Equipment
Inside the recent club changes that propelled Matt Fitzpatrick to victory
Matt Fitzpatrick has been on a heater. He’s already collected two PGA Tour titles this season, doubling his win total on the Tour, and it all comes in a three-tournament stretch after a runner-up finish at The Players Championship.
Seven days after that 72nd-hole heartbreak at the 2026 Players Championship, Fitzpatrick found redemption with a 72nd-hole birdie at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead course, rolling in a 14-foot putt to win the Valspar Championship. This past Sunday, he defeated Scottie Scheffler on the first playoff hole at Harbour Town to win the RBC Heritage for the second time in his career.
Interestingly, both Fitzpatrick’s victories this season come off the back of some key club decisions.
Just a few weeks before Fitzpatrick’s first win of the season, he had returned to his trusty Bettinardi BB1 Fitz blade putter, with the sole focus on draining putts from the exact range he capped off his third victory on the PGA Tour.
“I think make rates with my blade was significantly better, but strokes gained in general was pretty equal,” Fitzpatrick said Wednesday at the Valspar after returning to his Bettinardi BB1 Fitz blade putter. “I think my make rates sort of between 5 to 15 feet were much better with the blade, and that kind of convinced me to go back.”

It’s no surprise that Fitzpatrick found the answer after a six or so-month spell with a different Bettinardi BB48 Prototype. The Englishman is renowned for keeping notes on every shot he hits in competition, and while he says the strokes-gained stats were similar between the two, it was more about how many times he found the bottom of the cup from scoring positions.
“I just kind of looked at the data, felt like I had long enough with the mallet and, happy to be back using what I have now,” Fitzpatrick added.
The data does not lie. Despite a season-ending victory on the DP World Tour at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai with the mallet prototype, Fitzpatrick’s make rates from that 5-to-15 foot distance were less than stellar to start 2026. Prior to his switch back to the trusty blade, Fitzpatrick ranked 130th on Tour in putter average from that distance, at 42.42 percent and holing just 42 of 99 attempts. Fast-forward through his now two victories on Tour this season, and Fitzpatrick is already up to 67th and above Tour average.
Fitzpatrick’s custom putter has an interesting backstory, dating back to his amateur days and to a company that no longer exists. Fitzpatrick’s blade, which he’s used to win the 2022 U.S. Open, is designed around an old Yes! Tracy II putter. Funnily enough, The Country Club in Brookline, where Fitzpatrick captured his major championship victory, is also the spot where Fitzpatrick used the Yes! Golf putter to win the 2013 U.S. Amateur just nine years earlier.
After Yes! Golf went into bankruptcy in 2010, Fitzpatrick was forced to find replacement putters on eBay. It was at that point that the Englishman began talks with Betternadi to design something similar. Around 30 prototypes later, and the addition of the same C-Groove milling for on the original Yes! Golf putter faces, Fitzpatrick’s Bettinardi BB1 was born.
“The (Yes! Golf) C-Groove has grooves that are milled at an angle, and after studying them, we learned they got the ball into a forward roll, or a true roll faster,” Sam Bettinardi, now president of Bettinardi Golf, previously told GolfWRX. “We took that and perfected it, and took it into our Roll Control face, which is what you see in our Inovai and Studio Stock line now. So we bettered that C-Groove for feel purposes, and got the grooves a little bit sharper with our precision machining techniques. … The best part for us was that the company was out of business and the patent on the C-Groove expired.”
The final product that Fitzpatrick has used to win twice this season is made of double-annealed stainless steel, which means it’s double heat-treated to offer a softer feel and sound. The final head weight is around 345 grams and features Bettinardi’s flow neck. Fitzpatrick’s beloved soccer club, Sheffield United Football Club, is stamped “SUFC” on the heel.
Ironically, the club is nicknamed…“The Blades.”
It wasn’t the only gear switch that has resulted in victories for Fitzpatrick this season. The Englishman made some club trades throughout his RBC Heritage victory.
Ahead of the first major of the season, Fitzpatrick added a 7-wood to his bag for the Masters. It was actually part of a 3-, 5-, and 7-wood setup (all TaylorMade Qi35), the Englishman was utilizing at Augusta National instead of his 4- and 3-irons. And it was a strategy Fitzpatrick returned to for the middle two rounds at Harbour Town, before ultimately making the decision to return to the 4-iron for Sunday’s final round. It proved to be pivotal, as on the first playoff hole, Fitzpatrick used the club to set up a birdie to defeat Scheffler.

“But it was such a great number for 4-iron, and it’s the only round all week we’ve had 4-iron in the bag. Sorry, no, maybe the first round, but didn’t even hit a shot with it on the first round,” Fitzpatrick said after victory and the decision to re-add the club.
Fitzpatrick tees it up this week at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, alongside his brother Alex, who also has a win this season, at the DP World Tour’s Hero Indian Open. We’ll make sure to keep an eye on their bags for any game-time decision-making.
Equipment
Neal Shipley, AKA, the “Big Fridge’s,” custom stamping
Neal Shipley was the first to admit that he enjoyed his food while in college. But since his days at Ohio State, he’s slimmed down and earned a PGA Tour Card.
That hasn’t stopped him from having fun with his wedge stampings, though it’s led to some misunderstandings.
On the 54 (degree), we have ‘Big Fudge,'” Shipley told GolfWRX. “It was supposed to be ‘Big Fridge,’ so this happened a little while ago. ‘Big Fridge’ was a nickname between my college teammates and I, with ‘fridge’ meaning stomach, a big stomach.

“We told the Ping guys to put … ‘Big Fridge’ on it, and I think maybe some bad cell service or something, and they thought I said ‘fudge,’ so they put fudge on it.”
On Shipley’s 50-degree he also continues the food theme, this time with his go-to order at the “Golden Arches,” and his stamping “DONS 7.”
“The number 7 meal, the two cheeseburger meal, that was my McDonald’s order, back when I would have McDonald’s frequently,” Shipley shared.
Equipment
From the GolfWRX Classifieds: L.A.B. Purple DF3 with Masters cover
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @raw10628 has a L.A.B. DF3 putter and Masters putter cover up for grabs.

From the listing: “Some great items here today, time to thin out and make room for next set of gear. All prices include shipping.
LAB DF3 Purple 33.5” 68° lie with TPT – $725. LAB Masters release DF3 cover – $150.”
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules
Whats in the Bag
Maria Torres WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 5-M4

3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4

5-wood: Ping G440 Max (19 degrees @18)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4

Hybrid: Ping G440 (23 degrees)
Shaft: Oban Isawa Red Hybrid Shaft 04 Flex 70 Gms

Irons: Srixon ZXi7 (5-P)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i80

Wedges: Cleveland RTZ (50-MID, 54-FULL, 58-MID)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i105

Putter: L.A.B. Golf OZ.1i
Shaft: ACCRA Putter Shaft

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Charles Incharge
Apr 21, 2026 at 1:26 pm
^ What he said!! GO FITZ!! Classless Yanks screaming all that nonsense had no effect!!
Benny
Apr 21, 2026 at 1:14 pm
Awesome stuff Wrx, thank you!