Welcome to Fully Equipped’s weekly Tour gear report. Every Friday of PGA Tour weeks (more times, if the news warrants it), Jack Hirsh, GOLF Equipment Editor runs you through some of the biggest news surrounding golf clubs on Tour, including changes, tweaks and launches.
The Presidents Cup is usually one of the quieter weeks on the PGA Tour schedule for gear changes, and for no longer part, this is true this year.
Apart from the fact that two of the biggest stars of Team USA came to Medinah with new putters.
Cameron Young and Justin Thomas seem to have been locked on the Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5R for most of this season, with Young’s success is popularized what has become one of the hottest forms on the PGA Tour.
This week, neither appeared with that gamer, with Young making his second putter switch in as many appearances.
Young’s flatstick fluency is surprising given his career-best season in 2026, when he won twice, including the Players Championship and finished runner-up at the Open Championship.
But after Young finished seventh a year ago in SG: Putting and peaked as high as 37th this season, his putting took a bit of a dip over the summer. He lost strokes in his last three starts entering the Tour Championship and had recorded positive strokes gained placing just two events (not counting the majors) since his last victory in the Cadillac Championship.
That led him to abruptly move away from the Phantom 9.5R at the Tour Championship to a prototype Scotty Cameron 10.5 Xperimental deck.
Photo from yesterday, but it really looks like Cameron Young switched to a new Scotty Cameron Xperimental 10.5 prototype at the Tour Championship.
That putter featured what appeared to be an aluminum face insert, intended to take weight off the face and then redistribute that weight further back to enhance MOI and forgiveness. Aluminum inserts are something the Scotty Cameron Tour team used a lot more in 2026, with JJ Spaun and Robert MacIntyre testing different options throughout the year.
At the Travelers Championship, Young also tested the aluminum-faced Phantom 12 before the tournament.
Young concluded the FedEx Cup season with his best performance since the Cadillac at East Lake (+.870) in a T11 showing, using the 10.5.
But this week, Young pulled a different pattern. He has a new Phantom 5.5 mallet, a putter shape he has used before, notably shooting a 59 at TPC River Highlands with a black version in 2024.
The new 5.5 is similar to the retail edition of the putter, with a single line of sight along the top rail, except without the Studio Carbon Steel face insert. Young’s also seems to have an aluminum insert, like their 10.5 Xperimental.
The Phantom 5.5’s short sight line and center alignment lines are what drove Young to form this week. He’s had this putter for a few weeks, and found it lined up better than the 9.5 or 10.5 in home tests.
The Phantom 9R head shape is the next evolution of the Phantom 9 profile that debuted in 2024. The 9R (“R” denotes rounded) features softer, more rounded contours and edges compared to its predecessor. The new 9.5R configuration features a “.5” jet collar, which promotes more toe flow than the 9R or 9.2R models, and a single long sight line for precise alignment on the ball.
Instead of a slant neck, Thomas’ putter has a flow neck, which still produces a lot of toe hang and is similar to the Futura X 5.5 with which Thomas took his early career wins.
The putter also has what looks like a steel face pressed against an aluminum body. The steel face should produce more of a feeling Thomas is used to, while the lighter aluminum construction is something that allows Cameron, again, to spread the weight outside the perimeter and increase MOI.
While there is no sign of a Phantom 10.5 coming to the market, those asking for one should be comforted. Scotty Cameron is not putting on a new head shape
Check this out
This section is dedicated to the fantastic photos we’ve taken recently on the Tour, but haven’t had a reason to share yet. This week, check out Tom Kim’s Scotty Cameron Newport 2 prototype putter.
Tom Kim and two other Internationals are the only Presidents Cup players who use blade putters.
Jack Hirsh/GOLF
Odds and Ends
Some other gear changes and notes we’ll be following this week.
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