The PGA Tour's 7 best ball strikers and their iron selections

22/04/2024 17:36

The PGA Tour’s best ball strikers are often among the best players in the game.

Ball-striking takes into account play with both drivers and irons as well as some other clubs.

However, here we zero in on the irons each of the top ball strikers use.

Scottie Scheffler

Scottie Scheffler has an unorthodox style, but when it comes to his irons he is inspired by Tiger Woods.

"I played with Tiger at the Masters in 2020. He hits it so solid and flights it so well and does all kinds of stuff with the ball. I was like, 'I used Nike clubs for so long when he was helping develop those irons.' I'm like, why wouldn't I at least test his new irons with TaylorMade because they're his irons, and he obviously had some influence in the process of developing and producing the irons.

"I went home in the off-season, tested them out, and I saw that I was able to hit more shots with them. I was able to flatten out the flight a little bit more if I wanted to hit it low or hit it through the wind. And when I wanted to hit it higher, I could do that, as well. It gave me a little bit more variety in what I could do with the golf ball than the P730.

“And it's not a big difference, it's just when you put yourself in a 20mph wind in your face and want to flatten it out a little bit. I can flatten it out and have the ball be a little bit more stable with the head. It's only a couple yards, but for me it felt like a huge difference."

Irons: Srixon ZU85 (3, 4), TaylorMade P7TW (5-PW)
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus 3 Hybrid Prototype 10 X (3), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Xander Schauffele

The Mizuno MP-20 Iron is a unique choice of equipment for Xander Schauffele among his peers on the PGA Tour.

He is the only professional to use the club on tour, according to several tracking websites.

There are a handful of players using Mizuno irons, but none deploy the MP20.

His Callaway Apex irons are a little more common with the likes of Erik van Rooyen and Francesco Molinari using the clubs as well as LIV Golfer Jon Rahm.

Irons: Mizuno MP-20 (3), Callaway Apex TCB '24 (4-10)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Mid X100 (3), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-10)

Tony Finau

Tony Finau is one of the last golfers still using a Nike club in his bag after the company pulled out of the industry.

Finau favours the Nike Vapor Fly Pro 3-iron alongside his regular choices.

"My original lasted me about six years," he said. "So with my math, if this one lasts me six years, and my other backup lasts me another six years, I'll be about 50 years old by the time I'm done using both. It's a great club. It's one I've had in the bag since 2015, and I don't think it's going anywhere anytime soon. I hit it great."

Irons: Nike Vapor Fly Pro (3), Ping Blueprint (4-PW)
Shafts: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 105 Hybrid X (3), Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 Tour 120 TX

Corey Conners

Ping staffer Corey Conners uses fairly new irons from his favoured sponsor.

For his longer irons, he uses the Ping Blueprint S design while the Ping Blueprint T irons have him covered from six through to his pitching wedge.

This new array replaced the Ping iBlade irons that he was playing with in 2023.

Irons: Ping Blueprint S (4-5), Ping Blueprint T irons (6-PW), Project X 6.0 shafts

Ludvig Aberg

Aberg’s current irons are the latest version of the famed Titleist T100 range.

He carries the T100s from 4-PW with a KBS Tour 130 X shaft.

Brought into his bag in the latter half of 2023 at launch, the T100 is Titleist’s modern Tour iron as part of its T-Series range designed for the better player.

While Aberg used to play the 620MB, he moved to a full bag of T100 irons after penning his latest equipment deal with Titleist.

Irons: Titleist T100 (4-PW)
Shafts: KBS Tour 130 X

Cameron Young

Cameron Young has an intriguing setup for his irons.

On top of a T200 3-iron, he is carrying a Titleist T100 four and five-iron, and the rest of his irons go from six-iron down to nine-iron and are Titleist Prototypes fashioned after the 620MBs.

His 3-iron is fitted with an MMT Utility 105 TX shaft while the rest of his clubs use the tour-standard True Temper Dynamic Gold X7 shafts,

Irons: Titleist T200 (3), Titleist T100 (4-5), Titleist 631.CY Prototype (6-9)
Shafts: MMT Utility 105 TX (3), True Temper Dynamic Gold X7 (4-9)

Keith Mitchell

Mitchell carries a pretty special two iron in the Mizuno Pro 225.

A distance iron, known for being both fast and forgiving and a stalwart in his bag for a few seasons now, Mitchell makes good use of the Mizuno Pro 225.

Mitchell has some of the best golf blade irons in his bag – the Mizuno Pro 241 irons to back that up.

He has 4-PW with the KBS-C-Taper 130 X shaft.

Irons: Mizuno Pro 225 (two iron), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shaft, Mizuno Pro 241 (4-PW), KBS-C-Taper 130 X shafts.

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