Hey Team Titleist!
Last week, Titleist Brand Ambassador Davis Riley picked up his first career PGA TOUR victory at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans as part of his #TeamTitleist pairing with longtime Pro V1x player Nick Hardy.
Riley trusted his Pro V1 golf ball and 14 Titleist clubs to his first W, with Team Riley-Hardy converting six birdies Sunday from within 6 ½ feet! Take a look:
No. 3: 3 ft 10 in
No. 7: 3 ft 6 in
No. 11: 1 ft 1 in
No. 13: 6 ft 4 in
No. 14: 2 in
No. 16: 5 ft 8 in
Riley, who added another birdie on 17 with a 33-footer from off the green, recently talked through his setup with us, so let’s take a closer look...
NEW Pro V1 golf ball
Riley made the move to NEW Pro V1 earlier this year, first teeing it up at The American Express in January. He had previously been playing Pro V1 Left Dot.
“There were quite a few similarities between this and the Left Dot which I like so much, but I actually saw a big improvement with this ball – I was able to achieve a higher trajectory with the longer stuff like the long irons and woods, which is what you’re looking for coming into firm greens,” said Riley. “I was able to get that with this ball and getting more trajectory for the right reasons. Not because it’s up-shooting because of more spin. This was higher launch, but maintaining a really good spin… where you hit it just how you want, and it comes out in that window and the wind just doesn't really touch it.
“I gained one or two more miles per hour ball speed, actually, opposed to the Left Dot with the driver, which was really cool to see. Also, that dispersion came in a little bit, so I was getting kind of the best of both worlds, and it was pretty hard not to put it in when I saw that.
“I’m a small drawer of the ball, so if I’m hitting in a left to right wind, I don’t like to see the ball start right and then the wind just destroy it right. But there were a couple times this off-season I hit the [’23 Pro V1], and it just held its line so nice. That draw just held up perfectly, and it didn’t get taken away by the wind or eaten up by the wind. Just seeing that level of consistency through the wind and staying in the air for that time was really cool to see.”
TSR3 8.0 driver | Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green RDX 65 TX
Like so many of his peers, Riley is gaming the PGA TOUR’s most played driver model: TSR3. He moved into TSR immediately at the Travelers Championship in 2022, the first week it was available, and proceeded to put on a career-best performance off the tee that week, leading the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green.
“The mishits are really good,” he said. “I’m finding really consistent spin across the face no matter where I’m hitting it, so that you’re maxing out your carry numbers every time. It’s what you really want to look for. It's not how good your good hits are. It's like, how good are your bad hits? And just seeing that consistency across the face is really cool to see.
“I saw a few miles per hour jump in ball speed, which is great, and especially on those mishits, I wasn't seeing a drop in ball speed or distance. My tendency is kind of a left heel miss, and I saw the spin stay pretty consistent, so that was pretty nice to see how well it performed all across the face.”
TSR3 15.0 fairway | Fujikura Ventus Black TR 8 X
TSR2 18.0 fairway | Fujikura Ventus Black 9 TX
Riley has a two-fairway metal setup, with a TSR3 3 wood and a TSR2 5 wood to bridge the gap between his driver and his irons.
Riley, on carrying a 5 wood in his setup: “I love the 5 wood and just having the workability, you know, able to hit high and soft or kind of punch it down the fairway and hit the low one. [It’s] a really good club that kind of does everything you need.”
T100 4 iron | KBS Tour C-Taper 125 S+
620 CB 5-6 irons | KBS Tour C-Taper 125 S+
620 MB 7-9 irons | KBS Tour C-Taper 125 S+
For his iron set, Riley uses three different models. Mixed sets are popular on Tour, especially for players seeking more launch and forgiveness in the long irons without sacrificing precision in the short irons.
Riley on his mixed iron set: “Got a little bit of everything here, but in 4-iron, I carry the T100. It’s been great. I went with this model just because it’s always nice having a little extra forgiveness there in the longer irons. It’s been a good club to have to have that extra little forgiveness when you’ve got 220 over water into a par 5 or long par 4. So just looking down at that is really good.
“And then 5 and 6, I carry the CBs. Then again, just looking at something with a little bit more forgiveness than the longer clubs and love just the good classic look here of the CBs.
“Next, the lower irons. I carry MBs and 9-8-7. Really like these. I just love the performance of the MBs. It’s just the thinner sole. I can get through the rough a little bit better. I feel like the workability all them is really good. And when I need a knock down a 9-iron and shave 10 yards off of it, I feel like it's really good for that purpose and just the good classic love of a blade and the feel of it is pretty hard to beat.”
Vokey Design SM9 46.10F, 50.08F, 56.08M (@ 55), WedgeWorks 60T wedges | True Temper Dynamic Gold S400
For his scoring clubs, Riley goes with a four-wedge setup to fill his yardage gaps and afford himself maximum versatility greenside. It starts with his 46-degree F grind pitching wedge with 10 degrees or bounce.
“I've just loved having the [pitching] wedge set up in the Vokey, just because I just love the comfort of looking down at a wedge when I'm in the fairway. It just kind of gives you that comfort and that little bit of feeling like, okay, this is kind of attack mode a little bit.”
“Next, I've got the 50-degree 08F, yeah, just a wedge you're hitting from the fairway a ton.”
The third wedge is a 55-degree 08M “to fit gapping purposes, again hitting a lot of shots from the fairway with this club, and a few around the greens... It's really good club.”
Riley’s lob wedge is a WedgeWorks 60T, one of the most popular grinds on Tour. According to Master Craftsman Bob Vokey, the T grind is built for players seeking to unlock ultimate creativity around the greens. It is a low-bounce wedge with a narrow crescent surface and wider back flange, best for players with shallow and precise deliveries, as well as those playing off firm conditions.
This year, the T grind was the lob wedge of choice for the 2023 Players and WM Phoenix Open Champion, along with the Honda Classic Champion and the RBC Heritage Champion. It’s also in the bags of Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Cameron Young, among many others.
Scotty Cameron Phantom X 7.2 tour prototype putter
On the greens, Riley has a Scotty Cameron Phantom X 7.2 tour prototype putter that’s he’s had in the bag for over a year now.
“The way it looks, all the square lines, I feel like it frames the ball really well and just everything sits super square,” he said. “I've always been a big believer in that if you're really comfortable looking over it and everything feels square, it's just going to set up for good putting. So that's what I’ve done.”
Full WITB:
NEW Titleist Pro V1 golf ball
TSR3 8.0 driver | Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green RDX 65 TX
TSR3 15.0 fairway | Fujikura Ventus Black TR 8 X
TSR2 18.0 fairway | Fujikura Ventus Black 9 TX
T100 4 iron | KBS Tour C-Taper 125 S+
620 CB 5-6 irons | KBS Tour C-Taper 125 S+
620 MB 7-9 irons | KBS Tour C-Taper 125 S+
Vokey Design SM9 46.10F, 50.08F, 56.08M (@ 55), WedgeWorks 60T wedges | True Temper Dynamic Gold S400
Scotty Cameron Phantom X 7.2 tour prototype putter