The prototype Titleist golf ball set to make its Ryder Cup debut this weekend

As one of golf's great all-time equipment geeks, Bryson DeChambeau is not the type of player to remain quiet when he's unhappy with something in his bag.

As such, when it emerged earlier in the year that the American was struggling to find the Titleist golf ball best suited to his game, it very quickly became public knowledge on tour. In July, it emerged that DeChambeau was working with the brand on a new ball more tailored to his unique, fast-swinging style, and he was spied testing a new ball at that month's Open. 

"I need help out here. I hit it way too high," he told reporters at Portrush. "I’ve tried to lower my flight, but I compress down on it really hard and I spin it like crazy, and then on my wedges I don’t spin it. It launches high with no spin. I’m working on a few things that’ll help get that launch down while controlling the spin so it’s more predictable out of my wedge shots."

"“I’m working with somebody that’s going to get me a ball that works better for my speeds," he continued. "Hopefully there’s some more improvements to be made there. That’s something I hope to complete in the next year."

The fruits of this labour have come to bear in what's quickly become known unofficially as the Pro V1x Double Dot: a prototype created with the help of Titleist's Custom Performance Option (CPO) department, an arm of the brand also responsible for cult spin-off models like the Pro V1x Left Dash and Pro V1 Left Dot. 

DeChambeau, who has previously gamed both the Pro V1x Left Dash and the standard Pro V1x at varying stages over the past two years, debuted the Double Dot in competition play at LIV Golf Chicago earlier this month. 

The Double Dot quickly found another fan in Cameron Young, who had the ball in play on the way to his maiden PGA Tour victory at the Wyndham Championship in August. Like DeChambeau, he found the double dot mitigated the launch and excess spin that comes from his fast club head speeds and steep angle of attack, and Titleist themselves publicly confirmed the existence of the ball shortly after its first win on tour. 

"It’s just been something we’ve worked on over the last nine, 10 months,” Young told reporters. “It’s very, very similar to what I was playing before, it’s just a tiny bit different. It’s, like you said, a new Pro V1x prototype. I think it definitely contributed to some of the good play this week, so I’m excited about the next few weeks."

“I’ve always been a super high spin person, so it’s really just trying to manage that. And given I hit it pretty hard, so if I hit it hard and hit down on it a lot, that just generates spin, so it’s just trying to manage that." 

Young isn't the only tour pro to have taken a shine to the Double Dot. Tony Finau has also put the ball into play, switching out of the Pro V1 Left Dot. And with Two Team USA players already well on board, the ball looks all but certain to make its Ryder Cup debut at Bethpage Black this weekend this weekend. 

Head here for a more in-depth look at the rest of the balls the field are playing this year.