'Change one thing at a time' – How Davis Thompson found his ideal golf equipment combination

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Matching the right golf equipment and the right golf ball is often a balancing act that can be difficult to nail down.

Players want a driver with faster speeds, greater distances, and less rotation.

Optimized irons come with specific launch windows, consistent rotation, and green stopping power.

Wedges are all about spin and control.

Usually, the golf ball that travels the longest is not the one that is most accurate with the irons or creates the best wedge spin.

Davis Thompson found the holy grail at the John Deere Classic earlier this month.

Thompson submits his fitness needs to Craig Allan, director of Sea Island's Golf Performance Center, which works with a number of PGA TOUR players.

Thompson told Allan there was a problem with his instruments last year. He was using a Titleist '21 Pro V1 driver and a Titleist TSR3 to get off his driver, but his low spin caused him to lose control of distance with his irons, and he was hitting too many flyers due to difficulty.

Allan suggested three possible alternatives to Thompson: lowering the lofts on his existing irons, trying balls with more twist, and experimenting with different iron heads and shafts. Thompson preferred to talk to the golf ball rather than try to hit it with his irons.#

“(At the) Memorial (Tournament presented by Workday) last year, I started playing a spinier Titleist golf ball, and it was perfect for my iron setup at that point,” Thompson said. “But over time I saw my driver stats go down, which is a strong suit in my game. So we were trying to figure out after the Valspar (Championship) this year how to get the driver back.”

Allan and Thompson chose Titleist 620 MB (5-9) irons with True Temper Dynamic Gold Mid Tour Issue X100 shafts. These irons have more spin and launch than Thompson's previous True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts.

Thompson shot a tournament-record score of 28-under-256 to win the John Deere Classic by four shots thanks to his irons and shafts.

Allan advises novice golfers to tackle one thing at a time when trying to determine their golf equipment setup.

“If you try to change your golf ball and your clubs and your shafts at the same time, you can't tell which variable has a positive or negative effect,” Allan says. “I encourage the players to change one thing at a time and follow the process.”