What’s In The Bag: Matt Fitzpatrick
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What golf clubs and ball does Matt Fitzpatrick use? Our in-depth review of what’s in the Major champion’s bag for 2023.
Jump To: Fitzpatrick’s WITB | Building Fitzpatrick’s Putter
Matt Fitzpatrick is one of an ever-increasing group of players who enjoys almost-complete freedom when it comes to choosing his golf clubs and clothing, with only his putter and shoes part of a contracted deal.
The Englishman signed with Bettinardi in 2021 having used the brand’s DASS BB1 Flow Tour Dept. putter with a custom face milling with great success.
The Sheffield-born star, who enjoyed a stellar amateur career before turning pro in 2014, has used Ping irons throughout his career at the highest level and also remains loyal to the Titleist Pro V1x ball with which he’s enjoyed vast success.
While 13 of the Ryder Cup star’s 14 golf clubs are completely down to him, Fitzpatrick is tied in when it comes to his footwear and apparel having signed a long-term deal with Skechers, who make some of the best golf shoes.
As well as his stunning 2022 US Open win at Brookline Country Club, Fitzpatrick has eight other DP World Tour titles to his name and finally sealed his first standalone PGA Tour victory at the 2023 RBC Heritage at Harbour Town – his favorite golf course aside from Augusta – by beating Jordan Spieth in a playoff.
His first victory as a pro came at the British Masters at Woburn in 2015, just two years after he’d won the US Amateur.
Let’s take a closer look at what’s in the bag of Matthew Fitzpatrick. And, if you’re in the market for some new gear, find out how all of his clubs performed in our tests of this year’s best equipment.
WITB Matt Fitzpatrick:
What driver does Matt Fitzpatrick use?
Matt Fitzpatrick uses a Titleist TSi3 driver (9°) with a Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei AV Raw Orange 65 TX shaft
Since their introduction, the TSi series have become the most-played drivers on the PGA Tour with more than 100 players putting them in the bag, including Justin Thomas (TSi3), Adam Scott (TSi3), Jordan Spieth (TSi3), Rafael Cabrera Bello (TSi3), Cameron Smith (TSi3).
The more compact, traditional pear shaping of TSi3 is aimed at more consistent ball-strikers seeking ultimate control over their flight.
A five-setting SureFit CG track offers precise adjustments, from ‘most heel biased’ through to ‘most toe biased’, allowing players to fine-tune their shot shape and launch. Unlike TS3, the weight is now easily visible, allowing you to see its position without removing any parts. Its location at the very rear of the club also increases stability on those off-center hits.
Read our full Titleist TSi3 driver review.
Pros
Cons
| Lofts | 8º, 9º, 10º |
| Stock shafts | Mitsubishi KURO KAGE Black Dual-Core 5G (High launch and spin), Mitsubishi TENSEI AV RAW Blue (Mid launch and spin), HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX (Low-mid launch and spin), Mitsubishi TENSEI AV RAW White (Low launch and spin) |
| Adjustable hosel | Yes (SureFit allows for 16 independent loft and lie settings) |
What fairway wood does Matt Fitzpatrick use?
Matt Fitzpatrick uses a Cobra Darkspeed X Prototype 3-wood with a Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw Orange 75 TX
He doesn't usually deviate from Ping or Titleist clubs, but he told us that he made the exception because of how impressed he was with the feel and performance of the Cobra 3-wood during testing.
Our own test pro considers it to be one of the best-looking fairway woods of 2024.
Read our full Cobra Darkspeed X fairway wood review.
| Lofts | 3 – 15° / 5 – 18° / 7 – 21° / 9 - 24° |
| Stock shafts | Ping Alta CB Black, Ping Tour 2.0 Chrome, Ping Tour 2.0 Black |
| Stock grip | Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 |
| Adjustable hosel | Yes (+/- 1.5°) |
What 7-wood does Matt Fitzpatrick use?
Matt Fitzpatrick uses a Ping G410 (20.5°) 7-wood with a Mitsubishi Tensei CK 80 TX shaft
Read our full Ping G410 fairway wood review and Titleist TSR2 hybrid review.
| Lofts | 3 - 14.5°/ 5 - 17.5°/ 7 - 20.5°/ 9 - 23.5° |
| Stock shafts | Ping Alta CB or Ping Tour |
| Adjustable hosel | Yes |
What irons does Matt Fitzpatrick use?
Matt Fitzpatrick uses Ping Blueprint S irons (5-PW) with Project X LZ 6.5 shafts
“I knew the S55s were going to run out eventually, and the testing we did with the new shaft and head before and after the Ryder Cup was just better,” Fitzpatrick told us. “It was more consistent and for me, a real positive. I'm glad I made the switch.”
Read our full Ping i210 irons review and Blueprint S irons review.
| Availability | 4-PW |
| Stock shafts | Ping CFS, KBS Tour or Dynamic Gold S300, X100 or R300 (Steel), Ping TFC 189i (Graphite) |
| 7-iron loft | 33° |
What wedges does Matt Fitzpatrick use?
Matt Fitzpatrick uses Titleist Vokey Design SM9 wedges (52°-12F, 56°-08M) and a Vokey Design Wedge Works (60°-T), all with True Temper Dynamic Gold shafts
Titleist's wedge guru, Bob Vokey, rarely puts a foot wrong, and the Vokey SM9 wedges are no exception. In fact, we'd go as far as to say the Titleist Vokey Design SM9 wedges are the most versatile, accurate, and forgiving wedges the legendary designer has ever created.
There's an extensive range of grinds available, meaning you can find the perfect fit for your swing type (steep, neutral, shallow) and the course conditions you normally play (firm, neutral, soft). That does mean that a fitting is required to make sure you're getting the best-fitting wedge for your individual needs.
Read our full Titleist Vokey SM9 wedges review.
Pros
Cons
| Highest loft | 62° |
| Grinds | <meta charset |
| Finishes | <meta charset |
What putter does Matt Fitzpatrick use?
Matt Fitzpatrick uses a Bettinardi BB1 Fitz putter (345g) with a custom face milling
They designed at least 25 putters for the Englishman before he finally settled on his current model. Fitzpatrick is one of the best putters in the game – he holed 42 out of 42 putts inside eight feet during his first PGA Tour win.
Read his six steps to becoming a better putter.
What golf ball does Matt Fitzpatrick use?
Matt Fitzpatrick uses a Titleist Pro V1x golf ball
Best tour standard premium ball
The urethane cover on the Pro V1x is created by mixing two components, with the liquid urethane cast into Titleist-manufactured cavities to form the appropriate dimple pattern into the cover. Titleist says the precise timing and temperature are integral to the consistency of golf’s No.1 ball.
The 348-dimple design was a huge change in the 2021 ball and, unsurprisingly, that remains on the new model to optimize aerodynamics. The casing works with the new core to reduce excess long-game spin while combining with the cover to create greenside spin.
Read our full Titleist Pro V1x golf balls review.
Pros
- Consistently long
- Exceptional spin rates on approach shots
- High flight and soft landing
- Tighter dispersion than the 2021 model
- Played by a host of the world's best players
Cons
- More than £4 per golf ball is a lot for most amateurs
- Urethane cover marks quite easily
| Construction | 3-piece |
| Cover | Cast urethane elastomer |
| Compression | 87-90 |
| Dimples | 388 |
| Feel | Soft |
| Flight | Mid |
| Long game spin | Low |
| Short game spin | High |
| Color options | White, Yellow |
- High gradient core design
- Speed amplifying high-flex casing layer
- Cast thermoset urethane cover
- Spherically tiled tetrahedral dimple design
What golf glove does Matt Fitzpatrick wear?
Matt Fitzpatrick uses a FootJoy Pure Touch golf glove
Read our best golf gloves 2023 review.
| Material | Leather |
| Sizes | S-XL |
What golf shoes does Matt Fitzpatrick wear?
Matt Fitzpatrick wears Skechers Go Golf Blade SE golf shoes
The blue and green colorway is said to reflect the creek and landscape and, if you look closely (see below), the sock liner and traction plate feature a custom graphic made from a topographical map of the intersection of Rae’s Creek and Augusta National. Pretty cool, hey.
The Skechers Go Golf Blade waterproof shoes have been designed using the brand's Hands Free Slip-ins technology and exclusive HeelPillow that holds your foot in place. Additional features include a padded collar and tongue, a spikeless TPU outsole for enhanced traction, and high-performance Resamax cushioning for all-day comfort.
Fitzpatrick has previously worn a few special-edition golf shoes from Skechers at previous Majors, but this is the first time that the footwear is being made available to golfers in the UK and Ireland. And yes, for those Sheffield United fans out there, the name is indeed inspired by Fitzpatrick's love of the Blades.
“I felt quite honored really when the people at Skechers told that,” he says. “It's the most athletic shoe they've made and I love the slip-on technology as well. Little things like that make it so much better.”
Matt will also wear the Skechers GORI All Day Polo and Skechers Ultra Tapered Pant in a variety of colorways at Augusta National, with select styles now available to purchase online. You can browse the full range by clicking here.
See how the Skechers Go Golf Blade compares to the best Skechers golf shoes.
Pros
- Superior out-of-the-box comfort
- Sleek and stylish
- Perfect for on and off the course
Cons
| Sizes | 7 – 12 |
| Colors | 1 |
| BOA | No |
| Waterproof | Yes |
Sam Bettinardi on creating Matt Fitzpatrick’s putter
How did Bettinardi and Matt Fitzpatrick first meet and start working together?
The relationship started in 2016, we have a mutual friend who, like Matt, was an alumni of Northwestern University in Chicago. I knew they’d played a lot of golf together so I asked for a mutual introduction. He was like there’s no way Matt is ever going to change his putter, he’s been using his Yes Tracy II since he was 16 years old.
I said we should try, Matt is an equipment free agent he’s a player who’s not trapped by a big OEM contract. We got along well and started working together not long after. We made a few initial putters, Matt wanted a few adjustments, but it wasn’t until 2018 that Matt first put a Bettinardi putter in play. He went back to his Yes in 2019, so it’s been a five-year process before we signed him to team Bettinardi in 2021.
Five years is a long time, how many different putters did you make Matt over that period? And how different were they?
We made 25–30 different putters for him. Each has very minor changes as Matt is very discriminate. The types of things his eyes see and what he looks for in a putter would never be spotted by a lot of tour players, let alone club golfers. Matt notices everything, our team had to step it up to get him a putter he was happy with.
Part of the 25–30 putters we made was him trying our Bettinardi face milling patterns which can alter roll, feel and sound. But he likes the sense of using what he knows, so he kept going back to what he’s used for a lot of his life, the C-Groove technology on his Yes putter. Matt’s really particular about how the topline of the putter is polished so it has a nice silver color, and the putter body absolutely has to be black.
Give us an idea of the amount of time Bettinardi have invested in Matt.
Starting from scratch like this and making a complete custom putter from head shape all the way through to a personal face milling pattern is not a quick process at all. It started with Matt and I having a conversation. I took Matt’s requirements over to our engineers and we 3D printed the first head. Once Matt had signed off on that we went ahead and machined the first head, then it needed polishing, finishing and assembling.
Each additional putter sample then involves tweaking CAD files to produce a slightly different head, we went through this process 25 – 30 times to finally come up with one putter that Matt was happy with and wanted to put into play. Don’t forget he’s a top 20 player in the world and one of the game’s very best putters. Now we’ve got there with him we’ve run off a number of his heads as raw back-ups which gives us some wiggle room.
What did Matt like about the Bettinardi DASS BB1 Flow Tour Dept model that he’s put into play? Why did he choose that particular one?
A lot of it was getting the feel that he wanted off the face. Thanks to the Yes C-Groove patent having expired we could create our own C-Groove pattern. We improved on the groove shaping (our faces are milled so we can very closely control every dimension), which gave Matt the perfect setup but with the safety of generating a familiar look and cosmetics and the predictable results that he’s accustomed to. Nailing the offset was absolutely key too, but nothing on tour stands still so we’re still talking about offset.
Offset (the distance between the leading edge and the hosel) is really personal on a putter and Matt’s eyes analyze it really closely. Matt’s putter is a flow neck model so there are no straight edges or angles leading into the head of the putter. While some players like seeing ¾ of a shaft width of hosel offset others prefer an 8th, Matt likes a 6th, which gives the perfect look and suits his hand position and putting style.
The head weight of the putter also has to be exact. Our production putters have a tolerance of +/-1g, so if the head weight is 362g customers get a putter at either 361g, 362g or 363g. Matt’s putters have to be exact and he likes his putters to be 346g, so they have to be 346g, and the swing weight needs to be spot on too. We can do that here at Bettinardi as everything is milled in-house in the USA and our quality control standards are second to none. We knew we’d nailed it when Matt won the 2020 DP World Tour Championship in Dubai on his first week out with his DASS BB1 Flow putter.
Why do you think Matt was so attached to the Yes Tracy putter?
It was a familiarity thing, having used it since he was 16 years old he knew the shape and feel inside out. When we approached him about working with us, he was buying Yes Tracy putters from eBay as back-ups. The brand wasn’t about anymore so it was his only option.
A few years ago he came up to see our facility in Chicago and I think he liked how he could have anything he wanted. It didn’t matter if he drew something on a napkin, or if he had a particular design in his mind, he realized we could make it for him. He enjoyed learning about what we could do milling-wise and understanding that anything was possible, in my mind it’s what made the relationship.
I think we were Matt’s security blanket, he wanted to try something new and feel safe in the knowledge that we could create the C-Groove for him, but also produce exact back-ups so he could experiment along the way, that’s a service he just couldn’t get from Yes anymore.
I give some credit to Yes in the way they developed their technology, it wasn’t easy to replicate. We make putters for Fred Couples, Matt Kuchar and Jason Kokrak and what we’ve learned from working on creating Matt’s C-Groove design is that by removing face material (like we do on our FIT and Roll Control putter faces) you get a softer feel, but it’s actually a whole lot more than that.
The specific angle at which grooves are cut really affects feel, roll and sound. It took a lot of reverse engineering to realize the feel, roll and sound expectations that Matt had become accustomed to with the Yes putter.
I see comments on social media asking if Bettinardi will bring back the C-Groove but our Roll Control Face is very similar in terms of performance.
Where do you spend most of your test time with Matt? In the Bettinardi putting lab (Studio B) or out on tour?
We’ve had him in Studio B a couple of times, but we also have PGA and European Tour Reps that spend time with him constantly. We use Quintic analysis software and it’s just silly how good his putting numbers are. Time after time, the consistency of how he repeats the ball coming off the putter face and starts it rolling is ridiculously good.
My fathers been making putters for some of the best players in the world since 1991, I’ve been involved in the putter world all my life and Matt is one of the few players who’ll pick up on the tiniest of subtleties, players like this usually tend to be the best putters.
We worked with Francesco Molinari when he had the best year of his life in 2018 (winning twice on tour including The Open, plus a dominant performance in the Ryder Cup), we’ve made putters for Fred Couples, Matt Kuchar, Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh all of whom are major winners. Matt is knocking on that door too, but in terms of how to discriminate he is he’s top caliber.
How long does it take to make Matt a new putter? And does he travel with back-up models?
If we’re starting from one of the back-up blanks we’ve previously created for Matt we can turn something around in three to five days. But if we run out of those heads we’re talking five to 10 days.
Matt travels with a DASS BB1 Flow Tour Dept putter at both 2.5° and 3.5° of loft. Depending on the conditions of the greens he’ll switch and swap the lofts instead of having our tour rep bend the loft each week. Matt likes to have the exact loft milled into each face so all the other dimensions of the head remain constant.
Where the greens are likely to be fast he’ll use the 2.5° loft, whereas if he’s playing out on the west coast at Pebble Beach or Riviera he’ll go with the higher loft because of the Poa annua greens.
A lot of Bettinardi Tour Dept putters are made from DASS (Double-Aged Stainless Steel), what is DASS and what does it do?
As we mill all of our own putters in our own facility we like to use the very best materials, especially when it comes to the best players in the world. In order to get a little bit softer feel we send our 303 stainless steel to a heat treatment company. They heat the metal up to 600°F before pulling it out of the oven and letting it cool. The metal’s heated again to 450°F before being left to cool a second time. What we’re doing is annealing the steel, aging it twice, so it’s softer for machining but also gives a softer feel playability wise too.
Think of it like aging a wine. We’ve been doing it for 15 years and some of our players have loved the feel because it’s second to none.
Finally, what it does mean to have a player like Matt playing Bettinardi? And we’ve heard you have an interesting story about his putter grip?
Every day it seems new putter companies pop up because somebody has a milling machine and they feel they can make putters. Not everyone has tour players though, and not everyone has tour and major victories under their belt. Matt is a top 20 player in the world so it’s immediate validation. When you buy Bettinardi you’re buying into a company that has 23 years of experience of milling putters under their own name (and an additional 7 years of producing for others), and we’ve racked up over 90 worldwide tour victories in that time. It’s been a great relationship stretching back to 2016, we’ve worked really hard to keep Matt happy, it’s been fun.
Matt’s used a Winn AVS grip for quite some time (we usually use Lamkin putter grips), so when he joined team Bettinardi we wanted to give him exactly what he was familiar with. Matt likes a rugged, worn feel to his putter grip, so when we put a new grip on his putter we’ll take a knife blade and some sandpaper and rough it up so it has the feel of a worn-out grip. He switched to the Bettinardi Winn grip right after the Masters this year and he’s used it religiously since.
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About the author
Rob Jerram
Digital Editor
Rob Jerram is the Digital Editor of todays-golfer.com. He specializes in the DP World Tour, PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and the Ryder Cup, spending large chunks of his days reading about, writing about, and watching the tours each month.
He’s passionate about the equipment used by professional golfers and is also a font of knowledge when it comes to golf balls, golf trolleys, and golf bags, testing thousands down the years.
Rob has been a journalist for more than 23 years, starting his career with Johnston Press where he covered local and regional news and sport in a variety of editorial roles across ten years.
He joined Bauer Media in September 2010 and worked as the Senior Production Editor of Today’s Golfer and Golf World magazines for ten years before moving into the Digital Editor’s role in July 2020.
During his time in the golf industry, Rob has interviewed and played golf with some of the biggest names in the game, including Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Lee Westwood, Colin Montgomerie, and Rick Shiels. He’s traveled the world attending product launches and golf events and reported at both The Open and Ryder Cup.
He has been playing golf for almost three decades and is a member at Greetham Valley in Rutland and Spalding Golf Club in Lincolnshire, playing off a 9.7 handicap.
Away from golf, Rob enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters, watching Peterborough United FC, going for long walks, flying his drone, cooking, and reading.
Rob uses a Callaway Paradym driver, TaylorMade M5 5-wood, TaylorMade P790 driving iron, Callaway Paradym irons (4-AW), TaylorMade MG3 wedges (52º, 58º), Odyssey Tri-Hot 5k Double Wide putter, and Callaway Chrome Soft X golf ball.
You can email Rob or get in touch with him on Twitter.
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What's in the bag: Matt Fitzpatrick's golf equipment reviewed.
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Matt Fitzpatrick uses a Bettinardi putter.
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Matt Fitzpatrick won his first European Tour title at the 2015 British Masters.
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Matt Fitzpatrick with the DP World Tour Championship trophy – his sixth European Tour title.
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Matt Fitzpatrick plays Ping irons.
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Matt Fitzpatrick signed to wear Skechers Golf Shoes early in 2022.
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Matt Fitzpatrick uses the Titleist TSi2 3-wood.
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Matt Fitzpatrick plays the Titleist TSi3 driver.
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Matt Fitzpatrick uses a Bettinardi BB1 Fitz putter
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Matt Fitzpatrick plays TaylorMade's M2 driver.
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Matt Fitzpatrick uses a Ping G410 7-wood
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Matt Fitzpatrick uses Ping S55 irons
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Matt Fitzpatrick with the RBC Heritage trophy after his PGA Tour win at Hilton Head.
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Matt Fitzpatrick has signed a multi-year shoe and apparel deal with Skechers.
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Matt Fitzpatrick uses a Titleist TSi3 driver
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Matt Fitzpatrick uses Titleist Vokey SM9 wedges
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Matt Fitzpatrick plays Ping fairway woods.
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Ping G425 fairway woods.
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Matt Fitzpatrick uses the Ping Glide 3.0 wedge.
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Matt Fitzpatrick plays Titleist T100 and Ping S55 irons.
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Matt Fitzpatrick will be wearing the special-edition Skechers Go Golf Blade SE shoes at the 2024 Masters.
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