Arnold Palmer was undoubtedly golf’s biggest gear head and club tinkerer ever, and he must have been smiling down upon Bay Hill this week, as some of golf’s biggest names were testing and switching into new equipment at the Elevated Event.
Names such as Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Rickie Fowler, and Justin Rose all made gear changes at the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational.
We also spotted some new equipment on-site at Bay Hill, including Bettinardi irons, new Scotty Cameron and PXG putters, and new Golf Pride putter grips.
Just to add a little more gear intrigue in honor of Arnie, we also got a look into NFL quarterback Trevor Lawrence’s golf bag, including his unbelievable custom “No. 16” putter, as well as NBA legend Vince Carter’s current setup during the Wednesday Pro-Am.
Yeah, I know; too much talk, not enough photos. I hear you, so let’s get into this week’s equipment highlights from the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge.
Click here to see all of our photos from Bay Hill this week
1) Scottie Scheffler switches into a TaylorMade Spider Tour X prototype putter
It’s been a long road of putter testing for Scheffler as he continues to search for the one putter that will stick longterm. Maybe his new Spider Tour X prototype is the answer.
His 2-under-par 70 in round 1 is certainly a nice start.
While his former Tour X SS proto putter that we spotted in 2023 came equipped with a custom milled face, his new Arnold Palmer Invitational version uses TaylorMade’s stock Pure Roll face insert. The new putter also has a visibly short plumbers neck construction.
TaylorMade weighed in with some insight on the new design after the first round:
“Scottie Scheffler put Spider Tour X putter in play this week after doing some extensive work with the putter at home. The putter is half-inch longer than Scottie’s previous gamer with the L-neck hosel and True Path with a full-line sightline on top. Scottie switched to Spider Tour X for increased MOI and stability compared to a blade.
“Spec wise, Scottie’s Spider Tour X has 3 degrees of loft with a lie angle of 72 degrees, and an 80/20 Pure Roll insert. He is also using Golf Pride’s Pistol grip.”
See more photos of Scheffler’s new putter here, or click here to see his full WITB from this week.
2) Collin Morikawa switches into a Logan Olson putter
Right as Scheffler gets off the Logan Olson train, Morikawa hops aboard.
New in the bag this week, Morikawa is now playing a custom Logan Olson blade putter, equipped with his familiar Mitsubishi Diamana putter shaft, and a SuperStroke Zynergy Tour 2.0XL putter grip.
See more photos of Collin’s new Logan Olson putter here
3) Fowler switches into a Cobra Darkspeed X driver, with a new Project X Denali shaft
If you’re particularly interested in Fowler’s new driver, or new driver shaft, or in the reasons why he switched, I recommend reading our full write-up over on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, where Fowler went super in-depth on the change and new driver setup. Fowler is quite in-tune with his equipment, so he’s always interesting to speak with about his testing process.
Here’s a snippet of what Fowler had to say about it:
“Obviously, I’m a big fan of the Whiteboard; always have been. (Cobra Tour rep Ben Schomin) sent this Denali over. It felt pretty similar, maybe a little more stable. And so I went with that … it just matched up as a good combo, good feel, felt stable, had the forgiveness. The spin window is good. Heel shots weren’t spinning off the charts. Toe balls that were drawing weren’t getting too low. You know, it felt like I was able to hit shots, as far as lower flight, get it up in the air if I wanted to.
“But, ultimately, the dispersion window on mishits and left and right seem to be a bit tighter, which that can give you either more confidence or feeling more comfortable, and ultimately making better swings.”
4) Justin Rose switches to Srixon Z Forged II irons
According to Rose’s caddie, Rose played his first 9 holes with the new Srixon X Forged II set on Tuesday, and as confirmed during the first round of competition on Thursday, he officially made the switch.
I guess he liked what he saw. Or felt.
As GolfWRX Forum user Drewhill44 pointed out in the forum thread, Rose has won on the PGA Tour twice on the week of an iron switch, so special things could be in store for Rose with the new Srixon irons this week.
We’ll catch with Rose next week at The Players to see why he made the change.
5) Arnold Palmer’s 2-iron, and “memorial” WITB
As mentioned earlier, Arnold Palmer was a true club tinkerer. Seriously, his club collection totals over 10,000.
That’s a lot of golf clubs.
On Wednesday, an umbrella-shaded Arnold Palmer staff bag was on display, and filled with clubs from his collection.
The 2-iron particularly caught my eye, as did the custom Odyssey Toulon Latrobe blade putter, crafted in his honor.
All of the clubs in The King’s memorial bag are worth checking out.
6) Trevor and Vince
Trevor Lawrence and Vince Carter played alongside Baron Corbin and Collin Morikawa during the Wednesday Pro-Am, and they each had some cool stuff in the bag.
Lawrence, who wears jersey number 16 while playing quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars, was using a Royal Payne/Rex Golf collab putter, and Carter, who’s a certified NBA legend, was using a Ping G430 7-wood.
Superstars always know how to wow the crowd.
Click for the full story on Lawrence’s putter, or see more photos of his full bag.
7) Guess what company makes this putter…
What’s your guess? Here’s the answer.
8) Bettinardi’s first irons ever
This was quite a surprise drop from Bettinardi this week. Luckily, GolfWRX Gear Expert Brian Knudson already wrote an in-depth story about the irons here.
9) New Scotty Cameron putters and LD/Long Design grips
The Scotty Cameron putter launch train keeps rolling, and adds a new LD/Long Design grip to the passenger car, too.
See what GolfWRX members are saying about the putters and grips here
10) Golf Pride throws it in Reverse (Taper)
Speaking of new putter grips, Golf Pride launched three new Reverse Taper putter grip models that completely flip the thought process of tapered putting grips, in hopes of stabilizing the hands throughout the stroke.
You can read more about the new technology here.
I tried telling you, it was a wild week in golf equipment at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Cheers to a great weekend of golf watching, and we’ll see you next week at The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
Pour up an Arnold Palmer to celebrate.
