Which golf balls do the 10 best players in the world use?

As the only piece of equipment used on every single shot a golfer hits, wisdom has shifted in recent years so that many fittings are now carried out from the golf ball up.

The Ball, after all, has a huge say in how much a player is able to extract from their game, and can often be a make-or-break decision in giving the world's best players the confidence they need to attack pins and chase birdies. As such, for the tour level player, switching into a new ball is every bit as momentous as getting a new driver or putter in the bag.

But which balls are the most popular among the very best of the best? While you'd be tempted to think that Titleist's Pro V1 is the overwhelming choice (after all, it is easily the most popular ball at a tour level), the reality in the top 10 is actually a little more mixed. Read on to see exactly what the world's current top 10 play, and why.

1. Scottie Scheffler: Titleist Pro V1

While we're sure TaylorMade would love to see Scottie Scheffler switch to the TP5, the best player in the world remains a staunch advocate of the tried-and-tested Titleist Pro V1.

A golfer who favours precision and accuracy over raw distance, Scheffler plays the slightly softer, lower-launching Pro V1 as opposed to the Pro V1x—the ball's additional level of feel around the green helping add the finesse that has carried Scheffler to so many championships in his career so far.

2. Rory McIlroy: TaylorMade TP5

McIlroy made headlines early this season reverting back to the TaylorMade TP5 from the TP5x ball he had previously gamed for years—the brand citing the model's slightly lower ball flight and Rory's preference for a slightly softer feel as the reason he made the switch. 

"I sort of stumbled upon (TP5)," McIlroy said. "I just started to hit some chip shots with the TP5 instead of the TP5x and I really loved how it felt. I hadn't really tested the 2024 TP5 and I loved how it was reacting around the green. Then I started hitting some 60, 70-yard shots with and it was coming off much lower launch but spinnier."

3. Cameron Young: Titleist Pro V1x 'Double Dot' Prototype

Young was among the early adopters of Titleist's Pro V1 left dot: a previously tour-only model that released in 2021 and has since only been made available sporadically and in extremely limited quantities.

However at the 2025 Wyndham Championship he switched to a new prototype version of the brand's higher-launching, higher-spinning Pro V1x, known informally as the 'double-dot' due to the unique name-code on the side of the ball.

He would go on to win the tournament with the new ball in play, and has had it in his locker ever since.

Performance-wise, the prototype is said to perform something like a mix of a traditional Pro V1x and the Pro V1x Left-Dash, with a lower launch and lower spin off the tees while retaining the Pro V1x's slightly firmer feel.

4. Matt Fitzpatrick: Titleist Pro V1x

Like many touring professionals, Fitzpatrick uses the Titleist Pro V1x, preferring the x's combination of higher launch, slightly lower spin and firmer feel. 

“The reason [Pro V1x] is so good for me is feel," says Fitzpatrick. "I like the harder feel off the club face. I just feel like the spin’s consistent, the flight’s consistent, and that’s what you need in a golf ball. You don’t need it kind of in different windows. It’s nice to have that consistency to have the confidence in the golf ball to know how far it’s going to go every time, and to be within a really tight deviation is obviously so important. 

"This is a game of inches after all, the margins are so fine you want it to be as tight as possible. So that’s why I play Pro V1x because it’s exactly that, you know what you’re going to get every shot and you don’t get any strange effects from shots.”

5. Justin Rose: Titleist Pro V1x

With much of his bag geared towards maximising launch and minimising spin, Rose games Titleist's Pro V1x—a ball engineered for distance above all else. Low spinning off the tee with enhanced control around the greens, the Pro V1x flies higher than the Pro V1, and also boasts a firmer feel that many tour players prefer for its enhanced feedback around the greens.

“It’s a great golf ball,” Rose said last summer of the Pro V1x. “I've kind of gone through the gears a little bit. I’ve gone from the lowest spinning end that Titleist makes to almost the highest spinning end. It is the perfect combination of high spin around the greens and that beautiful spin in my short irons. And then as I get towards the driver, the spin starts to come down for me. Maximum distance on the long end of the clubs, tons of spin with the short end of the game — so it gives me a lot of control everywhere.

6. Collin Morikawa: TaylorMade TP5x

As a player who favours consistent spin numbers, improved wind performance and distance control in his choice of ball, Morikawa joined McIlroy in switching away from his long-used TaylorMade TP5x last year, taking up the standard TP5 instead. The standard TP5 has a softer feel and a slightly lower launch than its sibling, favouring maximum short game control and providing complete reliability with the irons.

"The spin numbers are really consistent. It flies better in the wind and has better distance control — and that’s everything in our game," said Morikawa.

7. Tommy Fleetwood: TaylorMade TP5x Pix

A testament to his willingness to adopt the latest and greatest innovations, Fleetwood is one of the few TaylorMade players to adopt the TaylorMade Pix line of golf balls, notable for their unique triangular pattern which helps with putter alignment. Already a fan of the TP5x golf ball, he switched into the Pix shortly after its release in October 2021, and hasn't looked back since.

"Tommy will put equipment in play immediately when he feels he’s giving up performance without it," said Adrian Rietveld, TaylorMade Senior Tour Rep. "He had to be certain that the pix golf ball gave him the exact same performance as his TP5x gamer. Of course, we knew they were identical golf balls – the only difference being the markings on the cover. But at that level, they leave no stone unturned.”

8. Xander Schauffele: Callaway Chrome Tour

One of the fastest and highest-spinning tour-level golf balls money can buy, Callaway's Chrome Tour is much beloved among the brand's staff players. Schauffele plays the standard Chrome Tour model, which delivers a slightly lower-launching, higher-spinning experience with an overall softer feel.

9. J.J. Spaun: Srixon Z-Star Diamond

Srixon's only staff player in the world top 10 is a faithful fan of the Z-Star line of golf balls, Spaun opting in particular for the Z-Star Diamond variant. The Diamond is the firmest, fastest of the trio of Z-Star models, producing lower driver spin for tour-level hitters and tons of stopping power around the greens.

10. Chris Gotterup: Bridgestone Tour B X Mindset

The Bridgestone Tour B X quietly sits among the tour's most beloved balls—not just holding the illustrious title of the ball gamed by the Big Cat himself, but also the choice of big name free agents like Jason Day and Matt Kuchar—the former of which actually aided Bridgestone with the development of the ball alongside Tiger.

The B X is the most aggressive ball in the Bridgestone Tour line-up, designed for swings in excess of 105mph and designed to squeeze every drop of distance out of those with high-end clubhead speeds. It does so with a slightly firmer feel than the adjacent Tour B XS, while still delivering the spin and control the very best players demand around the greens.

Newly released for 2026, the revised Tour B X features Bridgestone's new VeloSurge core technology, which Bridgestone says helped players of all levels see an increase of 2.3 mph in ball speed and 8.7 yards in distance in testing.