Augusta National is the stage of some of the most significant moments in golf’s history, but as the first major championship of the year, it’s also the proving ground for many of the latest equipment innovations and a chance for us to take a look into what gear the best players in the world are choosing to trust in a bid to claim the green jacket come Sunday afternoon.
With the bulk of new equipment launching in January each year, a lot of players are still in a transition period when it comes to swapping into their newer clubs come April, and so the practice areas and tour trucks at Augusta National are the place to be if you love your golf equipment and want to see what the stars of the game are putting in their bags.
From new drivers to bizarre custom irons, below we take a look into the new equipment put in play ahead of the 2025 Masters.
Viktor Hovland Moves Into A Ping G430 LST Driver
While Viktor Hovland is known as a serial swing-tinkerer, his equipment, in particular his driver, has remained the same for a few years now. However, despite winning in his last start on the PGA Tour just two weeks ago, Hovland is set to upgrade his Ping G425 LST driver for a new Ping G440 LST driver.
Hovland's new weapon of choice is a 7.5° head, lofted down to 7.25° with a 35g weight set in the neutral port at the rear of the head. This is then powered by a Fujikura Ventus Velocore+ Black 6-TX playing at 45.75” - in summary, this is a scaffold pole with very little loft and your average Joe would likely struggle to get the ball off the ground with this thing. While Hovland will also be gaming a G440 fairway wood and hybrid, he looks set to stick with his trusted i210 irons that he started gaming even before turning pro back in 2018.
Sahith Theegala Puts An 8+ iron And 11-iron In The Bag
Yes, you read that correctly. The American looks set to use a crazy makeup of irons this week, including an 8+ iron and an 11-iron at Augusta National. It’s nice to hear that some tour professionals are just like us when it comes to holding little grudges against certain clubs in their bags, with the 7-iron reportedly being Theegala’s kryptonite. He had expressed his lack of love to the Ping Tour team about his 7-iron, and so this week the guys on the Ping tour van cooked him up something fairly unique - an 8+ iron. They have taken his 7-iron, welded in the number seven on the sole, ground it smooth and then screen-printed an 8 on the sole so he could still tell the difference between it and his standard 8-iron. The crazy part - it’s the same loft and lie as his original 7-iron, so it’s purely just a change of number on the sole.
Theegla had been experiencing the same issue with his pitching wedge and so they went through the same process as they did with the 7-iron, yet he opted for an 11 to be printed on the sole as he said he had already seen some 10-irons floating about on tour. He isn’t believed to actually have 11-iron in the bag this week, although it is at Augusta as a backup.
Min Woo Lee Adds Mini Driver To His Arsenal
The chef has been cooking over the past month, with a close call at The Players Championship, before finally fighting off a late charge from Scottie Scheffler at the Texas Children’s Houston Open to claim his first PGA Tour Victory. The Australian has speed and power to burn, often clocking north of 194mph ball speed, but it looks as though he may be looking for an alternative option to the big stick off the tee this week at Augusta National.
Golf.com’s, Johnny Wunder, is on the ground this week and took to socials to post about a new mini-driver build for Min Woo Lee. The Elyte mini-driver is one of Callaway’s latest releases and is available in both an 11.5° and 13.5° head - the latter option is the recent winner’s choice this week. This mini-driver will be equipped with a Fujikura Ventus Blue 90 X and tipped 1.25” and finished off with his customary Gripmaster leather grip.
Brooks Koepka Makes A Driver Switch
Despite under contract with Srixon golf, Koepka has had the luxury of playing what he chooses at the top end of the bag. He has played many TaylorMade drivers over the years, including the M2, SIM2 as well as a TaylorMade Qi10 ‘dot’ that was in his bag just last week at the LIV Golf Miami event.
Despite confirming his driver switch to ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt during Wednesday’s Par-3 tournament, the 5-time major champion didn’t confirm what model he will tee it up with come Thursday. The American was spotted testing a Titleist GT3 driver earlier in the week, so we highly anticipate that will be his choice, but we’ll have to keep our eyes peeled on the driving range before his first round to be sure.
