2021/22 PGA Tour Season: How Golf’s Major Club Makers Fared

At the end of one of the most eventful and controversial seasons on the PGA Tour, it’s easy to sit back and reflect on the drama stirred up by a rival league or Tiger’s attempted comeback. But it’s also an opportunity to look at overall performance–and not just by the players themselves.

Golfers spend nearly $2 billion on golf clubs each year. They read reviews. They test the clubs in simulators at malls and country clubs. And they look at what the biggest stars in the sport keep in their bags.

But which golf clubs on the PGA Tour actually perform best?

This article looks at how the top brands fared (drivers, irons, putters) across the PGA Tour. It lists the overall strokes gained averages for each club category, as well as the top ten golfers by strokes gained and what brand of club they use.

Note that these statistics only included brands used by at least five golfers this season, and not every single club maker represented on the PGA Tour. Obviously, this snapshot doesn’t speak to the quality or technology of these club makers, but it gives us a good look at what the top golfers are using and how the brands have performed this season.

Drivers

Starting with those flashy clubs that exhibit the latest in golf technology, the list below shows the average strokes gained (off the tee) by driver manufacturer during the 2021/22 PGA Tour season.

1. TaylorMade (0.099)
2. PING (0.095)
3. Callaway (0.092)
4. Titleist (0.078)
5. PXG (-0.095)

TaylorMade drivers (largely a mix of the SIM2 and Stealth clubs) had the highest average strokes gained (off the tee), with PING and Callaway coming in at a close second and third, respectively.

All three brands represent about 20% (each) of the drivers used on Tour. The most popular brand among PGA golfers, however, is Titleist (mostly TSi model clubs), used by about 30% of PGA Tour golfers.

1. Jon Rahm – Callaway 
2. Rory McIlroy – TaylorMade
3. Keith Mitchell – Mizuno
4. Corey Conners – PING
5. Brendan Steele – PING
6. Luke List – TaylorMade
7. Sungjae Im – Titleist 
8. Cameron Champ – PING
9. Matt Fitzpatrick – Titleist
10. Will Zalatoris – Titleist

In looking at the top ten golfers by strokes gained (off the tee), we see some diversity in the drivers used. No brand is used by more than three golfers, and we even see the appearance of a Mizuno driver, one of only a couple used on Tour.

Irons

On the irons front, there are more brands represented across golfers; though Titleist again represents about 30% of all irons on Tour. The next closet share is Callaway with only 15% of golfers.

1. TaylorMade (0.204)
2. Callaway (0.133)
3. Srixon (0.124)
4. Titleist (0.123)
5. Mizuno (0.113)
6. PING (0.100)
7. PXG (0.040)

Based on the strokes gained (approach) figures, TaylorMade had the best season, well in front of Callaway, Srixon, and Titleist.

1. Will Zalatoris – Titleist
2. Russell Henley – Titleist
3. Collin Morikawa – TaylorMade
4. Scottie Scheffler – TaylorMade
5. Cameron Smith – Titleist
6. Hideki Matsuyama – Srixon
7. Xander Schauffele – Callaway
8. Justin Thomas – Titleist
9. Shane Lowry – Srixon 
10. Tom Hoge – Titleist

Nevertheless, in looking at the top ten list of golfers by strokes gained (approach), Titleist made up half of this elite group. Titleists’ seemingly average overall figure above is probably a result of their widespread use across the PGA Tour by players of all skillsets. But when it comes to top players, their irons remain popular.

Putters

When it comes to putter usage on Tour, a few new putter-specific brands come into the mix. By far, the two most popular putters are Odyssey (34% of golfers) and Scotty Cameron (32% of golfers).

1. PING (0.137)
2. TaylorMade (0.061)
3. Odyssey (0.054)
4. Scotty Cameron (0.021)
5. Bettinardi (-0.038)

However, when it comes to the best performance during the 2021/22 season based on strokes gained (putting), PING users performed best, with TaylorMade coming in at a distant second. Each of these brands is used by about 10% of golfers on Tour.

1. Denny McCarthy – Scotty Cameron 
2. Brendon Todd – SIK
3. Tyrrell Hatton – PING
4. Beau Hossler – Odyssey 
5. Cameron Smith – Scotty Cameron 
6. Kevin Kisner – Odyssey
7. Sam Burns – Odyssey 
8. Matt Kuchar – Bettinardi
9. Martin Trainer – Scotty Cameron 
10. Chesson Hadley – Odyssey

In looking at the top ten putters this season, the breakdown of brands largely mirrors their usage across the PGA Tour (e.g., Scotty Cameron and Odyssey take 7 of 10 slots). Still, smaller club makers have gained some share in recent years (especially in the putter market), with professionals starting to use putters from manufacturers like SIK and Bettinardi more regularly.

Again, these figures aren’t meant to project any sort of opinion about the clubs used on Tour, merely to show which brands the best players are using and how they performed this season.