The Ryder Cup is a showcase of passion and world-class golf. It’s also a fascinating insight into the tools the best players in the game trust when the pressure is at its highest.
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From drivers designed for power off the tee to pitching wedge setups tailored for Bethpage Black’s brutal greenside tests, there are plenty of surprises and trends in the world’s best golfers’ bags.
In our Ryder Cup WITB special we take a closer look at the most common equipment choices across both squads, and what they tell us about how the Ryder Cup might be won.
Most Popular Driver
Titleist are the dominant golf club manufacturer at the 2025 Ryder Cup when it comes to drivers. More specifically the new GT series and the GT2 and GT3 drivers set to be the most used at Bethpage in a couple of weeks. J.J. Spaun, Russell Henley and Matt Fitzpatrick will all have one in play.
Interestingly, there are some players who still opt to use older Titleist driver models. Robert McIntyre still prefers the TSR2. This isn’t a big surprise, a lot of tour players generally have one or quirky golf club inclusions in their set-up and some just don’t like change.
Such as Ludvig Aberg and Justin Thomas, who trust Titleist and have made these drivers integral to their games. It will be interesting to see if the new GT range stands tall come Sunday evening in New York or if the older TSR models will have the last laugh.
When it comes to Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler they both tee it up with the TaylorMade Qi10 driver – a driver that is now reduced in price!
Most Popular Fairway wood
TaylorMade fairway woods are the most popular, with plenty of American and European players alike trusting the brand. This is a reflection of the norm on tour as well, with TaylorMade fairway woods favoured more than any other golf club brand.
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A lot of players who aren’t TaylorMade staffers or contracted to the brand also choose to game them. Europe’s big-hitting Swede Ludvig Aberg is one. Aberg is actually a Titleist player but chooses to use the TaylorMade Stealth 2 3-wood.
The TaylorMade Qi10 is the most popular model for those at Bethpage – with four of the Americans having at least one in the bag. It is also now available at discounted prices and is once again the choice of Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler.
Most Popular Mini Driver
The popularity of mini drivers has caught fire over the last couple of years, especially in the professional game.
Two golfers have a mini driver in play for the Ryder Cup. Incidentally, both are from the European team. Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose are opting to use the TaylorMade R7 Quad mini driver.
The 2025 R7 Quad Mini Driver is TaylorMade’s latest mini driver release and a nod to the company’s first-ever adjustable weight driver from the mid-2000s. When you think of mini drivers, a lot of us tend to think of TaylorMade as the first brand to spring to mind. But for 2025, there are plenty of mini driver options available on the market, some of which are very impressive.
There’s in no doubting the quality of mini drivers but for many, it is about finding a space in their bags. It seems members of Team USA have the same difficulty.
Most Popular Hybrid
You are forgiven if you can’t recall the last time you saw a hybrid being used on your television screens. By a professional at a tour event that is. Many pro golfers opt to stack their bags with a 7-wood and even a 9-wood rather than a hybrid.
Higher-lofted fairway woods have reclaimed their favour with the world’s best. This sentiment is reflected by the Ryder Cup teams.
Only four out of the 24 players from the respective teams have a hybrid in the bag. Russell Henley, Xander Schauffele and Cameron Young from Team USA; while Robert MacIntyre is the sole hybrid player from Team Europe.
Although there are four different models on show, two of them are Titleist golf clubs. Young uses the newer GT2 model, while Henley opts for the more retro option in the TSi2. Callaway and TaylorMade are also represented, by Schauffele and MacIntyre respectfully.
Most Popular Irons
When it comes to the 2025 Ryder Cup, the Titleist T100 irons emerge as the most utilised irons in both Team USA and Team Europe bags. These new Titleist irons are precision instruments enabling you to achieve optimum height and control.
In fact, Titleist feature the most out of any golf brand when it comes to irons. Exactly half of those playing at Bethpage choose to have Titleist irons in the bag. They have always been a popular choice, especially among non-sponsored players, in the professional game.
Most Popular Wedges
Titleist also take the prize for most popular wedges at the Ryder Cup. Something that will please their engineers is that many of the top professionals have switched to their latest offering this season, the Vokey SM10s.
Interestingly, Scottie Scheffler is still using the SM8 model, so not all professionals immediately switch the new equipment. Unlike Rory McIlroy, who has put the new TaylorMade MG5 wedges straight in the bag and helped him to victory at the Irish Open.
Eight players in total are deploying Titleist’s latest wedge release from their gold-standard Vokey line-up. Titleist staffers like Matt Fitzpatrick, Ludvig Aberg and Cameron Young have some configurations of these wedges in their bag.
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In addition, players like Sam Burns, who are contracted to a different manufacturer, Callaway in this instance, for much of their bag still play the Vokey SM10s.
Most Popular Putters
There are many different putting strokes, temperaments and styles, all of which can be successful in their own right. So it is no surprise then that there are a multitude of different putters on display at the Ryder Cup.
Nothing emphasises this more than the fact that six players from the two teams game Odyssey putters – and all of them are different models. In fact, there are only two putters that are used by multiple players.
Three players use a tour favourite, the TaylorMade Spider Tour X (including Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy), and the same number of players opt for the Scotty Cameron Phantom T-5 Tour Prototype.
Only four of the 22 Ryder Cup players are using a blade putter. This is a reflection of the growing trend of pro golfers using mallet-styled putters over recent years.
Most Popular Golf Ball
Historically, Titleist golf balls have dominated the Ryder Cup. This year is no different. The majority of players from Team USA and Team Europe trust Titleist Pro V1 or Pro V1x golf balls. Interestingly, once again Scottie Scheffler has not made the move to the newest model, in this case the 2025 Pro V1, and still opts for the previous iteration.
In fact, 13 players in total are teeing up a Titleist golf ball in one form or the other at the Ryder Cup.
The Titleist Pro V1x is the most used out of the two, as six of those playing at Bethpage trust the headline model.
Callaway golf balls are also well represented at this year’s Ryder Cup. Multiple time major winner Jon Rahm headlines their roster and a number of players are using the Chrome Tour X model at Bethpage.
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Ben Griffin is somewhat of an outlier opting to tee up a Maxfli golf ball.
Summary Statistics
- Drivers – Titleist 9 / Callaway 6 / TaylorMade and Ping 4 / Srixon 1
- Fariway woods (some carry more than 1) – TaylorMade 13 / Titleist 6 / Callaway 5 / Ping 3
- Mini Drivers – TaylorMade 2
- Hybrids – Titleist 2 / TaylorMade and Callaway 1
- Irons (some carry multiple brands) – Titleist 12 / Ping 9 / Srixon 7 / TaylorMade and Callaway 5 / LA Golf, Mizuno and Miura 1
- Wedges – (some carry multiple brands) – Titleist Vokey 16 / Ping 7 / TaylorMade 6 / Cleveland 5 / Callaway 3
- Putters – TaylorMade, Scotty Cameron and Odyssey 6 / Ping 2 / Bettinardi 1 / LAB 1 / SIK Pro 1
- Balls – Titleist 13 / Callaway 4 / TaylorMade 3 / Srixon 3 / Maxfli 1
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