As featured on this week’s episode of Inside the Ropes, our Andrew Tursky caught up with equipment free agent and sartorial sensation Jason Day to discuss his latest tinkering.

Check out a portion of their conversation below, which was originally published on PGATour.com’s Equipment Report.

Day on his new TaylorMade Qi35 driver, with a Fujikura Ventus Red VeloCore+ shaft

Day has mostly been using a Ping G430 LST driver since 2024, but this week at Bay Hill, he switched it up and is likely to use a new TaylorMade Qi35 9-degree head.

“I was using the Ping for awhile,” Day said. “I do like the Ping. I feel like Ping is very, very stable. I can say whatever I want because I’m not on contract, which is fantastic. So this feels hotter (points at the Qi35) than the Ping…that TaylorMade driver right now, it’s – and I don’t have the speed that I used to – but I was on the range cruising at 175 mph on Monday, which was quite nice. So once you start getting some adrenaline going, you start cruising at 177, hopefully popping into 180. And the spin was right, which was good.

“I think the Ping was good, but I started getting a few more misses, and then I just lost a bit of trust in it. I did change shaft from a TPT to a (Mitsubishi Diamana WB 63 TX). I just don’t know if that was the right combo for me. But yeah, the Ping stability from toe to heel, the off-center hits, amazing. It feels unbelievable, in that 430. And this one (the Qi35), I’ve only played it a couple days, so currently I’ve hit it pretty decent. I tend to toe miss it more than heel miss it on woods, and with my irons I tend to heel miss it, which is kind of a weak combination, but that right now is pretty good, so we’ll see how it goes.”

Day on testing the brand new TaylorMade Spider 5K-ZT

This week at Bay Hill, TaylorMade unveiled completely new Spider 5k-ZT putters. The “ZT” stands for “Zero Torque,” which means they’re made to resist twisting of the putter head throughout the stroke. Zero Torque designs have been a popular trend on the PGA TOUR in recent years, and now it seems that TaylorMade is throwing their metaphorical hats into the ring.

So far, TaylorMade has stayed quiet about the new putters, but on Monday, Day tested the putters for himself, and even went onto the SAM PuttLab machine for data feedback.

Here’s his lengthy personal review of the putters after testing them against his longtime TaylorMade Spider Itsy Bitsy Red putter:

“So I need a little bit of bias (in the head),” Day said. “I can’t have it spinning – you know, how you can have it in your hands and spin the shaft, and it falls anywhere it wants to – I need a little toe hang. I need some sort of bias so I can actually feel the club in my hands. And I think that’s what they’re building me right now. Because I feel like there’s no feeling, you know what I mean?

“I tested it on the SAM PuttLab, granted it was, my putter’s at E1 (swingweight) and that putter there was – they had to take 11 grams, really they needed to take 15 grams of weight out of it to match my Spider putter. They took 11 grams out, as much as they could, so they’re going to bore the head a little bit to try and get it down to E1 so it matches my Spider putter. Because on the SAM PuttLab, I had more of a left bias swing path on the Spider putter, and the ZT was a lot more consistent back and forth. I aimed it better too. It made a massive difference.

“The only thing is, is that because it was a little heavier, it was the same face, same insert, because it was a little heavier it just popped off a little bit different, and I think it gave it a little more energy. The speed control, it felt like it just gave it more energy behind the ball, behind the putt, and I kept hitting everything long. But on breaking putts – left to right, right to left ­– it tested way better than my Spider. But I haven’t got it in. But maybe in the future…right now, I love the way it looks, I’ve always liked center-shafted putters. For many, many years now I’ve been saying, and to TaylorMade, I go ‘Look, you guys need to make a putter that when you put it on the ground, on the surface, it doesn’t twist.’

“Like they explained, like now, the bottom is completely different than any other Spider…essentially you can put it on the ground and you’re not twisting it. Because if you get it on a slick surface, like this week at Bay Hill, sometimes the grass gets burnt at the end of the week it gets really brown, and that starts to move around a lot. But when you have it sitting flat on the ground, where it’s just like flush to the ground, there’s no chance of it moving. So you just go straight in, and then you’ll be manipulating like this, and you’ll be looking up, and sometimes with my red putter it’s like aiming over there or over there, just because it’s twisted.

“These companies are so big, I think once LAB came out and made the putter, I think everyone is following suit now, which is interesting. Everyone follows trends, and I don’t blame ‘em because that’s what’s hot right now. LAB putters have done very well. Not only among certain groups out here, but also consumer-wise, I think a lot of people love ‘em.”

Read the full article at PGATour.com (which includes Day talking about his fashion and upcoming Masters apparel).

Watch the full episode of ITR below!