In the world of professional golf, “What’s in the Bag” features are often a fascinating peek behind the curtain. We get to see the tools the pros use to dominate. But as the Equipment Editor for The Daily Duffer, my job isn’t just to list clubs; it’s to cut through the marketing fluff and tell you what’s *actually* working and why it matters to your game. Patrick Reed’s recent Qatar Masters win offers a prime example of a bag built for performance, not just sponsorship. Reed’s second win of the season, and his return to the Top 20, is impressive.…

Chris Gotterup’s Meteoric Rise Signals a Tour in Flux—and It’s Refreshing In 35 years of covering professional golf, I’ve learned that the most interesting stories aren’t always about the guys winning majors. Sometimes they’re about the players who seem to come from nowhere, catch fire, and force you to completely reassess what you thought you knew about the modern game. Chris Gotterup is one of those players. Now ranked fifth in the world after his back-to-back victories to start 2026—including last week’s playoff win over Hideki Matsuyama at the WM Phoenix Open—the 26-year-old Jersey native represents something I haven’t seen…

Hello, fellow golfers! Sarah Chen here, your Golf Instruction Editor for The Daily Duffer. As a PGA-certified instructor with over 15 years on the lesson tee, I’ve seen firsthand that every golfer, from tour professionals to weekend enthusiasts, has the potential to improve. The secret? It often starts even before you swing a club. Far too often, golfers show up for a lesson with a general sense of frustration, hoping their instructor will magically diagnose and fix everything. While I adore a good challenge, the truth is, the more prepared you are for a lesson, the faster and more dramatically…

Pebble Beach 2026: Why McIlroy’s Season Debut Matters More Than His Odds Suggest There’s something poetic about Rory McIlroy returning to Pebble Beach as the signature event opens the 2026 PGA Tour season. I’ve covered enough opening tournaments over 35 years to know that how a superstar begins their calendar year often sets the tone for everything that follows. And right now, watching the model project McIlroy to miss the outright win despite his impressive 2025 season tells me something interesting is happening on the PGA Tour landscape—the competition at the elite level has genuinely intensified. Let me unpack what…

Alright, let’s talk about TaylorMade’s new offering in the long game: the Qi4D Tour fairway wood. As an equipment editor who’s spent countless hours staring at launch monitor data and fitting every conceivable golfer, I tend to approach any new “Tour” designated club with a healthy dose of skepticism. The marketing departments love that word. But does the Qi4D Tour actually live up to the name, or is it just another pretty face in a matte black finish? First impressions, visually, are overwhelmingly positive. I pulled this out of the headcover, and honestly, it’s a looker. TaylorMade has crafted a…

In my thirty-five years covering professional golf—and I mean really covering it, from the dusty ranges of Q-School to the manicured fairways of Augusta—I’ve learned that the most telling moments aren’t always the ones that fit neatly into our scorecards or highlight reels. Bryson DeChambeau’s topped drive at LIV Golf Adelaide this week is one of those moments. On the surface, it’s absurd. Comedic, even. A ball that travels 245 yards after being struck just a foot from the tee box, somehow finding its way to a birdie on a par 5? That’s the kind of golf story you tell…

Cameron Smith’s Adelaide Declaration: What LIV Golf’s Confidence Really Means for Professional Golf In my 35 years covering professional golf—including a stretch as Tom Lehman’s caddie back in the ’90s—I’ve learned to listen carefully when major champions speak with conviction about the sport’s future. So when Cameron Smith tells you he’s confident LIV Golf will be thriving two decades from now, it’s worth paying attention. Not because he’s necessarily a fortune teller, but because his confidence reflects something real happening beneath the surface of professional golf’s ongoing restructuring. Smith made those remarks ahead of the LIV Adelaide tournament at The…

Hello golfers! Sarah Chen here, your Golf Instruction Editor for The Daily Duffer. I’ve spent over 15 years on the range and course, helping players of all levels unlock their potential. One area that often gets overlooked, or perhaps misunderstood, is the intricate relationship between our wrists, hands, and the golf club. We all want more power and accuracy, right? Well, a recent experiment sheds some fascinating light on how our hands can either be our greatest asset or our biggest hindrance. You often hear about specific wrist actions – cocking, uncocking, rolling. But what if some of these motions,…

LIV Golf Adelaide: The Tournament That Found Its Audience (And Then Some) I’ve been covering professional golf for 35 years, and I’ve learned that the most telling indicator of a tournament’s viability isn’t what the suits in the boardroom say—it’s what the fans do with their wallets and their time. By that measure, LIV Golf Adelaide has done something remarkable: it’s become genuinely unmissable in a market that was starved for elite golf. When LIV Golf first touched down in Adelaide in April 2023, there was legitimate curiosity but also understandable skepticism. Australia had hosted majors and big tournaments before,…

Alright, Daily Duffer readers, Tyler Reed here, and today we’re taking a look at a concept that’s been around for a while but still sparks a lot of conversation: comprehensive, multi-handicap equipment testing. I stumbled upon a mission statement from an outfit that started back in 2009, aiming to “shed light on the confusing world of golf equipment.” And honestly, that mission is as relevant today as it was 15 years ago. The golf market is saturated with claims of ‘unprecedented ball speed’ and ‘maximized MOI,’ and without proper analysis, it’s easy to get lost in the noise. As a…