The Equipment Debrief: New Shoes Spotted On Tour, More Brands Join The Low-Torque Party And More...

Welcome to this week’s Equipment Debrief, where we take a quick look back at the main gear stories from the weekend’s action.

Let’s start by talking about shoes, because the last couple of weeks have mostly been about the new TaylorMade Qi4D and Ping G440 K drivers (more news on these in the new year).

Golf shoe nerds - of which we have a few of on the team (Dan Parker) - may have noticed Dustin Johnson wearing Under Armour footwear at the PIF Saudi International in Riyadh.

The LIV golfer wasn’t the only one. Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen - who recently completed a hugely successful maiden season on the DP World Tour by earning himself a PGA Tour card for 2026 - has also been wearing a yet-to-be-released Under Armour golf shoe.

They are the Under Armour Drive Pro Clone golf shoes, a model that won’t officially hit the shelves until early next year.

So, we can only judge the looks at this stage - and, well, they look rather nice.

We’re assuming two-time Major winner Johnson must be a fan, and that the American has promoted the Under Armour Drive Pro Clone shoes to first spot, ahead of his usual Nike and adidas footwear (he’s also worn FootJoy in the past).

We do know that they’re first choice for Neergaard-Petersen, who was fitted with the new model earlier this year at the Under Armour Performance Centre at Stoke Park.

The talented young Dane, who finished 15th on the Race to Dubai rankings, wore the shoes in competition for the first time at the Alfred Dunhill Links and continued to wear them right through to the season-ending Tour Championship.

We (Dan) look forward to receiving a pair shortly, at which point we/he will of course give you the full lowdown.

ALSO SPOTTED

We might be fast-approaching ‘new driver season’, but we’ve already seen a number of new putters released.

Earlier this month, Scotty Cameron joined the low torque market with the Phantom 11R OC and Studio Style Fastback OC.

At the weekend, several new Ping Scottsdale TEC putters were spotted in the hands of the pros.

The new line-up, which we believe includes the likes of the Anser and two new on set/low torque models, appears to have been seeded at the RSM Classic on the PGA Tour last week.

Extra points for anyone who spotted a new golf shaft in action at the RSM, Project X Golf’s new Titan wood shaft.

Talking of Project X, did you know equipment-free agent Sami Valimaki - the first ever Finn to win on the PGA Tour - has the same Project X HZRDUS Smoke Red RDX 70 TX shaft in both his TaylorMade R7 Quad mini driver and Titleist GT3 driver?

SAMI'S SPECIAL ODYSSEY

We should also mention that Valimaki has had some work done on his putter - which is of course a legal equipment change.

The two-time DP World Tour winner currently plays with one of the most iconic putters in the history of golf, the Odyssey White Hot OG 2-Ball.

Those of you who listen/watch Golf Monthly’s Kick Point podcast (we recommend you subscribe to Kick Point so you never miss an episode) will know exactly what hosts Dan and Joe think of this model.

In that particular episode (playing above), Joe also discusses how golfers used draw on their own alignment aids - which is clearly something Valimaki still does.

And it seems to work nicely for him. He finished sixth in Putting at the end of his winning week at Sea Island Golf Club.