one of his gear changes. Fitzpatrick lives in Jupiter, Florida, and has seen plenty of the Golden Bear in recent years, including sitting down for a one-on-one lunch three or four times. The GOAT gave a thumbs up to Fitzpatrick adding about 8 grams of weight to his iron grips, a gear decision that created more of a left-to-right bias.
“I actually spoke to Mr. Nicklaus about it because someone told me he did it,” Fitzpatrick said. “I asked him and, yeah, we sort of had a quick chat about it on why he did it and stuff.”
After seeing the 9-iron he flagged on the third playoff hole at Harbour Town for a winning tap-in birdie, it is difficult to disagree with his mindset. He also used a 9-iron for his now-famous approach bunker shot into the 72nd hole at the U.S. Open. However, Fitzpatrick did rank No. 48 in strokes gained approach last season – his worst performance in the major strokes-gained categories – is 138th in the category so far this season. Perhaps one day he will switch.
At the bottom of his bag, Fitzpatrick has two Titleist SM9 wedges and a Titleist Vokey Design Wedge Works lob wedge. Those are the newest clubs in his bag. Fitzpatrick does have one club deal, which is a putter contract with Bettinardi. After using a Yes Tracy II putter throughout the early parts of his professional career, he signed with the putter company in 2021 and now plays the Bettinardi BB1 Fitz. He tested more than 25 putters specifically designed for him before deciding on his current model. It has worked, apparently, given that he ranks No. 25 in strokes gained putting on the tour. A year ago, he was No. 22 in the stat.
This past week in New Orleans, Fitzpatrick teamed with his younger brother, Alex, in the Zurich Classic. A Bettinardi putter headcover was made for them, with “Team Fitz” stitched on the outside.
Fitzpatrick is also a long-time user of the Titleist ProV1x golf ball. He switched into the 2023 model after seeing lower long-game spin while still maintaining proper spin levels around the greens.
Sean Fairholm