Austin Smotherman WITB: Bank of Utah winner carries a seven-year-old hybrid
Austin Smotherman won his first PGA Tour title with a TaylorMade SIM Max Rescue hybrid released in 2020. His bag also features equipment from Titleist, TaylorMade, KBS, L.A.B. Golf and other brands.
- Austin Smotherman won the Bank of Utah Championship on Sunday, October 4, for his first PGA Tour title.
- Golf for his putter and Titleist for his Pro V1x golf ball.
- With the victory, he became only the fourth player in the 2026 season to win a PGA Tour event with a hybrid.
- Rory McIlroy was the first to put the hybrid in play on tour and used it at times in 2020 and 2021.
Austin Smotherman won the Bank of Utah Championship on Sunday, October 4, for his first PGA Tour title. One of the notable clubs in his bag was the nearly seven-year-old TaylorMade SIM Max Rescue, released in 2020.
Smotherman is a free agent when it comes to clubs and can choose whichever equipment he wants. His exceptions are endorsement deals with L.A.B. Golf for his putter and Titleist for his Pro V1x golf ball. With the victory, he became only the fourth player in the 2026 season to win a PGA Tour event with a hybrid.
The SIM Max Rescue is regarded as one of TaylorMade’s most famous hybrids of the past decade and one of the last models of its type to see significant use on the PGA Tour. Rory McIlroy was the first to put the hybrid in play on tour and used it at times in 2020 and 2021. “I’ve never been a hybrid or a rescue guy. I’m a bit of a traditionalist, but I picked this thing up and it was unbelievable,” McIlroy told the Irish Golfer in 2020. Dustin Johnson also played the SIM Max during the 2020 season.
Earlier this year, after finishing runner-up at the Cognizant Classic, Smotherman became only the second professional to sign an endorsement contract with L.A.B. Golf. He initially used the company’s OZ.1 putter before moving to the new VZN.1i, released earlier in the summer.
Austin Smotherman’s winning setup at the 2026 Bank of Utah Championship:
Driver: Titleist GT3, 10°; Project X HZRDUS Smoke RDX Black TX shaft, 60 grams.
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10, 15°; Graphite Design Tour AD IZ-7 X shaft.
3-hybrid: TaylorMade SIM Max Rescue, 19°; Graphite Design Tour AD DI Hybrid shaft.
Irons: Titleist T100, 4–9; KBS Tour 125 S+ shafts.
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM10 — 46° with an F grind and 10° of bounce, 50° with an F grind and 8° of bounce (bent to 50.5°), 54° with a D grind and 12° of bounce (bent to 54.5°), and WedgeWorks 60L (bent to 59.5°). Shafts: KBS Tour 125 S+ in the 46-degree wedge and True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 in the 50–60° wedges.
Putter: L.A.B. Golf VZN.1i; alignment aid — short line; insert — Flymill steel; shaft — L.A.B. Golf x TPT; grip — SuperStroke.
Grips: Golf Pride MCC Align.
Ball: 2025 Titleist Pro V1x.
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