Welcome to the weekly Fully Equipped Tour equipment report. Every Friday of PGA Tour week (and other times, when news warrants), GOLF content editor Jack Hirsh runs some of the biggest news surrounding golf clubs on Tour, including changes, renovations and launches.
Viktor Hovland showed up at this week's RBC Canadian Open with one driver. Normally, that wouldn't be much of a deal, but driver Hovland delivered it wasn't like that the same one he used in his last start at the PGA Championship six years ago.
“That's one way to change it,” Kenton Oates, Ping Tour representative, told GOLF. “Leave your protective clothing in Oklahoma and call it a day.”
Oates was not on site at TPC Toronto this week. The Canadian Open is typically a quiet week for gear on the PGA Tour, as Tour trucks often don't travel north of the border for operational reasons. That also means that companies send very limited travel workers.
This week, Ping sent Spencer Rothluebber, who wrote to Oates earlier this week to tell him that Hovland had not brought his Ping G425 LST long-timer to Canada.
The only driver he had was the Ping G440 LST, a driver Hovland had been working to get into the bag for most of the past two seasons.
Hovland has been working with the Ping team for the past few months to test the G440 LST and the new G440 K drivers. He has played both new models at different venues, the LST saw the bag at last year's Masters and the K will play at this year's WM Phoenix Open. But he keeps coming back to his safety net of G425 that has taken all of his seven PGA Tour victories.
PING G440 LST Driver Custom
The G440 family of drivers (MAX, LST, SFT) is designed to deliver more ball speed with a number of improvements, including PING's deepest CG in a driver to date and a thin, narrow face, while continuing to ensure the game-changing forgiveness expected of a PING driver. The G440 LST (Low Spin) design appeals to players with faster swing speeds, providing lower spin and more control at 9° and 10.5° lofts with a three-position back weight. EXTREMELY FORGIVING Lighter head weight allows for heavier rear weight. FAST FACE Shallow, thin, face increases ball speed for more distance, higher launch. SOUND DESIGN New shape, carbon crown and inner ribs produce a muted feeling of impact. FREE-HOSEL DESIGN Saves weight to lower CG, increasing forgiveness. It allows the face to expand on the heel side for constant ball speed on the face.
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Oates said the 440s outperformed the 425 in every category in testing. The catch was very high.
“I tried the new 440 last year because it's faster,” Hovland said earlier this year in Phoenix. “The spin consistency on the surface is a joke. If I hit it on the heel or the toe with 425, the spin difference is huge. Like if I hit it on the toe, I can spin under 2000. If I hit it on the heel, I can get to 3000. Versus the 440,20, from 440, from 20, from 200, from tight. a big gap.
“However, the problem is that it starts out slow for me. And for some reason, with the setup I've tested it with, it tends to go too far to the right. Right now with my golf swing, if I get stuck, my miss is already a high miss to the right. If I hit this driver, it just gets released.”
When Hovland was last tested at the Truist Championship and the PGA Championship, Oates initially thought the 440 K would have the edge, but as they continued, the LST had a clear advantage at the starting line, just a touch to the right of the K.
Viktor Hovland is in the Ping G440 LST this week for the first time since playing the model at the 2025 Masters.
Hovland has been testing the 440 LST and 440K every few months in hopes of finding a replacement for his longtime G425 LST.
Hovland is finally home free in his three weeks off between the PGA and this week. The biggest factor was switching to a Fujikura Ventus TR Black+ 6-X shaft, which has a stiff center section, similar to the Speeder 757 shaft he sports on his 425.
“When he tightened up his swing a little bit, to me it felt like it was going off track every time,” Oates said. “The TR Black Plus was playing on paper right away because it was supposed to get rid of his spinal cord, and it should give him a better feeling.”
With the new design, Oates said Hovland could end up taking advantage of the 3-4 mph of extra ball speed he got from the 440 head.
This section is dedicated to the great photos we recently took on Tour, but didn't have a reason to share until now. This week, check out 2024 Canadian Open winner Robert MacIntyre's highly customized Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5R putter.
Robert MacIntyre's Phantom 9.5R has several different versions.
Jack Hirsh/GOLF
Odds and ends
Some gear changes and notes we're tracking this week.
Alex Noren returned to Quantum Max D after a brief return to Paradym Ai-Smoke Max D … Nick Taylor and Taylor Moore joined Hovland in moving to 440 LST … Wyndham Clark returned to his Ping G440 Max 3-wood and went from 10.5˚ to 9.0˚ installed a new Qi4D driver Qi4D Taylor on his new Qi4D of Qi4D Qi4D… … Harry Hall, after using a Callaway Rouge ST in his two starts, is back in the GTS3 driver … Tom Kim added his Titleist 20˚ GT1 hybrid next to his GTS3 5-wood, opting for a three-wheel setup … Kensei Hirata added a TaylorMade Spider Tour V Torched Q … added Michael Thorbjorn 5-Taylorsen.
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