Prior to the start of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, Scottie Scheffler was asked about the challenge presented by TPC Southwind, a course known for its stinginess in coughing up low scores.

“There’s a lot of hazards on the golf course,” said Scheffler. “If you start playing too safe, you’re going to be in the rough. If you get a little overaggressive, you’re going to be in the water. So I think this golf course really challenges you to execute often.”

Scheffler executed often enough to win the FedEx Cup playoff opener with relative ease, relying on a rock-steady all-around game that included ranking first in strokes gained/putting, second in strokes gained/approach the green and 13th in strokes gained/off the tee, the latter coming after a switch to a 8-degree TaylorMade Qi4D driver with a Fujikura Ventus Black 7X shaft, going away from his trusty Qi10 model.

When Scheffler put the driver in play at the Arnold Palmer Invitational is March, he said his spin was more consistent and the ball speed increased a little more. It also allows him to rely on his preferred left-to-right ball flight off the tee, something he was struggling a little bit with his previous gamer.

false TaylorMade Qi4D $650 | Golf Galaxy 5.0 GD SCORE GD HOT LIST SCORE Hot List Gold $650 The core model of the Qi4D family emphasizes stability on off-center hits and aerodynamic efficiency, a difficult combination made possible by the extensive use of lightweight carbon composite in the crown, sole and face. Four adjustable sole weights provide 26 grams of movable weight that can reduce spin, increase stability, change trajectory or mitigate left or right misses. An updated design of the slot in the sole (thinner in the middle and wider at the heel and toe) improves the way the lower portion of the face flexes compared to the Qi35. A new shaft-fitting algorithm, based on 11 million shots captured during the past two decades, analyzes the rate a golfer closes the face coming into impact and then matches that tendency to one of three shaft profiles to improve center-face contact. The composite face maximizes deflection thanks to a new variable-thickness pattern arranged through 60 layers of carbon composite. Part of that new face design includes added face curvature from the crown to the sole to produce more consistent speed, spin and launch on mis-hits. Thanks to softening the edge between the top of the face and the start of the crown, and the way the rear weight port is more tucked under the sole, the head moves through the air more efficiently to maximize swing speed. Top 5 in Sound/Feel, middle-handicaps MOI rating: High 8, 9, 10.5, 12 degrees (with a 12-way adjustable hosel) BUY NOW DETAILS

“From the beginning, Scottie told us that Qi4D has been faster and it holds the spin better than his previous driver,” said Adrian Rietveld, Director of Global Tour Operations. “Since then, we have worked relentlessly based off his feedback to give him a driver that perfects every performance variable that is unique to him. To his core, Scottie is a shot maker and the look and speed of the driver he won with today enabled him to be exactly that off the tee.”

Scheffler, the World No. 1, put on a performance Friday worthy of the best player on the planet, delivering a 61 that put him in the lead to stay.

In all, Scheffler made 23 birdies (tops in the field) and had a career-best strokes gained/putting (more than nine shots better than the field average) with his TaylorMade Spider Tour X X1 putter. The club, which he put into play in 2024, is a half-inch longer than his previous gamer and has an L-Neck hosel and TaylorMade’s True Path alignment aid with a full line sightline on top. The putter has 3 degrees of loft with a lie angle of 72 degrees. The face is an 80/20 TaylorMade Pure Roll insert, and the grip is a Golf Pride pistol.

At TPC Southwind, 23 birdies is executing often—and often enough to win.

What Scottie Scheffler had in the bag at the 2026 FedEx St Jude Championship

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D (Fujikura Ventus Black 7X), 8 degrees

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10, 15 degrees

7-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D, 21 degrees

Irons (4): Srixon ZU85; (5-PW): TaylorMade P7TW

Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM8 (50, 56 degrees); Titleist Vokey SM9 WedgeWorks (60 degrees)

Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour X X1

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com