Staff WriterIf you ever needed proof that golf’s world order has a stubborn streak, meet Scottie Scheffler—who began his 2026 PGA TOUR campaign exactly where he left it: collecting trophies like they’re lost-property umbrellas at an airport.
A dominant Sunday 66 sealed his 20th PGA TOUR win, making him the second-youngest to reach that mark, and doing it in the second-fewest starts (151). His 27-under total (63-64-68-66) didn’t just win; it put four shots between him and the nearest chasers, like a polite “thanks for coming” note written in birdies.
Out in the desert, the final round had that familiar Scheffler feel: calm, clinical, and just a touch inevitable. It was the 10th time in his career he’s started Sunday tied for the lead or one back and still finished the job—an uncomfortable statistic for anyone hoping the World No. 1 might occasionally misplace the remote.
Win No. 20, and a putter that changed the plot
A huge slice of the story behind Scottie Scheffler staying in this sort of winning zip code is the flatstick. This latest victory marks his 16th worldwide win since switching to the Spider Tour X putter at the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational—an equipment move that has aged like a fine bottle of “told you so.”
Since that switch, the results column reads like a major-championship scavenger hunt: The Masters, the PGA Championship, The Open Championship, a Gold Medal and a PLAYERS Championship.
And, as ever, the why matters as much as the what. TaylorMade’s Senior Tour Manager Adrian Rietveld explained the lightbulb moment that helped Scheffler match what he thought he was doing with what he was actually doing.
“In testing at the end of 2023, we identified something that could help him know he was striking the ball on the center of the face. Instead of the sight dot he had on his blade, we started to re-introduce True Path and we were on to something in terms of his eyes and what he thought he was doing vs. what he was actually doing when hitting his putts. With a Spider putter there’s so much tech that you can see and also not see, all helping him hit better putts more often.”
Adrian Rietveld, Senior Tour Manager
Scottie’s Spider Tour X spec
- Hosel: L-Neck
- Length: 35.5″
- Sight line: True Path™ with Full Line
- Insert: Pure Roll
- Loft: 2°
- Lie: 71°
- Grip: Golf Pride Pistol
The Qi4D 7-wood: the “high one” returns
As if winning wasn’t enough, Scheffler also gave equipment nerds their favourite dessert: a fascinating fairway-wood subplot. Similar to a previous setup move before winning the PGA Championship, he replaced his 3-iron with a Qi4D 7-wood—built to fly higher, spin more, and deliver a consistent 240-carry number.
The numbers tell the tale: the 7-wood launches about 1.5–2 degrees higher than his 3-iron with roughly 1500 more RPM of spin. Scheffler’s self-dubbed “high one” launched at 14.9° at 5175 RPM, carrying 245 yards at 160 MPH ball speed.
Rietveld also tweaked the build so the club sat squarer at address—then effectively engineered a “5-wood spec” inside a 7-wood head to get the gapping right with Scheffler’s 3-wood.
“We fit his 3-wood shorter, so it did not go further than his desired distance with that club, so when you fit a standard 5-wood it goes too far. You don’t want to add loft to a 5-wood because it closes the face, so we built a 5-wood spec in a 7-wood head. It has the dynamics of a 5-wood but with the spin and launch conditions of a 7-wood to produce the carry number he wants with that club.”
Adrian Rietveld, Senior Tour Manager
And here’s a stat that feels equal parts impressive and mildly unfair: 18 of Scottie’s 20 PGA TOUR wins have come with a TaylorMade fairway wood in the bag. When something keeps showing up at the scene of the victory, you stop calling it coincidence.
Scottie’s Qi4D 7-wood spec
- Finished loft: 20°
- Lie: 60°
- Shaft: Ventus Black 9X
- Tipping: 2’’
- Length: 41 3/8” cut
- Swingweight: D4
- Grip: Tour Velvet Rib 58
- Wraps: 6 Double-Sided Tapes
Why Scheffler plays P·7TW irons: a Tiger-inspired turning point
The origin story here has a proper Augusta glow to it. Scheffler was playing P·730 irons during the final round of the 2020 Masters when he was paired with Tiger Woods—then went home wanting to test the irons designed by Tiger himself. After a session back in Dallas, the P·7TW irons went into the bag, and the wins followed: 20 PGA TOUR events, two green jackets, a PGA Championship and The Open Championship, plus a few record-setting lines previously reserved for Tiger-shaped lore.
Scheffler described what he felt immediately—especially the ability to vary trajectory windows without losing distance control.
“What I noticed when I hit them at home was, I was able to hit different windows, so when I flighted it down, I could pitch it lower than I could the P·730. When I wanted to hit it up, I could hit it higher and I saw more variability in the shots and then the distance control was basically the exact same. I saw the benefits of being able to flight it down and keep it flatter and not have that overspin with a little bit more variety.”
Scottie Scheffler
Scottie Scheffler’s winning WITB (what’s in the bag)
- Qi10 8.0° driver (Ventus Black 7X)
- Qi10 15.0° 3-wood (Ventus Black 8X)
- Qi4D 21.0° 7-wood (Ventus Black 9X)
- P·7TW 5-PW (Dynamic Gold X100)
- Spider Tour X L-Neck
The bottom line
For everyone else on the PGA TOUR, the new year can mean new goals, new plans, new optimism. For Scottie Scheffler, it appears to mean the same old routine: show up, stripe it, putt it better than you remember, and leave the field negotiating for second place. Win No. 20 is a milestone. The more alarming part is how normal he made it look.
FAQ
How many PGA TOUR wins does Scottie Scheffler have now?
Scottie Scheffler has 20 PGA TOUR wins after opening his 2026 campaign with another victory.
What putter does Scottie Scheffler use?
He uses a Spider Tour X (L-Neck) putter, a switch that has coincided with 16 worldwide wins since 2024.
Why did Scheffler add a 7-wood?
He replaced his 3-iron with a Qi4D 7-wood to produce a more consistent 240-carry number with higher launch and more spin.
What irons does Scottie Scheffler play?
Scottie Scheffler plays P·7TW irons (5-PW), inspired by testing Tiger Woods’ iron design after the 2020 Masters.
