The gear crew at GOLF.com spends a lot of time at Tour events snapping photographs of the tools used by the best players in the world. Posting club images online without context sometimes works, but it doesn’t help the weekend golfer understand the why behind a pro’s setup. In a new GOLF.com series, equipment editors Jonathan Wall and Ryan Barath answer those questions by highlighting interesting clubs in players’ bags, unique weighting, loft sleeve settings, and more. Welcome to “Bay Spy.”
The PGA Tour is full of rising stars, and few shine brighter than former World No. 1 amateur and recent PGA Tour University grad Ludvig Aberg. Since turning pro and earning his card through PGA Tour U, he has finished inside the top 25 in both of his starts and looks to have another great finish this week at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit.
Here’s a quick look inside his golf bag.
A true first day in the office.
— PGA TOUR University (@PGATOURU) June 9, 2023
Ludvig Aberg toured the @PGATOUR‘s Global Home last week before heading to Canada for his pro debut. pic.twitter.com/6PqnPl7B86
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A driver built for speed
When it comes to drivers, there are usually three to four models all built for different types of players. In Titleist’s case with the TSR series, they offer four models ranging in spin profiles from low to high from the TSR4 to the TSR1.
Now you would think that a faster player like Ludvig would default into a TSR4 or a TSR3 but, like a lot of players on the PGA Tour, he uses a TSR2 to find the perfect balance between distance, forgiveness and consistency in a package that also appeals to his eye. Take it as another example of why what might be the model targeted to your game might not actually be the one that works best on the course.
Titleist TSR1, TSR2, TSR3 and TSR4 Drivers
Shift that weight
Too many golfers don’t use the adjustable weights and hosels of their clubs to their advantage, but that’s certainly not the case with Ludvig and his TSR3 hybrid.
Not only does he have the weight in the toe position of the club to help slow down face rotation and encourage less of a draw, but he also has the hosel set to B-1, which for Titleist is the standard loft/flat lie angle setting to further promote a neutral to fade ball flight.
It’s nice to have options
The PGA Tour travels around a lot, and that means varying course conditions. Whether it be tightly mown areas around the greens or bunker sand texture, having a couple of options to optimize performance goes a long way in getting the most from every shot.
For Ludvig, that means carrying two different Titleist Vokey lob wedges — an M grind and a more aggressive V grind to choose from depending on the course. The V grind is a unique option in the Titleist Vokey lineup because it offers more bounce toward the leading edge but has more heel and toe relief to provide extra versatility when opening the club face.
Not broke — don’t fix it
Irons are all about precision and distance control and once golfers find a set they like, they tend to stick with them for a while.
Even though they are close to being more than three generations old (thanks to new Titleist irons spotted at the Memorial Tournament a few weeks ago) the original T100s still offer an incredible amount of performance in a small blade-like package with their multi-material design that places tungsten in the toe to increase stability.
Although he doesn’t have enough rounds logged on the Tour for a full stats analysis to compare to his peers, in his most recent start at the Travelers Championship he gained 1.12 strokes tee to green and hit 75 percent of his greens in regulation. I don’t imagine those irons are going anywhere anytime soon.
You gotta trust it
As we recently learned at the U.S. Open, going with what works on the putting green can really pay off, regardless of how old the putter might be. In Ludvig’s case, that means holding onto an Odyssey Works putter that dates back to when he was still a teenager in 2015.
Want to overhaul your bag for 2023? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf. And for more gear news you can check out the latest episode of the Fully Equipped podcast.
