Trend Tracker: Gear Notes from the Cognizant Classic and Beyond

This week the PGA TOUR is split between Orlando for the Arnold Palmer Invitation Signature Event and in Puerto Rico for the additional event. But before the Arnold Palmer kicks off at Bay Hill Club and Lodge, let's take a look back at the week that was in professional golf at the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches and beyond for gear trends in the bags of the world's top golfers.

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Jake Knapp went LOW, but just missed

It sure feels like the more we talk about Jake Knapp and his driver-swapping dilemma over the last month, the closer he’s gotten to winning and although his chance of winning was derailed by one loose swing on the back nine on Sunday at the Cognizant, he did manage to shoot 59 during the first round - no big deal right?

Well, speaking of Jake, his driver and the rest of his golf bag he must have found something he liked in the Qi35 - and a new Scotty Cameron putter, so lets take a look at the rest of his bag.

Driver: TaylorMade Qi35

Mini Driver: PXG Secret Weapon

5-Wood: TaylorMade Qi10

Irons: PXG 0311 (4i), PXG 0211 ST (5-PW)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM9

Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.2

About the Winner Joe Highsmith

On a day that saw some wide fluctuations on the leaderboard the man that came out on top was Joe Highsmith. He went from just making the cut, to shooting 64 - 64 on the weekend to secure his first PGA TOUR win.

Driver: Titleist GT3

3-Wood: Titleist GT3

Utility: Titleist T200 (2i)

Irons: Titleist T00 (4-9i)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM10 (46/50/54/58)

Putter: Scotty Cameron 009M Tour Prototype

Ball: 2025 Titleist ProV1

Lydia Ko's wins HSBC Womens World Championship

Driver: Ping G430 Max 10K

3-Wood: Ping G440 LST

4-Wood: Ping G440 Max

Hybrid: Ping G430 (4H)

Irons: Ping Blueprint S (5-7i), Blueprint T (8/9i)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM10 (44/48/54/58)

Putter: Scotty Cameron P5 GSS Mallet

Ball: 2025 Titleist ProV1

So now that we got all the nitty gritty details out of the way, let's dive into a lot more from the Cognizant Classic.

A New Lead Tape King

Lead tape is still a popular way to get clubs dialed in for swing weight and feel, and one player happily carrying on the tradition of layering lead tape is Alejandro Tosti. We spotted his clubs on the practice green at PGA National and after posting them on Instagram he even replied to explain why.

Since he plays his irons ¾” under standard length, he used the lead tape to get his irons to his preferred swing weight.

Erik VanRooyen's Off-Menu Driver Build

Thanks to Callaway's Tour Content Manager Johnny Thompson—who by the way, if you want to keep up to date with what's going on behind the scenes on tour, is a must-follow—shared a post about Erik Van Rooyen's driver, detailing the funky work done to get the weight where it was need to achieve the desired launch and spin.

The detailed setup might not be as forgiving as it could be with the weight moved closer to the face but for a player like VanRooyen, I don't think he was too worried about forgiveness. Plus he did rank number 1 for strokes gained off the tee at PGA National for the week, so he must have been hitting it pretty good!

Trend Tracking Drivers and Putters

Speaking of drivers, it was another win this week for a current model driver on the PGA Tour which is something I have found very interesting to track since the start of the season, which only means one thing - it's time to start tracking something else - Putters!

Now I don't want to give everything away yet but one trend from this year so far is that blade and mallet wins are split 4 to 5.

Last year on the PGA TOUR mallets won a heck of a lot more than blades, with Scottie Scheffler helping that tally rack up wins, so going into 2025 it will be interesting to see if mallets take the majority of wins like they did last year, or if it ends up closer to 50/50 by the time the Tour Championship rolls around in August.

Last but not least, I’ll leave you with a fun nugget from the week that was in the world of gear.

As I covered not too long ago, Daniel Berger finally retired his TaylorMade MC irons from 2010, but a new champ has emerged in the world of old clubs William Mouw. This past week in Florida William had two Ping Anser forged irons (4 and 5) in the bag from 2011.

Now I’m not saying its not time for an upgrade if you’re playing 14 year old irons, but it shows that they can still work, even on the PGA Tour.

Stay tuned for next week's Trend Tracker as we look to cover Bay Hill and beyond!