Two big names made significant changes to their driver setups ahead of the 2026 Memorial Tournament. Rory McIlroy and Cameron Young both decided to make changes before taking on Jack Nicklaus’ Muirfield Village Golf Club, just a couple of weeks before the U.S. Open.

McIlroy’s tweaks weren’t major, but he did move into the slightly heavier Fujikura Ventus Black 7X shaft. McIlroy had been using the 6X for most of the year, including during his Masters victory.

For that victory, McIlroy used two 4-gram weights in the front and two 11-gram weights in the back. This has also changed with McIlroy now going heavier with to rear 13-gram weights.

The switch in weighting is all about stability for McIlroy, with the shaft weighing around 12 grams more than the original build.

Young, who has already won twice this year at The Players and Cadillac Champion, made a more significant alteration to his bag. He’s transitioned into Titleist’s GTS driver lineup. Originally in an 11-degree Titleist GT3 (set at D1 on the SureFit Hosel), he’s gone with one degree less loft on the GTS3 head.

“Cameron’s one of those players that’s always looking for opportunities to get better,” said JJ Van Wezenbeeck, Titleist’s senior director of player promotions. “He had been one of the early testers of GTS. Finally had some time at home after having such a great run to spend a little time with it, and we were able to kind of find a GTS3 in a 10 degree as opposed to the GT3 11 degree in D1. Able to get really good spin stability, really good ball speeds and kind of find the sweet spot he’s looking for as we move in the summer months and his speeds start to creep up as the temperatures rise.”

With effectively a quarter of a degree less loft and the help of GTS’s dual weighting on the 3 model, Van Wezenbeeck was able to get the same launch as the previously higher-lofter GT head but remove around 150 RPMs of spin, “which was really the sweet spot to match up with his golf ball.”

Along with Young’s driver change, he’s also adjusted his iron shafts, but soft-stepping them to help with the more controlled short selection he has in his arsenal.

“Yeah, really was finding that his shafts in golf ball were matching up really well, but he really likes to hit some off-speed shots and was finding as we were moving into the firmer greens in the summer that his golf ball’s flying very great through the wind, but he wants to move back into hitting some of these softer shots,” Van Wezenbeeck said. “So we were kind of experimenting with some options, X1, X 7, soft stepped versus his X7 and found that the X7 soft step gave him a really nice combination where it’s not that much higher. It just allows him when he hits that off-speed shot to have a little bit more control and feel like he can hit those shots with more confidence.”

Soft stepping is the term used when club builders change the stiffness of a set of irons by putting the lower-numbered iron shaft throughout the set and changing the distance from the first step in the shaft to the hosel. (ie. The 8-iron shaft is put in the 9-iron and so forth.) Essentially, it makes the shaft slightly weaker by cutting more off the butt end of the club.

Lucas Glover plays two putters

Yes, Lucas Glover really did play two putters during the final round of the Charles Schwab Challenge. His usual L.A.B. Mez broomstick along with a normal length TaylorMade Spider Tour X. He removed his gap wedge from his bag, which, according to his caddie Tom Lamb, they had the number for at least three times. So maybe don’t expect the same setup this week at the Memorial.

What you could see is a new broomhandle option in the bag. Glover was spotted testing both a double-bend Spider Tour X long putter, along with an Odyssey TRTL also in a double-bend broomstick configuration. It was a zookeeper’s nightmare with both the Spider and TRTL popping out the top of Glover’s bag on Wednesday morning. This comes after a Jailbird was also tested earlier in the week, but that option didn’t make the cut.

Glover also tested a custom regular-length Spider option featuring a custom insert that is firmer than the traditional Pure Roll version found on the normal Spider.

Keep an eye out for which one or ones make the bag this week at Jack’s Place. Check out the rest of Glover’s bag here.

Jason Day gets progressive 

Jason Day is back in his V3 Avoda prototype irons. That’s not new for him. He’s been switching between irons this year to help as he goes through phases of what shots he’s looking to hit. One set will shape the ball more naturally for the Australian, while the other helps straighten up his ball flight.

What is new this week at the 2026 Memorial Tournament, hosted at Jack Nicklaus’ Muirfield Village Golf Club, is the concept of progressive swing weighting through Day’s iron setup. Each head has now been weighted using lead tape through the longer irons to increase the swing weight.

“We’ve seen that the majority of players, as the ball moves forwards in their stance, fractionally increasing the swing weight just helps delay the release a little bit,” said Tom Bailey, Avoda Golf Founder, when GolfWRX caught up with him to talk about Day’s newest endeavor. ” It gives them more time to get to that forward ball position.”

It’s a pretty simple philosophy for a company that does some really in-depth club concepts. Basically, the further back the ball position is, the more a golfer will need to release the clubhead earlier to square it up. Then, as the ball gets further forward in the stance, the time to release the club extends, and the golfer will need to do it later in the sequence.

Bailey likes to think of it as Avoda’s own take on moment of inertia matching, where clubs are built to require the same amount of force.

“We just did some testing over the last couple of weeks and found that he (Day) does get along better with a progressively heavier swing weight,” Bailey added. “He gets fractionally heavier by about half a swing weight, so he gets a few swing weights through the set and then through to his woods; they continue progressing.”

Read more here on how Day’s irons sit on the swing weight scale and check out another unique club in his bag.

Tommy Fleetwood’s custom putter

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.

Burying the lede slightly, but Fleetwood was also testing a Tour X version in Ohio, which went into play for the first round. The small slant model was one of the options Fleetwood received from the TaylorMade team when he first switched to the pilot’s eye alignment aid.

“The main reason Tommy switched to the X was the slightly more forward CG and the alignment benefits of the true path,” Holley told GolfWRX. “He started lining up the clear path on his TP5 Pix more often and although the True Path is blacked out, the ‘shadow’ of the true path matched up nicely to that.”

Orange gets an upgrade

Mitsubishi Chemical dropped an all-new version of the Tensei 1K Pro Orange shaft using its Rip+ tip technology. The counterbalanced option for drivers and woods was on the range at Muirfield Village, where players were able to test out it out. 

Check out the full gallery here.

Odds and Ends

J.J. Spaun fired an opening-round 67 at the Memorial with a new insert in his new Oz.1i HS putter that he switched to last week. The insert plays softer than the original one he had used when going to the heel-shafted L.A.B. Golf putter at Colonial. J.T. Poston joined the growing family of Spider putters. He’s moved into the Tour X head along with Fleetwood. Adam Scott is back in the L.A.B. DF3 head with a cool custom sole plate design. Ludvig Åberg continued with the Scotty Cameron 3.2 putter after putting it in play for the first time last week in Dallas. The Swede says it’s softer off the face than the blade he’s used most of his career. Justin Rose added a new set of raw McLaren Golf Series 1 blades. Other than the difference in look the set also features less of the progressive offset towards the mid-irons.

In the zero-torque putter world the TaylorMade Spider ZT has carved out a great following of golfers who love it. So TaylorMade wanted to go bigger and it did, literally. This new Spider ZT Max features a larger body that is made from aluminum to allow for heavier steel and tungsten weights to move to the perimeter. Combining the weight distribution with the larger size increases stability and the putter will reduce twisting on toe or heel impacts.

TaylorMade kept the zero-torque design the same with a shaft that inserts right near the CG location and 34mm behind the face. Placing the shaft here keeps the putter balancing with the toe up, helping keep the face pointed towards the target throughout the stroke. Each shaft is bored into the head with a 2 degree forward shaft lean to help keep that toe-up design consistent.

A unique sole design is incorporated into the putter to work with the center shaft so the putter doesn’t rock when it is soled on the green. Engineers looked at many different angles and putting strokes to make sure that the putter sits square behind the ball so alignment is easier. While you don’t see the bright white True Path alignment feature on the top of the putter, it is there in milled form. Milled lines on the top of the putter are the exact same width of a golf ball in order to help create better center face contact. The Pure Roll insert on the face is made from a combination of Surlyn and aluminum for a soft but solid feel. Forty-five degree grooves provide immediate forward roll and consistent speed on shots that don’t find the center of the putter.

Golfers can get the new Spider ZT Max in standard length, counter balanced, and in a long model. Offering the putter in these options lets players who find an alternative putting stroke better an option to get a high MOI mallet. The standard length models with get the same KBS CT 120 steel shaft as the new Spider Tour Torched putters while the CB and Long putters will get a KBS Graphite shaft that is heavier (155g & 210g). A Super Stroke Off-Axis Tour 2.0 and a Super Stroke 3.0 17″ grip are stock on these Spider ZT Max putters.

Spider ZT Max Pricing

• Standard: $449.99
• Counter Balanced: $499.99
• Long: $549.99

TaylorMade has dominated the mallet putter market with their expansive Spider putter line over the last few years. From players on professional tours to us everyday players, you will see a lot of Spider putters in bags. For 2026 TaylorMade is updating the Spider line with the new Spider Torched series that features a new torched PVD finish and some new head shapes.

The first thing you will notice about the Spider Torched putters is the bronze color finish. This finish takes inspiration from Rory’s custom Spider that is heated with a torch to get a multi-color bronze finish. When you heat stainless steel to around 600°F to 900°F it will change to this bronze color in a process called temper color. This happens because very high temperatures cause the metal’s surface to react with oxygen in the air, creating a thin transparent layer that gradually becomes thicker over time. Instead of using the time-consuming torching process, TaylorMade went with a more durable PVD finish to get a similar look.

Rory’s TaylorMade Spider Tour X

With the new launch we get the familiar Spider Tour head shapes that we know and love with the Spider Tour and Spider Tour X. Both are offered with different hosels as well to give looks that golfers will love and influence the toe hang of the putters for fitting different putting strokes. It doesn’t stop there as TaylorMade is also giving us the new Spider Tour V and Spider Tour F shapes that offer a different look and alignment at address. All of the heads stay true to being a Spider by their high MOI design for stability and forgiveness. A sole plate with updated graphics moves weight away from the center of the club head and out to the perimeter.

“The Spider Tour putter family represents the very best of what we do at TaylorMade. Nearlytwo decades of engineering, refinement and Tour feedback have gone into building thisfamily—and this new finish brings a level of visual sophistication that matches theperformance underneath it. These are putters that belong in the hands of the best players inthe world, and they’re proving it every week.”–Andrew Oldknow, Senior DirectorProductCategory and Design

More Photos of the TaylorMade Spider Tour Torched Putters

For lining up the putter we see the tried and true True Path alignment that TaylorMade has been using on Spiders for what feels like forever. This high contrast line makes it faster and easier to get the putter pointed towards your target for more accuracy. You can also see the legendary Pure Roll insert that is made from white TPU for a softer feel. Each insert contains horizontal 45 degree grooves that put more forward roll on the ball and reduce hopping and skidding. Behind the insert is a Hybrar Echo Dampener that will reduce unwanted vibrations for a softer feel and sound at impact. On the sole TaylorMade kept the TSS weights so that you can dial in the head weight in order to get the perfect feel out of your Spider Tour Torched.

Spider Tour

Spider Tour F

Spider Tour V

Spider Tour X

Spider Tour Counter Balanced

More Photos of the TaylorMade Spider Tour Torched Putters

All of the new Spider Torched putters are offered with a premium KBS CT 120 putter shaft that features a gloss black finish. This upgraded shaft features a stiffer feel and low toque for added stability and consistency. The stock grip is a Super Stroke Pistol 1.0 while the counter balanced models get a Super Stroke 2.0 XL grip that is longer, 13.75″, in order to grip it further down easily. A new brown head cover has a leather texture and looks really good with the brown and light blue accents on it.

The new Spider Torched putters will have a $349.99 price for both the standard and counter balanced models.