Welcome to Fully Equipped’s weekly Tour equipment report. Every Friday of PGA Tour weeks (plus other times, if news warrants), GOLF equipment editor Jack Hirsh runs you through some of the biggest news surrounding golf clubs on Tour, including changes, tweaks and launches.
Following the company’s two-year product refresh cadence like clockwork, Titleist officially introduced its new 2027 Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls on the PGA Tour this week at the Baycurrent Classic.
Titleist isn’t sharing any details on changes or differences between the new balls and the previous generation, yet some players have offered hints.
The balls hit the USGA conforming list three weeks ago at the PGA Tour’s Biltmore Championship in North Carolina, where four golfers, including T3 finisher and 54-hole leader Neal Shipley, put them in use.
This week in Japan, 12 golfers were playing the new Pro V1 with on-site reps showing some the ball for the first time. The 2027 balls alone had more usage than any other brand in the 72-player field. Among the notable players was Jordan Spieth, who confirmed early in the week that he was switching to the 2027 Pro V1.
Et tu, Jordan?
Jordan Spieth confirmed he’s likely going to be playing the new 2027 Titleist Pro V1 this week.
Spieth started playing the V earlier this year after messing around with Pro V1x Left Dash from the Cadillac Championship until the US Open
Spieth makes for an interesting case study for what the new golf balls might offer. The three-time major winner has played the higher compression and higher-spinning Pro V1x throughout the entirety of his career until he made a rare mid-season change in late April to the new Pro V1x Left Dash. That change was laregly driven by his increasing spin rates in his irons.
“I’ve always played the highest-spinning ball because I thought I needed it in the long irons,” Spieth said back at the Cadillac Championship. “Now with this, whatever my makeup is, and then just kind of added speed; my spin rates have been fine, if not too high. So it’s actually kind of nice to be able to drop it down a little bit.”
That experiment lasted until the U.S. Open when Spieth made another change to the Pro V1 golf ball. The 2025 Pro V1, as is typical with the Titleist lineup, is softer than the X or Left Dash, but offers spin rates somewhere between the two.
Spieth isn’t the only player using the new 2027 Pro V1 who was dealing with overspinning. Shipley was previously playing the low-spinning Pro V1x Double Dot and, since switching to the ’27 V has posted back-to-back top-10s.
With Titleist staying mum on the details, I’ll let you draw your own conclusions. Shipley isn’t playing this week while Spieth sits in the middle of the pack after backing up an opening 72 with a five-under 66 on Friday.
Sahith Theegala actually gave us some of the more detailed feedback on the new golf ball through a video posted to Titleist’s social media channels on Thursday.
“I think the thing that I’ve found different is with some of the short-game shots — maybe like 20, 30, 40 yards, not even like a basic chip, but like an intermediate pitch shot — I feel like it comes out a touch lower and with a touch more spin,” he later explained to Titleist reps. “I feel like I can lean on my short game. So when it feels like I’m able to squeeze even a little bit more out of something that I feel really good about, it’s a great feeling. Especially when it’s just equipment-based, when you don’t have to personally change anything.”
Doug Ghim, who is playing the Pro V1x after making the switch in Utah a week ago and earning his best finish of the season with a runner-up showing, mentioned how much more consistent spin was in his testing.
“I think the windows were tighter,” he told reps. “I think between the spinniest ball and lowest [spinning] ball in the groupings that we hit with each club, they tended to be tighter. And I think visually we saw that it was curving less. And fortunately that day we also had a bit of a crosswind, so it’s a good time to test all that stuff. So yeah, I think overall just watching it tail less in the wind was a big factor.”
Also gaming the 2027 models this week were Brian Harman (X), Zach Bouchou (V), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (X), Tom Hoge (V), Maverick McNealy (V), Denny McCarthy (V), John Parry (X), Yusaku Hosono (X) and Ren Yonezawa (X).
Titleist posted videos of both Max Homa and Ryan Gerard testing the balls on-site this week at Yokohama Country Club, so it’s likely more pros are on the verge of a switch as well, adding to the storylines for the rest of the PGA Tour fall season.
Check this out
This section is dedicated to cool photos we’ve snapped recently on Tour, but haven’t had a reason to share yet. This week, check out Keith Mitchell’s clean set of Mizuno Pro S-1 irons as he chases his first Tour victory since 2019.
Keith Mitchell plays a full set, 4-PW of the Pro S-1 blades.
Jack Hirsh/GOLF
Odds and Ends
Some other gear changes and notes we’re tracking this week.
Min Woo Lee subbed his Apex UW for an Apex UT 3-iron.
3 things you should read/watch
A selection of GOLF content from the past week that may interest you.
