Ever wondered what a multiple-time major champion and former world number one relies on to compete at the highest level? A close look at Lydia Ko's golf bag reveals a masterclass in thoughtful equipment selection, blending cutting-edge technology with time-tested precision. This article breaks down every club in her bag, explaining not just *what* she plays, but *why* she chooses it and what you can learn from her setup.
Lydia Ko’s relationship with her equipment sponsor, PING, is one of the longest and most successful in the sport. She turned professional using their clubs and has remained loyal ever since. This tells you something important about her approach to the game: she values consistency, feel, and a trusted setup over chasing the newest trend every season. Her bag isn't a random assortment of clubs, it’s a carefully curated system where each piece works in harmony with the next. This philosophy of building a setup you know and trust is a foundational lesson for any golfer looking to build confidence and shoot lower scores. When you have complete faith in your tools, you free yourself up to focus on the shot at hand.
Let's take a club-by-club look at the setup that Lydia Ko trusts to carry her to victory. You'll notice her selections are highly strategic, demonstrating an incredible understanding of her own game.
Ko’s choice of driver is the PING G430 LST, standing for Low Spin Technology. This version of the G430 is designed for players with higher swing speeds who need to reduce spin to achieve a more penetrating ball flight and maximize distance. For many tour pros, excessive spin can cause the ball to "balloon" into the air, losing energy and roll. The LST head, with its more compact shape and forward center of gravity, helps prevent this exact problem.
Lydia uses a Mitsubishi Diamana GT 50 S-flex shaft. This pairing signifies a focus on control and stability. A slightly heavier, stiffer shaft like this provides the feedback and consistency a player of her caliber needs to find fairways under pressure. She isn't just trying to bomb it, she’s working to put the ball in the perfect position for her elite iron game.
Interestingly, while she uses the LST model in her driver, Ko opts for the more forgiving G430 Max in her fairway woods. This is a very common and smart strategy seen on tour. A fairway wood is used in more varied situations than a driver - from the tee on tight par-4s to long approach shots into par-5s, sometimes out of the rough. The "Max" head is slightly larger and has a back-weighted design, making it easier to launch the ball high and offering more forgiveness on off-center hits. This versatility makes it an invaluable tool.
Think of your fairway woods as your secret weapons. For many amateurs, a 3-wood or 5-wood can be much easier and more consistent to hit than a driver off the tee. The high, soft-landing trajectory of a 5-wood or even a 7-wood can green-light you to attack par-5s you previously had to lay up on.
Ko bridges the gap between her woods and irons with a 22-degree PING G430 hybrid, which effectively serves as her 4-iron. For nearly every golfer, including a world-class ball striker an Lydia, a hybrid offers significant advantages over a long iron. The wider sole and lower center of gravity make it incredibly easy to launch the ball high into the air, especially from imperfect lies. It glides through the rough better than a traditional iron and lands on greens with more stopping power, providing an excellent combination of distance and control a long iron struggles to match.
If you're still carrying a 3, 4, or even 5-iron, give a modern hybrid a try. Many golfers find they immediately hit it higher, straighter, and more consistently than their corresponding iron. Swallow your pride, it’s one of the easiest ways to improve your long game overnight.
Ko’s iron setup is perhaps the most insightful part of her bag. She plays a "combo" or "blended" set, meaning she uses two different iron models.
You don't have to play a complete set of one iron model! A combo set is a phenomenal option for amateur golfers. You can combine forgiving, cavity-back long irons (like a PING G430) with more compact, better-feeling short irons (like the i230). This gives you forgiveness where you need it most (on long approach shots) and precision where it counts (when you're attacking the flag).
Here is another fascinating detail: though a PING staffer, Lydia puts her faith in Titleist Vokey wedges for her short game. This highlights just how personal and feel-based wedge selection is. Vokey has long been the gold standard on tour for a reason. They offer a huge variety of loft, bounce, and grind options that allow players to build a setup perfectly suited to their swing and the course conditions.
Her lofts - 50°, 54°, and 58° - create perfect 4-degree gapping from her pitching wedge. This ensures she has a full-swing club for any yardage inside of 120 yards, eliminating confusing "in-between" shots.
Pay serious attention to your wedge gapping. Aim for consistent 4-6 degree loft gaps to cover all your short-game distances. Also, learn about bounce. Higher bounce is good for fluffy sand and golfers with a steep angle of attack, while lower bounce is better for firm turf and players with a shallow swing.
The money-maker! Lydia uses a custom Scotty Cameron Tour Type TG6 Putter. It’s a beautifully crafted mallet putter with custom "wings" that help with alignment and stability. This is another area where feel reigns supreme. A mallet-style putter like this one often has a higher MOI (Moment of Inertia), which means it’s more stable and resists twisting on off-center hits. If you tend to miss putts left or right because the face moves at impact, a mallet could be a huge help.
The Pro V1x complements Lydia’s driver and iron game perfectly. Compared to its sister ball, the Pro V1, the Pro V1x typically offers a firmer feel, a higher flight, and slightly more spin, especially on iron shots. This high flight and spin is exactly what Ko needs to hold greens on approach shots, allowing her to be aggressive and aim directly at flags.Choosing the right ball is just as important as choosing the right clubs.
Lydia Ko's bag is a brilliant example of thoughtful customisation, where every club is chosen to enhance her strengths and provide confidence. Her setup mixes advanced technology for forgiveness with player-focused designs for precision, showing that you can and should demand different performance characteristics throughout your set.
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