Hideki Matsuyama What's In The Bag?
Hideki Matsuyama is one of the best ball strikers in the modern game and recently won the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club to claim his 8th regular PGA Tour Title to sit alongside his 2021 Masters win at Augusta National.
The Golfer is by far the biggest name in Japanese golf and so we've looked into which clubs he uses to help him achieve success in the professional game.
Hideki Matsuyama What's In The Bag
Driver
What Driver Does Hideki Matsuyama Use?
As a Srixon staff player, Hideki had previously had the ZX5 model in the bag for some time before switching to the ZX5 Mk II LS model. Subsequently, Matsuyama has put the new Srixon ZXi LS into play. It has 9.5 degrees of loft and is fitted with a Graphite Design Tour AD DI-8 TX shaft.
Interestingly, we believe it is not quite the consumer available model, as it is mysteriously stamped with the letters T230 on the hosel.
Fairways
What Fairway Woods Does Hideki Matsuyama Use?
Moving onto the fairways, the Japanese player has a TaylorMade Qi10 fairway wood as well as a Cobra Radspeed Tour fairway wood as well. The former is stated at 15 degrees of loft and the latter around the 17.5 degree mark. The Qi10 is a club that many have put into play out on Tour this season including the likes of Rory McIlroy. We loved the Qi10 fairway wood when testing and it quickly made our best fairway woods list because of the combination of distance, launch and looks. His three-wood has a Graphite Design Tour Di-9 TX shaft whereas the five-wood uses a Graphite Design Tour AD DI-10 TX shaft.
Irons
What Irons Does Hideki Matsuyama Use?
As far as utility goes, Hideki does occasionally carry one and he has been spotted with a Srixon ZX Mk II on more than one occasion. This usually has around 20 degrees of loft but it comes in and out of the setup. The rest of his irons are a set of Srixon Z-Forged blades and they are fitted with True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 Tour Issue shafts. These go from four-iron down to nine-iron as he often likes to have a specialist wedge in the pitching wedge slot. With a body constructed from a single billet of 1020 carbon steel, Srixon’s Z-Forged irons offer an incredibly soft feel and superb feedback on striking.
“Hideki is one of the leaders in developing the toe and heel notches,” Srixon told GolfWRX.com. “He strongly believes the toe and heel notch creates a more consistent, smooth turf interaction. Hideki has always had these notches in his irons, and he was a huge part of bringing the notches back in the ZX line.”
“With regards to offset, Hideki prefers some offset over zero offset in his irons,” Srixon told GolfWRX. “He has the most specific eye, and he loves to tinker and test all products. The key areas for Hideki when it comes to irons are the general hosel shape and taper consistency, the blend between the face flat and hosel, and most importantly the smooth transitions from the hosel into the leading edge – there needs to be offset as he wants the transition to be smooth and almost straight.”
Once again, these irons aren't (despite being very similar) the exact retail model available to us. There are some subtle differences in the topography and shaping of the back portion of the iron.
Wedges
What Wedges Does Hideki Matsuyama Use?
Hideki currently has four Cleveland RTX-4 Prototype wedges in the bag too. These have 46, 52, 57.5 and 62 degrees of loft and in a GolfWRX article a member of his team said of his wedge setup;
“Hideki doesn’t change his 52-degree sole often, but he is constantly tinkering with his 56 and 60. All three soles have a subtle C-grind shape. The 56- and 60-degree have an aggressive heel relief. Hideki also utilizes a similar subtle leading-edge grind to the one that is in his irons. Hideki will vary the width and bounce angles of the three (soles) depending on the conditions and shots that he is looking to hit. These three tiers as well as the sole radius (the sole curvature from heel to toe) allow us to manipulate the sole design to achieve the turf interaction and versatility that he may be asking for without changing the address shape. In the 56 and 60, Hideki plays a very straight leading edge with little-to-no offset. He plays his 60 and 56 weaker to help remove the offset and maintain a very straight, smooth transition from the hosel to leading-edge.”
Putter
What Putter Does Hideki Matsuyama Use?
It is almost not worth writing this section as Hideki switches putter so much! He generally travels with up to a dozen different options before making his decision on what to play during his practice rounds at a tournament. Arguably, his best putting performance ever came at The Sentry tournament, where he was using a Scotty Cameron 009M Center Shaft Tour Prototype.
Ball
What Golf Ball Does Hideki Matsuyama Use?
His ball is the Srixon Z Star XV which is a superb premium golf ball. It will appeal to higher swing speed players that want distance off the tee without compromising on feel around the green. It's four-piece design now features a reformulated FastLayer inner core to aid ball speed and distance so it comes as no surprise that Cameron Champ also uses the XV.
Hideki Matsuyama WITB: Full Specs
*The utility iron comes in and out of his setup.
Driver: Srixon ZX5 Mk II LS (9.5 degrees, flat) with Graphite Design Tour AD DI-8 TX shaft
Fairway wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees) with Graphite Design Tour DI-9 TX shaft
Fairway wood: Cobra Radspeed Tour (19 degrees) with Graphite Design Tour AD DI-10 TX shaft
*Utility: Srixon ZX Mk II (20 degrees) with True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 Tour Issue
Irons: Srixon Z-Forged (4-9), Tour Issue True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 Tour Issue
Wedges: Cleveland RTX 4 Forged Prototype (46, 52-10, 56-8 at 57.5, 60-08 at 62)
Putter: Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS
Ball: Srixon Z-Star XV
