A 9-Wood, More Mini Drivers And A First For This Brand... The 5 Gear Trends We've Spotted At The Masters

After a lengthy wait, Major golf returns to our screens with the world's best heading to Augusta National and The Masters.

Regarded as one of the most prestigious championships in all of golf, players are vying for a Green Jacket and a chance to join some of the sport's elite in winning in Georgia.

It won't be easy, especially as Augusta National provides a unique challenge when it comes to off the tee, where a draw is favored.

Along with the course set-up, there's the prestige of The Masters itself, with brands regularly releasing special edition models of their products, something that has golf fans on alert when it comes to purchasing them.

There are a lot of different gear trends at Augusta National in 2026, and we've collected some of them below...

Tommy Fleetwood's Mini Driver And 9-Wood

It's no secret that Fleetwood isn't afraid to experiment with his set-up, especially in the top section of the bag, where you'll find a variety of different woods.

Regularly using a mini driver, Fleetwood is looking to re-introduce a 9-wood at Augusta National, with the Englishman clarifying in his press conference that "it's a great 9-wood golf course."

A 9-wood is a club that he has used previously and, speaking about it at Augusta National, he added: "I've had that in the bag for a few years... The way that I do set it up actually works very well for Augusta, so that's great...

"I know Augusta is probably associated with being fairly forgiving off the tee in a way, so you think you can whale around driver a little bit.

"I don't necessarily think that's always the play for me. I think there's holes that set up really well where I can draw it with the mini driver if I'm feeling less comfortable with the driver and things like that.

"The biggest thing is the 9-wood for me. If I can put myself in position on the par 5s, or the long par 3 fourth, I can't really hit that high 4-iron, so 9-wood helps me a lot."

More Mini Driver Action

The Masters could be the week of the mini driver as, along with Fleetwood, other notable names have opted to put the club in the bag for the first Major of 2026.

Among them are Justin Rose and Max Homa, with Rose trialing a Callaway Quantum Mini Driver in the build-up to The Masters, putting it in-play at The Players Championship.

Posting a video to his social media, Rose spoke about Augusta's layout and how a draw is key to success.

In the video, the Major winner states: "For a few weeks now I've been preparing, and I put in a mini-driver as I feel like that could be a good club for me to succeed at Augusta National."

He's not the only one, as Max Homa also appears to have introduced a mini-driver into his set-up, specifically a Cobra King Tec mini driver, which should help with the right-to-left shot shape the American is searching for.

Bryson Continues To Experiment

DeChambeau comes in to The Masters as one of the favorites after back-to-back victories on the LIV Golf circuit, but the American seems to still be tinkering with his set-up prior to Augusta National.

Over those two weeks, he was using wedges from Bettinardi and, while that continues in Georgia, DeChambeau did reveal in his press conference on Tuesday that new equipment is in the works.

"South Africa I was trying wedges. So I was going quite a bit down a rabbit hole there and figured a couple cool things out," he stated. "Hopefully it helps this week.

"Then I am working on irons, building irons, building a driver. So we'll see where it goes, we'll see where it takes me. All I could say now is, if I don't put them in the bag, it's my fault now."

Currently, it's unclear as to what the specific clubs are, as DeChambeau remained coy on the matter, but one aspect that did draw attention pre-Masters was the addition of lead tape on the crown of his fairway wood.

Usually, lead tape is applied to the sole of the club to help with weighting, but rarely to the crown. Although it's unclear why lead tape was added in that particular area, a reasonable assumption would be to help the clubface from closing at impact.

A First For Titleist?

Being such a special championship, brands will often create special edition products for The Masters and, for the first time (we believe), Titleist have jumped in on the act via Augusta National themed headcovers.

Posting to his social media, Titleist staffer Michael Kim wrote: "Wow I don’t know if Titleist has ever done a major themed bag or headcover. Pretty cool!"

Johnny Keefer also had the headcovers on his clubs during his practice round, which feature the same green as the Green Jacket, as well as a gold trim and pink in-cover.

Along with the special edition products, Titleist's new GTS drivers continue to grow in popularity.

Robert MacIntyre was one of the big names to put the GTS2 in-play at the Valero Texas Open last week, while Justin Thomas and former Masters champion, Dustin Johnson, also had the driver in the bag during their practice rounds on Monday.

Eye-Catching Footwear

Plenty of Masters-themed golf shoes have caught the eye throughout the week, with one of the standouts being in tribute to one of golf's global icons.

Seve Ballesteros, who became Nike's first major signing in 1985, was in contention at the 1986 Masters as he found himself one shot back of the leaders going into the final round.

Deciding to be creative to show off his sponsors, the six-time Major winner took a Masters visor and cut the Nike logo out of two of his polo shirts to stick over the famous yellow logo, as one wasn't big enough.

Because of the creativity, and aesthetic, the look returns to Augusta National 40 years later, this time on shoes, with Scottie Scheffler, Brooks Koepka, Si Woo Kim and Chris Gotterup sporting the footwear.