Getting your wedges right can transform your game for the better. Here’s what you can learn from the five best players in the world.
Johnny Wunder
With the driver getting most of the attention these days (for really fun reasons) the section of the bag that requires the most thought (in my opinion) is the what and why of players’ wedge setup. I get this question a ton in my Friday AMA’s on Instagram.
What’s the most common wedge setup on Tour? To be honest it’s all over the map with the one constant being most Tour players go with a four-wedge bag (PW/GW/SW/LW). Back in the day it was PW/SW/LW, but that was mainly pre-ProV1 and before the distance revolution began.
So, what happened?
It started with the launch of the modern ball in October 2000, which is when the whole golf world spun on its head. With the introduction of the new high launch/lower spin platforms not only was the ball going farther but even higher.
At the Tour level higher is awesome for maybe 3- through 5-iron, but that’s where its stops. The response to this, although subtle, was a strengthening of lofts across the iron sets. As the ball evolves, so does the golf club — it has to from an aerodynamics standpoint. So in an effort to maintain control with the combo of spin and launch, the lofts had to come down and the center of gravity needed to be readdressed to make it all jive.
An old loft package for irons and wedges on Tour (pre-2005-ish) might have looked like this:
3-21
4-24
5-28
6-32
7-36
8-40
9-44
PW-48
SW-56
LW-60
While a 2025 set looks like this:
3-20
4-23
5-26
6-29
7-33
8-37
9-41
PW-45/46/47
GW-50/51/52
SW-54/55/56
LW-58/59/60/61/62/64
As you can see, a modern Tour set is roughly 2-3 degrees stronger. Off the top of my head, the only players who play with lofts that live in the old-school ballpark are Tiger, Rocco Mediate, the Hojgaards, Xander and Rahm, with Tiger and Rocco being the only two who live almost apples to apples. The other three are what I would call serious shaft leaners, meaning their impact conditions require a ton of loft to keep the ball in the air and in hand.
This modern loft package asked less of the top of the iron set and asked more of the bottom. That’s when the four-wedge system came into popularity and now it’s the norm. The top five players in the world have wedge makeups that all check off the four-wedge system — and if you look closely you’ll see some similarities.
Wedge gapping typically falls in a 12- or 15-yard realm although is player and bag dependent. (For example, Phil is a 15-yard gap guy and Rahm is a 12 guy.)
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What you can learn:
Quite a bit, actually. There are a couple of things that can really standout in all of these setups:
1. They all have versatility: Each player has at least one low-bounce option and a high-bounce option. Most of the time the 60 will sit on the low side of bounce and the sand wedge will give them the higher bounce option. This is actually how Vokey fits for a set. If one is low, the other needs to be high. That gives you options and versatility on any surface.
2. Gapping is perfect: Tour players dial in wedges based on carry/spin, etc. However, the gapping has to satisfy off-speed shots and a very specific window as well. That’s where a fitting a good Trackman come into play. Yes, this is more for full shots but remember, wedges have like 10 jobs to do.
3. This is Priority No. 1: The four most important parts of your bag that need to be perfect, in order: 1) the ball 2) the wedges 3) the driver 4) the putter. Those are the most involved clubs in your bag.
Getting your wedges right can literally transform your game for the better. Any major drops in your handicap start there, so get that dialed and it take a ridiculous amount of pressure off everything else. Happy hunting.
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