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PGA, Golf Herren Golf 2025: Farmers Insurance Open JAN 24 January 24, 2025: Chris Gotterup reacts to the crowd on the 2nd hole during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open on Torrey Pines South Course in San Diego, California. Justin Fine/CSM Credit Image: Justin Fine/Cal Media San Diego Ca USA EDITORIAL USE ONLY Copyright: xx ZUMA-20250124_zma_c04_055.jpg JustinxFinex csmphotothree348351
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PGA, Golf Herren Golf 2025: Farmers Insurance Open JAN 24 January 24, 2025: Chris Gotterup reacts to the crowd on the 2nd hole during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open on Torrey Pines South Course in San Diego, California. Justin Fine/CSM Credit Image: Justin Fine/Cal Media San Diego Ca USA EDITORIAL USE ONLY Copyright: xx ZUMA-20250124_zma_c04_055.jpg JustinxFinex csmphotothree348351
The Sony Open trophy came with a footnote most viewers missed. Chris Gotterup’s third PGA Tour victory doubled as the first official win for Bridgestone’s 2026 Tour B X prototype ball—a detail that matters more than the hardware. He carried that same ball and every club from the winning setup to TPC Scottsdale for the WM Phoenix Open. No tweaks. No swaps. The configuration that produced a closing 64 at Waialae traveled intact.
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That composure at the Sony Open, closing 64, was traced directly to his 2025 Genesis Scottish Open victory over Rory McIlroy in the final pairing. Gotterup credited that afternoon with rewiring how he processes Sundays. CBS broadcaster Jim Nantz called him a “serious threat” ahead of the Phoenix Open pairings, as previously reported.
The Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale sits at 7,261 yards, par 71. Shorter than Torrey Pines, where Gotterup posted a T18 earlier this season, but deceptively punishing, firm fairways, overseeded Bermuda greens, and desert wind that rewards players who control trajectory rather than chase distance. Gotterup averages 319.6 yards off the tee. Seventh on Tour in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee. His bag is built for a player who hits it that far and needs the rest of the setup to keep pace.
Chris Gotterup’s long game mastery: Driver, fairway metals, and irons
Start with the driver. Ping G440 LST, dialed to 7.5 degrees—a loft most amateurs would struggle to get airborne. Gotterup doesn’t have that problem. The LST head carries the deepest Center of Gravity Ping has engineered into a low-spin design, which means the ball stays low without the face turning into a liability on off-center strikes. The shaft is a Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 70 TX. Aerospace-grade carbon fiber. Stiff from handle to tip. It absorbs his violent transition without warping the face angle at impact, which is the entire point when your swing generates that kind of force.
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PGA, Golf Herren 3M Open – Second Round Jul 25, 2025 Blaine, Minnesota, USA Chris Gotterup reacts to his putt on the 12th hole during the second round of the 3M Open golf tournament. Blaine Minnesota USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xMattxKrohnx 20250725_mdk_hw1_045
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The 3-wood slot is empty. Instead, a TaylorMade BRNR Mini Copper at 13.5 degrees occupies the space between driver and 5-wood. Roughly 300cc—bigger than a fairway wood, smaller than a driver—and versatile enough to serve as both a fairway finder off the tee and a go-for-it weapon from 280-plus yards on par 5s. The shaft jumps to an 80-gram HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX TX, adding mass for shots off the turf. Below that, a TaylorMade Qi35 5-wood at 18 degrees with a Mitsubishi Diamana WB 83 TX shaft rounds out the top end.
The irons are where things get interesting. Bridgestone Tour B 220 MB musclebacks. Four-iron through 9-iron. Forged from 1020 Carbon Steel, grooves milled to .02mm. No cavity. No safety net. Gotterup is the only player on the PGA Tour gaming Bridgestone blades right now, which makes this choice less a preference and more a statement about his ball-striking. The narrow sole slices through rough that would grab a wider iron by the throat. KBS C-Taper 130 X shafts—heavy, low-launching—bring his naturally high flight down to a window where these firm Bermuda greens will actually accept the ball instead of rejecting it.
Chris Gotterup’s Short Game and Finishing Tools: Wedges, Putter, and Ball
Gotterup gutted his wedge setup before the season started. Four TaylorMade MG5 wedges now: 46, 52, 56, and 60 degrees. The Spin Tread technology etches deep channels between the grooves to push moisture off the face—useful at TPC Scottsdale, where morning dew sits on desert turf until the Arizona sun gets to work. The 60-degree runs a low-bounce grind for tight lies around the green. All four carry True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts in Black Onyx, deliberately softer than his iron shafts. The logic is flawed. Partial wedge shots demand a tip section that gives feedback, not one that fights the player’s hands.
The putter is a TaylorMade Spider Tour X, L-Neck. The Pure Roll insert—Surlyn and aluminum, grooves cut at 45 degrees—grabs the ball at contact and starts it rolling forward immediately, which matters on overseeded Bermuda where grain can redirect a skidding putt before it ever has a chance. SuperStroke Zenergy Pistol 2.0 grip. Non-tapered. Quiets the wrists.
Then the ball. Bridgestone Tour B X 2026 “MindSet.” Over 240 prototypes. Twenty material formulations. The final version delivers 2.3 mph more ball speed than last year’s model. That translates to nearly nine additional yards, and for someone already carrying drives past 310, those yards don’t add distance so much as they subtract difficulty—turning a 7-iron approach into a 9-iron, a 9-iron into a wedge.
Gotterup’s bag at TPC Scottsdale tells you who he is before he swings. Raw power at the top, Bridgestone blades nobody else on Tour will touch in the middle, and a scoring zone rebuilt from scratch for 2026. The equipment doesn’t ask for forgiveness. Neither does the player.
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