After years of knocking on the door, Tommy Fleetwood finally walked through it at East Lake. He won the 2025 Tour Championship and with it the FedEx Cup, banking $10 million and putting a definitive stamp on a season that kept trending up. This wasn’t just a hot week. It was the payoff from months of small, targeted changes—especially in his bag—that added up when the pressure went up.
East Lake isn’t a course you fake. Tight tee shots, thick Bermuda, and fast, grainy greens punish any hesitation. Fleetwood didn’t flinch. He drove it long enough and straight enough, hit a pile of greens, and—most importantly—putted with belief. The gear mattered, but the choices behind it mattered more: lower spin when he needed control, added stability when nerves tend to creep in, and a putter switch that turned streaky into steady.
How Fleetwood won at East Lake
Start with the numbers. Across the season, Fleetwood averaged 300.34 yards off the tee while hitting 67.67% of fairways. That’s the balance you want at East Lake, where missing on the wrong side leads to punch-outs and stress. He hit 74.19% of greens in regulation and carried a scoring average of 69.72. The big shift showed up on the greens: 29.48 putts per round, the kind of improvement that turns top-10s into trophies.
He came into Atlanta with momentum, not mystery. The wins and near-wins told the same story for months—Dubai Invitational victory, T2 at the DP World Tour Championship, T3 at the FedEx St. Jude. The finishes weren’t random spikes; they were the result of dialing in carry numbers, flight windows, and feels. When you keep seeing the same shot patterns under pressure, belief becomes habit.
The greens at East Lake force choices most players would rather avoid. Do you chip with loft into the grain, or putt from off the collar? Fleetwood’s wedge gapping—50°, 54°, 58°—gave him three clean options for different trajectories and turf. He didn’t have to manufacture touch; the tools matched the tasks. That’s exactly what you want on Bermuda where the bounce and leading edge can be unforgiving.
Then there’s the putter. Earlier in the season at the RBC Heritage, Fleetwood spent two hours testing two shapes—Spider ZT and Spider Tour Black. He picked the Spider Tour Black custom build and stuck with it. That choice held up all week at East Lake. High-MOI mallets don’t cure every miss, but they keep the face stable when the stroke isn’t perfect. Under Sunday pressure, that’s gold.
Course management mattered too. On tight par 4s and into crosswinds, he didn’t always reach for the big driver. A mini driver with a bit more loft and a heavier swing weight gave him a straighter backup ball when placement beat power. It’s a small thing that pays off when you’re trying to hit a 20-yard window off the tee with FedEx Cup points on the line.
Inside the winner's bag
Fleetwood’s setup leaned on TaylorMade at the top and in the putter, Cleveland in the wedges, and a blended iron set that gave him ball flight control from 4-iron through pitching wedge. The specs aren’t random. Every change answered a question he kept asking himself: How do I make the miss smaller?
- Driver: TaylorMade Qi35 Custom, 10.5° head adjusted to 9.8°, 58.5° lie, weight split 15g forward/5g back, 1.5° FCT Sleeve at STD/UP. Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 6-X Velocore, tipped 1", playing 45.25" EOG, D3 swing weight.
- Mini driver: TaylorMade R7 Quad Mini, 13.5° adjusted to 13°, weights set 10g toe/15g heel/2x 3g back. Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue, tipped 1", 43.5" EOG, D4 swing weight.
- 5-wood: TaylorMade Qi35, bonded 18° adjusted to 17.5°. Shaft: Mitsubishi Kuro Kage 80TX, tipped 2", 42.25" EOG, D4 swing weight.
- Irons: Srixon ZX7 MKII (4–6) and Forged II (7–PW), all with Nippon Modus 115X shafts.
- Wedges: Cleveland RTX6 in 50°, 54°, 58°, all with Nippon Modus 125S shafts.
- Putter: TaylorMade 2025 Spider Tour Black Custom, chosen after head-to-head testing with Spider ZT during RBC Heritage week.
- Ball: TaylorMade TP5x Pix.
- Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet BCT 58 RD (woods and wedges); Iomic Sticky Blue 2.3 Round on irons, set at 11:30 (slightly open) for alignment.
What those numbers mean in plain English:
- Lower loft, forward weight: Bumping the driver to 9.8° with more weight forward drops spin and lowers launch. That keeps the ball from ballooning when it’s windy and helps hold a tighter line.
- Ventus TR Blue 6-X Velocore, tipped: The Velocore profile resists twisting on off-center hits. Tipping the shaft 1" stiffens the tip, which reduces spin and makes the flight more predictable. The trade-off is feel—stiffer can feel harsher—but stability wins in playoff golf.
- Lie and sleeve settings: A 58.5° lie with the sleeve at STD/UP helps start line and face angle. If your miss is a push or a floaty block, that combination can nudge the ball back on line without changing your swing.
- Mini driver as a fairway finder: At 13°, with heel-heavy weighting and D4 swing weight, it’s built to launch a touch higher with a hint of draw bias. On tight par 4s, it’s a fairway finder that still flies plenty far.
- 5-wood with a tipped 80TX: Tipping 2" on a heavier TX profile keeps the flight strong and the spin down. Perfect for second shots into par 5s or long par 4s when you need carry without a big curve.
- Blended irons: ZX7 MKII in the long irons for forgiveness and height; more compact Forged II heads from 7–PW for flight control. Same Modus 115X shafts across the set keep the feel consistent.
- RTX6 wedges in 50–54–58: Clean gapping for 100–135 yards and versatile around the greens. On Bermuda, the right bounce and grind stop the leading edge from digging. His setup let him hit nippers into the grain or floaters when he needed to.
- Spider Tour Black putter: High MOI, stable on mishits, with a shape that suits a slight arc. The switch he made after a long test session at the RBC Heritage gave him a start-line he trusted. Once that settled in, the make-rate followed.
- TP5x Pix ball: A firmer, faster ball that keeps spin in check off the driver and stays lively on irons. The Pix graphics help track roll and face contact—useful when you’re grinding on practice days.
- Grip choices and orientation: Tour Velvet BCT for a classic, dry feel in the woods and wedges; Iomic Sticky Blue on the irons for tack without added taper. Setting the iron grips at 11:30 (slightly open) can help some players return the face square at impact.
The swing weights tell you how he likes the clubs to feel through the ball. D3 in the driver keeps speed without feeling head-light, while D4 in the mini driver and 5-wood adds head awareness for control. That heavier feel can calm a quick transition, especially under pressure.
There’s also a strategic layer in the gapping from the top down. The mini driver sits between the driver and 5-wood, tightening the distance gaps and offering a straight-flight option when a driver shape isn’t matching the hole. With the 5-wood set to 17.5°, he gets a strong flight that can still stop on greens. That kept him in attack mode on reachable par 5s at East Lake.
The iron blend is a classic modern-tour approach. Use a bit more help in the 4–6 irons to hold height and land softer, then move to a compact head in the scoring clubs to flight wedges and short irons down. Keeping the same shaft across the set avoids the jarring feel change that can lead to distance control errors.
On the greens, the putter choice influenced setup as much as stroke. Spider’s heavier head and deep perimeter weighting let him soften the hands without the face wandering. That pairs well with a ball like TP5x, which stays fast off the face but doesn’t over-spin on short putts. His 29.48 putts per round this season didn’t happen by accident; they were the result of a putter he committed to and a ball that fit the speed windows he wanted.
Zoom out and the arc of his season makes sense. The Dubai win showed the ceiling. The top finishes at the DP World Tour Championship and FedEx St. Jude proved the floor had risen. By the time he reached East Lake, he wasn’t searching. He was rehearsing the same shots he’d leaned on all year—hard cut driver, flighted 7-iron, clip a 54° from tight lies, take dead aim with the mallet in hand.
One more thing about that $10 million: the check is the headline, but the signal is bigger. Fleetwood needed a moment like this to match the reputation with the resume. He didn’t change who he is to get it; he trimmed the noise around the edges of his gear and let the game breathe. That’s why the win felt inevitable even as it was happening.
For players watching at home, there are a few takeaways worth copying. Stop chasing wholesale changes. Pick one miss to fix and make the gear answer that question. If driver spin is high, look at loft, center of gravity, and tip stiffness before you overhaul your swing. If the putter start-line wanders, test shapes and weights until the face returns square without you forcing it. Fleetwood’s bag is a blueprint for small upgrades that stack up when the stage gets big.
By Sunday night in Atlanta, it all added up: a driver that didn’t over-spin, a mini driver that hit more fairways than most 3-woods, a 5-wood that flew like a rifle, irons that landed soft, wedges that behaved on Bermuda, and a putter that turned stress into tap-ins. The trophy case and the bank account agree—the setup worked.