Japanese star Kota Kaneko made a raft of club changes during the early months of his rookie season on the DP World Tour in the lead up to his victory at the Austrian Alpine Open presented by Kitzbühel Tirol.
Twice a winner on the Japan Golf Tour in 2025 as he topped its Order of Merit, the 23-year-old was making his 12th start on the 2026 Race to Dubai season at Golfclub Kitzbühel-Schwarzsee-Reith after making his Major Championship debut at the US PGA Championship.
Prior to his season debut in Bahrain, Kaneko had never played on the DP World Tour but he has quickly proven himself as a global golfer, making the cut at ten events and landing silverware in Austria after finishing tied second at the Soudal Open in Belgium a week earlier.
From Ping to TaylorMade, Titleist and Callaway - Kaneko's club set-up is the definition of a mixed bag.
At the top of his bag, his most recent equipment switch saw him start using the Ping G440 Max driver at the Volvo China Open, where he finished tied 19th.
A month earlier, he replaced a Titleist T200 utility four iron with a TaylorMade Qi4D nine wood at the Hero Indian Open with a rise in higher-lofted fairway woods being widely embraced at the moment in the professional game.
Kaneko carried three fairway woods for his victory in Austria, earlier bringing into play the TaylorMade Qi4D four and seven wood at the Joburg Open.
In a further sign of just how much movement with regards to his club choices he has made, he briefly returned to the TaylorMade P-760 7-9 irons in Belgium last week - clubs he started with - before reverting back to the TaylorMade P-7TW blades which he used at the Turkish Airlines Open and Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship.
In terms of his wedges, he replaced the Vokey SM10s with SM11s at the Hainan Classic.
His Odyssey Ai-ONE Cruiser Arm Lock 7 putter is one of only three clubs - alongside his five and six TaylorMade P-760 irons - to be unchanged so far this season.
Kaneko uses the 2025 Titleist Pro V1 ball.
Club information supplied by Inside Tour Golf.
WITB: Kaneko's winning clubs at Kitzbühel-Schwarzsee-Reith
• Driver: Ping, G440 Max (10.5°)
• Four wood: TaylorMade, Qi4D (16.5°)
• Seven wood: TaylorMade, Qi10 Tour (21°)
• Nine wood: TaylorMade, Qi4D (24°)
• 5-9 iron: TaylorMade, P-760
• Wedges: Titleist, Vokey SM11 (46, 52, 56 and 60)
• Putter: Odyssey, Ai-ONE Cruiser Arm Lock 7
• Ball: Titleist, Pro V1 (25)
