To start the year, Callaway announced it’s revamping its flagship line of golf balls on the PGA TOUR with the 2026 iteration for the Chrome lineup. Already in the bags of players across the TOUR, including five-time winner Sam Burns, Callaway has redeveloped the already successful Chrome Tour (the ball Xander Schauffele used to win two majors) and Tour X, as well as the Chrome Soft versions for the everyday golfer.

"I've found it is not only the ball speed with the irons and off the tee, I've also found it softer and more forgiving around the green," Burns said about the switch. "Having that balance of feel, also speed is a game changer. Speed and distance is a huge advantage."

Here’s what you need to know about the new lineup.

Callaway’s fastest Tour ball

The lineup features a new “Tour Fast Mantle” – the section of the golf ball underneath the cover surrounding the core – which is said to be 16% higher flex modulus (a material’s stiffness and resistance to bending) than the 2024 ball. As a result, more ball speed is created due to the stronger spring effect under compression. With increased speed, Callaway had more opportunities to explore.

“It also opens the design space; it helps us with spin separation where we want that,” said Eric Loper, senior director of Golf Ball R&D at Callaway. “If you look at the Chrome Tour X, that golf ball is great around the green, it has our highest wedge spin, it has higher iron spin, it’s fast off the tee. But we really wanted to make that golf ball longer off the tee, so to do that, we needed to lower driver spin, and this material helps us unlock that. It enables us to get lower driver spin coupled with more speed, so we get even more distance off the tee, and it continues to be excellent around the green.”

New core and cover

To counter the new, faster mantle, Callaway has developed a new core recipe and cover to be able to get a similar feel level as the previous generation but generate more speed.

“We've had to make changes to the cover and the core to get that spin profile to where we want it,” Jason Finley, Callaway’s global golf ball director, told PGATOUR.COM. “So in most cases it's a slightly softer cover, which is going to help offset some of the typical things you can see as a ball gets firmer.”

Speed not the only focus

Callaway’s 2026 Chrome lineup will feature the same “Seamless Tour Aero” and optimized “Hybrid Aero Pattern” that they developed for the first series in 2024.

But what exactly does this mean?

“Every golf ball basically comes together in two parts, two spheres if you will,” Finley explained. “To overly simplify it, imagine a piece of sandpaper going around the outer perimeter of the golf ball, and what that leads to is changes in those dimples around that seam. So it causes some inconsistency.”

The "Seamless Tour Aero” process creates a more aerodynamic and almost seamless cover with strategically placed dimples for more distance and flight consistency. By focusing on creating a process to remove the “inconsistency,” Callaway has shots hit down seam vs. cross seam to about a “3-foot variation on the robot,” according to Finley.

What options are being played?

Chrome Tour:

The Chrome Tour ball is designed for players who want performance, speed, consistent flight, and greenside control.

"On the Chrome Tour, we felt like our spin throughout the set was ideal; we were in a perfect feel space,” said Loper. “So, we didn’t want to change anything about the spin throughout the set. All we wanted to do was make it faster. And this Tour Fast Mantle gives us more speed off the tee."

Chrome Tour X:

The Tour X ball is designed for players seeking more spin around the greens, as well as those using longer clubs in their bag.

“If you look at the Chrome Tour X, that golf ball is great around the green, it has our highest wedge spin, it has higher iron spin, it’s fast off the tee,” Loper explained. “But we really wanted to make that golf ball longer off the tee, so to do that we needed to lower driver spin, and this material helps us unlock that. It enables us to get lower driver spin coupled with more speed, so we get even more distance off the tee, and it continues to be excellent around the green.

“A Chrome Tour X player, you’re going to see the same thing you’ve seen around the green, but more distance off the tee, and a slightly flatter trajectory with your irons, which is good because it provides more consistency into the wind.”

Chrome Soft:

While no Chrome Softs are in play on the PGA TOUR, with the ball being three-piece construction compared to the four-piece Chrome Tour and X, the Chrome Soft is for players who want a TOUR-quality ball with fast ball speeds, higher ball flight, greenside control, and soft feel.

Callaway’s Chrome lineup of golf balls is available for pre-order starting Jan. 6, 2026. and at retailers starting on Jan. 30, 2026.