The world’s best players all play with the very latest golf equipment. They all have a pretty standard setup, right? Many players do, but they don't all have an orthodox set of 14 clubs.
Some tour professionals, just like us, carry old favorites and clubs that you'd describe as fairly unorthodox. So what if they’re a little dated or unusual - it’s how effective they are that counts.
Although many players are locked in commercial deals, we still see some unusual equipment in the bag.
Here are some of the most unusual items of golf equipment in the bags of the world’s best players that we’ve noticed in recent times.
Marianne Skarpnord, 2 Putters (One RH & One LH)
Yes, you read that correctly. The Norwegian pro, who plays on the Ladies European Tour, carries two putters in her bag.
It’s not unusual for tour pros - or any golfer for that matter - to own a few different putters and swap them in and out of the bag at various times of the season, but Skarpnord plays with two very different putters during the same tournament.
"I had the worst yip you could ever imagine with a right-handed putter," Skarpnord explained recently.
"(Because of this) I changed to a left-handed putter around a year-and-a-half ago, but then I never felt that I got really good at distance control with it and I can't aim with it, so now I've got a right-handed putter for long putts and a left-handed putter for short putts.”
Tommy Fleetwood, TaylorMade Qi10 9-wood
The Englishman carries a TaylorMade Qi10 24° 9-wood to tournaments, which he swaps in and out of the bag with one of his long irons depending on the course set-up.
Higher lofted woods, which give players extra stopping power into greens, have made a bit of a comeback on tour over the past few years, and we’re expecting to see this trend continue.
Golf Monthly’ Sam De’ath is a big fan, and explains why a 9-wood should be the next club you put in your bag.
Robert MacIntyre, TaylorMade AeroBurner 3-wood
It’s rare to see a tour player using equipment quite as old as Robert MacIntyre’s white TaylorMade AeroBurner 3-wood from 2015.
The Scot, who has always been one to chop and change his gear, has been playing with the old faithful, a 15° 3-wood, since his amateur days.
It seems, and looks, particularly unusual now because it’s white - a trend that came and went fairly quickly about a decade or so ago.
Aaron Rai, Iron Headcovers
Aaron Rai, who has won multiple times on @EuropeanTour, plays with iron covers. Surprising, right? The PGA TOUR rookie gave Jason and Michael the incredible story on how it all started.@JasonSobelTAN | @ESPNCaddie | @PGATOUR | pic.twitter.com/BGOgXRqFUzSeptember 15, 2021
Iron headcovers are taboo, and players brave enough to cover up their sticks after every shot are at risk of being mocked (golf can be a cruel place).
Aaron Rai, however, who wears two black gloves and doesn't care what people think, has a very good reason for using them.
"I started from the age of four years old, and my dad used to pay for the equipment, pay for my memberships, my entry fees," Rai told Sirius PGA Tour radio in 2021.
"And it wasn’t money that we really had, to be honest, but he’d always buy me the best clubs.
"When I was about seven or eight years old, [my dad] bought me a set of Titleist 690 MBs, and they were like £800-£1,000 pounds back then, just for a set of clubs for a kid.
"I cherished them. When we used to go out and practice, he used to clean every single groove afterward with a pin and with baby oil."
Rai’s father then purchased iron headcovers to protect the clubs, and he’s been using them ever since.
"I’ve pretty much had iron covers on all of my sets ever since just to appreciate the value of what I have, and it all started with that first set.
"The value of not losing perspective of what I have and where I am. The covers are going to stay, I’m sorry."
No apologies required, Aaron.
Hideki Matsuyama, Cleveland RTX 4 Wedges
The former Masters Champion currently has three Cleveland RTX 4 Prototype wedges in the bag (52-10, 56-08, 60-08).
The Cleveland RTX 4 was released in 2018, and it's unusual for a tour player to play with wedges that are several generations old.
Matsuyama likes to tinker with with the width and bounce angles of the three soles depending on the conditions and the type of shot he'll be required to hit.
Sahith Theegala, Two 8 Irons
In Sahith Theegala's case, it's not so much a case of what he does have in his bag being unusual - it's more what he doesn't have.
Last year, during the FedExCup Playoffs, he had a bit of a moment (moments) with his 7-iron - so it was banished (well, kind of).
The American asked Ping, his equipment manufacturer, to scrape off the "7" and replace it with an "8".
The club, which has a different font for identification purposes, is known as his "8+" iron.
Bryson DeChambeau, Avoda Golf Prototype Single Length Irons
As with everything else in Bryson DeChambeau's golf bag, the irons he plays are anything but standard.
The American plays with a single length set of Avoda Golf irons from his 5-iron (which is his least lofted iron) all the way through to his 60˚ lob wedge.
The setup is designed to promote consistency of address position as well as consistency of swing plane.
Another unique feature is the curved face, designed to use the advantages of gear effect, which is traditionally only used in hybrids, fairway woods, and drivers.
The lofts, meanwhile, are also unorthodox. For example, the pitching wedge has 40˚of loft (conventional sets are around 46°- 47°).
Then there's his 17° 5-iron, which is more akin to a regular 2-iron.
