Ever notice the one piece of equipment Tiger Woods has trusted for nearly his entire career? It's not a driver or a putter, but a simple rubber grip: the Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord. Your hands are your only connection to the club, and the choice of grip has a massive impact on everything from comfort to shot control. This article breaks down exactly what grips the top players in the world use, why they choose them, and more importantly, how you can use their logic to find the perfect grip for your game.
If you walked down the range at any PGA Tour event and checked every player's bag, you’d see one brand more than any other: Golf Pride. It’s not even a close race. For decades, they have been the standard-bearer, not through flashy marketing to the public, but by creating products that the best players in the world trust unconditionally. It’s estimated that over 80% of Tour pros use Golf Pride, and they do it without being paid a cent - a true testament to their performance.
The Golf Pride Tour Velvet is the most popular grip in golf, period. Its dominance is a lesson in the power of simplicity and consistency. Made from a state-of-the-art rubber-blend compound, it features a non-slip surface pattern that's subtle yet effective. Its brilliance lies in what it doesn't do. It's not overly soft or aggressively firm. It doesn't have a wild texture. It just works.
Pros choose the Tour Velvet for its incredible feel and feedback. The computer-designed, non-slip surface pattern provides just enough traction for a secure hold without feeling abrasive. This allows a player to feel exactly where the ball made contact on the face, which is vital feedback for shot-making at the highest level.
The second most popular grip on Tour is Golf Pride’s MCC, a revolutionary hybrid grip that fused two different materials into one. It’s a brilliant solution for a common golfer's dilemma.
The top portion of the grip (where your gloved hand goes) features Golf Pride’s exclusive Brushed Cotton Cord for firm control and all-weather performance. The bottom portion (for a player's non-gloved hand) is made of a softer, higher-performance rubber for enhanced feel and responsiveness. The result is a grip that gives you unwavering stability with your top hand and delicate feel with your bottom hand. Players like Jordan Spieth have relied on the MCC for years, favoring its ability to perform in the Texas heat while still providing enough touch for precision shots.
While Golf Pride holds the majority market share, it's not the only manufacturer you'll see in a winner's circle. A few other brands have earned the trust of some of the world's best.
Lamkin has a long and storied history in golf. Their most iconic grip is the Crossline, a model that has been trusted by pros for over 20 years. Much like the Tour Velvet, its success comes from its classic, no-nonsense design. Made from a durable synthetic rubber, its signature Crossline pattern offers fantastic lateral traction and a secure feel without being harsh on the hands. Arnold Palmer was a lifelong user of Lamkin grips, and the brand is still a favorite for pros looking for a consistent, reliable connection to the club.
More recently, grips like the Lamkin UTx have gained traction. This grip uses a tri-layer technology, combining a softer foundation with a firmer, tackier outer layer, and is infused with cord in the upper section. It’s an advanced hybrid for players looking for comfort and weather control.
If you've ever held a Winn grip, you know its defining characteristic: incredible softness. Winn pioneered the use of polymer materials in golf grips with their Dri-Tac series. These grips are exceptionally tacky and provide unparalleled shock absorption. While used less frequently by Tour pros who often favor firmer grips for feedback, you’ll find them in the bags of players who value comfort, especially those managing arthritis or hand fatigue. They are a fantastic choice for senior golfers or anyone who finds standard rubber grips too jarring on mishits.
Here’s the part most amateur golfers miss. A pro's grip setup goes far beyond just picking a grip model off the shelf. They obsess over the fine details to create a perfect feel. This degree of personalization is where you can learn the most.
Grip size is arguably even more important than the grip model. Using a grip that's too small or too large can have a significant effect on your swing mechanics.
So, how do pros fine-tune this? Tape. You'll rarely find a Tour pro playing a grip with just the standard single layer of tape. Most players add extra wraps of tape under their grips to build them up to a precise diameter. Collin Morikawa famously uses a standard grip but has it built up with so many wraps that it essentially becomes a midsize. Bubba Watson takes it to an extreme, using somewhere between 10 and 12 extra layers. This isn’t something to copy blindly, but it illustrates how vital a custom size is to them.
A great starting point is the "finger test." Hold your golf club with your top hand (left hand for a righty). If your middle and ring fingers just barely touch your palm, your grip is likely sized well. If they dig in, your grip is too small. If there’s a gap, it’s probably too big. This is a guideline, not a hard rule. The best way is to feel different sizes at a golf shop and get properly fitted.
The firmness of a grip is another personal preference that has real performance implications. It’s a trade-off between pure feedback and overall comfort.
Finally, pros think about texture and the taper of the grip. Do they want an aggressive surface pattern for maximum traction, like on a Golf Pride Z-Grip Cord? Or something smoother? Taper refers to how the grip slims down towards the bottom. Some players prefer a standard taper, while others ask their club builders to use tape to create a "reduced taper" feel, making the lower hand's diameter almost the same as the upper hand's. This can promote equal hand pressure and quiet the bottom hand even more.
The lesson from the pros isn't to run out and put Tiger’s exact grip on your clubs. The real takeaway is in their process. They choose grips based on performance, feel, and precise customization - not sponsorship deals. They understand that a confident connection to the golf club starts with finding the right model, size, and texture for their unique swing and preferences.
Finding the right equipment for your swing is one piece of the puzzle, but making smart decisions on the course is a another. Just like selecting the perfect grip provides confidence over the ball, we built Caddie AI to give you that same sense of confidence over every shot. Our AI-powered golf coach gives you access to the same strategic thinking used by the pros, helping you analyze a hole, choose the right club, or navigate a tough lie. It replaces uncertainty with clarity, allowing you to commit fully to your swing, knowing you have an expert opinion right in your pocket.
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