Prototype Golf Ball And Decade Old Fairway Woods Among The Most Unique Gear We've Seen At The Ryder Cup

Golf equipment is very personal and, at the Ryder Cup, we are set to see numerous golf balls and clubs on display at Bethpage Black.

The majority of professionals will use the newest Tour equipment from manufacturers but, as shown below, there are some unusual and unique set-ups in play at the team event, where Europe are looking to retain the trophy on away soil.

From older equipment to prototype models, we have taken a look at the most eye-catching and distinctive gear in play in New York.

Ben Griffin's Maxfli Golf Ball

The golf ball Ben Griffin uses has been well documented throughout 2025, with the US Ryder Cup rookie playing the Maxfli Tour X.

Signing with the brand shortly after Lexi Thompson, Griffin secured Maxfli's first victory on the PGA Tour in 22 years at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, with the 29-year-old claiming the title alongside fellow countryman Andrew Novak.

Featuring a 4-piece construction, Griffin will use the ball at the Ryder Cup and, upon signing with the brand, stated: "It was roughly 8 yards (longer) during preliminary testing. Around the green, I didn’t see a ton of differences across balls. That’s when the distance side really started to intrigue me.

"There are certain weeks out here when distance has kind of turned into a priority."

Robert MacIntyre's Aeroburner Fairway Wood

Although the TaylorMade Aeroburner 3-wood is a decade old, the club is an essential part of Robert MacIntyre's bag, with the Scot continuing to use it despite being released in 2015.

Having used the club since he was an amateur, MacIntyre did wear out his original gamer in 2019, before re-adding it to the bag midway through 2020.

Featuring a Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw White 85 TX shaft, it is set at 15°. It's part of a wood set-up that also includes a Titleist TSR2 driver and a TaylorMade Stealth 2 hybrid.

First Ryder Cup For L.A.B Golf

JJ Spaun secured L.A.B Golf's first ever Major victory at the US Open this year, holing a 64-foot putt at the final hole to claim victory at Oakmont Country Club by two strokes.

Now, three months on from that win, L.A.B Golf will feature at it's first ever Ryder Cup, with the American wielding the L.A.B Golf DF3 putter at Bethpage Black.

L.A.B Golf produce some of the best zero torque putters money can buy, with the company actually creating the concept in the process, with the DF3 one of their most recognized models.

L.A.B stands for Lie Angle Balance Technology and, with the DF3, you have an extremely forgiving and stable putter that has made its way into several players' hands on the professional circuits.

Bryson DeChambeau's Golf Bag

Arguably, the bag that stands out the most at the Ryder Cup is Bryson DeChambeau's, which features clubs from Krank, Avoda, Ping and SIK.

Starting with the driver, which is the Krank Formula Fire Pro. DeChambeau put this club in the bag the same weekend that he shot a 58 at LIV Golf Greenbrier. He also has the Krank Formula Fire in 3-wood (10°) and 3+-wood (13°).

In the irons, the two-time Major winner has Avoda Prototypes from 5-iron to pitching wedge. Famously, all his irons are the same length, with it being the case in the wedges - Ping s159 and Glide 4.0s.

His putter is the SIK Pro C-Series Armlock, with DeChambeau deploying the armlock putting method in 2017.

Prototype Titleist Golf Balls

Speaking of DeChambeau, he has recently trialed the prototype Titleist Pro V1x Double Dot at LIV Golf Chicago, with Cameron Young also using the ball in his victory at the Wyndham Championship.

Young was the first player to put the ball in play at Sedgefield Country Club and, at the event, he dominated proceedings, carding rounds of 63, 62, 65 and 68 to win by six strokes.

The change came after Young went through thorough golf ball testing with Titleist's Director of Tour Research & Validation, Fordie Pitts, as the PGA Tour winner changed from the Pro V1 Left Dot to the Pro V1x Double Dot.

According to Pitts, who was present at Titleist's Performance Centre as Young went through testing, it took him just two holes during a practice round to put the ball in play.

Mini Driver Popularity Continues To Grow

Numerous manufacturers have released their own versions of mini drivers to the market over the last few years, with many professionals putting them in the bag.

Tommy Fleetwood was one of the first and, since then, we have seen Justin Rose, Justin Thomas and Young implementing them in their set-up.

Both Fleetwood and Rose are using the TaylorMade R7 Quad mini driver, while Thomas and Young have been seen with the Titleist GT280, models that both rank among the best mini drivers money can buy.

The mini driver sits between the driver and 3-wood portion of the bag, with players opting to use it on courses that require more accuracy than length off the tee. Because they are, essentially, larger fairway woods, they can also be used both on and off the tee.

Older Fairway Wood Models

Like we alluded to with MacIntyre using a decade old fairway wood, multiple players at the Ryder Cup will be opting for older models of fairway woods, including Ludvig Aberg, Patrick Cantlay and Thomas.

Since turning professional in 2023, Aberg has used the TaylorMade Stealth 2 fairway wood, specifically the 3-wood and 7-wood versions, with the latter occasionally being swapped out for a 2-iron or hybrid.

In terms of Thomas and Cantlay, they both have the Titleist 915Fd and Titleist 915F in the bag, which were released all the way back at the end of 2014.

Fairway woods are, notoriously, the hardest clubs in the bag to hit, so sticking to what you know in this department is a regular occurrence. For example, Russell Henley is using the TS3 fairway wood from 2018, while Harris English has the Ping G400 3-wood from 2017.

Player Prototype Irons

Those at the Ryder Cup are regarded as some of the best ball strikers on the planet and, to keep up with their power and precision, companies will often create exclusive pieces of equipment.

Rory McIlroy, for example, has a set of TaylorMade Rors Proto irons from 5-to-9-iron. Created in 2017 after he signed for the brand, they feature a small, sleek profile and are inspired by the P730 irons. They also have TW2 grooves, which are different to the MX9s found in the P730s.

Other examples of players with exclusive irons are Thomas and Young, with Thomas using the Titleist 621.JT, while Young uses the Titleist 631.CY.

Introduced to the bag in 2021, Thomas' irons are based off the Titleist 620 MB, with the key difference being that they feature zero offset. Young, meanwhile, debuted his irons in 2023, with the difference being that the 631.CY has a little more leading-edge bounce to help with turf interaction.

Harris English Putter

From what we believe, the oldest club in the bag belongs to English, who uses the Ping Scottsdale HoHum putter and has done so since his senior year at the University of Georgia.

Turning professional in 2011, that means his putter has been in play for around 15 years, with the American using it for all five of his PGA Tour victories.

A mallet-design, English stated earlier this year: "I started putting with this my senior year of college in 2011. It was meant to be for my teammate, Keith Mitchell, but he didn’t want it.

"For me familiarity with the putter is important which is why I don’t change. I know how it comes off. I know how it feels when I get under pressure. I know I spent many, many hours putting with this thing doing drills. I have four of them, but I rarely switch it out. If I’m not putting well, I know it’s my fundamentals or alignment and not the putter."

Tommy Fleetwood's 9-Wood

Back in 2019, Fleetwood added a 7-wood to his bag and, four years later, the Englishman then added a 9-wood, with it regularly being swapped out with his 3 and 4-iron depending on course conditions.

Such was the impact of the club, which Fleetwood described like "hitting a wedge onto the green; it goes up and drops straight down," players like Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa also rotated a 9-wood into their set-ups depending on conditions.

Providing higher launch, increased spin, and greater forgiveness compared to long irons or hybrids, we could see 9-woods being put into play by those at the Ryder Cup, due to the length and rough Bethpage Black possesses.

In fact, speaking at the Travelers Championship in 2025, Fleetwood even toyed with the idea of an 11-wood, stating: "I haven’t been offered an 11-wood head yet, but believe me, if one comes out I’ll be the first to try it."