We’ve already seen 11 PGA Tour events this season. (Although the World Hero Challenge isn’t technically part of the official schedule, it’s a small-field event with many of the world’s best players, so it’s worth getting involved.)
Looking at those first 11 events, something interesting is starting to emerge.
For years, one golf ball has dominated the PGA Tour winners list. If you track the equipment Tour players use, as I do, you get used to seeing the same pattern over and over again. I keep a close eye on these trends and the little shifts that start to appear from season to season.
This year, I noticed something with the golf balls used by the tournament winners.
To keep things consistent, I watched The first 11 events of the season in 2024, 2025 and 2026 and tracked the golf ball used by the winner of each event.
For years, Titled golf balls have dominated the PGA Tour winners list, especially early in the season. Here’s what this comparison looks like.
Win Shares in First 11 Events (Title Golf Balls)
- 2024: 10 out of 11 wins (91%)
- 2025: 8 out of 11 wins (73%)
- 2026: 4 out of 11 wins (36%)
Winning golf balls from the first 11 events
Below is a look at the golf balls used by the winners in the first 11 events in the last three seasons.
What’s going on?
That’s not to say that anything dramatic has changed about what players prefer to play.
Titleist is still, by a wide margin, the most popular golf ball on the PGA Tour. Their total number of balls remains far ahead of any other manufacturer. What we’re seeing so far this season is just a different mix of winners around the world The first 11 events of the year.
Some notable examples include:
Here’s a look at the golf balls used by winners so far in 2026.
| Player | event | Golf ball |
|---|---|---|
| Hideki Matsuyama | World Challenge of Heroes | Z-STAR XV |
| Scottie Scheffler | American Express | For V1 |
| Chris Gotterup | Sony Open | BX tour |
| Justin Rose | Open Farmers Insurance | Pro V1x |
| Collin Morikawa | Pebble Beach Pro-Am | TP5x |
| Chris Gotterup | WC Phoenix Open | BX tour |
| Jacob Bridgeman | The invitation of Genesis | TP5 |
| Nico Echavarria | A well-known classic | The Z-Star Diamond |
| Akshay Bhatia | Arnold Palmer’s Invitational | Tour in Chrome |
| Ricky Castillo | Puerto Rico Open | For V1 |
| Cameron Young | Players Championship | Pro V1x Prototype |
Final thoughts
No one is worried about the long-term future of the PGA Tour’s most popular golf ball. It still dominates general use and will almost certainly continue to appear in the hands of many winners.
But through the first 11 events of the 2026 season, the list of winners looks very different to what we’ve seen in recent years.
If this trend continues, it’s something worth watching as the schedule turns to some of the biggest events of the year.
