Ludvig Aberg got the lion’s share of golf fans’ attention last weekend with his win at the Genesis Invitational, and rightly so; he’s becoming the No. 1 young-gun contender to give Scottie Scheffler a week-in, week-out run for his money on the PGA Tour. From an equipment standpoint, Aberg’s bag is actually pretty “stock” for a 180+ ball speed player. And if you look at the top Tour pros, each player’s bag seems to fit the style-of-play personality of its owner.
For example…
Ludvig Aberg (Mini Bomber/Sniper) Driver, 3-wood, 7-wood, 4-PW, 50/54/60 and a putter. Nothing crazy going on there besides the 7-wood. But these days 7-wood is the new 5-wood.
Rory McIlroy (Bomber) Driver, 3-wood, 5-wood, 4-9, 46/50/54/60 and putter.
Tommy Fleetwood (Ball-hitting gear junkie; never met an idea he didn’t love) Driver, mini driver, 5-wood, 9-wood (his 3-iron replacement), 4-PW, 52/60 and a putter. In some cases, he’s gone 5-wood, 7-wood, 9-wood!!!
Because character types spark my interest, if this was a Bond movie…I’m more interested in what Q has in the bag versus James Bond. What does the gear dork use out in the field?
Which takes us to the character of the day, LIV Adelaide champion Joaquin Niemann.
NOW THAT GUY HAS AN INTERESTING BAG.
Why?
Well, from a fitting perspective the work done by Niemann and his LIV Tour rep, Spencer Rothluebber, is a masterclass in optimization. Joaco is what we would call a low launch yet mid-spin player. Usually “shaft-leaners” tend to fight the overspin. Not this guy. In simple terms his angle of attack (AOA) is down but he’s still pretty shallow, which looks like a player that launches it low and tends to need a hair more spin to keep the ball in the air.
Remember, the lower you launch it, the more spin you need to optimize everything. This is why the BALL YOU PLAY harmonizing with the make-up of your loft and CG package is so vital.
Hence he plays with a ton of loft. By the time he gets to his 4-iron…he needs a 5-hybrid, because it’s the easiest club for him to hit in the air. Consider that for a second: Niemann has 180+ ball speed with his driver and even he needs help getting it in the air because of his impact conditions. Low launchers at high speeds is the closest thing you’ll find in golf to a bullet out of a gun. Remember Cam Champ? That’s this idea at 195+ ball speed.
From an “Angle of Attack” perspective, Niemann lives in the 1-down to 1-up realm where anything north of 1-up feels like he swinging at the moon. Xander Schauffele is another player with similar feels.
Below are the full specs of a pretty awesome bag. Pay attention to the lengths of Niemann’s woods; his 3-wood and 7-wood are both roughly an inch short vs. normal Tour length. This ensures two things for the player: (1) The confidence to stay on top of the ball and control your impact point, and (2) It’s a built-in speed governor to ensure each club goes the proper distance.
On Tour, typically the more players hits down on a fairway wood, the more prone they are to that “outta the top of the face” heater that goes for miles. Playing something shorter in length actually minimizes this. Another trick to dial this speed down is adding weight to the back, increasing the MOI (spin) to mitigate the speed with spin.
One last detail to check out? His shafts. No TX in any of the woods and softer 6.0 profile in the irons and 6.5 in the wedges. This is purely a feel thing. Shafts are a variable that don’t need to change unless TOTALLY NECESSARY. Same rule applies for your golf ball.
Match the heads in your bag to harmonize with the ball…not the other way around.
Rabbit hole stuff but all applicable to us all. Lots to learn in the specs below.
The G440 driver family (MAX, LST, SFT) is optimized to deliver more ball speed through multiple advancements, including PING’s deepest CG in a driver to date and a shallower, thinner face, while continuing to ensure the game-changing forgiveness expected from a PING driver. The G440 LST (Low Spin) design appeals to players with faster swing speeds, providing lower spin and more control in 9° and 10.5° lofts with the three-position back weight.
HIGHLY FORGIVING
Lighter head weight allows for heavier back weight.
FASTER FACE
Shallow, thinner, face increases ball speed for more distance, higher launch.
SOUND DESIGN
New shaping, carbon crown and internal ribs produce muted impact experience.
FREE-HOSEL DESIGN
Saves weight to lower CG, increase forgiveness. Allows for more heel-side face flexing for consistent ball speed across face.
Johnny currently serves as the Director of Equipment at Golf.com, contributing to platforms like Fully Equipped Golf. Prior to this role, he was the Content Marketing Manager at Callaway Golf, where he led “Callaway Golf’s World of Wunder,” a platform dedicated to in-depth golf equipment content. Before joining Callaway, he was the Director of Original Content and host of “The Gear Dive” podcast at GolfWRX.com. Beyond his professional endeavors, Johnny is an avid golfer with a deep passion for the game, having played since his youth in Seattle, Washington.
