Equipment

Patrick Reed’s driver saga continues, spotted testing Ping G400 LST

Published

8 years ago

Jan 31, 2018

Since moving on from his Callaway club deal, Patrick Reed has made a number of changes to his setup. According to our WITB photos, he’s put in a Nike VR Pro fairway wood, a Titleist T-MB driving iron, Nike blades and Artisan wedges. He’s also stuck with his old Odyssey White Hot Pro #3 putter.

It seems Reed has yet to settle on a driver, however.

Just last week, ahead of the 2018 Farmers Insurance Open, Reed was testing a TaylorMade M3 460 driver (8.5 degrees). The way he had the weights configured, it appeared he was searching for a bit of extra forgiveness. Here’s a look at it…

The thing is, during the actual Farmers Insurance event, Reed actually used a Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 816 Double Black Diamond driver that he used back in 2016. Or at least that’s what I can tell from this photo during round 2…

A bit odd, since the DBD is a notoriously unforgiving, low-spin driver, and he went with a high-MOI setup in the TaylorMade M3.

But anyway. This week, ahead of the 2018 WM Phoenix Open, we spotted Reed testing a Ping G400 LST driver (10 degrees), which is the low-spin, fade-biased model in the G400 line.

This switch could make sense, especially if he had the DBD in a fade-biased setting, and he’s now searching for a low-spin, fade-biased driver that has more forgiveness (ala Ping G400 LST). Or, maybe he’s just trying to test every driver that’s on the market until he finds the right fit. What do you think?

Update from an Insider Source: “Reed is looking for a driver that doesn’t go low left when he tries to hit his normal draw, or so he doesn’t feel like he has to hang on so he doesn’t hook it too much, and then end up hitting a high block. He can hit his normal draw with the old Callaway driver, but can’t hit it with the new TM drivers; or at least not with the shafts they have tested so far. That’s why the Ping driver is being tested, to see if he can draw it and not snap hook it.”

Here’s a look at Patrick Reed’s 2018 WITB as of the Farmers Insurance Open on Wednesday.

Whats in the Bag

Keith Mitchell WITB 2026 (June)

Published

43 mins ago

Jun 2, 2026

Will Schube

Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D LS
Shaft: Project X Titan Yellow 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (16.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Blue 90 TX

7-wood: Titleist TS2 (21 degrees, C1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro Blue 90 TX

Irons: Mizuno Pro 225 (2), Mizuno Pro S-1 (4-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Mizuno Pro (48-10S @47, 52-10S, 56-10M (@55), Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks Proto (60.5-T)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Odyssey EXO 2-Ball

Grips: Golf Pride Victory Cord

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

Equipment

Tommy Fleetwood makes a surprising TaylorMade Spider customization

Published

4 hours ago

Jun 2, 2026

Alistair Cameron

Tommy Fleetwood has a growing collection of TaylorMade Spider putters. We shall wait to see if the newest options go into play, but they definitely has a fun twist to it.

Ahead of the 2026 Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club, the team at TaylorMade gifted the FedExCup champion with his very own custom Spider putter, featuring some nifty details from his winning gamers last year.

While from a distance, the putters may look like your standard blacked-out Spider Tour and also the new torched PVD version, the ones that found its way to Fleetwood in Dublin, Ohio, feature custom laser-etched alignment lines on the topline of each putter, which are an exact replica of the hand-drawn Sharpie marks that TaylorMade Tour putter Rep James Holley drew onto the putter with which Fleetwood won the FedExCup.

No mathematical equations were made to evenly distribute the alignment aid this time, either, and on closer inspection, it’s possible to see the imperfections of what the permanent marker lines looked like when the team scanned and then used a laser to etch onto the putter head.

What’s interesting about the custom putters is that the markings found on the heads are actually not the original version that Holley first drew onto Fleetwood’s flatstick. Over time, they had changed slightly since Holley had to reapply the Sharpie, and had changed technique to stop the ink from smudging.

However, there is a copy of the first attempt from Fleetwood’s special alignment aid, and it’s found on a custom Winston Collection headcover, which the team had made specifically for the Englishman.

On the sole plate of Fleetwood’s black Spider Tour putter is a laser-engraved logo of the FedExCup, an ode to Fleetwood’s biggest triumph in golf so far, using that style of flatstick.

Fleetwood initially tested his custom lines when Holley first drew them at the RBC Heritage to match another style of Spider Fleetwood had tested prior.

“So Tommy, we started with the ZT, and that ZT we have kind of that top milling on the front with that, and he really liked that top milling, how that kind of framed the ball,” Holley told GolfWRX last year, when Fleetwood first played the hand-drawn alignment aid. “You know he uses his special ball, where the orange lines create that single path … so the milling kind of lined up well with that when he lines up the ball. We took a regular Tour, short slant putter that was completely blank, and I pulled out the Sharpie and did my best to kind of draw some stuff on there for him, and he liked it.”

It’s not the first time the team has given Fleetwood the option of his custom alignment aid in an engraved version, but Fleetwood had told them that he did not like the previous lines on the new putters because they were too perfect.

Equipment

Neal Shipley, AKA, the “Big Fridge’s,” custom stamping

Published

16 hours ago

Jun 1, 2026

Alistair Cameron

Neal Shipley was the first to admit that he enjoyed his food while in college. But since his days at Ohio State, he’s slimmed down and earned a PGA Tour Card.

That hasn’t stopped him from having fun with his wedge stampings, though it’s led to some misunderstandings.

On the 54 (degree), we have ‘Big Fudge,'” Shipley told GolfWRX. “It was supposed to be ‘Big Fridge,’ so this happened a little while ago. ‘Big Fridge’ was a nickname between my college teammates and I, with ‘fridge’ meaning stomach, a big stomach.

“We told the Ping guys to put … ‘Big Fridge’ on it, and I think maybe some bad cell service or something, and they thought I said ‘fudge,’ so they put fudge on it.”

On Shipley’s 50-degree he also continues the food theme, this time with his go-to order at the “Golden Arches,” and his stamping “DONS 7.”

“The number 7 meal, the two cheeseburger meal, that was my McDonald’s order, back when I would have McDonald’s frequently,” Shipley shared.

Check out Shipley’s full what’s in the bag and the rest of his wedge stampings here on “Inside the Ropes” from Colonial.