Equipment Report: Bay Hill hints Scottie Scheffler’s next equipment change, more

At Arnie’s place, a whole host of equipment changes (and revisions) made headlines. The fourth Signature Event of the season at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard saw the likes of Rory McIlroy overhauling his golf bag, putting in play a new driver, 3-wood, 4-wood, 3-iron and pitching wedge, all to fit spin rates and distances for his new golf ball that he debuted in his victory earlier this season.

To continue the madness, McIlroy returned to his old setup for the final round at Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Club & Lodge. But, he wasn’t the first 180 of the week. Sepp Straka did the same, switching back to his trusty Odyssey Tuttle Stroke Lab putter after a one-round experiment with an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Mini.

But there were plenty of gear tests, switches and launches that caught the attention at Bay Hill.

Scheffler switch on the horizon?

Returning to the site where Scottie Scheffler made the equipment switch, putting in play the TaylorMade Spider Tour X putter that vaulted him into top gear and nine wins worldwide in 2024, the world No. 1 was back at Bay Hill testing once again.

Scheffler was spotted on the range early in the week at Arnie’s place, putting multiple TaylorMade Qi35 driver builds through their paces, constantly returning to his Qi10 gamer to compare results. Despite a small sample size for the season, Scheffler has dropped to 130th in Total Driving on TOUR this season after excelling with the driver last season and finishing second in the statistic for 2024. Quite the drop for a player who has had one of the most dominant runs from tee to green.

Since the putter switch at Bay Hill, Scheffler’s bag stayed consistent during this torrid run. But, the 13-time TOUR winner already surprised some by adding a new 7-wood to the bag a Torrey Pines for The Genesis Invitational. Could another switch be on the horizon with Scheffler heading to THE PLAYERS Championship in search of the three-peat? If it isn’t a new driver, it could be a different golf ball. Part of the early week testing for Scheffler also involved trying out the 2025 Titleist Pro V1 ball, but we’ll have to wait at least another week to see if either makes the call-up.

Conners calls up prototype putter

Corey Conners is a ball-striker. He finished inside the top 10 on TOUR last season for both Strokes Gained: Off-the-tee and SG: Approach. But, during his career on the PGA TOUR, Conners has never finished inside the top 100 on the greens.

So to help Conners at a course that demands just as much on the putting surfaces as it does from tee to green, the Canadian made a drastic change to his putter for the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

“It's a new look for me,” Conners said at Bay Hill. “It looked a little funky when I first put it down, just because it was so different. But it looks really good to me now and I got a lot of confidence in it.”

Conners – who has used a Ping PLD Tyne mallet with an “Anser” hosel (Ping’s version of a standard plumbers neck) for several years now – switched into a prototype center-shafted Ping PLD Ally Blue Onset putter.

“(Conners) was intrigued with how the onset gave him different alignment cues and with the hosel strategically positioned, it allowed for optimal toe hang, aligning with his natural rotation and tendencies,” said Dylan Goodwin, Ping Tour rep.

Conners finished the week third behind Russell Henley and Collin Morikawa, earning a spot at The Open Championship 2025, and showed progress on the greens ranking 13th in the field.

Bradley breaks Bay Hill record

Keegan Bradley set an all-new scoring record for the front nine at Bay Hill in the final round Sunday, going out in a scorching 7-under 29. He did it with the help of an updated Odyssey Jailbird putter.

Bradley, who has relied on an 11-year-old Odyssey Versa Jailbird putter, moved into an Odyssey Ai-One Cruiser Jailbird for the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The change sees Bradley go from Odyssey’s White-Hot Pro insert to the Ai-One insert, which uses Artificial Intelligence to promote consistent ball speed across the face.

“Today I made two great putts on one and two for par,” Bradley said. “That really helped me get going.”

Bradley also brought out the original TaylorMade BRNR mini driver that was released in April 2023.

All new gear at Arnie’s place

Conners’ good play with a Ping flatstick wasn’t the only newsworthy content for the company at Bay Hill. Ping launched a new line of Scottsdale putters, which they had on-site for players to test, featuring a face insert inspired by athletic-shoe technology for enhanced feel and consistency. The Scottsdale lineup sees nine models: Craz-E, Prime Tyne 4, Prime Tyne C, Oslo 3, Anser, Anser 2D, Anser 4, B63 and DS72.

Ping also introduced a new WebFit Putter app, a fitting tool engineered to help golfers find a Ping putter that best fits their game. Similar to the WebFit Wedge app launched last year, the software provides a quick and easy experience to help golfers find the best PING putter for their stroke.

Cobra and Puma Golf continued their tradition of celebrating Palmer’s legacy with their 2025 clothing and club lines. Inspired by golf's legendary icon of style and swagger, Cobra introduced a limited-edition Arnold Palmer DS-ADAPT driver that will have golfers bringing “the King's charisma on-course.” Featuring Palmer's iconic umbrella logos across the two-tone crown and sole paired, the club also comes with a special edition shaft and headcover.

Newly welcomed Cobra athlete Max Homa also displayed special Arnie-inspired clothing in Orlando. Homa donned the Palmer umbrella logo on his hat and shoes during the week as well as a custom-stamped staff bag detailing a homage to Palmer.

“It’s awesome, the bag is so cool,” said Homa. “... It’s pretty awesome to be at a tournament like this and get to show off all this fun stuff.”