Equipment
Steven Bowditch goes back to… golf clubs from last decade?
For struggling golfers, a trip to your basement can often be as beneficial as a trip to your local pro shop. Case in point: Two-time PGA Tour winner Steven Bowditch.
Dating back to the Frys.com Open in October of 2015, Bowditch has played in 30 PGA Tour sanctioned events. He’s missed the cut 19 times over that span, and is currently on a streak of nine-straight MCs. His best finish was T10 at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, a tournament he qualified for by winning the 2015 AT&T Byron Nelson.
By all accounts, Bowditch is in a slump. And based on his Tweets over the past year or so, he fully recognizes that fact. While some professional golfers won’t let the media or the public in on their lack of confidence, Bowditch is outspoken on the state of his game, often making jokes at his own expense. He keeps it light, and doesn’t seem to take himself too seriously.
Check out some of our favorite tweets from the past few months.
My daughter goes through nappies like I go through prov 1’s…
— stevenbowditch (@bowdo83) January 18, 2017
Hey @BeefGolf me and @booweekley challenge you and your partner to a birdie, beer and beef triathlon next year..let’s c if u da real deal ????????
— stevenbowditch (@bowdo83) December 14, 2016
Party time. 18 holes with the same ball.
— stevenbowditch (@bowdo83) November 5, 2016
Not a good sign when you have to get your ball retriever regripped
— stevenbowditch (@bowdo83) September 15, 2016
My trainer says to me “dude you need a balanced diet” I said “does a beer in each hand count?” That cost me another 25 push ups
— stevenbowditch (@bowdo83) September 6, 2016
Man I hate running!!! twice yesterday! I ran out of beer and then I had to run to the store… Knackered! ????????
— stevenbowditch (@bowdo83) August 31, 2016
WITB
With that in mind, look at the clubs we photographed in Bowditch’s bag at this week’s CareerBuilder Challenge.
Among them are clubs that were released in the mid-2000s, including a TaylorMade R7 Quad Draw fairway wood and set Callaway Big Bertha Fusion irons. Surely Bowditch didn’t buy these off eBay, so he must have gamed these around the time of their release. He also has a Cobra AMP Cell hybrid in the bag, which was released a few years ago but looks like it has spent the last 10 years in his garage without a headcover on it.

The point here is that for a struggling golfer, sometimes it may be best to bring back clubs from your past that give you good feelings, rather than trying the latest technology. Best of luck to Bowditch this week at the CareerBuilder Challenge, and to any golfer looking to climb out of a slump.
Whats in the Bag
Christiaan Maas WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D LS (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P770 (3), TaylorMade P7CB (4), TaylorMade P7TW (5-PW)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 10 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold X100

Wedges: TaylorMade Prototype (50-SB09), TaylorMade MG5 (56-HB12, 60-LV07)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S400


Putter: TaylorMade TP Juno

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
Check out more in-hand photos of Christiaan Maas’ clubs here.
Equipment
TaylorMade MySpider Tour and Tour X: More customizable build options now available
TaylorMade Golf’s MySpider program underwent a substantial overhaul over the last month. Firstly, the company launched the option to customize the Spider ZT model, and now the program has returned with the MySpider Tour and MySpider Tour X.
The revamped page now gives golfers complete control over every visual and functional detail of their putter on the popular Tour and Tour X head, with every cosmetic idea thought of. In MySpider Tour, golfers can choose from four head finishes, 16 paint fill colors, nine Surlyn face insert colors, three aluminum insert options, six sightline configurations, and four hosel options — L-neck, small slant, double bend, center shaft. Six sightline options are available in MySpider Tour, including the optically engineered True Path alignment system. MySpider Tour X gives builders the option of four head finishes, four hosel configurations, and five sightline options, also including True Path alignment.
One of the more interesting features of the new MySpider program is the availability of three distinct face insert options. Along with the usual Surlyn Pure Roll insert trusted by Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, which can be customized from nine colors, golfers can now also select firmer options. Two are offered with the black aluminum Pure Roll insert, slightly firmer than the traditional insert, or for the firmest feel, golfers can choose from two colors of milled aluminum inserts.

Another fun addition to the MySpider Tour is the ability to use the “Tommy Sightline.” The custom alignment aid design, which was first drawn onto Tommy Fleetwood’s putter by PGA Tour Rep James Holley, is based on the milled sightline on his Spider ZT head. There are five shorter lines on the left and right of a longer central line serving as the traditional short line alignment aid.
See below for the full specifications sheet for MySpider Tour and Tour X:
MySpider Tour

MySpider Tour X

Equipment
Then and now: Comparing Rory McIlroy’s current setup to his record-breaking 2019 Canadian Open victory
In Rory McIlroy’s first appearance at the 2019 RBC Canadian Open, he crushed the record books to earn his 16th PGA Tour title in dominating fashion, winning by seven shots over Shane Lowry and Webb Simpson.
McIlroy’s score of 22-under-par 258 is the lowest 72-hole score to date at the Canadian Open, and his closing 61 is also the best final-round score in the history of one of golf’s oldest tournaments. Finally, with his win in 2019, McIlroy became only the sixth player to win the career Triple Crown, adding to his victories at the U.S. Open in 2011 and The Open Championship in 2014, joining Tommy Armour, Walter Hagen, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Tiger Woods in a coveted list.
So, with that, why not compare his current setup to the clubs he used to break all the records?
Driver
2019: TaylorMade M5 (9 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees @8), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7X (45 5/8 inches)

McIroy led the Tour in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee in 2019; he’s doing the same in 2026. Between now and then, McIlroy has switched from the Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX (a shaft with slightly more feeling in the tip) to the original Fujikura Ventus Black 7X, having just made the change to the heavier version from playing the 60X.
What’s interesting about McIlroy’s 2019 setup is that the weighting on his driver is actually set in the high-draw setting, using the T-Track weighting system, whereas in the Qi4D, he’s currently using a heavily rear-weighted setup. (Two 13-gram weights in the rear and only two 4-gram front weights.)
The TaylorMade M5 driver he played in during his Canadian Open win was the company’s first head that they claimed to design to initially exceed the USGA’s COR limit, and then injected with tuning resin to bring it back in bounds.
Fairway woods
2019: TaylorMade M6 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 80 TX; TaylorMade M5 5-wood (19 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 90 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8X; TaylorMade Qi4D 5-wood (18 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9X

The TaylorMade M6 fairway wood that McIlroy was using during the 2019 season is still in the bag of some of the best golfers on Tour in 2026. Just check out Justin Rose’s winning setup from the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year. This year, though, McIlroy has still been searching for his top-end-of-the-bag setup, having played both the new Qi4D and the Qi10, which he won the Masters with.

The same shaft swap can be seen in the fairway woods as the driver, along with slightly less loft on the 5-wood.
Irons
2019: TaylorMade P750 (4) Buy here, TaylorMade P730 (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0
2026: TaylorMade P760 (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0

The biggest difference between McIlroy’s custom set and the stock P730s is the groove design. While the P730s were constructed with 14 MX-9 grooves on their milled faces, McIlroy’s proto heads instead use the higher-spinning, 16-groove layout of the TW2 grooves. Other big differences between the sets are that McIlroy’s 7- and 8-irons have thinner toplines, are 1 degree stronger in loft, and are 1/4 inch longer than the original P730 builds.
With McIlroy’s 4-iron, the switch from P750 to P760 sees a transition to a two-piece construction with Speed Foam in it, which allows McIlroy to launch the ball slightly higher, with more workability.
Wedges
2019: TaylorMade Milled Grind (48-09SB), TaylorMade MG Hi-Toe (52-09SB, 56-09SB, 60-LB09), Shafts: Project X Rifle 6.5
2026: TaylorMade MG5 (46-09SB, 50-09SB, 54-11SB, 60-08LB @61), Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46-54), Project X 6.5 Wedge (60)

Between 2019 and 2026, McIlroy’s focus on his short game has been much more apparent. It was the reason why he switched back to the TP5 golf ball, to help with launch, spin and control with his wedges leading up to his career Grand Slam victory in 2025. The most apparent changes to McIlroy’s wedge setup are his lofts and bounce. He’s slowly delofted his pitching to a sand wedge, but has increased the loft on the lob wedge, bending his current 60-degree to 61. With that, adding more loft to his lob wedge also slightly increases the bounce and leading-edge sit point, so, as a result, he plays a lower-bounce lob wedge compared to 2019. The MG5 wedges are also softer than the first Milled Grind option from 2019. McIlroy also no longer plays the full-face grooves found on the Hi-Toe.
Putter
2019: TaylorMade Spider X
2026: TaylorMade Spider Tour X

Notice anything similar. Yes, the copper finish on Rory McIlroy’s Spider X putter in 2019 is a slightly more reflective finish than the recently released torched PVD finish. McIlroy was using the True Path alignment system, but now uses only a single white sightline.
Ball
2019: 2019 TaylorMade TP5 (#22)
2026: 2025 TaylorMade TP5 (RORS)
As mentioned above, McIlroy had transitioned from the TP5 to TP5x golf ball since his victory in Canada in 2019, but now is black with the same style of golf ball as his victory at Hamilton Golf & Country Club.
Grips
2019: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
2026: Golf Pride MCC
Interesting, McIlroy actually used Golf Pride’s Tour Velvet Cord grips during his victory in 2019 (it was during a 2+ year switch to the corded TV) as opposed to his usual MCC grips, which he has played for most of his career.
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Pingback: Steven Bowditch makes radical change with decade-old clubs in bag – Australian Golf Digest
Pingback: Steven Bowditch makes radical change with decade-old clubs in bag - Australian Golf Digest
jgpl001
Jan 22, 2017 at 4:37 pm
My God, he must have found that bag in a ditch after a night out wit Robert Allenby ????
Pingback: Steven Bowditch makes radical change with decade-old clubs in bag | Golf
Jun
Jan 20, 2017 at 1:38 am
Are those fusion irons have legal grooves ?
Pingback: Steven Bowditch switches to decade-old clubs at CareerBuilder Challenge | GOLF URGE
Pingback: Steven Bowditch switches to decade-old clubs at CareerBuilder Challenge | Golfweek
Jason
Jan 19, 2017 at 2:36 pm
Are those fusions even legal?
RayJD
Jan 19, 2017 at 7:43 pm
Not unless they were regrooved, no.
Kromulous
Jan 19, 2017 at 12:41 pm
Dont get down on yourself ! It will come back, loosen up, and swing free !
Jam
Jan 19, 2017 at 10:44 am
He’s got to be the worst multiple winner on tour right now, except for Tiger.
John
Jan 19, 2017 at 9:10 am
Bowditch has become one of my favorite golfers to root for. The guy has an incredible sense of humor and realizes although it is his job, it’s just a game.
mitch
Jan 19, 2017 at 8:48 am
The pro’s are just like us! You gotta go with w/e works! Props to Steven!
Jay
Jan 20, 2017 at 8:54 am
No, no they’re not. He’s trying to keep his tour card, you’re just looking for a bargain so you can beat Jim on Saturday and avoid having to pay for the Coors Light.
Mikee
Jan 19, 2017 at 8:27 am
I always have two full sets of clubs…..one full set of Titleist AP2/915 woods/Vokey wedges and my old “gamer” Ping Eye 2 BeCu to pull out to “clear my brain” when I’m striking it poorly.
Tiger
Jan 19, 2017 at 12:43 pm
That’s not a full set…just saying