Brooks Koepka Has a Message for Gear Tinkerers

Brooks Koepka is back on the PGA Tour for 2026, and with his return, we also got our first press conference where he talked about everything from what it means to be qualifying for signature events and how he goes about testing gear.

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The reason equipment is such an interesting topic to dive into with Brooks is that, until just a few years ago he was an equipment free agent, meaning he got to pick and choose exactly what went into his golf bag. During his time at number one in the world and for four of his five majors, he used Mizuno irons before signing a surprise deal with Srixon to play their gear and use the ball.

That relationship paid off big time in 2023 when Brooks won the PGA Championship with a bag full of Srixon and Cleveland gear, including a Srixon ZX5 MKII driver.

But as much as things change, one thing has stayed the same: his trusty TaylorMade M2 Tour 3-wood. A club he has had in the bag for all five of his major wins and has been in the bag since 2017.

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During his press conference, he was asked specifically about his M2 3-wood and if he had done much testing of new gear headed into 2026. Brooks' reply,

No. I haven't really tested anything. I've been, I'm not a tinkerer. If something works, something works, and I don't really switch up. I like everything that I've got in the bag. I feel like I have a good understanding of the control, where the misses are. Yeah, I haven't really tinkered with anything, man. I like my bag setup right now.

Now, it's not like Brooks spilled the beans on his testing process but the one thing that actually stands out and is great advice for those looking at their bag and wondering if something new is needed was I feel like I have a good understanding of the control, where the misses are.

As much as tour players generally hit their targets, one thing they also love to control is their misses. It's why you hardly see any face-faced "players distance" irons used as full sets. It's almost always safer to miss and have one short rather than miss one and have it fly longer than expected.

This same advice can be applied to any golfer, as knowing shot shape and misses is a crucial part of effective course management.

To offer a personal anecdote, I prefer to play my mini driver and fairway woods with slightly shorter than standard shafts and in the open face position. This might not be the absolute maxed-out way to gain distance with those clubs but the shot shape is (in most cases) a left-to-right fade that if not hit well will miss short and right. That gives me confidence to pick more aggressive targets if I know where the ball will miss.

So whether you like to tinker or not, you don't need to be a tour-level player to gain an advantage on the course by not only knowing where you hit it, but where to miss, too.

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