As you’d expect, PING did so in a uniquely PING way. That original i500 combined playability with as much metalwood-style explosiveness as possible while still trying to keep a sleek and compact look.  

That’s a combo PING has spent the past eight years and three generations trying to perfect. Balancing launch, spin, distance and player-preferred shaping isn’t as easy as it sounds because something usually gets sacrificed. If you add “sweet feel” to the recipe, the task gets even harder.

So, the question is this: With the new i540 player’s distance irons, has PING inched closer to its goal of forming a more perfect union? Let’s take a look and see if PING has threaded that particularly vexing needle.

The new PING i540 irons: A tricky balancing act

If we use the 2024 PING i530 models as a baseline, there’s no reason to think the new i540 irons won’t be rocket launchers as well. In MyGolfSpy’s 2024 player’s distance iron testing, the i530 finished third overall and second for distance. While it showed good accuracy potential, it finished near the bottom of the test in forgiveness.

“The i530 was a little more distance-competitive than our previous offerings in that space,” PING Design Manager Travis Milleman tells MyGolfSpy. “We made a conscious decision to strengthen the lofts. We tried to balance that with a really low center of gravity to get the ball in the air and add stopping power.”

Stopping power is a challenge for any player’s distance iron. Stronger lofts require low centers of gravity to get up in the air. That’s the distance recipe but it’s also the low spin recipe. These irons have to rely on descent angle to hold greens.

“We know distance is a huge factor,” says Milleman. “If you have the longest iron in the fitting bay, that’s great. But you still have to play it on a golf course.”

While our testers found the i530 long and accurate (a left/right metric), they dinged it on distance consistency (a front/back metric). That’s something PING has tried to improve in the new i540 and the changes, even though you can’t really see them, are actually pretty radical.

The consistency parallax

With each iteration of the i500 series irons, PING has been able to push the center of gravity lower. As lofts have strengthened, spin has dropped, but peak height has increased as has descent angle. There is, however, a consistency benefit to lowering the CG.

When you hit a higher-CG iron off the turf, you’re impacting the ball below the CG line. That inherently adds spin but slows ball speed. That’s fine for control but a problem arises if you’re in the rough, where the ball sits a little higher. The ball is now at the CG level and you wind up hitting a rocket.

That’s one reason why you tend to hit irons longer off the tee than off the turf.

“Our desire to lower the CG in the i540 is to make the average impact more even with the CG,” says Milleman. “We’re trying to lower the CG to where it’s in perfect alignment with the golf ball at impact.”

The goal, it would appear, is to tighten up distance consistency by making all your shots rockets.

“The most efficient impact is in the center of the face at CG level,” Milleman explains. “The reason we have VFT (variable face thickness) is to make the heel and toe hotter. We’re making those areas thinner to have a more efficient impact.”

InR-Air in the side pocket

While the concept and hollow-body construction are mostly the same, there are a few radical differences between the i540 and its predecessors.

Since the original i500, PING has used metalwood construction in its player’s distance line. The new i540 is no different. It features a forged, variable-thickness face made from C300 maraging steel backed by a Hyper 17-4 stainless steel body. That’s the same construction PING uses in its fairways and hybrids but this face is a full nine percent thinner than that of the i530.

“When we’re designing these irons, we want the face to bend, flex and return,” says Milleman. “We want metalwood-type face bending.”

That gives awesome distance but also a clanky sound and feel. PING used up to four grams of hot melt in the i530 to control sound and vibration and it worked pretty well. For the i540, PING is taking to the air, as in inR-Air.

First used in last year’s hollow-body iDi driving irons, inR-Air is, in essence, a pressurized air pillow inserted into the cavity to dampen vibrations.

“It’s not overly pressurized,” Milleman explains. “It’s pressurized just enough to touch all of the sidewalls in the cavity to restrict and control vibrations without restricting face flex itself.”

\Since air weighs, well, nothing, PING can save a few more grams while still improving sound and feel. Additionally, inR-Air, along with a slightly reduced face height, helps bring the CG down 2.4 percent lower than it was in the i530. That club’s CG, by the way, was 10 percent lower than that of its predecessor, the i525.

However, the fact that an internal pressurized air pocket is vital to the iron’s performance raises a couple of serious questions.

Actually, more than a couple.

Why is there air?

If those questions are popping into your head right now, trust me, we’re way ahead of you.

For instance, what happens if the inR-Air pops or leaks? What about temperature? Will that impact how well it works? What about altitude? What happens when I travel with them on a plane?

Like I said, we’re on this.

Turns out, so is PING.

Figuring out how to get the insert into the head in the first place was tough enough. For obvious reasons, it couldn’t be done before welding.

“We had to be able to remove the back cover to slide it in,” says Milleman. “On i530, the back was just a steel wall. We’ve basically carved that out to slide the insert in.”

PING added an internal I-beam for better structure before covering the cavity with a chrome-plated ABS cap.  

While the insert touches the entire face and much of the internal structure, it’s not fully pressurized. That’s so it won’t inhibit face flex. On top of all that, PING tests 100 percent of the inserts before installation.

That, however, is nothing compared to their testing to make sure it stays inflated out there in the real world.

Temperature, pressure and the ideal gas law

Any middle-school science student knows temperature and elevation impact air pressure in anything (PV=nRT). If driving irons have inR-Air issues, you deal with it. Player’s distance irons are your bread and butter, however, so PING tested the hell out of it.

First, 110-mph robot impacts were repeated at 0° and 160° F. The higher temp may seem arbitrary but PING determined that’s about as hot as a club can get in a natural setting. They had an engineering intern put temperature sensors on three clubs and stuck them in a black sedan in the parking lot during a July heat wave in Arizona. One was in the trunk, one in the back seat and one on the dashboard. 160° F was the highest temperature recorded.

(For the record, don’t store your clubs on your dashboard in Phoenix in July)

So, they heated some i540 irons to 160° and let the PING Man robot whack away. They then tested at 0° after letting the clubs sit in a freezer overnight. PING also submerged a club in a bucket overnight to get water inside the head and then froze it. If water got into the insert, it would freeze and expand.

After all this testing, they found the inR-Air inserts remained perfectly intact.

To check air travel durability, PING measured a large batch of inserts and then shipped them around the world.

Seriously.

At each stop, PING engineers took the inserts out and measured them again before shipping them back to Phoenix.

“Our engineer here measured them all at his desk with calipers,” says Milleman. “Then we shipped them out again. We did this a bunch of times to see if they changed size. If they did, we’d have a problem.

“We found they didn’t change size at all.”

Yeah, yeah, yeah – but what if it does deflate?

As creative as these tests are, they still don’t answer one simple question.

What happens if it leaks and deflates somewhere down the road? Am I screwed?

Yep, PING tested that, too.

Remember, this is still Karsten Solheim’s company.

“We purposely deflated one and did a blind player test with three other clubs with perfect inserts,” says Milleman. “Of the 20 players who tested all the clubs, only one noticed any kind of a difference and that was the same guy who measured every single test insert at his desk.

“He only knew because he had personally hit thousands of these clubs during development. But even then, he wasn’t 100 percent sure.”

So, PING doesn’t think the inR-Air insert will ever deflate. But if it does lose pressure, you probably won’t notice. If that’s the case, then why bother with it at all?

“If you don’t have it in there, the club feels drastically different,” Milleman explains. “We did the same test using a club without an insert and you could feel the difference.”

Additionally, the material used to make the insert features very small molecules, smaller than actual oxygen molecules, which prevents natural molecular diffusion. It’s the same theory as using nitrogen in your tires instead of air.

PING i540 iron specifics

As mentioned, the PING i540 irons feature a lower CG compared to the i530. That’s due to mass saved by the thinner face, the lighter inR-Air pocket and 24 grams of tungsten in the 4- through 7-irons. PING also boosted heel-toe MOI and overall forgiveness a bit with a slightly longer blade length.

The loft structure is the same as the i530. It’s one of the strongest in the player’s distance category, with the 7-iron coming in at 29 degrees. As usual, PING also features Power and Retro Spec offerings with overall lofts either a bit stronger or weaker throughout the set, depending on what a golfer needs.

“There are golfers who want a little bit bigger club that still looks like a player’s iron,” says Milleman. “The i540 fits as a tweener model between the i240 and G440.”

These improvements, according to PING, do have tangible benefits. As usual, PING is prudent when reporting its test results. They’re seeing a 0.6-mph ball speed increase in 7-iron player testing with a five-foot higher max height and 100 rpm more spin. That all blends into 1.4 yards worth of new carry compared to the rocket launchers that were the i530.

So, 1.4 yards may not sound like a lot – heck, it isn’t a lot – but it’s a difference. Not enough to dump your i530 set for the new i540 but that should keep them on the radar for anyone looking to upgrade from older iron sets.

PING i540 irons: Specs, price and availability

The new PING i540 player’s distance irons will be available in 4-iron through a gap wedge or, as PING calls it, a UW, in left- and right-handed models. The set features PING’s unique, water-shedding Hydropearl 2.0 finish.

The stock shafts are the Dynamic Gold DG Mid 100 in steel and the PING Alta CB Blue in graphite. As is PING’s policy, there’s an impressive array of no-upcharge optional shafts including PING’s AWT 3.0 Ascending Weight Technology shafts (the shafts get lighter as the irons get longer) as well as True Temper Dynamic Gold, KBS Tour, Nippon N.S. Pro Modus³ Tour 105 and 115, the Elevate MPH 95, the UST Recoil Dart and the PING Alta Quick.

The Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 is the stock grip.

PING doesn’t publish retail pricing, only what it calls MSRP which is like “list” price. The MSRP is $225 per club in steel and $250 per club in graphite.

They’re available for pre-order and custom fitting starting today.

The post Can The New PING i540 Irons Redefine The Player’s Distance Category? appeared first on MyGolfSpy.

Instead of simply shrinking or repainting existing models, PING continues to build the G Le family around how women golfers play the game. That includes looking at usage data, fitting feedback and the types of sets players are building today. Here’s a first look at the PING G Le4 lineup.

PING G Le4 driver

The G Le4 driver focuses on improving speed and forgiveness while keeping the club easy to swing.

Key technologies include a forged T9S+ face, an updated Variable Face Thickness (VFT) design and a CarbonFly Wrap crown.

By removing weight from the crown in this new model, PING engineers were able to reposition mass deeper in the head.

In internal testing, that produced a few extra yards of carry but the more notable improvement was 22 percent tighter dispersion compared to the previous generation.

The driver is offered in a single 11.5-degree loft with adjustable trajectory tuning.

G Le4 fairway woods

Fairway woods tend to play a large role in many women’s golf bags and PING designed the G Le4 fairway lineup with that in mind.

The clubs feature a CarbonFly Wrap crown, Forged Maraging Steel FaceWrap construction and Spinsistency face technology.

The center of gravity has been moved lower in the head to help players launch the ball more easily from the turf. PING also adjusted lofts throughout the lineup to improve distance gaps between clubs.

The added loft in the higher-numbered woods is intended to prioritize launch and playability rather than simply chasing distance.

G Le4 hybrids

The G Le4 hybrids continue the theme of helping golfers launch the ball higher while maintaining consistent yardage gaps.

One of the biggest design changes is a shorter hosel which lowers the center of gravity and makes it easier to get the ball airborne. PING says the change lowers CG by roughly 15 percent, depending on the loft.

The hybrid lofts were also adjusted to help create more consistent spacing between clubs when paired with the irons.

G Le4 irons

The G Le4 irons use a cast 17-4 stainless steel head with a PurFlex badge designed to improve sound and feel.

The head shape is forgiving while maintaining a clean look at address. PING also incorporated an Eye2-inspired sand wedge as part of the set.

One change I found most interesting and helpful to women golfers is switching to an 8-iron as the primary fitting club for this set. PING found that many players in this category struggle to hit a 7-iron consistently during fittings and often replace that club with a hybrid anyway.

G Le4 putters

The G Le4 putter lineup includes three models:

• Anser 2D
• Louise
• Oslo

Each putter features a one-piece PEBAX elastomer insert designed to promote consistent roll.

The Louise and Oslo models use multi-material construction with a forged aluminum upper body and steel sole plate to move mass lower in the head for improved stability.

Standard length across the lineup is 33 inches.

New shafts and grip options

PING also introduced updated shafts and grips for the G Le4 family.

The previous ULT250 shaft has been replaced with ALTA LE Lite and Ultra Lite shafts, aligning the women’s lineup more closely with PING’s broader shaft-naming structure. The shafts remain lightweight with softer torque profiles designed to help players generate speed.

Grip sizing has also been updated. The stock grip now is Golf Pride Soft Tack Lilac in Aqua size, slightly larger than the previous standard sizing.

Pricing and availability

The PING G Le4 lineup is available for custom fittings and pre-order now through authorized PING retailers worldwide.

Pricing starts at $650 for the driver, $355 for fairway woods, $270 for hybrids and $202.50 per iron. The putter lineup ranges from $270 to $325 depending on the model.

The company also introduced a new WebFit Ladies app to help players explore recommended set configurations before visiting a fitter.

The post PING Updates Its Women’s Lineup With New G Le4 Family appeared first on MyGolfSpy.

Public Service Announcement: If you are ready to rage about the large profile, you are not the targeted G740 player.

Like their G730 predecessors, the PING G740 irons are super game-improvement irons. These are not the irons for a player who feathers fades into tucked pins. These are the irons whose larger profile gives the amateur golfer the confidence to make contact with the ball, delivering fine shots from not-so-fine swings.

The G740 irons are help-on-a-stick clubs for players looking for more forgiveness.

First feels and flights with the new PING G740 irons

I took the PING G740 irons to the driving range before knowing anything about them. This way, I could hit them without being biased by knowing PING’s design plan beforehand.

Obviously, my first thought was that they appeared larger than my previously played G730 irons. The soles of the G740s were definitely wider but the overall size appeared to be larger as well.

My second impression was that they felt amazing. I expected the heads to launch the balls high but I was surprised at how good they felt while doing so.

I learned later that I was feeling was exactly what PING intended me to feel.

“The G740 iron represents our return to the super game-improvement-iron category in a more deliberate way. The visibly wider sole and larger clubhead result in the most forgiving iron in our current lineup. At the same time, it’s our longest iron. The target golfer for the G740 iron needs more consistency in their game, and the larger face helps ensure better results from inconsistent strikes, leading to faster speed and more forgiveness. Golfers who fit into the G740 iron will be very pleased with its performance and enjoy the benefits of hitting more greens.”

-John K. Solheim, PING CEO and President

The G740’s few feel-focused build plan

The PING G740 irons are built to maximize forgiveness and distance. What I found most intriguing about the G740s is that PING could incorporate both of those assistive technologies while also delivering a pleasing impact sound and feel.

Often, the feedback from game-improvement and super game-improvement irons is limited. Good swings and bad swings deliver similar ball flights, this is the point. However, good and bad strikes can also deliver similar impact sensations, which is not really a good thing for improving.

For a golfer trying to improve their swing, the lack of feedback is problematic. How can you improve your ball striking if you don’t know where you are hitting the ball on the face?

The PING G740 irons walk that narrow line of correcting ball flight from non-ideal impacts and providing feedback about said impacts.

Flush strikes are marshmallow-like delights while deviations from center feel clunkier.

The key thing is that both of those shots end up fairly close to each other. At the risk of repeating myself, it is impressive how PING made the G740 irons feel so good while maintaining their assistive nature.

PING G740 iron specifications

• Irons: 5-9, PW, UW, 50°, 56°
• Loft options: Standard, Power Spec, Retro Spec
• Stock shafts: PING AWT 3.0 (R, S, X), PING ALTA CB Blue graphite (SR, R, S)
• Optional stock shafts: Dynamic Gold Mid 100 (R300, S300), Dynamic Gold (S300, X100), Dynamic Gold 120 (S300, X100), KBS Tour (R, S, X), Nippon N.S. Pro Modus 3 Tour 105 (R, S, X), Nippon N.S. Pro Modus 3 Tour 115 (R, S, X), Elevate MPH 95 (R, S), UST Recoil Dart 65 (A), 75 (R, S), PING ALTA Quick 35/45
• Stock grip: Golf Pride 360 Tour Velvet in six sizes (Blue -1/16”, Red -1/32”, Aqua -1/64”, White- Std, Gold +1/32”, Orange +1/16”)
• U.S. MSRP: $202.50 per club with stock steel shaft; $217.50 per club with stock graphite shaft

G740 rewinds the profile

The recent trend in both game-improvement and super game-improvement irons is to make the irons look like non game-improvement irons. Most of the time, this involves building hollow blade-shaped designs where the assistive technologies are all hidden inside.

By removing the necessity to look like something it isn’t, PING was able to spend more time focusing on forgiveness. The PING G740 irons are overtly SGI irons. The soles are wide with the rear section of the sole visible at address in many of the irons.

In many ways, the new G740 iron looks like a combination of the previous-generation G730 irons and PING’s 2014 Karsten iron line. By embracing more of the Karsten profile, PING was able to improve upon the G730’s already significant assistive characteristics.

The new sole design is 22 percent wider than the sole of the G440 irons. The new width, especially with the long irons, is hard to miss. However, you may not have noticed that the wide sole has a dual-camber design. This allows the sole to move through the turf more effectively than a wide single-plane sole, ideally helping the amateur golfer eliminate fat shots.

One of the most subtle aspects of the new design is that the heads are not as tall as the G730 irons. PING lowered the topline height, repositioning that mass into the new wider flange.

Not only did this reposition the center of gravity for the head lower and more rearward, promoting higher launches, but it was also how PING improved the feel.

By removing metal from the topline and the hosel, PING was able to expand the sole and the length dimensions. From there, they could tweak the face contours and its interactions with the PURFlex insert to deliver the desired feel.

The PING G740 player should buy the whole set

Getting into golf is costly and confusing. Though not only for new golfers, the G740 irons eliminate some of the club-buying confusion that new golfers encounter.

With so many options, how can a new player possibly know what mix of woods, irons and wedges they need to play their best?

PING has focused on fitting for 50 years and would no doubt recommend that even the newest of golfers would benefit from a fitting session. The G740 set make-up demonstrates that PING also understands that simplification of the club selection process for the new player is helpful.

A new golfer who knows nothing about golf’s silly things like loft and lie can order a set of PING G740 irons from 5-iron through 56-degree wedge and be all set to play.

At the top of the bag, you have a 21-degree 5-iron that will get the ball moving with hybrid-like forgiveness and distance. At the other end, PING improved short-game spin by machining the faces on the PW, UW, 50-degree and 56-degree wedges.

The G740 56-degree wedge is a great example of how the bottom of this set is not just there to boost the club count. PING built the G740 56 to resemble their iconic Eye 2 wedge.

Based upon my experience, this wedge will help a lot of players get out of bunkers. It’s a magic wand in the sand.

High launch = playable distances

A 21-degree 5i is a strong-lofted club. I went back and checked the specs on my first set of game-improvement irons and that 5i had a loft of 25 degrees. Under the old club-building rules, strengthening the loft of a 5i by four degrees would result in a club that launches much lower, potentially delivering balls that struggle to hold the green.

As I said, that’s how club building worked in the olden days, like way back in 2012.

These days, PING and other companies deftly manipulate metal placement in the head to launch balls to towering heights. The only way to keep shots with modern irons from entering the ozonosphere is to strengthen lofts.

The launch/loft formula the PING engineers developed for the G740 irons works very well. The ball goes a long way but it also spins enough and descends steep enough to stop on the green.

I was expecting the strong-lofted long irons to roll for days after landing. Instead, they settled in place.

For the high-handicap player, or any golfer really, this ball flight leads to repeatable distances and better scores.

G740 irons are here to help

If you want the perfect combination of fun and frustration, take up golf. Feel the joy of a flushed 7-iron and the crushing confusion when you top the same club on the next hole. This game is the best!

I mentioned that new golfers will appreciate this set but others will as well. Naturally, a veteran player who struggles with iron play would also benefit from the PING G740’s forgiveness.

The long irons in this set are so easy to hit that I can see players building combo sets with them or even just adding them as driving irons.

Play the clubs that help you play better

Golf is riddled with ridiculous and often condescending “rules.” Iron design is one of the places where those silly biases are often voiced. How many times have you heard “Those irons are huge!” or “Those lofts are jacked!”?

Typically, it is a better player making these comments. The level of negativity is unnecessary. Nobody is taking your blades away and making you switch to cavity-backs. Some of us need the help.

I sometimes wonder if there are Tour de France riders who feel similar ire when they see a small child on a balance bike. 

“That bike doesn’t even have pedals!”

The bottom line is that PING’s new G740 irons allow people who would otherwise struggle with less forgiving irons to enjoy the game. The combination of a larger profiles, significant offsets, strong lofts and generous dashes of sole width creates an iron set that allows the intended player to enjoy every trip across the turf.

I think of it this way. The PING G740 irons fit a player niche, just like PING’s Blueprint irons fit a player niche. The two sets do the same thing, just at opposite ends of the player spectrum. In both cases, the irons suit the player.

That is the point.

The G740 irons are a reminder that PING’s motto of “Play Your Best” is directed at golfers of all skill levels.

The post PING Takes Distance And Forgiveness To New Heights with the G740 Irons appeared first on MyGolfSpy.

The junior golf market has exploded—up more than 50 percent since 2019, according to Bridgestone—and with that growth comes a simple reality: kids need equipment that fits their game, not scaled-down versions of what adults play. With that, Bridgestone and US Kids Golf (both headquartered in the Atlanta area, for what it’s worth) have teamed up to create the BOOM IT Junior—a low-compression golf ball purpose-built for developing swings, developing bodies, and the kind of clubhead speeds that come with being, you know, a kid.

What’s in the Ball

The BOOM IT Junior features an extremely low compression core—Bridgestone puts it at just over 40, and while our gauge tends to measure a touch firmer than theirs, BOOM IT should land among the softest balls on the market regardless. The dimple design is engineered to promote a high launch for maximum carry, which makes sense for players who aren’t exactly generating tour-level speed.

At $22.99 a dozen, the price point is reasonable—arguably more so than some of the alternatives. And here’s the thing: while this is positioned as a junior ball, that compression value suggests it could work as a slightly more favorably priced alternative to something like the Callaway Supersoft for adults who prioritize soft feel and easy launch. Bridgestone probably won’t market it that way, but the math is the math.

MindSet Makes the Cut

The BOOM IT Junior also includes Bridgestone’s MindSet alignment graphic—a visual system developed by Jason Day and performance coach Jason Goldsmith that’s built around a three-step pre-shot sequence: Identify, Visualize, Focus. In 2026, Bridgestone staffers Jason Day, Chris Gotterup, Kurt Kitayama, and Boo Weekley are all competing with MindSet graphics on their tour balls.

Is MindSet going to transform your eight-year-old’s short game overnight? No. But as a tool for reinforcing the habit of stepping through a pre-shot routine—visualizing the shot, committing to execution—it has genuine value, particularly for juniors who learn and internalize the process early. Building those habits now is the kind of thing that compounds over a lifetime of golf.

The Bigger Play

Let’s be honest about what BOOM IT is beyond the product itself: it’s a brand play. The name appeals to kids (because of course it does), and it serves as an introduction to the Bridgestone ecosystem. The company all but certainly hopes that a junior who starts with BOOM IT will eventually graduate into an e6, then a Tour B, and stay in the family for the long haul. I suppose it’s worth a try.

And the graduation path makes sense. As players and their games mature, it’s natural to move into more complex constructions—multi-layer tour balls with urethane covers and the spin separation that comes with them. But for the kid who’s still swinging US Kids clubs and figuring out which end of the putter to hold, a softer, easier-launching ball is the right call.

The partnership with US Kids Golf—founded in 1996, running over 2,000 junior tournaments a year—adds credibility. While competition in the junior equipment space has increased significantly in recent years, US Kids remains one of the most recognized names in the category. Having them involved from the ground up rather than slapping a co-branded logo on after the fact suggests this was a collaborative effort, not a licensing deal.

Availability

The Bridgestone BOOM IT Junior golf ball ($22.99/dozen) is available online and at retail beginning March 27 at bridgestonegolf.com.

The post Bridgestone Launches BOOM IT Junior Golf Ball appeared first on MyGolfSpy.

The first is the School of Mikey, from the old Life cereal commercial.

He won’t eat it. He hates everything.

The second is the Neo-Mikey School, after he takes a spoonful.

He likes it. Hey Mikey!

OK, OK, you have to be old enough to get it. But, trust me, the analogy fits better than you realize.

The third school has nothing to do with Mikey or, in fact, cereal commercials in general.

We call it the Maybe-I’ll-Try-It-When-The-Price-Comes-Down School. If that’s your proud alma mater, my friends, your day is here. Wilson is joining the zero-torque parade with two new models in its Infinite putter lineup.

From what we’ve seen so far, these new Wilson ZT Infinite putters might just appeal to all three schools.

Wilson ZT Infinite putters: Zero torque for the everyday golfer

“We’ve seen the proliferation of zero-torque and low-torque putters in the marketplace,” Wilson CAD Engineer Scott James tells MyGolfSpy. “We’ve seen they fit a lot of players.”

Wilson’s Infinite putter line has earned a special niche. They’ve proven to be high-performing flat sticks at relative bargain-basement pricing. Last year’s Infinite Buckingham copped top honors in MyGolfSpy’s Most Wanted mallet putter testing. At $129.99, it blew away putters three times the price.

The two new Wilson ZT Infinite putters, the Lakeview and the 606, are $199 each, making them the lowest-priced zero-torque putters offered by a mainstream OEM. Like the rest of the Infinite line, the naming convention is pure Chicago. Lakeview is an iconic North Side neighborhood, home to Wrigleyville and Wrigley Field. The 606 is a popular elevated greenway and multi-use trail in northwest Chicago, named after the city’s most common ZIP code prefix.

The putters bearing those names are true zero-torque, or at least as close as is possible. They’re designed to keep the putter face square to the target throughout the stroke without any extra manipulation by the golfer.

We’ll get into the specifics of each putter in a second. First, however, we need to share Wilson’s discussion on zero torque and how it can benefit more golfers than you think.

Give Wilson credit. For a company just entering this space, its explanation of zero-torque technology is better than most.

Torque! Huh? What is it good for?

Absolutely nuthin’. Say it again …

I know, Edwin Starr wasn’t singing about torque. But if he did, he’d have been mostly right. Torque is a natural force that makes a putter want to rotate during the stroke. Whether a putter is heel- or center-shafted, whether it’s toe-down or face balanced, it’s going to exert some torque. As the person holding the putter, you’re trying to counteract that torque.

“A heel-shafted, toe-down putter is going to exert a lot of torque on a player’s hands,” explains James. “They tend to promote more face opening and closing. Going zero-torque takes a lot of that out of the stroke.”

That, according to the prevailing zero-torque wisdom, lessens your margin for error. The key to the design is to have the shaft axis pass directly through the putter head’s center of gravity. If you do that, the putter head won’t want to rotate on its own and you won’t have to fight it. That makes it very different from a standard center-shafted putter.

“The difference is where your shaft axis passes relative to the CG,” explains James. “With a center-shafted putter, the shaft is either in line with the face or just a little offset, which puts the center of gravity behind the shaft.

“Since you’re holding the putter at a lie angle at address, it still wants to swing open during the stroke. There’s still a force that your hands are counteracting.”

Low-torque vs. zero-torque. What’s the difference?

Technically, just a little bit of torque, but functionally, not a lot. Most of the low-torque putters today are low enough torque that you won’t notice one way or the other. There are, however, some subtleties.

“It’s easier to mask a poorly balanced putter when you do low torque because you can design it so it always hangs toe-up,” says James. “A zero-torque putter isn’t supposed to do that. It’s supposed to spin freely so it’s harder to mask poor balance.”

Another feature of true zero-torque putters is built-in shaft lean. The new Wilson ZT Infinite 606 and Lakeview putters feature one degree of forward lean.

“The reason you do that is so your hands sit close to the face at address,” James explains. “Otherwise, your hands would end up too far behind the ball since the shaft axis intersects the CG. That would make the putter difficult to control and make it too much of a different experience from most putters.”

Weight plays a role in performance, as well. Some players find that zero-torque putters feel lighter than traditional putters, even though they may in fact be the same weight.

“That’s because you don’t have torque acting on your hands so you’re not counteracting that force.”

OK, let’s get a look at those new Wilson ZT Infinite putters

The new Wilson ZT Infinite Lakeview and 606 are two very different putters but there are several commonalities.

First, both are manufactured using metal injection molding technology, or MIM.

“This is the first time we’ve used MIM for an entire clubhead,” says James. “We’ve used it previously but mostly for weights within a club head.”

MIM allows for finer details and a cleaner, smoother surface finish than you can get with casting. The Lakeview, specifically, features lines that appear to have been milled but are actually part of the MIM process.

“There also tends to be more precise material placement that’s important for zero-torque putters,” James adds. “You need to control where the mass is to ensure you’re getting your CG as close to the shaft axis as possible.”

The Lakeview is a larger, half-moon shape based on the Infinite Bean. The 606, although it has Spider DNA, is more of an original design for this project. Its compact, winged mallet head has a fairly high MOI naturally and, at 385 grams, is a little heavier than the Lakeview. It also features what James calls a “rocker sole.”

“It doesn’t force you to forward press if you don’t want to. The Lakeview has more of a traditional sole that encourages the forward shaft lean a little more. It all depends on what the golfer is looking for.”

Alignment and milling

If you’ve found alignment aids on zero-torque putters confusing, you’re not alone. Traditional lines simply don’t work.

“There are limitations with zero-torque designs any time the shaft axis passes through the center of gravity,” James explains. “Traditional lines are difficult because the shaft bisects where the line would normally go.”

Infinite putters have traditionally featured three alignment lines. The outer two frame the ball while the middle line indicates dead center of the face. The Lakeview instead features a smaller, more traditional alignment line on the topline. The 606 lines are a little more out there.

“We decided to keep the heel and toe lines but we pushed them to the back of the putter,” James says. “We mocked up a few with and without a center dot and found the dot helped players find the center of the face when lining up the ball.”

Like the rest of the Infinite line, the 606 and Lakeview faces are fly-milled for consistent feel and distance control. That’s been a bit of a bugaboo with zero-torque putters, especially those made from aluminum.

“Aluminum is a softer material than the steel we use,” says James. “You do need a little more input to get the same results. One isn’t better than the other; it’s just what the player prefers.”

The Wilson ZT Infinite $64,000 question …

In this case, it’s the $199 question. As a full-line, mainstream OEM, how can Wilson offer a high-quality, zero-torque putter and still make money at just under two bills?

As it turns out, size matters. So does material.

“The main thing is these putters aren’t as large a platform as some of the others out there,” James says. “With aluminum construction, you see larger heads that have to be 100 percent milled to have the proper surface finish.

“We had to stick with steel to stay under $200. With that, you don’t get as large a head.”

While there are aluminum zero-torque putters in this price range, they’re from direct-to-consumer brands with no opportunity to demo them. The Wilson ZT Infinite putters will be easy to try in person.

“We’ll have good availability of our zero-torque line at retail this year,” says James. “We want players to try them out and see what works best for them.”

Is zero-torque right for you? And, if so, which one?

Wilson is taking an interesting approach with the ZT Infinite putters.

First, it’s not overloading you with choices. Since the Infinite line, at its price point, doesn’t lend itself to custom fitting, that’s a good thing. Second, and perhaps more importantly, with the relatively small built-in forward shaft lean (only one degree; most others are three degrees), the leap from a conventional putter isn’t huge.

“We’ve seen players who didn’t think zero-torque was for them,” James says. “But once they gave an Infinite a try, they realized they’re not as different as they were expecting.”

Additionally, since the Infinite heads are on the small side compared to some other zero-torques, the shaft axis isn’t that far from the face. With larger models, the shaft axis gets stretched farther back in the head. That requires even more forward shaft lean and the putter winds up looking, well, weird.

So, should you try zero-torque? As always, it depends.

“Players with more arc in their strokes tend to fit into heel-shafted putters with greater toe hang,” James explains. “Players with a slight arc or are more straight-back/straight-through tend to fit into zero-torque.”

Zero-torque putters do require some re-programming when you first try one. The built-in forward press can take some getting used to as does the fact that, for the first time ever, you’re not fighting torque you didn’t even know was there. Practicing with your thumbs off the grip helps.

“You have to have a synergistic relationship with your putter,” says James. “Do you need to feel that resistance from the putter or would you rather the putter just go along for the ride and be your partner?”

Hey, we fight plenty of battles on the golf course. Do we have to fight one with the putter, too?

Wilson ZT Infinite putters: Specs, price and availability

As mentioned, the new Wilson ZT Infinite putters come in two styles.

The half-moon-shaped Lakeview features a 368-gram head weight with a single alignment line for visual simplicity.

The 606 is a compact winged mallet with a 385-gram head weight. It features two lines in the rear section of the mallet to help frame the ball plus a single alignment dot on the topline.

Both come with a premium Wilson-branded midsize grip and will be available in 34- and 35-inch models. A 33-inch women’s model is due out later this year.

The Wilson ZT Infinite Lakeview and 606 putters are available starting today and will retail for $199.99.

For more information, visit the Wilson Golf website.

The post Wilson Goes Zero-Torque And The Price Is Eye-Opening appeared first on MyGolfSpy.

This week, the Tour heads north to Ponte Vedra Beach for The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. 

This Week: The Players Championship

• Date: March 12-15, 2026
• Location: Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
• Course: TPC Sawgrass
• How to watch: NBC, Golf Channel, ESPN+, Peacock
• Purse: $25,000,000
• Defending champ: Rory McIlroy

Which skills the course rewards

TPC Sawgrass marks the third event on the Florida Swing this season.

As a Par 72 at around 7,200 yards, Sawgrass plays fairly moderately in difficulty most years, depending on the weather. The famous Pete Dye designed it in 1980 with The Players in mind and features water hazards on 14 holes, along with all the penalizing bunkers we came to know him for.

With tree-lined fairways and all the hazards lurking, Sawgrass is certainly a course that favors accuracy and a calculated approach around the course. Despite being just 7,200 yards with four Par 5s, the cutline has been under par just two times since 2003 at The Players.

Sawgrass has often been cited as not favoring any style of player… only the best player that given week. Much of that is true, as many styles have come out on top of The Stadium Course.

But there are plenty of numbers that point to improved chances of success. 

Distance at Sawgrass is relatively much less important than in the average Tour event. Much of that is due to the number of forced layups Dye designed. Holes 1, 4, 6, 10 and 15 almost completely take out driver, while there are a few more that should see less than driver depending on the player. 

Hitting the fairway, on the other hand, has often led to success. The rough at Sawgrass isn’t penalizing, but getting out of position for approach shots is.

Sawgrass has often been a ball striker’s paradise when looking at past winners. Simply hitting fairways and greens is a winning formula, and you don’t have to do too much on or around the greens compared to some putting contests we’ve seen.

You don’t have to be a great putter to win at The Players. That should be obvious, as guys like Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, Henrik Stenson, Si Woo Kim and Scottie Scheffler have won here.

Much like last week at Bay Hill, you get four opportunities on Par 5s here that most players can reach in two if they keep it in the short stuff. It’s imperative that players take advantage of these chances and clean up around the greens to make birdies when they get the chance.

Finally, I’m looking at Strokes Gained on Pete Dye courses this week as well. We often see a ton of crossover success on Pete Dye-designed PGA Tour courses. Since there are so many of them, this gives us a great database on who sees all of Dye’s tricky green complexes well while striking it around his mostly narrow courses. 

How the model works

The weighted model this week over the last 24 rounds is 20% SG: Approach, 15% greens in regulation percentage, 15% SG: Pete Dye, 10% good drive percentage, 10% SG: Off the Tee, 10% SG: Par 5, 10% SG: Around the Green and 10% SG: Putting (Bermuda).  

Power rankings

(DraftKings odds—winner/top 5/top 10 with favorite picks in bold)

10. Maverick McNealy (+4700, +790, +370)

Model rank: 16^th

McNealy continues to be one of the most consistent players in golf, but he hasn’t produced the upside needed to contend for a title since last year at Harbour Town. He was T9 here in 2024 but surprisingly hasn’t played Pete Dye courses overly well in his career. Ranks 17^th in SG: Par 5.

9. Cameron Young (+3200, +570, +280)

Model rank: 17^th

After a slow start to the year, Young has it rolling now with a T7 at Riviera and a T3 last week at Bay Hill. He’s gained in each category in those finishes, which should bode well for a balanced course like TPC Sawgrass. The only thing holding Young back will be a poor history at the Sawgrass and Dye courses in general. Ranks 5^th in SG: OTT. 

8. Ludvig Aberg (+2800, +530, +265)

Model rank: 27^th

Much like Young, Aberg is heading in the right direction as of late after a T3 at Bay Hill. The ball striking was absolutely supreme, and Aberg looked a lot like the guy we expected to be a top-3 player in the world. He finished 8^th here as a debutant in 2024. Ranks 14^th in SG: Par 5. 

7. Tommy Fleetwood (+2500, +450, +215)

Model rank: 10^th

Fleetwood ended a long stretch of top results on Tour with a 49^th-place finish at Bay Hill last week. He was completely out of whack, but I have no reason to believe it will continue until it becomes more of a trend. Fleetwood has had plenty of success at Sawgrass and Dye courses. Ranks 8^th in SG: ARG. 

6. Daniel Berger (+5000, +810, +375)

Model rank: 6^th

Berger loves his home state. He unfortunately couldn’t close out the win last week at Bay Hill due to an absurd short game week from Akshay Bhatia. But Berger has played wonderful golf at Sawgrass over the last few years and seems primed to get right back in contention. Ranks 3^rd in SG: APP. 

5. Matt Fitzpatrick (+4100, +690, +325)

Model rank: 4^th

I’m still trending high on Fitzpatrick, who did finally have a poor week at Bay Hill. The positive is that his putter finally warmed up, which had been the only thing holding him back from contending for victories on the West Coast. He has a pair of top 10’s at The Players. Ranks 2^nd in SG: P (Bermuda). 

4. Russell Henley (+2700, +475, +230)

Model rank: 5^th

Henley quickly bounced back from a rare bad week at Riviera with a quiet T6 in his title defense at Bay Hill. The irons still haven’t been great, but it’s likely only a matter of time before they click and Henley wins again. It’s shocking to me that Henley hasn’t played Sawgrass well, but maybe this is the week. Ranks 11^th in SG: P (Bermuda). 

3. Si Woo Kim (+2400, +435, +210)

Model rank: 8^th

Kim continues to absolutely stripe the ball each week, and now he heads to the place where he shocked the world with a victory in 2017. He’s added two more top 10’s at Sawgrass and has to be feeling confident this week. If he putts well, I’d have to imagine he has a good shot at winning. Ranks 1^st in SG: APP. 

2. Scottie Scheffler (+435, +102, -188)

Model rank: 1^st

I can’t remember the last time I wouldn’t have had Scheffler No. 1 in the Power Rankings, but here we are. The form has been concerning enough to do this, as he’s now lost shots to the field with his irons in back-to-back starts. That won’t cut it here, and he also disappointed at Sawgrass last year with a T20. Ranks 2^nd in SG: OTT. 

1. Collin Morikawa (+2050, +390, +192)

Model rank: 2^nd

There is enough here for me to consider Morikawa as the favorite this week. Since winning at Pebble Beach, Morikawa has continued to hit his irons incredibly well. He’s also added distance off the tee and finally found some sustained success on and around the greens. He was T10 here last year. Ranks 4^th in SG: APP. 

The post Players Championship: Power Rankings, Gambling Odds And Favorite Bets appeared first on MyGolfSpy.

Speaking on the Straight Facts Homie podcast ahead of the 2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational, Jim Furyk proposed what he acknowledges is an unpopular idea: reduce the maximum size of driver heads for professional golfers.

Yeah. I don’t love that idea.

“I’m not going to be very popular for this, but I would reduce the size of the driver head,” Furyk said. “Maybe not necessarily for the average golfer, but I would do that for the golf professional. Because you can hit it all over the face right now and it’s pretty forgiving.”

He’s not entirely wrong. Modern 460cc drivers are remarkably forgiving. High-MOI designs have made off-center hits far less punishing than they were even a decade ago, and the result is that elite players can swing aggressively without fearing the consequences of a miss. Furyk’s argument is essentially that the equipment has removed too much of the penalty for imprecision.

Fair enough. But would shrinking the head actually solve the problem he’s describing?

Probably not.

Shrink the driver

Furyk pointed to his own mini driver as evidence. “I play a mini driver in my bag for my three wood. And when I hit that mini good, it goes darn near just as far as my driver. It’s less than 10 yards difference. But if I mishit it, if I hit it a little thin, a little on the toe, a little on the heel, I lose a bunch of yardage.”

Here’s the thing: the reason Furyk’s mini driver goes nearly as far as his full-sized driver on a good strike isn’t because the head is smaller. It’s because the shaft is shorter. And the reason it’s more punishing on a miss is largely due to the head size and the MOI reduction that comes with a smaller footprint. That becomes less important with shorter shafts tend to produce more centered contact for most golfers.

If the USGA were to cap head size at, say, 400cc or 350cc, the predictable response from manufacturers would be longer mini drivers. The current generation of mini drivers sits around 43 to 44 inches. Give equipment companies a reason to stretch that to 45 or 45.5 and you’d recover most of the lost distance while also benefiting from a smaller, more aerodynamic head that moves faster through the air. Assuming the USGA wouldn’t also further restrict shaft length, a smaller head mandate might actually produce more distance, not less.

And then there’s the MOI question. Yes, a smaller head is inherently lower MOI, which theoretically means a bigger speed penalty for missing center. But it’s worth noting that a lot of the “small head, bigger miss” thinking dates back to a time of persimmon woods and wound balls. Modern materials and face technologies have changed the equation significantly.

Is MOI still relevant? Definitely. Is the penalty as dramatic as some believe? Nope. Once equipment optimization and player ability are factored in, the net effect on distance may be minimal. Top-end hitters—your Knapps, your Finaus—would probably still produce similar driving distances with a 340cc head optimized for their swing.

The idea also assumes players are swinging out of their shoes, but many of the longest hitters on tour generate elite speed without overswinging. They’re efficient, not reckless. A smaller head doesn’t change that.

Grow the grass?

If the actual objective is to penalize the miss and reward precision—and I think that’s what Furyk is really getting at—there’s a simpler, cheaper, and more immediately effective solution: grow the rough.

Lou Stagner’s research on the topic reveals some interesting details. According to his analysis, the penalty for hitting into the rough on the PGA Tour cost approximately 0.31 shots per hole in 2004-06. By 2017-18, that number had dropped to roughly 0.26 shots. The rough has literally gotten easier. In most tournament situations today, it simply isn’t penal enough to put fear in anybody.

You want to separate the best ball-strikers from the guys who are just bombing and gouging (I’m not entirely convinced that’s a real thing)? Bring the rough back to heights we saw a decade or more ago. That’s a course setup decision, not an equipment rule change, and it would have an immediate, measurable impact on scoring.

The bifurcation problem

Furyk also suggested that a head-size restriction could apply only to professionals, not amateurs. The USGA and R&A have been steadfastly opposed to bifurcation, and while I don’t hate the concept in theory, golf is unique in that the lines between professional and amateur are often blurry. US Open qualifiers, mid-am competitors, college players—where do you draw the line? Having two sets of equipment rules would add complexity to a sport that already has more than enough of it.

We’ve already facing one rollback (we don’t need another)

That said, when it comes to equipment changes, the governing bodies aren’t exactly sitting idle. And while I continue to believe the ball rollback is one of the more ridiculous decisions they’ve made in recent memory, revised golf ball testing conditions—initially slated for 2028—now appear to be getting pushed back to 2030, and the USGA and R&A are actively studying driver forgiveness—specifically MOI limits—though nothing has been finalized on that front.

Look, Furyk’s instinct isn’t wrong. The modern driver is absurdly forgiving and the gap between a perfect strike and a mediocre one has never been smaller. But the solution he’s proposing would likely trigger an innovation arms race that recovers most of the lost performance within a product cycle or two. Equipment companies are very, very good at finding speed. It’s literally what they do.

If you want to make driving accuracy matter again, the answer probably isn’t in the equipment rule book. It might not even require a rule change at all. But if we’re going to have the conversation—and apparently we are—let’s at least make sure we’re solving the right problem.

The post Jim Furyk’s Solution to the Distance Problem Would Have Minimal Impact appeared first on MyGolfSpy.

But this 27-year-old has a lot of aches and pains, especially after a round of golf.

There are a few constants in my game. I’m good for at least one shank per round, a few heely cuts with the mini driver (instead of my typical swooping draw) and two painful shin splints.

That, and sore shoulders. That spot beneath the shoulder blades never feels relaxed.

Which is why I was an early adopter of the massage gun. Percussive massage technology has come a long way and Hyperice is the brand that I feel is leading the charge on the innovation front.

Heck, their Hyperboots have given me great relief from my pesky plantar fasciitis that flares up from time to time.

Today, Hyperice announced a few key updates to their popular Hypervolt lineup of percussive massage guns. Three models, three distinct feature sets and one incredible value proposition: pain-free (or less painful) golf.

Let’s take a closer look at the Hypervolt Go 3, Hypervolt 3 and Hypervolt 3 Pro.

Hypervolt Go 3: The “Budget King”

No, Hyperice itself isn’t calling the Hypervolt Go 3 “the budget king.” That’s a direct quote from yours truly. Because at $149, it does everything you need.

The Hypervolt Go 3 has the following features:

• 5 speeds
• 4 hours battery life
• USB-C charging
• Two different heads

That’s 33 percent more battery than the Hypervolt Go 2.

Oh, and it fits neatly into your golf bag. Not bad, Hyperice. Not bad.

But what about the other two models? That’s where things get steamy …

Hyperice heats up Hypervolt 3, Hypervolt 3 Pro

The Hypervolt 3 and 3 Pro are the more advanced big brothers to the Hypervolt Go 3. They both have a slightly larger form factor, weigh a little more, but provide a few things that little brother doesn’t, including;

• Heated head attachment (the piece de resistance)
• 6 speeds (5 on Hypervolt 3)
• Pressure sensor indicator to guide your intensity
• Connection via Bluetooth to the Hyperice app for a guided, customizable recovery experience

Yeah, that heated head attachment is the real deal. Because sitting in the shower for 30 minutes to loosen up my shoulder blades isn’t always an option. And because I’m stuck paying that water bill.

Jokes aside, the Hypervolt 3 and 3 Pro are the real deal, big-boy percussion massage guns. They hit hard, heat up and get the job done.

Something for everyone

Whether you’re a mathlete like me or an elite athlete like Tony Covey, Hyperice’s new lineup of percussion massage guns has something for you.

Any budget, any fitness level.

Because we could all use a little more recovery.

The post Hyperice Upgrades Lineup Of Percussion Massage Devices appeared first on MyGolfSpy.

Chick-fil-a, Diet Coke and the Georiga Aquarium in are all pretty high up on that list.

But that special tournament in the sleepy town of Augusta just hits different, and so does this new apparel capsule from TravisMathew.

Dubbed “Our Favorite Time of the Year”, the limited collection offers a rallying cry to fans of golf’s biggest tournament.

Select pieces feature the phrase “Louder Please”, a bold statement that some shots, putts and tournaments deserve more than a simple golf clap.

TravisMathew nailed the messaging here. And they also nailed the delivery, by way of Akshay Bhatia, who heads to Augusta National Golf Club next month on the heels of his win at the API.

Bhatia has to wait until the Masters to rock it, but you don’t. You can shop the limited “Our Favorite Time of the Year” collection starting now at TravisMathew.

The post TravisMathew Celebrates “Our Favorite Time Of the Year” appeared first on MyGolfSpy.

It’s time we include Srixon-Cleveland-XXIO in golf’s “Big Five.” Yeah, you can make a strong case for Mizuno and COBRA. However, considering its combination of clubs, golf balls and overall momentum, I’m giving Srixon-Cleveland-XXIO the nod.

(Not to shortchange Cleveland or XXIO but for the sake of this article, let’s agree to shorten the corporate identity to Srixon. It’s easier on the keyboard.)

Being a Big Five candidate certainly wasn’t in the cards for Srixon a decade ago. In terms of market share, the group was firmly planted in the “Other” category. How Srixon made it from there to here, not to mention the entirety of Srixon’s back story, is beyond fascinating. It actually starts with a former Buddhist monk in the early 1600s.

(Oh, c’mon, tell me you don’t want to read this story.)

The journey from “Other”

Srixon et al is part of Dunlop Sports, a subsidiary of Japan’s Sumitomo Rubber Industries, commonly referred to as SRI. If you’re scoring at home, SRI is the first half of Srixon. The “x” in Japanese culture represents “infinite possibilities while the “on” represents “onward.”

SRI might not be the biggest name in golf but we can guarantee it’s the oldest. It dates back to founder Masatomo Sumitomo, an ex-Buddhist monk who opened a bookshop in Kyoto in the early 1600s. To put that into perspective, that’s about the time the Pilgrims first boarded the Mayflower. Sumitomo would later go into business with his brother-in-law who developed an advanced method for refining copper.

Over the span of 300-odd years, Sumitomo expanded into mining, metals and machinery, banking and finance, heavy industry and, eventually, rubber. In 1913, Sumitomo partnered with the British rubber company Dunlop to create Dunlop Japan. That partnership continued, albeit with one notable hiatus, until 1963. That’s when a cash-strapped Dunlop sold its factory and full control of Dunlop Japan to Sumitomo. The company then rechristened itself Sumitomo Rubber Industries.

The company had been making golf balls since 1930 but only as a behind-the-scenes manufacturer for Dunlop, Slazenger and Maxfli. In 1995, Sumitomo’s factory in Kobe was destroyed by an earthquake. Less than 10 months later, however, it opened a new plant in Ichijima. By 1997, the Srixon brand was launched.

Branching into the U.S.

While Japan was its home turf, Srixon immediately tried to establish a foothold in North America. It launched the premium XXIO line in 2000 and in 2007, it purchased Cleveland Golf for $132 million.

By 2015, however, North America was in a tailspin. Sales dropped that year even though the North American golf market was growing. Srixon found itself in the dreaded “Other” category.

When that happens, it’s not too long before there’s a new sheriff in town: Dunlop Sports veteran Matt Yasumoto who led Srixon on a slow but steady turnaround.

Slow but steady, as we’ll learn, is very much the Sumitomo style. This particular turnaround wasn’t a quick fix nor was it led by marketing campaigns or ads. Instead, Srixon focused on its products and its behind-the-glass business operations.

“Our parent company, our engineering team and our R&D team have always been focused on how we can help consumers and how we can empower them through the joy of sports,” Srixon Marketing VP Chris Kircher tells MyGolfSpy. “We’ve been making golf equipment for a long time but we continue to make incremental improvements with the consumer at the heart of our decisions.”

Srixon startled us here at MyGolfSpy in 2017 when, seemingly out of nowhere, its Z565 driver topped the field in Most Wanted testing. Since then, Srixon and Cleveland have been frequent visitors to the medal podium and Srixon has evolved from a cult favorite to an underground success story to where it is now, a reader favorite and an emerging powerhouse.

“That’s the beauty of Japanese manufacturing,” says Kircher. “It doesn’t matter if it’s tires, golf equipment or cosmetics. There’s always a commitment to superior quality and excellence that’s unrelenting. It can never be sacrificed.”

 Believe it or not, PGA Tour staff matters

When it comes to getting the most out of its PGA Tour sponsorships, Srixon punches well above its weight class. Its Tour staff is small but one of the best in the game with major champions Keegan Bradley, Hideki Matsuyama, Shane Lowry, Brooks Koepka and J.J. Spaun, along with ball striker supreme Sepp Straka.

“These guys are with our R&D team every week, tinkering with things,” Kircher says. “They share insight and feedback and all of that goes back into product creation.”

While the overly cynical may dismiss Tour staff performance, OEMs know that key digital metrics go haywire after a win. Traffic spikes can last up to four weeks on their own platforms as well as those of their retail partners. Major wins, like Spaun’s last year, last even longer. However, the better marketing story, according to Kircher, is when non-contract players put your stuff in the bag.

“As marketers, we try to tell brand stories but when a Tour player uses our product without being paid, that’s an even more powerful story,” he says. “We’re not the biggest spender in the game but a lot of players under contract elsewhere have one or more of our products in their bag,”

Srixon can’t use his name (shhh!) but world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler games a Srixon utility iron even though he’s under contract with TaylorMade.

“There’s no amount of money that covers up equipment that just doesn’t work,” Kircher explains. “For the amount of money they play for every weekend, they have to believe the equipment they’re using will help them win on Sunday.”

Cleveland Golf: Déjà vu all over again?

When Srixon hit its North American nadir in 2014-2015, management made the difficult decision to mothball Cleveland Golf as a full-line brand. Instead, Cleveland would focus solely on wedges and putters. Given the market structure at the time, the move was strategically logical. It freed up resources for Srixon to establish a firmer North American foothold.

Cleveland returned just a couple of years later. However, earlier this year, Srixon confirmed that Cleveland would once again exit the full-line equipment game to focus solely on wedges and putters.  

In 2014, the move was meant to focus on solidifying Srixon in North America. Today, it’s intended to power Srixon to the next level.

“This allows us to supercharge our Srixon iron and driver innovation and build on our momentum,” Kircher explains. “The new Srixon ZXiR is Srixon’s first game-improvement iron which gives us a great opportunity to expand to new consumers.”

Once Srixon launched its ZXiR game-improvement irons, a full-line Cleveland brand was largely redundant. It had, however, become a popular choice for value-priced putters while remaining a wedge powerhouse. Bringing Roger Cleveland back to the company he founded made the decision easier.

“Being the short-game authority is our rightful place in the market,” explains Kircher. “To do that, we needed to divest some resources allocated to drivers and irons and go all in on wedges, putters and Roger.”

Srixon, Cleveland and “the Founder’s Precepts”

Spend any amount of time with Roger Cleveland and you’ll realize age doesn’t dampen enthusiasm. It sharpens it.

“You see him in the R&D room and he just loves talking about bounce, grind and wedge shaping,” says Kircher. “If you think about the original 588, every great wedge that’s been made since then has been based on those iconic shapes.”

And speaking of founders …

In 1650, Masatomo Sumitomo wrote a set of merchant guidelines called the Monjuin Shiigaki, or The Founder’s Precepts. Grounded in Buddhist teachings, it’s become a foundational philosophy of Japan’s industrial and manufacturing culture. It’s also at the core of the official Sumitomo Business Philosophy. Among its key themes are:

• Ethical conduct above profit; integrity and moral behavior outweigh short-term gain.
• Responsibility to employees and the community; a business must benefit society, not just the company.
• Respect and encourage individual creativity.
• Foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement.

Those last two are most evident in Cleveland RTZ wedges which are made from a proprietary material developed by Cleveland called Z-Alloy. When Cleveland hired PhD metallurgical engineer Boeing Smith, he was tasked with identifying a wedge material superior to the commonly used 8620 carbon steel.

Smith soon found 8620 was the best existing material for wedges. If Cleveland wanted something better, they’d have to invent it.

Which is what they did.

“We have a challenging spirit here and allow our people to dive into opportunities they believe are there,” explains Kircher. “So we innovated a completely new material in Z-Alloy in a materials segment that hadn’t been innovated in decades.”

Srixon doing Srixon things

While all of this may sound like marketing happy talk, successful long-standing enterprises almost always have a consistent foundational philosophy. And, hey, with a 400-year-long run, you’ll have to admit The Founder’s Precepts has some legs.   

“You see it most in product innovation and R&D,” says Kircher. “We start with a high standard of excellence and we focus on improving, improving, improving.”

Successful companies take the culture of excellence and innovation seriously. It’s what helps them hire the right people and turn them loose to develop materials and products that matter to consumers. Otherwise, it’s all just words.

And words alone, my friends, don’t get you to 400 years of longevity. While it’s a stretch to equate Masatomo Sumitomo’s Buddhist book shop with Srixon irons or a Cleveland wedge, the corporate connection and the philosophy that supports it is a relatively straight line.

“Going forward, Srixon will be built around innovation and culture,” says Kircher. “Cleveland is going to be about legacy and returning our icon to his original place.”

Personally, I’m still bummed there won’t be another Cleveland HiBore driver (which I loved). All will be forgiven, however, if Cleveland comes out with a new 588 wedge. Kircher offered no promises, saying only that you will see some interesting releases from Cleveland over the next several months, plus updated Srixon offerings next January.

“We believe deeply in the culture of sports. It’s the real heart of the game,” Kircher says. “We believe we can create great products for anyone who enjoys the game and is looking to improve.”

So is Srixon one of the “Big 5?”

The MyGolfSpy staff is split on this as compelling cases can also be made for Mizuno and COBRA. Mizuno sells an awful lot of irons and has that aura about it while COBRA probably sells more metalwoods than Mizuno and Srixon combined.

However, it says here that Srixon is the one. When you combine its iron and ball sales with its metalwoods and add Cleveland wedges and putters plus the growing and lucrative XXIO business and a dynamic Tour staff, the Srixon group makes a compelling case.

So, based on what you’ve read and seen, do you think Srixon qualifies for that final slot in the Big Five?

The post Has Srixon Officially Joined The Big Five? We Think So appeared first on MyGolfSpy.