Getting a Grip On the Most Popular Grips on the PGA Tour (2024)

Golf grips play a crucial role in a golfer’s performance for the simple reason that they are the only direct contact a player has with their club.

Recently, while I was going through my own set of clubs, I realized something I hadn’t paid much attention to before—I had a collection of different grips on my clubs. My driver, fairway woods, irons, and wedges all had different grip types.

Over the years of swapping clubs in and out of my bag, I’d unintentionally ended up with this mismatch.

I hadn’t put much thought into the differences in grip type before, but given how important it is to maintain control of your club, I decided to dig a little deeper. So I turned my attention to the best in the world to see what the most played grip on the PGA Tour is.

Golf Pride grips dominate among the top 100 PGA Tour pros with 88% choosing them making them the most played grip on Tour. Their Tour Velvet grip is the most popular with Scottie Scheffler and Shane Lowry among the 34% who use that grip. A small number (12%), including Justin Rose and Jordan Speith, choose grips from other brands like Lamkin and IOMIC.

Now, let’s break down the details of what grips the top pros use, why these choices matter, and what that means for everyday golfers like you and me.

Because while Golf Pride are clearly the most popular grips on the PGA Tour Golfing Focus’ in-depth research still found 21 different grip models being used by this elite group highlighting that there are still many variations in choice among players.

And when it comes to the number and types of wraps individual pros have under their grips it is obvious that the best players have very detailed requirements when it comes to which grips feel and work best for them!

The Most Used Grips Used On The PGA Tour? Golf Pride Take Pride Of Place

Golf Pride has long been the industry leader in golf grips, and its stronghold as the most used grip on the PGA Tour is more evident now than ever.

Golf Pride’s Tour Velvet grips are, as we have already noted, the most played among the top 100 players on Tour with 34 players using them. Their MCC grips are the next most used with 21% using them while the Tour Velvet Cord grips are the next most popular chosen by 12% of the top 100.

This is the third year of Golfing Focus’ overall in-depth look at the most used clubs on the PGA Tour and the last couple of times we analysed the grips the best PGA players are using Golf Pride was again shown to be the most popular among the top 100.

A couple of years back that percentage stood at 75%, last year it was 86%. So with 88% now choosing them their dominance only seems to be growing.

But as we continue to delve deeper into the grip choices of the best players on Tour the precision with which they approach them is obvious and as exacting as it is with all their other equipment choices.

And while the Tour Velvet grip continues to be the most popular choice among the top 100 on Tour fifty-four choose other types of Golf Pride grips.

Rory McIlroy for example uses the MultiCompound (MCC) grip as do Viktor Hovland and Corey Conners.

2025 USA Ryder Cup Captain Keegan Bradley meanwhile prefers the Tour Velvet Plus4 which is designed to simulate 4 additional wraps on the lower hand to encourage lighter grip pressure.

Xander Schauffele and Sam Burns then use the ALIGN versions of the MCC and Tour Velvet grips respectively to help them ensure that they place their hand correctly on the club every time.

In simple terms ALIGN refers to a raised ridge along each grip which allows a player to find a consistent ‘feel’ and therefore hand placement each time they pick up a club.

Others such as Billy Horschel, Robert MacIntyre and Tommy Fleetwood also don’t use the same grip on all their clubs opting for different grip types on their woods and/or irons compared to their wedges.

Horschel for example chooses the Tour Velvet cord option until he gets to his wedges when he switches to the standard Tour Velvet option.

MacIntyre and Fleetwood meanwhile both not only change grip models but also grip manufacturers in different parts of their bag.

In Fleetwood’s case, he swaps from the Tour Velvet cord grips he has on the majority of his clubs to IOMIC grips for his wedges. MacIntyre by comparison uses Golf Pride’s Z-Grip Cord grips in his woods before switching to Grip Master’s Roo grips for his irons.

It is unlikely that golf grips are ever the main topic of conversation in the clubhouse among amateur golfers across the world but it is clear from looking at the golf grips choices of the top 100 PGA Tour players that it is something they pay close attention to.

And while there will be those of you who feel this information may be a bit meaningless given the sponsorship deals that exist in professional golf our research highlighted the equipment ‘free agents’ on Tour also overwhelmingly choosing Golf Pride grips.

These pros have the flexibility to choose whatever clubs they want and are not paid by any manufacturer to use their brand. And of the 15 equipment ‘free agents’ we uncovered, including Adam Scott, Jason Day and Patrick Cantlay 13 of them opt for Golf Pride grips with 7 choosing the Tour Velvet grip.

So it seems both the sponsored and non-sponsored pros among the top 100 PGA Tour pros use Golf Pride grips the most.

Here’s a breakdown of a selection of the most popular grips used on the PGA Tour:

GOLF GRIP	% OF TOP 100 PGA PROS (Equipment free agents in italics)
Golf Pride Tour Velvet	34% (including Aaron Rai, Adam Scott, Ben Kohles, Brendon Todd, Brian Harman, Denny McCarthy, Matt Fitzpatrick, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Cantlay, Sahith Theegala, Scottie Scheffler, Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka)	View on Amazon
Golf Pride MCC (MultiCompound)	21% (inc. Adam Schenk, Corey Conners, CT Pan, Ludvig Aberg, Rory McIlroy, Taylor Pendrith, Viktor Hovland)	Check eBay
Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord	12% (inc. Adam Svensson, Billy Horschel, Davis Thompson, JT Potson, Jason Day, Max Homa, Justin Thomas, Patrick Rodgers, Wyndham Clark)	Check eBay
Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align	6% (inc. Andrew Putnam, Cameron Young, Sam Burns, Eric Cole)	View on Amazon
Golf Pride Z-Grip Cord	6% (inc. Collin Morikawa, Harry Hall, Stephan Jaeger, Will Zalatoris, Robert MacIntyre – woods)	View at PGA Tour Superstore
Lamkin UTX	3% (inc. Byeong Hun An, Tony Finau)	Check eBay
IOMIC X-Grip 2.3	2% (Hideki Matsuyama, Matt Kuchar)	Check eBay
SuperStroke S-Tech	1% (Jordan Speith)	View on Amazon
Gripmaster Roo	1% (Robert MacIntyre – irons)
Spada Diamond Tour Weave	1% (Mark Hubbard)

[Note – Just so you know, and we are upfront as an affiliate program participant, Golfing Focus, at no cost to you, earns from qualifying purchases made through links on this page.]

Cord vs Non-Cord Grips: The Preferences of PGA Tour Players

Watch the PGA Tour for any length of time and it won’t take long before you notice the various multi-coloured golf grips many of the pros have on their clubs.

While all the main manufacturers produce multi-coloured grips these days the most common coloured grip is the Golf Pride MCC (New Decade MultiCompound) which is a hybrid grip with a standard lower section and cord upper section.

Cord grips provide extra traction, especially in wet or humid conditions, compared to smoother and softer non-cord grips.

And as part of Golfing Focus’ in-depth study, it was interesting to see how many PGA pros use corded grips.

24% of the top 100 PGA Tour pros use full cord grips with 26% choosing hybrid grips, which have a cord upper section and normal rubber lower section. Close to a majority of the top 47%, use non-cord grips however and there is intriguingly a small subset of PGA Tour pros who use cord grips on some clubs and non-cord grips on others.

Billy Horschel and Robert MacIntyre are two of these players as we have already seen. While MacIntyre switches from Golf Pride Z-Grip Cord grips in his woods to Grip Master Roo non-cord grips in his irons, Horschel makes a simpler switch from Tour Velvet cord versions in all his clubs save his wedges where he turns to the standard Velvet version.

Why some players choose to do this is explained by Byeong Hun An who like Horschel changes from Lamkin UTX cord grips to a plain non-cord grip in his 60º Titleist Vokey SM10 lob wedge.

“I have a different grip in the 60 [degree lob wedge]. There’s no cords or anything. But the rest of the clubs I do … but my 60 is just a plain rubber grip. I don’t know when I switched to that corded grip. I liked it better because it’s a little stickier, but I don’t want to lose the feel around the greens. So I kept the same type of grip in my 60 because it’s not going to be slipping from like a 30-yard shot.”

Byeong Hun An talking to Team Titleist

So as we can see a selection of pros choose full or half-cord golf grips because of the extra traction they give to stop the club from spinning in their hands when their hands are sweating, or they are playing in wet conditions.

Cord grips absorb more moisture by virtue of the cord strands that are sandwiched and moulded between two thin layers of rubber.

The keyword when it comes to golf grips is ‘feel’, and with cord grips they have a lightly sanded feel.

And it is this that adds extra friction with a player’s hands when they grip the club compared to a standard soft non-cord rubber grip.

GOLF GRIP TYPE	% OF TOP 100 PGA PROS	SELECTED GOLFERS
Non-cord	47%	Aaron Rai, Adam Scott, Brian Harman, Cameron Young, Hideki Matsuyama, Jordan Speith, Matt Fitzpatrick, Scottie Scheffler, Sahith Theegala, Rickie Fowler
Hybrid	26%	Corey Conners, Ludvig Aberg, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland, Adam Schenk
Full cord	24%	Collin Morikawa, Jason Day, Justin Thomas, Max Homa, Tommy Fleetwood, Tony Finau, Wyndham Clark
Full cord / Non-cord	3%	Billy Horschel, Robert MacIntyre, Byeong Hun An

Like every golf swing however, every player is different when it comes to the golf grip types they prefer the feel of in their hands.

I used to use full cord grips in the past simply because I saw a lot of the pros using them however I found that due to the additional roughness, they caused my hands a few problems, especially when I was practising and playing almost every day.

I therefore switched back to the non-cord grips and have stuck with them since because I prefer the smoother feel in my hands and I have never noticed any problems with my hands slipping due to sweat or wet weather.

Every player is different though and personal preference clearly plays its part too among the top 100 players on the PGA Tour.

Golf Grips Are More Than Just a Brand Choice for the Pros

For professional golfers, every fraction of control matters. So, it’s no surprise that they pay close attention to which grips they use.

And one of the most interesting insights from our look at the grips used by the top 100 on the PGA Tour is the degree of personalization that goes into their grip setups.

It’s not just about picking a brand or model. PGA Tour pros fine-tune their grips by adding layers of tape to adjust the size and feel to their specific preferences.

For some pros for example a midsize grip is too large for their liking but a standard size grip is too small. That is why they will add extra wraps of tape underneath to get that grip size absolutely spot on.

Because the number of build-up and/or double-sided tape wraps a player uses under their grip gives it a different width and therefore size.

And not only that, the tape they use will give the club a different weight as will a cord grip which also means it is going to be a bit heavier.

World no.1 Scottie Scheffler for example uses 6 wraps of tape under his standard 58 Ribbed Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips.

Tony Finau by comparison opts for a near unbelievable 13 wraps under the right hand and 12 under the left hand of his Lamkin UTX Midsize Full Cord grips.

That suggests Finau is gripping the branch of a small tree rather than a golf club but his reasoning for doing this is to try and produce a near uniform thickness from grip to shaft compared to the standard taper in the lower hand.

The great Tiger Woods meantime has preferred a standard 58 Round Tour Velvet Cord grip during his career with one wrap of build-up tape and 1 wrap of double-sided tape applied underneath.

In other cases Tour pros will opt for extra tape wraps only under the lower half of the grip. 2024 USPGA and British Open Champion Xander Schauffele is one such player whose Golf Pride MCC grips get progressively larger as they reach his lower hand.

While the left hand of his grip is ‘standard’ size he opts for one 4-inch tape wrap followed by a 6-inch wrap under the right hand to help him slow down club rotation and start the ball right for his ideal shot shape.

As a general rule, adding 4 extra layers of tape (in addition to the 1 wrap of double-sided tape needed to adhere the grip to the shaft) will take a grip from an Undersize to Standard, Standard to Midsize, and so on.

And you should also take note that building up grips with extra tape will stretch the rubber and make it feel firmer.

So when you start looking at what grips the pros use bear in mind that the ‘manufactured’ size they are shown as choosing may not tell the whole story.

Before You Go …

In the modern game of course it is not just club grips that are paid close attention to by the pros.

The options for putter grips available have also exploded in recent years as new manufacturers have burst onto the putting scene.

Read our next article to find out what putter grips the top 100 PGA Tour pros are using and further discover which model of putter is the most popular among this elite group.

Putter Grips on the PGA Tour. More Than Just a Handle

Or if you are wondering whether you should have the same grips on all your golf clubs check out our post on that topic!

Should You Have the Same Grips on All Your Golf Clubs?

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