Matt Wallace: What's In The Bag? 2025 Season

Golf Monthly

We take a look inside the bag of Matt Wallace to find out what clubs and ball he uses on tour and why.

Transcript

00:00Okay, welcome guys. We are here today at Wentworth on the week of the BMW PGA Championship.

00:06Mr. Matt Wallace. How are you? How are you doing? Good, yeah, thanks. It's a home game

00:09for you. We've just been talking about that off camera, but today we're going to run through

00:12your equipment, what you've got in play this week, and kind of what you've been playing

00:16throughout the year. So, we'll start at the top end of the bag. What have we got as the

00:21big stick? Ping. The old school Ping. The G430. The LST. 10.8. I always put on the actual

00:34degree of loft. Yeah, measured loft. Okay, cool. Whenever I'm using, because I always find I don't

00:40like switching out drivers and or changing too much if I can. So, whenever I put something in play

00:48like this driver, I need to know if I'm going to go to a new one. So, like this is a newer one.

00:52I cracked my driver in Denmark a few weeks ago. So, I tried to get something that's kind of identical.

00:59As close as possible. As close as possible, yeah. And obviously, so, non-contracted,

01:03got a complete open base. Yeah, yeah, yeah. How does that work in terms of like, obviously,

01:08you've got the world, you know, the world's your oyster. You can test whatever you like, but you've

01:12got an older product here. Is that just because you loved it so much when you first tested it?

01:16Yeah, when I first tested, I remember I came back up here. I was just, I was a year out of contract

01:23from Callaway for my last deal and then I was using the Titleist driver and then I won with that in

01:28Punta Cana. And then I just struggled because I felt like I was traveling around the world a lot,

01:33like you say, and playing different places. My swing wasn't as tight as it probably needed to be

01:38and I was hitting it around the face and I wasn't getting as much of the consistency out of the shots

01:42that I needed. So I went back to something that I've obviously always liked as a kid and where I

01:48felt like I got the most forgiveness from. And Dom from Ping came up here to Wentworth and we started

01:54hitting this driver and it's not the fastest driver, I don't believe, but it's the most forgiving for me.

01:59Yeah. So I started hitting more fairways, I gained more confidence and I've stuck with it since. So I've

02:06tried the newer model, but the flight and the spin ratios for me are not as tight as this one. So,

02:14yeah. Stuck with that then. Yeah. And you've got the Ventus TR Blue, was it? TR Blue, yeah.

02:18So you've kind of got that mid kick point shaft. Is that a shaft that you've played with for a long

02:22time or is that? Always been in a Ventus Blue, but just the, like you say, the kick point for me

02:28was the part that gave me that launch and the spin numbers and stuff are way more tight than the old

02:35one that I was using. So that was straight in the bag. That was quite easy for me. Awesome. And then

02:39we go to Threewood, is it? No. Okay. This is a mini driver. You're a mini driver guy. You're probably

02:46seeing a lot of these, but do you know what? This has been, I know you're probably going to have a

02:50lot of people say it's been like revelation in their bag and stuff. This genuinely has been one of

02:55the best clubs I've probably ever changed to. Okay. Notoriously not a great Threewood player.

03:01Hit it amazing some weeks and then some weeks it can be, the dispersion would be too big.

03:07I'd hit one 280 and then the next one I'd hit it out of the heel and it would be 240. So it's like too

03:13wide a dispersion rate. Notoriously been a great driver off the deck guy. So I was like, right,

03:20why don't we just try and see the mini driver, you know, because don't have to tee it high off the tee.

03:25Always hitting it more towards the bottom, which is on the lower end of the distance rather than

03:29catching it high on the face and it going miles. And yeah, I don't know why. I don't know if it's

03:36because course setups now that we play. That 280 number is kind of an awkward number off a tee.

03:43Okay. This is perfect. And this is the first week I've actually played this golf course with

03:48the mini driver and there's three or four holes where I'm 10 yards further up and it's just made

03:53the hole that much easier. Okay. So yeah, each week it's been great. Awesome. And so that's

04:01a predominantly off the tee club rather than kind of into greens? Very rarely are we hitting a wood

04:07into par fives or anything like that. We have done and it is great for that, especially if it's a bit

04:11windy. And you said you're a good driver for deck players. Yeah, I prefer to hit this off the deck when

04:18I know I'm not going to hit it like high off the toe or anything that's going to rock it. It's always

04:22going to be that slightly spinnier sort of flight if it's off the bottom. So I quite like that idea

04:27to it and that concept. Awesome. Yeah. And you've got the Velocor Plus blue in there as well. So

04:32similar profile. Similar profile, obviously the newer shaft. They came to me with this and wanted

04:36me to test this. And as soon as I got it, Adrian at TaylorMade was brilliant. Actually dented at the

04:42open in travel, dented the top of the face just in transit, obviously somehow. So I had to switch it

04:48straight over and Adrian did a brilliant job for that. Yeah. Nice. And then I can see we've got a

04:52couple of driving irons in the bag. Yeah. And you've kind of previously we've again,

04:56we've talked about this, but you've kind of been a seven wood player. Yeah. I've done both. I've done,

05:01I remember putting the seven wood in play again, quite a interesting style, make up a bag driver,

05:08mini driver, seven wood. Yeah. But the seven wood nowadays I feel is like an old school five wood.

05:14It's that 245, 250 club for me in America when there's not as much wind, but you're going into the

05:21par fives over there where it's firm greens. It's unbelievable. And the rough is a little bit

05:26thicker as well. So major championships, PGA out of thick, rough, you can cut it up out of there.

05:32So I wouldn't be using the long irons, the two irons. But then when we come back over to Europe,

05:38this two iron and three iron, the ping again in the Ventus shaft, like I was using the tight list,

05:45the newer tight list model, that's it. And it was a, it's a smaller head. Yeah. So if you like that

05:53sort of like sharper look, smaller head blends in with the rest of the irons, that's quite nice.

05:58I just struggled to look down at it and go, geez, that ball's looking massive.

06:02You've got 240 and you're staring at it at the edge. If I miss this, if I miss this, I'm toast.

06:07So I went to the ping, slightly larger profile and it's been mega. And that's the new one as well,

06:14the IDI. Yeah, this is brilliant. Quite large, like looking, but really good flight. And I have

06:22the two and three, so I chop and change between the two. I used the two iron last week in Kron.

06:29The three iron was just slightly too high for that week. And it was a bit windy and you don't want the

06:34ball to stay up in the air too long, but there's a 10 yard gap. So it's a chop and change between

06:39those two. Gotcha. And then we go into, was it the Apex? Yeah. Or the X-Forge. X-Forge CVs. Yeah.

06:46So a few years old now? Very, very old. Yeah. I've got the new set. They sent me the new set

06:51to test out. I've got about three sets of these at home. Okay. So interesting. I used the

06:58uh, the, the model, the next model, the X-Forge and I started, I was struggling to fade the ball.

07:05I like to fade my irons mostly. And then I found out that there was more weight towards the heel.

07:12Okay. So CG plates. Yeah. So, so it was harder to keep the face open as much and it wasn't curving

07:17to the right. I only found that out maybe six, seven weeks into using them. So not ideal. No,

07:24it wasn't ideal, but I, I really liked the look of the clubs and they were great. But then as soon

07:28as I went back to these, I was able to hold the face open a little bit longer and it's just where

07:32the CG is in the, in the, in the head. So, um, and obviously these are a few years old,

07:36like we just said, and you said you've got a couple of sets. Yeah. Are you one of those guys who buys

07:40the heads off eBay to make sure you've got backups? I will do next time if I need to. Um, but I will test

07:47the new set, um, at some point and they look the same. So hopefully there'll be the CB ones, um,

07:54the new Calloway CBs. So yeah, hopefully they'll be the same. And what shafts are you playing?

07:59This is the Modus. Okay. Are they 130s? Uh, I think so. Yeah. Or one, yeah, 125x maybe. Yeah. And that,

08:08and that's a shaft that you've historically played or is that something you've had in particular head?

08:11So funny story. We were in Germany, 2018. Um, and I was using the KBS C taper all black. Okay.

08:20Just purely on visual. Yeah. Absolutely no point looking at it. Nice. Like every other golfer out

08:25there. It's like, I was like, they look sick. I want them. I went and won that week with them. Okay.

08:31Uh, it was literally that week I put them in and I won with them that week. And then I realized I was

08:35using like a proper like steel rod and I was given no forgiveness, nothing. Um, and then when the guys

08:44came over to me and started speaking to me about these clubs, these were unbelievable. They're just

08:48really consistent. They're great. Yeah. Awesome. And then we move. So you go to a Vokey 46 rather than

08:54the set pitching wedge. Yeah. And then you blend that obviously through your wedges. You've got Vokey

08:59the whole way through. Yeah. Talk to me about that reason why you would go for a 46.

09:03So spin profile. Okay. I, I found I was getting a few jumpers with my pitching wedges,

09:10especially out of the rough. The Vokeys, you just never get a jumper really. Um,

09:15I've never had a jumper with a, with a wedge actually. Really consistent. Really consistent.

09:18And just, and the blend of it as well. It's, these are the scoring clubs. It's not a smash club.

09:25I don't need extra yardage, nine iron. Sometimes you need to get it to 160, 165, and I can probably do

09:31that step on that. Yeah. And it's a little bit easier. Whereas the wedge, I'd never be really

09:35looking at doing that. So, um, and kind of four degree increments. And then we jumped to obviously

09:40six degrees with the lob wedge, just to give you a touch more height. Have you been a 58 or guy,

09:44or have you kind of always predominantly played a 60? No, the 50, that's 55. Okay. Um, so

09:51yeah, I mean, always been a 60. So if it's 55, 58, that's too tight for me. It's just, I've always

09:58been a, yeah, gapping. Nice. And then the putter, you got a really cool head cover on here. Yeah.

10:02This is the open head cover, um, that we got the giant causeway and a bit of fluff. I'm surprised

10:08it's held up to be fair. It's done well. Yeah. Um, but then obviously the jailbird, the cruiser.

10:14Okay. Um, with the two thumb grip, longer two thumb grip. And that's a grip you've played for a while now,

10:19right? Yeah. Uh, ever since I used the big one when I first came out on tour and I was using the prayer

10:24grip. Now I'm a claw guy and conventional most, most longer putts. Okay. But I mean, it's visually,

10:33it's great. I tried, I tried to use less of the, I don't know, horizontal or vertical line,

10:39whichever way you'd use it for my aiming. Okay. And it would be a little bit more flowy and, and

10:44try not to be so perfect. Yeah. But with the, the aesthetics and the looks of it all,

10:49um, it's quite easy to aim up and yeah, we've always found kind of testing these putters with

10:54those horizontal lines, as you look down on it, just so easy to square the face. You don't have

10:57to worry about that linear look behind the ball. So I get like everyone probably out there, I get to

11:03trying to be too perfect with my aiming. Yeah. When actually that's probably the least of your worries,

11:09like set up, try and be as close to your line as you want to, and then put a good move on it. So nice.

11:14Yeah. That's my, uh, that's my bag. What about golf ball? We'll, we'll end on golf ball.

11:19Yeah. Golf ball. Well, I'm a little bit of a, well, I don't like changing my clubs basically

11:25from week to week, um, from a sense of I need a new dryer if it's not spinning as much or anything.

11:30So I started talking to tight list and I was like, well, I'll just, I'll just change the ball

11:34per week. So if we're somewhere cold and it's not spinning, I'll go to a spinning ball. If it's hot

11:39and my spinning ball's spinning too much, I'll go to one that's slightly less spin.

11:43So then I don't have to change anything. Interesting. So I, I started doing that maybe

11:48two years ago. Um, and it's allowed me to be so like stuck in what I've got, what you're using.

11:56I'll change the clubs from what I know works, um, for set of golf course set up between seven

12:02wood or the irons. Um, but ball, so like at the PGA this year, it was really hot. Um,

12:08and just in our longer irons, I was getting no spin with the ball I was using. So I went to a

12:13spinnier ball and I was able to go into the long par fours and the par threes there without going

12:19over the back because there's enough spin on the ball. So just purely on a week to week basis,

12:24I can chop and change that way rather than having to change the bag. Awesome. And then we'll end on

12:28apparel, obviously JL. JL Lindenburg, yep. Sponsor for a few years now. Looking cool on and off the course.

12:34What do you like about the kind of equipment? It's the best company I've ever worked with,

12:39probably. Uh, we do the, obviously as golfers, we got to do some golf days and, and the work

12:45that I do with JL Lindenburg, it's easy. It's fun. Um, they're always pushing the boundaries.

12:51It's never boring. I think it's the best looking stuff out on tour. Um, and it's great. You know,

12:57they look after us tremendously. Everyone who I work with at JL Lindenburg is brilliant. So,

13:03uh, long may it continue and it's been going on for a while now. So hopefully when I'm old and

13:08grey, it will still be going. Awesome. Well, thank you very much, everyone.

13:11Matt Wallace. What's in the back? Cheers, mate. Thanks, Matt. Cheers, bud.

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