Brooks Koepka doesn’t have one. Nor does Patrick Reed. Francesco Molinari didn’t seem too worried about not having one either.
Each of this year’s major champions have one thing in common—they don’t have an equipment deal with a major company.
If you take a peek into the bag of Brooks Koepka, who won this year’s U.S. Open and PGA Championship, you’ll find that it doesn’t match many of the other bags of top players on the PGA Tour. Currently ranked 4th in the Official World Golf Rankings, Koepka doesn’t have a club deal with one specific manufacturer, preferring to pick and choose what works for him.
Koepka is a former Nike staff player, but was forced away from the brand after Nike announced they were discontinuing their hard goods production in 2016. Though he still sports Nike’s signature swoosh on his apparel, his clubs come from a number of different manufacturers.
“Obviously it was a little disappointing when Nike got out of the club business, but it also opened up some good opportunities,” said Koepka. “You can kind of play whatever you want—you’re not glued into anything. If some new manufacturer comes out with a driver, a wedge, some irons that you particularly like, you’ve got the freedom to go play it.”
Similarly, Molinari is also a former Nike staff player who is largely using TaylorMade clubs these days. He won the British Open with an M4 driver, and P-790 irons, but used a Bettinardi DASS BBZERO putter and Titleist Pro V1x ball.
Reed, a former Callaway staffer and this year’s Masters winner, has played a variety of clubs in recent months from manufacturers like PXG, Titleist and Cleveland. He’s currently using an 8-year old Nike 3-wood, Callaway 2013 X-Forged irons, and a Titleist 716 T-MB driving iron.
As for Koepka, he’s currently using a TaylorMade driver (M3) and 3 wood (M2), a Nike driving iron (Vapor Fly Pro), Mizuno JPX-900 Tour irons, Titleist Vokey SM7 wedges, a Scotty Cameron putter, and the Titleist Pro V1x ball.
Koepka says that the freedom to choose from any brand lets him focus on what provides the most benefit to his game.
“I think having so many different options for your clubs—it makes it a lot easier for me,” he said. “I can find whatever works for me and put that in the bag and keep that in the bag.”
Even with some offers from manufacturers on the table, Koepka doesn’t see himself committing to any one brand anytime soon.
“I’m happy with what I’ve got in the bag,” he said at the RBC Canadian Open. “I don’t see any reason to switch. It seems to be working, so I’ll stick with it.”
While so many golfers are brand loyalists, if we can learn one thing from these Pros, it’s that a mixed bag could be the right approach. When shopping for new equipment, it’s important to test multiple brands across woods, irons, wedges and putters to find out which club is best for you.
What do you play with? One brand or mixed clubs?
How can this article be written on Aug 8 before the PGA Championship winner was determined?
One brand, Taylormade
What they fail to mention is the Nike is still playing Koepka and Molinari the equipment deal they had with Nike. So even though Nike no longer makes equipment, these guys are getting paid the remainder of their equipment deals until they expire or they sign with another manufacture. Just like Taylormade paid Tiger and Rory to walk away from their Nike equipment deals to play their equipment.
Vintage Callaway Driver: circa 20 years ago Great Big Bertha Warbird 10 degree, Callaway Razr Fit Fairway Woods, Razr Fit Utility Woods, Callaway X-16 Irons-7 to Pitching Irons, Cleveland 52, 56 & 58 wedges, and finally a very old but reliable PING ZING Beryllium putter….
Have played a “mixed bag” for years. Ping G30 driver; TaylorMade R11 3-wood or TaylorMade 5-wood; Ping G2 4-iron and 5-iron; Ping Anser Forged 6-iron thru PW; Cleveland NTX-3 wedges — 52, 56, 60, 64 degrees. Ping B90i long putter or Scotty Cameron Newport 2 putter.