Welcome to Bag Spy, a GOLF series devoted to understanding the crucial equipment choices that define a player’s bag. With the help of players and/or their expert fitters, we dig deep beyond the photos to examine setups, specs and the thinking behind them. In this installment, GOLF Associate Equipment Editor Jack Hirsh takes you inside Hideki Matsuyama’s bag and equipment setup for 2026.
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Each week on the PGA Tour, you can count on Hideki Matsuyama bringing a ton of golf clubs, hitting dozens of balls with them and then usually not changing much.
For the team at Cleveland/Srixon, his propensity to test equipment can be both a blessing and a curse.
“From the outside, our work together can seem complicated, but fundamentally it’s no different than working with any other player; we’re always trying to identify equipment that performs better,” a group of Srixon R&D team members wrote in response to a series of questions from GOLF for this article. “What makes Hideki unique is his willingness to test far more ideas than most players. He likes to learn broadly, but when something catches his attention, he’ll study it in great detail.”
While he’s always testing, he has extraordinarily high standards for what actually makes his golf bag. A new club doesn’t have to just be a little bit better. It has to be clearly better in every category.
So week to week, not much changes … except maybe his putter from his extensive and ever-growing collection.
Keep reading below to dive into Matsuyama’s gear setup.
2025 Srixon Z-Star XV
When it comes to Matsuyama’s golf ball, feel is everything. In fact, if a ball doesn’t check the boxes with putting feel, it won’t get very far.
“During ball testing, we spend a significant amount of time around the greens, especially on the putting surface,” Srixon’s R&D team told us. “If the sound and feel stand out there, we move into chipping and full-shot testing. He’s always searching for a ball that produces a crisp, solid sound off the putter face while still giving him the control he wants throughout the bag.”
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ALSO AVAILABLE AT: PGA Tour Superstore, Srixon
Specs
Srixon ZXi LS T251 Prototype
Loft: 9.0˚
Loft Sleeve Setting: +.75˚ Upright (1.0˚, heavy sleeve)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8-X
Length: 44 15/16″
Tipping: 0″
Swingweight: D3.5
Matsuyama held onto his previous ZX5 LS Mk II gamer for as long as he could, but late last year, he made the move to Srixon’s latest ZXi LS driver.
One of the reasons it took him time to make the move was his demand for the new model to be better in every category than his previous gamer.
“It outperformed the ZX5 Mk II in every category that matters to him,” Cleveland/Srixon’s R&D team told us. “Matching the previous driver isn’t enough; the new club has to be clearly better overall. If even one area falls short, he won’t make the change.”
One thing similar to his previous gamer is a silver face, which allows him to see the loft better, which is his preference. Srixon also said his driver has a “high-back” shape that gives him more comfort visually as well.
Matsuyama has been a longtime user of the Graphite Design Tour AD DI-8TX shaft, but he did dabble in the updated Tour AD FI-8TX earlier this season, including when we photographed his bag at the WM Phoenix Open.
Srixon said he has tested lighter profiles but the heavyweight always seems to give him the most speed and control. The AD DI returned to the bag after the FI produced some misses that Matsuyama didn’t like.
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Specs
TaylorMade Qi10
Loft: 15.0˚
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 9-X
While perhaps no 3-wood shot is more famous for Matsuyama than his clutch approach in a playoff at the Sony Open with a SIM2 3-wood, his current Qi10 has seen its fair share of success.
His Qi10 has been in the bag for his win at Riviera in 2024, his Bronze Medal at that year’s Olympics, 2024 FedEx St. Jude title and his two 2025 wins at the Sentry and Hero World Challenge.
The Qi10 has proven one of the most, if not the most, successful fairway woods of all-time, having won the last five major championships. Matsuyama’s Bronze Medal at the 2024 Olympics helped the club sweep the podium.
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Specs
Cobra Rad Speed Tour
Loft: 17.5˚ @ 19˚
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 10-X
Matsuyama’s Cobra Rad Speed Tour 5-wood has been in the bag since 2021 and it shows no signs of leaving the bag anytime soon.
The club features the famous Cobra Baffler rails to help with turf interaction and was one of the most recent fairway woods Cobra released with the rails. Currently, Tour players have access to a King TEC Rail Proto, but Matsuyama sticks with his Rad Speed.
Specs
Srixon ZXi5 3-iron
Loft: 20˚
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD-DI Prototype
The ZXi5 3-iron is a newer addition to the bag and something Matsuyama only occasionally bags.
While most other Srixon staffers (and free agents as well) opt for Srixon’s ZXiU utility irons, Matsuyama prefers the narrower sole of the ZXi5 to better match his irons. It also launches higher for him.
“Because he plays blade irons throughout the set, utility irons with wider soles can sometimes produce a flight that feels too strong or flat for his preferences,” Cleveland/Srixon’s R&D team told us.
*The 3-iron subs in for the 5-wood based on course/conditions.
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Specs
Irons: Srixon Z-Forged II (4-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S400
Lengths: 38.625″, 38″, 37.375″, 36.75″, 36.1875, 35.625″
Swingweight: D2.5
Matsuyama has played blades throughout his entire career but has tested cavity-backs like the Srixon ZXi7.
“He absolutely understands the forgiveness advantages of cavity-back irons like the ZXi7, but at this stage of his career, his mindset is still that he doesn’t want to take the easier route,” the R&D team told us. “He prefers to continue sharpening his ball-striking with more demanding clubs.”
That’s a very old-school take, but there’s a recent history to suggest the 34-year-old is considering a switch to something more forgiving in the near future.
“After spending time with other staff players like Shane Lowry, there are moments when he comes back and says, ‘Maybe cavity-backs really are better,'” the R&D team told us. “So, the possibility of making that switch someday is definitely not zero.”
The other interesting thing is that despite playing a super heavy TX shaft in his driver and fairway woods, Matsuyama drops down to the Dynamic Gold S400 in his irons. That’s not unheard of on Tour and it actually makes sense when you consider Matsuyama’s swing.
The S400 is actually heavier than the X100 flex and the extra weight matches his wood shaft in helping him with timing in his swing.
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Specs
Cleveland RTX4 Forged
Lofts/Grinds: 48-MID @ 47.5˚, 52-MID, 56-LOW @ 57.5, 60-LOW @ 62˚
Lie: 63/63/63.5/63.5
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 (48-56), X100 (60)
Length: 35.375″, 35.125″, 34.9375″, 34.9375″
Swingweight: D2.5-D3
The oldest clubs in his bag (non-putter) are undoubtedly his wedges, as he’s continued to rely on the RTX4 Forged platform, which originally came out in 2018. Matsuyama has used them since at least 2020.
He replaces his wedges every two months to keep the grooves fresh but he’s in no danger of ever running out as Cleveland has continued making RTX4 specifically for him.
Matsuyama also plays a unique wide sole in his wedges that is aimed at specifically improving performance at Augusta National. It’s also a similar reason he prefers a flatter sole with his irons as Matsuyama judges every club in the bag by how it could perform at Augusta.
“His wedges feature a wide, low-bounce sole design that again ties back to his focus on Augusta National,” Cleveland/Srixon’s R&D team said. “He understands there may be wedge setups better suited for other turf conditions, but mentally, his equipment decisions are always influenced by what he believes works best there.”
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Putter: Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS Tour Prototype “Ace”
Loft: 3.5˚
Lie: 68.5˚
Length: 35.5″
If there’s a true revolving door in Matsuyama’s bag, it’s at the putter where even Scotty Cameron himself once told GOLF that no one’s Scotty Cameron collection compares to Hideki’s.
“I would say, in the last five years, Hideki Matsuyama has gotten the most and the coolest putters,” Cameron said on GOLF’s Fully Equipped podcast in 2021. “He always goes by my gallery in Tokyo or Hamamatsu, and he gives them an honest try. What I like about it is he’ll give me feedback on why he didn’t like a putter, whether it’s the finish, or the line, or the way it sat… sometimes he gives the putters back, but I think his collection is very impressive.”
Matsuyama routinely travels to tournaments with at least five putters and often receives a new one, mostly Scotty Camerons, but he’s expanded to other brands as well.
Yet even with all the options, Matsuyama often returns to the Newport 2 GSS known as his “Ace.”
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Grips: Iomic X-Grip 2.3
The author welcomes your comments at Jack.Hirsh@golf.com.
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