7 Fitting Mistakes Tour Stars Recently Made (And What To Learn From Them)

You would think the best golfers in the world would never have equipment problems, right? 

After all, PGA Tour players have access to virtually unlimited fitting resources, launch monitors, equipment technicians and manufacturer representatives. If a driver shaft isn’t quite right or a set of irons needs adjusting, there are people whose entire job is to figure that out (and they are highly skilled at that job). 

And, yet, sometimes things don’t go according to plan. 

Sometimes, it’s an honest mistake like a driver being set to the wrong loft or lie angle. Other times, it’s an equipment setup that no longer fits a player’s changing swing but they stick with it for longer than they should. There are even cases where a golfer spends months trying to fix something in his swing before realizing the club itself is contributing to the problem.

If it can happen to major champions, it can certainly happen to the rest of us.

Here are seven examples of equipment mistakes, oversights and fitting problems involving some of the biggest names in golf—and what everyday players can learn from them.

1. Brooks Koepka played the Masters with the wrong driver setting

Imagine showing up to the Masters with your driver in the wrong setting.

That’s exactly what happened to five-time major champion Brooks Koepka at Augusta last April. 

Koepka was playing a Titleist GT3 driver that had somehow ended up in the B1 SureFit hosel setting rather than his preferred A1 setting. The difference? B1 makes the driver 0.75 degrees flatter which can influence the starting direction and curvature of a shot.

It might not sound like much but we’re talking about a player competing for a green jacket. Every millimeter matters. 

Koepka didn’t discover the issue until he visited the driving range following his opening-round 72. After returning the driver to its normal setting, he shot 69 in the second round.

His Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee numbers also improved, going from approximately 0.4 strokes lost in the opening round to nearly 0.9 strokes gained the following day.

Was the setting entirely responsible for that improvement? We can’t say for certain. But Koepka acknowledged that he was driving the ball better after making the correction.

The lesson: If you have an adjustable driver, know your settings. It’s worth checking the hosel periodically, especially after making adjustments or having the club worked on. A small change can affect ball flight more than you might expect.

2. Matt Fitzpatrick forgot about a four-gram weight in the grip of his driver

Four grams.

That’s approximately the weight of a teaspoon of sugar (that reminds me, I need coffee this morning), and it was enough to cause Matt Fitzpatrick a considerable amount of frustration.

In 2023, Fitzpatrick experimented with adding weight underneath the grips of his irons and driver. The weights came out of his irons after about a month but the one in his driver accidentally stayed.

For nearly a year.

During much of that time, Fitzpatrick struggled with his driving, particularly with shots that went left. He experimented with swing adjustments and couldn’t quite figure out what was happening.

Then, while having his driver regripped in early 2024, someone noticed the forgotten four-gram weight.

Fitzpatrick removed it and the difference was immediate.

He said the club felt completely different and that he could swing aggressively without worrying as much about the ball going left.

At the 2024 Players Championship, not long after the switch, Fitzpatrick gained more than four strokes on the field off the tee through his first two rounds.

It’s difficult to imagine a better illustration of how a seemingly insignificant equipment detail can affect an elite golfer.

The lesson: Everyone wants to talk about clubhead and shaft but don’t overlook club weight and balance. Even relatively small changes can influence how a club feels and how you deliver it. If your ball flight suddenly changes, make sure your equipment hasn’t changed before rebuilding your swing.

3. Max Homa tested a driver with a left-handed adapter

This one is more funny and harmless rather than altering tournament performance.

When Max Homa signed with COBRA ahead of the 2025 season, he began working with Tour fitter Ben Schomin to dial in his new equipment. 

The driver was proving particularly tricky. 

Homa liked the head but Schomin was struggling to find the ideal launch and spin combination. Every time he tried adding loft to produce more spin, the ball seemed to fly lower.

That didn’t make much sense.

Eventually, Schomin removed the shaft to make another adjustment and discovered the problem.

He had accidentally installed a left-handed adapter.

Because the adapter’s settings were intended for the opposite-handed golfer, the adjustments weren’t producing the expected results.

Homa joked that he couldn’t figure out why he couldn’t hit the club while Schomin quipped he had to fire himself over the mistake.

Fortunately, the two figured it out and continued working toward the right setup.

The lesson: Adjustable hosels are useful but they’re not foolproof. Make sure your shaft adapter is compatible with the clubhead and configured correctly. If an adjustment produces the opposite of what you’re expecting, double-check the equipment before assuming it’s your swing.

4. Jason Day was using a shaft that no longer fit his swing

One of the biggest equipment mistakes golfers make is assuming the clubs that worked five or 10 years ago should still work today.

Jason Day learned that lesson as his career progressed.

During the 2024 John Deere Classic, Day explained that he had been using an exceptionally heavy shaft in his irons because it helped control spin when he was younger and swinging considerably faster.

His old shaft weighed 136 grams; he likened it to swinging a crowbar.

That might have worked when the younger Day was the No. 1 player in the world but his swing had changed.

He estimated that he previously had roughly 10 mph more ball speed. With less speed, the heavy shaft made it difficult for him to turn the ball over.

Eventually, Day moved into a softer shaft (110-gram KBS graphite shafts) that made it easier to produce the ball flight he wanted.

There wasn’t necessarily anything wrong with the old equipment. It simply wasn’t the best match for the golfer he had become.

The lesson: Your equipment needs can change as you age, gain or lose speed, or make swing adjustments. Don’t assume that a shaft you were fitted into several years ago is still ideal today. And don’t assume that heavier and stiffer automatically means better.

5. Rickie Fowler was playing irons with the wrong lie angles

Rickie Fowler’s experience at the 2025 Truist Championship is a perfect example of how an equipment issue can masquerade as a swing problem.

Fowler had been noticing that his iron shots were finishing farther right than he expected, even when he felt like he was making good swings.

His swing had become more upright over time but his iron specifications hadn’t fully caught up.

The solution was surprisingly simple as Fowler and his equipment team adjusted his irons one degree more upright before the tournament.

One degree. That’s all. 

The change helped Fowler feel as if the clubface was moving through the turf more squarely, producing the ball flight he wanted.

He opened the tournament with a 65, hitting 16 greens in regulation, and eventually finished tied for 15th.

It’s another reminder that a small equipment adjustment can make a meaningful difference.

The lesson: Lie angles matter, particularly with irons. If your shots consistently start or finish in an unexpected direction despite solid contact, a professional lie-angle evaluation might reveal something worth adjusting. Your original fitting specs aren’t necessarily permanent.

6. Xander Schauffele employed a driver shaft that didn’t match his swing

Xander Schauffele is one of the most consistent ball-strikers in professional golf but even he has experienced equipment-related frustration.

During the early part of the 2023 season, Schauffele was uncharacteristically struggling to control his driver.

His misses were becoming increasingly unpredictable and even well-struck shots weren’t curving the way he expected.

The problem became noticeable enough that he contacted Callaway Tour representative Kellen Watson.

The culprit was that Schauffele had been increasing his swing speed and developing a more upward angle of attack with the driver. His existing Mitsubishi Kai’li White shaft wasn’t matching those changes particularly well.

After an extensive fitting session, Schauffele switched to a Mitsubishi Diamana PD shaft.

The new shaft featured a softer handle section and a more stable middle and tip, better accommodating the way Schauffele aggressively pulled down on the handle during his transition.

His team also adjusted the driver’s loft setting and sole weights.

The result was tighter dispersion, more predictable shot shapes and a ball flight that better matched what Schauffele wanted to see.

The lesson: Shaft fitting isn’t solely about choosing regular, stiff or extra-stiff. Weight, bend profile and how a shaft responds to your particular swing can all matter. 

7. Viktor Hovland was fighting his putter at address

Viktor Hovland won six PGA Tour events with the same PING PLD DS-72 putter.

You would think that kind of success would make him reluctant to change anything.

But in early 2025, Hovland began noticing something uncomfortable about how his longtime putter sat behind the ball. He had unconsciously been putting up with it for a while and decided to do something about it.

According to PING Tour representative Dylan Goodwin, Hovland suddenly felt like he was manipulating the putter face with his hands just to make the loft and lie look right at address. Whether the putter had changed or his setup had changed, he didn’t know, but that is how he felt. 

That’s not exactly the feeling you want when standing over a six-foot putt on Tour. 

Hovland experimented with several alternatives before settling on a center-shafted Ping PLD Oslo Onset prototype.

The new design sat more naturally behind the ball, allowing him to address putts without feeling the need to manipulate the face.

It was a significant change for someone who had spent his entire PGA Tour career using the same putter.

And it’s a good reminder that even a club associated with considerable success might eventually stop feeling right.

The lesson: Putter fitting is about more than head shape and appearance. Loft, lie angle, alignment, balance and how the putter sits at address all influence confidence and performance. If you’re constantly adjusting your hands to make the face look square, it might be worth evaluating your setup.

Final thoughts

If these problems can happen to the best players in the world, they can happen to anyone.

And if there’s one lesson to take away, it’s that not every ball-striking problem is necessarily a swing problem.

That doesn’t mean you should immediately blame your equipment whenever you hit a bad shot (golfers are already pretty good at doing that). 

But if something feels different, your usual ball flight disappears or you’re fighting the same miss repeatedly, it might be worth having your clubs checked.

Even the best players in the world occasionally discover that the answer isn’t another swing change.

Sometimes it’s the equipment.

Top Photo Caption: Rickie Fowler hits an approach shot. (GETTY IMAGES)