On The Ball: The Most Used Ball on the PGA Tour

Golfing Focus infographic showing the percentage of golf balls made by the different manufacturers used by the top 100 PGA Tour pros in 2024

No matter your skill level, every golfer, from amateurs to Tour pros, relies on one piece of equipment for every shot: the golf ball.

Making sure you choose the right one for your game is therefore clearly important and given their focus on gaining whatever marginal gains they can, wherever they can, it makes sense for us to take a look at what is the most used ball on the PGA Tour.

Titleist is the most used golf ball brand on the PGA Tour with 71% of the top 100 playing a version of the Pro V1 seriesthe Pro V1, Pro V1x, Pro V1 Left Dot or Pro V1 Left Dash. Callaway and Srixon are used by 12 and 9 players, TaylorMade by 6, and Bridgestone by 2. Overall, 12 ball models from these 5 brands are in used by the top 100.

Golfing Focus didn’t stop there though.

We did a bunch more work to look at which specific ball each pro in the top 100 is using, discovered who is playing soft or hard golf balls, and analyzed whether anything has changed over the three years we’ve carried out this in-depth study in terms of what golf balls most PGA players use.

A box of 12 Titleist Pro V1x golf balls
Titleist’s Pro V1x is the most used ball among the top 100 PGA Tour pros. Check latest price on Amazon

How Many PGA Players Use Pro V1s?

When we first did this analysis a few years ago Titleist was again the dominant golf ball brand with just over two-thirds using their balls.

Last year that dominance increased to 71% of the top 100 players on the PGA Tour using a Titleist golf ball and this year that share has remained at close to a whopping seven times more than the next played golf balls made by Callaway.

Titleist’s Pro V1x is the most used ball on Tour with 38% of the top 100 players using it, including Wyndham Clark, and Ludvig Åberg. Scottie Scheffler is part of the group of 27% using the softer and slightly shorter playing Pro V1.

A further 5 players, including Tony Finau and Justin Rose use the exclusive Pro V1 left dot ball which is designed to be a low-flying, lower-spinning version of the Pro V1 for long game shots while David Lipsky is the sole user of the Left Dash high launch and low spin variant of the Pro V1x.

A complete list of which Titleist golf balls the leading 100 PGA pros are using is listed below and includes the majority of the very best golfers on the PGA Tour such as world no.1 Scottie Scheffler, Corey Conners, Will Zalatoris, Max Homa, Viktor Hovkand and Adam Scott all of whom keep a Pro V1 in play.

Adam Scott has also been known though on occasion to use and win multiple tournaments with the Pro V1 Left Dot ball.

Stars such as Patrick Cantlay, Matt Fitzpatrick, Justin Thomas, Jordan Speith, Will Zalatoris and Billy Horschel choose the Pro V1x.

In Fitzpatricks’ case also it is of note that this year he made the switch from the 2019 version of the Pro V1x to a newer 2021 Pro V1x after he swapped out his trusty PING s55 irons, which he had been using since he turned pro in 2014, for Titleist T100 irons.

And the reason he gave for this ball change?

“To me, I just needed a little bit more flight and a little bit more spin, and the combination of the ball and the irons did that for me” Fitzpatrick said.

So it’s important to recognise that the best PGA Tour pros can change golf balls in combination with other equipment changes they make.

GOLF BALL%. OF TOP 100 PGA TOUR PROS USING BALLPGA TOUR PLAYERS
Titleist Pro V1x38Beau Hossler, Ben Taylor, Billy Horschel, Brendon Todd, Byeong Hun An, Callum Tarren, Charley Hoffman, Chris Kirk, CT Pan, David Lingmerth, Eric Cole, J.T. Poston Joel Dahmen, Jordan Spieth, Justin Lower, Justin Thomas, K.H. Lee, Ludvig Åberg, Matt Fitzpatrick, Michael Kim, Nate Lashley, Nick Hardy, Nick Taylor, Patrick Cantlay, Patrick Rodgers, Robert MacIntyre, Russell Henley, S.H. Kim, Seamus Power, Sungjae Im, Tom Kim, Vincent Norrman, Will Zalatoris, Wyndham Clark
Titleist Pro V127Aaron Rai, Adam Schenk, Adam Scott, Austin Eckroat, Ben Griffin, Ben Kohles, Brian Harman, Cam Davis, Corey Conners, Davis Riley, Davis Thompson, Denny McCarthy, Garrick Higgo, Greyson Sigg, Harris English, Hayden Buckley, Justin Suh, Keith Mitchell, Lee Hodges, Luke List, Mackenzie Hughes, Max Homa, Sahith Theegala, Sam Stevens, Scottie Scheffler, Stephan Jaeger, Taylor Moore, Tyler Duncan, Viktor Hovland
Titleist Pro V1 Left Dot5Tony Finau, Cameron Young, Justin Rose, Mark Hubbard, Tom Hoge
Titleist Pro V1x Left Dash1David Lipsky
[Note – Top 100 rankings based on money list at the end of the 2022 season.]

Titleist have claimed the title of the #1 ball in golf since the 1949 US Open at Medinah Country Club and it seems based on these numbers they have good reason to keep on making such a claim as it continues to be played by more PGA Tour players than all the other golf ball brands combined and multiplied by 2!

And for those not familiar with the Titleist Pro V1 Left Dot there is good reason for that.

It has never been on retail shelves, is only ever sold for very limited times, and almost exclusively through Titleist.com.

We discuss the question of whether pro golfers use special golf balls in more depth in another one of our posts but in brief the Pro V1 Left Dot is what is called a Custom Performance Option or CPO golf ball.

And that is simply a ball that is only available to you if you play on one of the pro tours or if you are one of a very select few elite amateur golfers!

So if you ever find any for sale, either online or through a Titleist sales rep, grab them and ask questions later!

For me, we did a lot of testing with the ProV1s  and X’s. I’ve been trying both balls. With [the] X, it kind of feels like it spins a little bit more, but I can have more control around the green, and it goes a little bit higher. So, I can hit a little bit of higher, softer shots.

Byeong Hun An, world no. 36 and youngest ever winner of us amateur

Who Plays TaylorMade Golf Balls On The PGA Tour?

Not everyone uses the same golf ball on the PGA Tour of course and a few big names opt for versions of balls produced by the other big manufacturers, including Taylor Made.

However only 6 of the top 100 PGA Tour pros use either the TaylorMade TP5x or TP5x Pix golf balls.

The TP5x, used by Rory McIroy and Collin Morikawa, is higher launching and lower spinning than the TP5 ball while the Pix version, preferred by Tommy Fleetwood and Rickie Fowler, is designed to help with putting alignment.

The TP5, with its compression being almost identical, is the most similar TaylorMade ball to the Titleist Pro V1.

Fowler co-developed the Pix version of both the TP5 and TP5x golf balls with TaylorMade and it has helped Tommy Fleetwood solve a key issue with his putting.

Assuming originally that the pixelated orange and black markings were simply a funky design feature added as a nod to Fowler’s alma mater – Oklahoma State University – Fleetwood discovered after discussions with TaylorMade that the purpose of the triangle design was actually there to assist with alignment of putts.

Fleetwood had been struggling on the greens with the issue of where he thought he was aiming compared to where he was in reality lined up being a fraction off. And after some testing realized that the Pix markings, designed to roll end over end and create a pathway on the ball as it rolls, helped solve his aim problem.

“Every player at this level has a high-spin ceiling and a low-spin floor with each club. The best way to judge the performance of a golf ball is to measure how much spin jumps on their high-spin swings. When that jump is minimal, or “holds”, that’s when the ball is right.”

TaylorMade’s Senior Tour Rep and Equipment Expert, Adrian Rietveld

Interestingly though Golfing Focus’ yearly studies of who’s playing which TaylorMade ball on Tour have seen previous users of the TP5 like Collin Morikawa switch to the TP5x from the TP5.

That being said it is again important to note that players can change ball at different points in their careers and even between tournaments. And Morikawa is an example of both.

Using a TP5x initially when he first turned pro he soon found it hurt his chipping because he wasn’t spinning the ball enough. He then switched to the TP5 and stuck with it for the next three and a half to four years before settling back on the lower spinning TP5x because in Morikawa’s words ” .. it just fit the perfect windows for me a lot.”

That has not stopped him from changing again however when the circumstances dictate.

At the 2024 BMW Championship for example, played at 6,200 feet of elevation at Castle Pines, Morikawa noticed during a practice round that his typical ball flight was not “pretty” and “lacked a bit in control” due to the thin air at that altitude.

For the tournament, he therefore switched to the higher spinning TP5.

So while we may see a PGA Tour pro playing one type of ball some are open to changing should the circumstances, or a change in another piece of equipment, dictate.

TaylorMade's Pix design TP5 golf ball
The purpose of the triangle design on the Pix versions of the TP5 and TP5x is to assist with alignment of putts. Check latest price at the PGA Superstore

What PGA Tour Players Use Srixon Golf Balls?

Of the best hundred golfers on the PGA Tour, only five manufacturers are represented when it comes to the brands of golf balls being played. And the next one of these in Golfing Focus’ in-depth study list is Srixon.

Only 9% of the top 100 PGA Tour players use Srixon golf balls. Four play Srixon’s Z-Star Diamond ball including Keegan Bradley, Sepp Straka and Taylor Pendrith. The remaining sub-group of 5 that includes Shane Lowry, Hideki Matsuyama, Andrew Putnam and Lucas Glover, chose the Z-Star XV.

None of this group who play Srixon golf balls on the PGA Tour use the Z-Star ball.

Srixon has added a couple of top 100 PGA golfers to its roster since Golfing Focus initially looked at the golf balls being used by this elite group a number of years back but as we can see they still have a very long way to go to affect Titleist’s dominance.

What Callaway Golf Ball Do the Pros Use?

2024 USPGA and British Open Champion Xander Schauffele has been a loyal Callaway stable member for a while now and continues to use Callaway’s Chrome Tour ball.

And when it comes to what golf balls most PGA players use Callaway golf balls are the second most used brand among the top 100.

12% of the top 100 PGA Tour pros Callaway brand golf balls. Half of the 12 choose Callaway’s Chrome Tour including Akshay Bhatia, Erik van Rooyen and Schauffele while Sam Burns and Thomas Detry choose the Chrome Tour X version.

These numbers make the Chrome Tour, alongside Srixon’s Z-Star Diamond, the most played golf ball among the top 100 behind the Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x but our yearly analysis again shows Callaway’s share of the ball market among this select group has not changed materially over the last few years.

The complete list of the top 100 players on the PGA Tour currently using Callaway balls is as follows:

  1. Adam Hadwin IChrome Soft X)
  2. Alex Noren(Chrome Soft X)
  3. Emiliano Grillo (Chrome Soft X)
  4. Xander Schauffele (Chrome Tour)
  5. Akshay Bhatia (Chrome Tour)
  6. Erik van Rooyen (Chrome Tour)
  7. Si Woo Kim (Chrome Tour)
  8. Sam Burns (Chrome Tour X)
  9. Thomas Detry (Chrome Tour X)
  10. Adam Svensson (Chrome Tour X)
  11. Harry Hall (Chrome Tour X)

Who Plays Bridgestone Golf Balls On the PGA Tour?

Moving finally onto the use of Bridgestone golf balls amongst the best players on the PGA Tour it is perhaps surprising that the ball favoured by arguably the greatest golfer of all time – Tiger Woods – is only used by two of his colleagues among the top 100 on Tour.

And that very small number is half of what it was when we first did this analysis a few years back.

Adam Rehberg, Bridgestone’s golf ball fitting manager remarked once that the sound of the golf ball was so important to Tiger that he would “turn a ball away just for the fact that it didn’t sound like he wanted it to.”

Given such exacting standards, it is interesting to note that only Jason Day and Matt Kuchar of the top 100 PGA Tour pros we looked at use the same Tour B X golf ball as the golfing legend.

However it should be noted that Tiger did play the Tour B XS model in all his 15 major wins and only made the switch to the Tour B X ball prior to the Masters a couple of years back.

And while you may query whether Tiger did indeed use a Bridgestone golf ball rather than a Nike one based on your recollection of one of the famous shots in golf history it was Bridgestone in the words of the man himself who made the golf ball for them!

Before You Go …

Do you listen to the marketing of the golf ball manufacturers and get the impression that every ball they produce will give you the maximum possible distance both off the tee and with all your clubs?

That is clearly not the case and given the 1,229 golf ball options available according to the latest ‘List of Conforming Golf Balls’ it can be difficult to work out which ball will give you the most distance.

Read our next article to help you choose the best ‘distance’ ball for you as we break down the science and explain how hard or soft, heavy or light, new or old, a golf ball affects distance.

Do All Golf Balls Go the Same Distance?

And what is your favourite golf ball? Let us know in the comments and tell us why you choose the golf ball you play with. We’d love to know and whether what the ball the PGA Tour pros use makes any difference to your own choice!

Products mentioned in this article:

  1. BRIDGESTONE TOUR B X – Check the latest price on Amazon here
  2. BRIDGESTONE TOUR B XS – Check the latest price on Amazon here
  3. CALLAWAY CHROME SOFT X – Check the latest price on Amazon here
  4. CALLAWAY CHROME TOUR– Check the latest price on Amazon here
  5. SRIXON Z-STAR – Check the latest price on Amazon here
  6. SRIXON Z-STAR Diamond – Check the latest price on Amazon here
  7. SRIXON Z-STAR XV – Check the latest price on Amazon here
  8. TAYLORMADE TP5 – Check the latest price on Amazon here
  9. TAYLORMADE TP5x – Check the latest price on Amazon here
  10. TAYLORMADE TP5x Pix – Check the latest price on Amazon here
  11. TITLEIST PRO V1 – Check the latest price on Amazon here
  12. TITLEIST PRO V1 Left Dot – Check the latest price at Titleist.com
  13. TITLEIST PRO V1x – Check the latest price on Amazon here
  14. TITLEIST PRO V1x Left Dash – Check the latest price on Amazon here

[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.]

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