AVONDALE, La. — The Zurich Classic is the changeup of the PGA Tour schedule.
The only two-man team event of the season takes on the “Big Easy” vibe of New Orleans as players get a break from the individual grind of the PGA Tour season.
It also comes in a lull after the Masters and the Signature RBC Heritage. That means there aren’t a ton of marquee names in the field and less media attention than at a bigger event. But more players are at TPC Louisiana than at any other event on Tour — 160 pros across 80 teams — which makes it the perfect place to work the range and find some unique gear items.
Keep reading below for the seven coolest things we saw in pros’ golf bags at the 2025 Zurich Classic.
Collin Morikawa’s TaylorMade SIM Ti Rocket 3-wood
This one is personally exciting to me, as I also still have the now five-year-old OG TaylorMade SIM Ti Rocket 3-wood in my bag. I’m pretty sure Morikawa is probably better with his than I am with mine.
The original SIM fairway woods are some of those clubs fitters hate to see in a player’s bag because they’re just so good that they’re tough to beat. The original TaylorMade RocketBallz is another example, along with last year’s Qi10 core fairway woods, which Morikawa plays in his 5-wood. The SIM Ti, while on the larger side (180 cc) is one of the lowest spinning fairway woods out there, thanks to the 80 g V Steel sole plate that positions weight low and forward in the head and a ZATECH titanium face.
Morikawa’s Rocket 3-wood is 14 degrees in the standard setting, but he has it one click higher from the upright setting, giving it roughly 14.5 degrees of loft and slightly closes the face to help him achieve a left start line for his patented butter cut.
This club was essentially a mini driver before mini drivers really took off. Morikawa isn’t the only one still using this 3-wood. Viktor Hovland just won with it at the Valspar Championship.
Scotty Cameron Studio Style center shaft prototype
Gary Woodland just finished tied for second late last month using a Scotty Cameron Phantom zero torque prototype and it looks like the company is trotting out a center shafted version of its new Studio Style Fastback mid-mallet on Tour as well. No word on if these putters are actually “zero torque” or just center shafted models.
It didn’t appear that anyone will put this putter in play this week, but it’s definitely worth monitoring as the zero torque trend is one of the hottest on Tour right now.
Camilo Villegas’ Grooved Grips
It’s always the wily veterans who have the tricks up their sleeves.
At first glance, Camilo Villegas might look like he’s using a black/green version of Golf Pride’s popular MCC hybrid cord grips, but upon further inspection, the five-time PGA Tour winner is using a full set of Synapse Grooved Golf Grips.
Digging up info on the grips is tough, but scouring internet forums turns up that the Grooved Golf Grip was created by Dr. Lanny Johnson to help golfers have better awareness of the clubhead, thanks to imprints on their fingers.
Villegas has used the grips for years, but he’s likely still the only player on the PGA Tour using them. They have his initials at the bottom.
Jake Knapp’s custom “Mighty Ducks” driver shaft
The Tour-pro life has its perks and those include being able to rep your favorite sports team (and sponsor) however you want.
Jake Knapp is sponsored by the Anaheim Ducks and he recently inserted a custom Project X HZRDUS T1100 TX 70g shaft in his TaylorMade Qi35 driver.
Joel Dahmen’s Sun Mountain X Marucci stand bag
Perhaps the best looking bag on the PGA Tour isn’t even a staff bag. Joel Dahmen (well, really his caddie Geno Bonnalie) is rocking a limited edition Sun Mountain X Marucci collab stand bag this season.
It’s not hard to spot the bag with its brown leather and weave work resembling one of Marucci’s famous baseball gloves. I asked Bonnalie if it was heavy, before I immediately realized that it has to be much lighter than the staff bag he’s used to carrying.
Karl Vilip’s TaylorMade R7 Quad Mini Driver
PGA Tour rookie Karl Vilips has already picked up his first career win, but then he did something surprising.
Last week at the RBC Heritage, Vilips took his driver out of the bag completely and replaced it with a just released 11.5-degree R7 Quad Mini Driver.
For most players on the PGA Tour, the mini driver in a 13- or 13.5-degree loft has served as a 3-wood replacement, but for Vilips, his first trip around the notably tight pines of Harbour Town pushed the former Stanford standout to ditch the big stick completely for a mini in the first week of its PGA Tour launch.
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