Akshay Bhatia co-leads the Players after these 3 key gear changes
- Share on Facebook
- Share on Twitter
- Share by Email

Akshay Bhatia went back to his old Callaway Rouge ST driver this week.
Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
Rory McIlroy isn’t the only player using an older model driver to help him get into contention at TPC Sawgrass.
Coming into the week, Akshay Bhatia had lost strokes off the tee so far this season and was outside the top 100 in the category. So Bhatia decided to make a change this week at the Players and re-insert his Callaway Rogue ST LS driver he’s used since 2022.
Bhatia is notoriously difficult when it comes to changing equipment. Once he finds clubs he likes, he usually doesn’t like to switch as evidenced by the fact that he’s used the Rogue ST each of the last three years as he’s risen his way up the PGA Tour ranks.
Coming into this season, Bhatia was actually an early adopter of Callaway’s new Elyte driver, playing the core model as early as last December before eventually settling into the lower-spinning Elyte Triple Diamond.
But after a middling start to the year and a missed cut last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Bhatia decided to go back to the old faithful. He added that the older model is more neutral-biased than the drivers that have come out recently.
“Just some of the newer drivers are a little more fade bias, so the more and more I get wind off the right or just trees in the start line, the more and more it’s like, man, I feel like I have nowhere to kind of hit it,” he said. “So this one’s a little more, I would say, right biased, but still has a little bit of fade, just because the loft is down. So I’ve played it for a long time and I just go back to kind of what I trust.”
Along with the old head, Bhatia went back to an even older Project X HZURDUS “Hulk” shaft from 2021.
“Just went back to my older driver and then I went back to a shaft I played four years ago and it’s a little longer and so it’s kind of been a nice recipe,” Bhatia said, adding that he was also working on his swing with his coach.
The Project X shaft, at 45 inches long, is just an eighth of an inch longer than the Fujikura Ventus Black he had been using in the same head last year and this year with his two Elyte drivers, but sometimes just a fraction of an inch can make all the difference when it comes to finding the sweet spot and timing.
The new weapon seems to do the trick as Bhatia is 11th in SG: off-the-tee through two rounds, picking up more than 2.2 shots off the tee.
Bhatia’s driver specs:

Callaway Rogue ST LS 9.0
Actual loft: 7.2˚
Head weight: 199.7g
Shaft: Project X HZURDUS “Hulk” 70g 6.5TX
Length: 45″ EOG
Tipping: 1 inch
Bhatia adds Callaway’s new Elyte Mini
The Callaway Elyte line isn’t totally out of the bag for Bhatia as he’s going in with the old and in with the new at the same time as he dropped his 3-wood and inserted a new Callaway Elyte Mini driver.
Bhatia used Callaway’s Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini Driver at times last season, so it’s no surprise to see him add Callaway’s newest prototype mini driver to the bag at a course where many pros are using less than driver.
“I put a mini driver in play this week, which has been a nice attribute to some of the awkward holes for me which when I need to turn it left-to-right,” he said. “So just kind of a nice setup for me this week.”
The Elyte Mini is still unreleased but several players have put it in the bag since it debuted last month at the WM Phoenix Open. Stay tuned to see what Callaway ends up doing with a retail option. With more and more companies releasing mini drivers, it wouldn’t be surprising too see more players test them out at TPC Sawgrass with its narrow corridors and bending fairways.
Bhatia’s mini driver specs:

Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini Driver
$449.99
View Product
Callaway Elyte Mini 13.5
Actual loft: 12.4˚
Loft sleeve: N/-1
Shaft: Project X HZURDUS “Hulk” 80g 6.5TX
Length: 43.125″
Tipping: 1.5″
Swingweight: D3.5
CG Weight: Neutral
Next man up
After his round, Bhatia revealed in an interview with Golf Channel that he’s been is using a new putter this week.
OK, it’s not actually that new. It’s Bhatia’s nearly identical backup to his Odyssey Jailbird Broomstick he’s used for the year or so. But he wasn’t happy with his performance at the Genesis Invitational last month and went to this putter, which he had never used in competition.
“I putted really bad at Genesis in the first round, had four three-putts and said, ‘You know, I’m going to go to my backup,'” Bhatia told Golf Channel’s Cara Banks after the second round. “It’s never really seen a golf course, never seen a green.”
After losing nearly 3.5 strokes to the field putting in Round 1, Bhattia gained more than 5.3 strokes the final three rounds with the backup and earned his first top-10 of the season at Torrey Pines.

Odyssey Ai-ONE Cruiser #7 CS Broomstick Putter
$349.99
View Product
This week, he decided to call on the now more experienced backup again.
“This week, it just suited my stroke a little better. It has a touch more offset,” he said. “I kind of do what my putting coach says. If it looks a little better in my hands and it sets up a little better, I’ll go with it.”
The only difference between the putter Bhatia is gaming this week and his original gamer is just a quarter shaft more offset. Extra offset allows players more time to square the putter face, which is probably what Bhatia was looking for.
Bhatia’s putter specs:

Odyssey Jailbird Double Bend Broom Stick
Loft: 3˚
Length: 50″
Offset: 3/4 shaft
Want to overhaul your bag for 2025? Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.
Latest In Gear

Jack Hirsh
Golf.com Editor
Jack Hirsh is the Associate Equipment Editor at GOLF. A Pennsylvania native, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State University, earning degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his high school golf team and recently returned to the program to serve as head coach. Jack also still *tries* to remain competitive in local amateurs. Before joining GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a Multimedia Journalist/reporter, but also producing, anchoring and even presenting the weather. He can be reached at jack.hirsh@golf.com.