Should I use a 7-wood? Scottie Scheffler and the PGA Tour’s latest winner can’t be wrong

Matt Cooper 26 Feb 2025

At last week’s Mexico Open Brian Campbell completed a career and life changing victory.

The man who had never before won on either the first or second tier, the man who never even had a top 10 finish on the PGA Tour, held off the challenge of young big-hitter Aldrich Potgieter to lift the trophy and win $1.26 million.

He got a bit lucky, though.

In the playoff he hit his drive into the trees that were out of bounds and the ball ricocheted back into the rough.

But he also made the crucial winning birdie from there.

And he was also dynamite all week with one club: his 7-wood.

Perhaps there was no better example of its use to him than at the par-3 17th hole in the final round when the pressure was on.

A 202-yard test across water it was ranking as the 4th toughest hole on the course. He hit his 7-wood to 23 feet for a stress-free par.

His model is a Ping G430 Max but he’s not alone in using this particular club.

Vijay Singh has been using them for years and in the last 12 months the use has exploded.

At the recent Genesis Invitational the rough was juicy and deep prompting many to add a 7-wood including the world’s No.1 player and current Masters champion, Scottie Scheffler.

Scottie Scheffler holds aloft the Masters trophy

He used a TaylorMade Qi35 19.75-degree and TaylorMade Tour rep Adrian Rietveld told GolfWRX.com: “He wanted it to go 245, so for him, 5 wood’s not 245, a 5-wood’s going to go 255-260.

“I suggested we do it in the 7-wood. We just hit the course with him (for the Wednesday pro-am). Geez, he’s using it way more than I thought.

“On 12, he hit this shot, he had 180 out of the rough (and he hit the green). Then he hit a 4-iron from the same spot afterwards and couldn’t get it 50 yards. So he’s getting the launch out of (the 7-wood).

“Then, you look at like (hole 11, par 3, 225 yards), (hole 16, 227 yards), he’s hitting it on all these holes. He’s pretty comfortable with it out of the rough, and off the fairway and in the par 3s I guess, as well.”

It’s definitely a versatile club: good from the tee on short holes, from the rough, for long approaches and even as a neat option around the greens too.

It’s not just the pros who should consider it – the average golfer can really benefit.

Brian Campbell’s bag:

Driver: Ping G440 LST
3-wood: Ping G430 LST (15 degrees @13.5)
7-wood: Ping G430 Max
Irons: Ping Blueprint S (4-PW)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52 & 56), WedgeWorks (60 & L)
Putter: Ping Redwood Anser 2
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x