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Tour Championship

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HOW SCOTTIE GOT SO GOOD

How to practice like a pro

When you go to a tour event on a Monday or Tuesday, like at this week's Cadillac Championship at Doral, you see what real practice is all about. We're not talking about a quick warmup before a round. We're talking about truly working on your game, as if it's the most important thing in the world. In a day, the average tour pro spends about three to four hours concentrating on the full swing and an equal amount of time on the short-game.

But tour pros are not just beating balls or blindly rolling putts. They make their practice productive by using props--shafts, yardsticks and other devices--to check their alignment, their ball position, their swing plane, their putting path. Sometimes it's with their teacher, most often with their caddie, so they have another set of eyes to check them. This is work. It's what they do for a living. And if done correctly, it pays dividends.

Want to practice like a pro? Here's what you do:

Make yourself a practice station on the range. Always put shafts or other clubs on the ground to check that your stance line is square to your target line. Jim Flick, who coaches Tom Lehman and Jack Nicklaus, likes to have players put the alignment shaft along their heels, not their toes, because if you like to flare out one foot, it will not alter your alignment. Then place another shaft perpendicular to your target line to indicate your ball position. Finally, put a shaft in the ground to the side of your body on the same angle as your clubshaft at address. This will help you determine if your swing is on plane. Note the photograph of Vijay Singh ( above ), who always practices with such a "plane check."

Now if you really want to practice like a pro, always place the ball you're about to hit directly behind the divot you just made ( note the Singh photo again ). Try to eliminate the smallest amount of turf from the range so the superintendent has the least amount of area to reseed. Also notice that tour pros take shallow divots. Only

higher handicappers gouge large pieces of turf (guess that's why they're known as "choppers"). Tour pros also try to replicate real-round situations on the practice ground. Hank Johnson, Golf Digest's No. 1 Teacher in Alabama, says in his book *How to Win the 3 Games of Golf*, that on the range you should practice "golf shot" not "golf swing." In other words, if you start thinking mechanically on the range, you should get away from your pile of balls, work out your mechanical thoughts by making practice swings and checking your positions by either stopping and looking at your club, hands, arms, etc., preferably in a mirror, maybe without a club, and then go back to your balls to hit shots. Johnson says that every shot should be played at a target, as if you are hitting a real shot on the course. This is where you work on trajectory and shot shape, not whether your hands are in the correct position at the top. Then when you get on the course, you put those shots into action by playing "golf score." On the course, you should think only of the conditions, your target, strategy and non-mechanical thoughts, like maintaining a smooth tempo.

Nick Faldo would often go even a step further, replicating entire rounds on the practice tee, never hitting the same club twice in succession. According to David Leadbetter in the December 2010 issue of Golf Digest, Faldo played a game with himself on the range at the 1996 Masters. "He was working on every shot he'd face on the course, complete with his caddie, Fanny Sunesson, saying things like 'The flag is 10 paces right, five from the back.' This routine made Nick work the ball instead of hitting it dead straight. It made the course more familiar when he got there."

Try some of these thoughts. You'll make your practice time more efficient and you'll become a better player. If you have any other tips to make your practice more productive, I'd like to know about them. And remember to follow me on Twitter @RogerSchiffman .

*Roger Schiffman

Managing Editor

Golf Digest*

(Photo by Chris Condon/PGA Tour)

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How Much Does It Cost To Be A PGA Tour Pro? (It's More Than You Think)

Being a PGA Tour pro clearly has a financial upside for those who play consistently well, but have you ever considered the costs?

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Every young golfer dreams of making it as a professional, and for a long time the PGA Tour has been the aspirational promise land that signifies a player has truly made it. With an increase in prize money in recent years , the financial benefits of being a top-performing pro on tour are life-changing, but for most players it is hard to escape the financial burdens of a career in golf .

In this article, we explore the costs involved with playing week-in-week-out on the PGA Tour...

Weekly Costs

It goes without saying that each person will have different preferences, and in turn costs, when budgeting for a tournament week. 

Some players, such as the top stars in the game or recent winners of big events, may choose to stay in the lap of luxury, while others prefer to be slightly more frugal. The type of payments, albeit maybe not the scale, remain similar for both, as many weeks of the year are spent on the road for a professional golfer .

In any tournament week, players can expect to fork out for hotels, flights , food, a caddie and tips. There are certain perks of the job however , with sponsors likely to shower them with top of the range clubs , equipment, apparel and cars to ensure they have the best chance of being successful and looking good doing it.

In September 2023, PGA Tour player Ben Griffin jumped on TikTok to reveal his weekly spend... and it was not what I expected. The World No.91 explained that he budgeted around $500-$1500 for flights, $1200-$1500 for hotels, $500 for food, a whopping $2000 (plus % of earnings) for his caddie, and another $500 for other expenses like fuel and tips.

Griffin admittedly described his expenditure as being "at the lower end compared to other players", with some pros also opting to travel with private chefs, trainers, physios and family members.

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A $6000-per-week spend for someone at the lower end of the spectrum is quite frankly frightening, especially when you consider how many players struggle to make the cut (and therefore don't get paid) each week.

Annual Costs

According to the 2022-23 PGA Tour handbook, all PGA Tour members must pay $100 for annual dues and the same amount as an initiation fee.

Those who are exempt from qualifying do not pay a tournament fee, and neither do PGA Tour members who wish to try and qualify for an event, but Korn Ferry Tour members and PGA Tour Champions members must pay $100 to enter qualification . 

There is also a mandatory locker room fee of $50, but all-in-all the total annual cost for a PGA Tour member is fairly tame when compared to their weekly spend.

When you consider the tariff to be a tour player, it is easy to see how the lure of a guaranteed payout each week could be appealing - such as those offered on the LIV Golf Tour or through qualification to the no-cut signature events on the PGA Tour .

For many in the professional game, those assurances are out of reach, and while playing professional golf will always be every amateurs dream , perhaps it is worth considering that it isn't always easy.

Barry Plummer is our Staff Writer, joining in January 2024 after seven years as a PE Teacher. He now writes about instruction, working closely with Golf Monthly's Top 50 Coaches to provide hints and tips about all aspects of the game. As someone who came into golf at a later age, Barry is very passionate about supporting the growth of the game and creating opportunities for everyone to access it. A member at Sand Moor Golf Club in Leeds, he looks forward to getting out on the course at least once a week and making up for lost time in the pursuit of a respectable handicap.

Barry is currently playing:

Driver: Ping G425

Hybrid: TaylorMade Stealth 4 Hybrid

Irons: Mizuno JPX 921 4-PW

Wedges: TaylorMade RAC 60, Callaway Jaws MD5 54

Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour

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Money Game Mailbag: How much does it *really* cost to be a Tour pro?

Editor’s note: Welcome to the Money Game Mailbag , a new GOLF.com column in which we’re fielding all of your burning questions at the intersection of golf and, you guessed it, money! Have a query for us — on your personal (golf) finances, the economics of golf, or if jumbo winner’s checks are actually cashable — and our resident golf-and-finance whiz, Paul Sullivan, might just answer it in an upcoming column. Email your queries to him at [email protected] . This week, Sullivan tackles your questions on club memberships, Tour pro costs and how much of your budget you should spend on golf.

—–

Does a golf club membership ever pay for itself in a strictly financial sense? — tpowers319, via email

Did my wife submit this question? (You’re the best, honey!)

If you think in strictly financial terms, the answer is almost always no. But let’s parse this one.

The math first. Your initiation fee could range from a couple of thousand dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars. When Liberty National opened in the pre-crash boom time of 2006, it charged an initiation of fee of $500,000, but the story was that sum came with a “free” set of clubs. Whatever the price, consider the initiation table stakes — even if it’s the equivalent of a downpayment on a house.

The dues are where you want to look to understand the difference between joining a club and using that same pot of money to play a rotation of nice public tracks. Let’s say dues are $10,000 a year and the greens fees for a guest are $150. If you were that guest, you’d need to play 67 rounds to get your $10,000 worth. That’s a pretty full season up north, and it doesn’t account for the times people invite you to their clubs.

If you can play golf year-round, the strictly mathematical value proposition is easier to make, but if you’re up north — and even if you have the most loving, understanding golf spouse like I do — there’s no way you’re getting to 80 rounds, at least if you want to stay married, see your kids and hold down a job.

But there is a better way to look at this — at least it’s how I look at our club membership. In addition to golf, does the club have tennis, a pool, maybe a beach club? Is there a paddle program in the winter? What about activities around the holidays for children? Those non-golf extras should be considered in determining the worth of a club membership. After all, a membership can force you to get out and enjoy yourself. You’re paying for it anyways!

What does it really cost to be a tour pro? —  Josh LeClair, Seattle

Travel and taxes are going to be the big expenses, with caddie fees coming in third. They easily eat up close to 60 percent of a player’s winnings — even more if you’re Phil Mickelson living in super-high-tax California versus all the other pros living the good life in low-tax Florida or Texas. (Mickelson griped a few years back about paying 63 percent of his income in taxes alone, and that was before taking care of his then-caddie Bones Mackay and jetting around to tournaments. He has since announced he has plans to move to Jupiter, Fla. )

But for players not making millions those expenses become more of a factor. Take Mike Goodes who has had great success on the PGA Tour Champions, with more than $6 million in winnings from his decade on tour. (It’s an even more impressive accomplishment when you consider that not only did he not play on the PGA Tour, but he also didn’t play collegiately.)

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As he told me recently , it’s expensive — and getting more so — to be on tour. “What it used to cost me to go to Hawaii it now costs me to go to Iowa,” he said. “You look at your prize money, the government takes almost half. Your caddie takes almost 10 percent. Then your travel could easily be another 10 percent or more depending on what you make. It’s 60 to 70 percent of what you make before you ever go home.”

So, while the earnings may look better than any day job, there are considerable expenses that have to be paid whether you make the cut or not.

There’s an old adage that says you shouldn’t spend more than 25 to 30 percent of your income on housing. Is there a similar calculus for golf? — Stephen Alvare, Sante Fe, N.M.

This is a fantastic question and it could be applied to any discretionary expense.

Housing is a fixed expense that we all need, which is why that 25 to 30 percent of our income guide works well. But golf, presumably, is just one discretionary expense among many. Let’s say a couple earns $200,000 a year. About 40 percent of that will disappear in taxes. Of the $120,000 that’s left, put aside the 30 percent for housing. That leaves you $84,000, or $7,000 per month, to spend however you want. Of course groceries, utilities, car payments have to get deducted from that, so maybe you really have $5,500 a month. And while I’d like to see you enjoy as much golf as you’d like, you really should save some of that money for the day when you retire and want to play golf whenever you’d like .

Just looking at my own math here, I’d venture something on the order of 5 to 10 percent wouldn’t be crazy to spend on golf. But again, you have to know what the other discretionary expenses are. There are dinners out, non-golf vacations, maybe a ski or fishing trip. It adds up. But at the end of the day the best advice is to know your fixed costs, figure out how much of what you have left you want to spend on golf and then be realistic about sacrifices you may need to make elsewhere.

Paul Sullivan writes the Money Game column for  GOLF Magazine . Have a question for him? Drop him a line at [email protected] . 

What Clubs Do Pros Use? Top 100 PGA Tour Player Guide (2023 update)

Written by Graeme Hay | Last Updated: 21/05/2024

In spite of the fact that pros seem to play a very different game to regular amateurs it is almost impossible for us not to pay close attention to the clubs the best golfers in the world are using.

There is a small part of every amateur golfer I suspect that believes that if we simply play the same club that the pros are using then some of their magic will transfer to us and we will be able to hit some of the same shots as they do.

But what clubs do the pros actually use?

If you analysed all the golf bags of the best players on the PGA Tour and chose the most popular 14 clubs the pros carry what golf set would you end up with?

We decided to do a comprehensive analysis of the top 100 players on the PGA Tour to find out.

The most popular 14 clubs the top 100 PGA Tour pros use starts with driver, 3-wood and 5-wood with 33 choosing these woods. The most common iron set, used by 42% begins with a 4-iron to a pitching wedge that matches the iron set. 3 specialist wedges – a 50º gap, 56º sand, and 60º lob wedge are finally added to the putter.

The best players in the world however clearly don’t all use this setup and many use a number of different variations of higher numbers fairway woods such as a 7-wood, utility irons, and hybrids .

Others, particularly the younger generation, prefer to carry 4 specialist wedges including a specialist pitching wedge instead of a pitching wedge that matches their iron set.

And indeed some of the players will change the make up of their set on a regular basis depending on the particular course they are playing that week.

It is interesting however that the most common set-up of the best players on Tour will feel familiar to millions of amateurs across the world despite all of the options that are available to pros today.

But while the most common golf club set up for the top pros is one thing we wanted also to find out what the best golfers on the PGA Tour considered to be the best individual golf clubs, including lofts, shafts, grips.

And not only that we also wanted to see what had changed since the last time we carried out this analysis two years ago!

Most Popular Golf Clubs on the PGA Tour – Top 100 Player Breakdown

When it comes to pro golf clubs and the most common set of clubs used by the top 100 players on the PGA Tour there is clearly a lot of similarity to the club type choices made by regular amateurs.

Having a set of clubs with 3 woods, 7 irons, 3 wedges, and a putter will be a familiar thing for the vast majority of amateur players.

But when it comes to the individual club choices of this elite group on the PGA Tour it is interesting to note what they consider to be the best clubs among the most common set up.

Titleist’s TSR3 driver is the most used by the top 100 PGA Tour pros with TaylorMade’s Stealth Plus the most popular 3-wood and 5-wood. Titleist’s T100 irons are the most played with 20 playing them while Titleist’s Vokey Design SM9 is the most used gap, sand, and lob wedge. TaylorMade’s Spider X is the most popular putter.

For those interested in the detail of the most used individual clubs among the top PGA Tour pros choosing the most common club setup, including lofts, shafts, and grips we have included all this in the table below.

If you went to your local golf shop and picked up this set up of clubs you are clearly not automatically going to play like a top PGA Tour pro.

But for all the club choice options that are available to the best players in the world it is interesting to see how close this set probably is to the majority of amateurs across the world.

Further when we last did this research a couple of years ago this same set up was found to the be most common among the top 100 pros.

Saying that however our analysis also found that the top pros are all constantly searching for little changes and tweaks in their golf set which will save them a stroke or three across the course of a round or a tournament.

Many pros will therefore change one or two of their clubs from week to week depending on the type of course they find themselves playing, whether that be adding in an extra wedge at the expense of a fairway wood or utility iron, or adding in a hybrid in place of their longest iron.

Take a close look at Hideki Matsuyama’s bag on the driving range at a PGA Tour event for example and you will likely see 17 or even 18 clubs in his bag.

And this means you will sometimes find him swapping in a 20º Srixon ZX Mk II utility iron in place of his Cobra King RadSpeed Tour 5-wood when the course set up demands it.

This variation among the longer clubs in the bag is most common for many of the pros who do follow the ‘standard’ set up listed above.

For every pro that uses a 5-wood you will find close to a similar number who choose a higher numbered 7-wood, utility iron or hybrid in its place.

Further a number of the pros opt to carry more than one utility iron or hybrid and then start their standard iron-set with a 5-iron or sometimes even a 6-iron.

The decision to play 4 specialist wedges instead of the standard 3 by replacing the pitching wedge which comes with the rest of the iron set is also increasing in popularity particularly among the younger generation of pros on the PGA Tour.

So for the sake of completeness in the table below we list the most popular clubs among the alternative clubs which we found used by some of the top 100 PGA Tour pros.

[Editor’s note – to put together this analysis we researched all the drivers, fairway woods, utility or driving irons, irons, irons, wedges, and putters used by the top 100 players on the PGA Tour. If you are interested in finding out more about the individual club types you can check out our other articles here:

• What Driver is Most Used On the PGA Tour? Top 100 Player Analysis
• The Fairway Woods Used by the Top 100 PGA Tour Pros
• What Hybrid Golf Clubs Do the Top 100 PGA Tour Pros Use?
• What Driving Irons Do the Pros Use on the PGA Tour?
• What Irons Do the Pros Use? Top 100 PGA Tour Player Guide
• What Wedges Do the Pros Use? Top 100 PGA Tour Player Analysis
• What Putters Do the Pros Use? Top 100 PGA Tour Player Guide]

What Brand of Golf Clubs Do the Pros Use? Titleist Remains Dominant

When it comes to golf club brands they are an ever-increasing number of options on the market today.

As golf technology has developed at a rapid rate, and particularly since the turn of the century, an increasing number of specialist brands have entered the market and sometimes specialized in areas of the game, such as putter grips, previously considered not thought of as worthy of dedicated attention.

The big golf brands however have maintained an almost vice-like grip over the golf market and when it comes to the professional ranks, and what they consider to be the best golf clubs, that grip is once again in evidence.

Titleist is the dominant brand among the clubs used by the top 100 PGA Tour pros. Their clubs are the most used across almost all categories of clubs – drivers, utility irons, irons, hybrids and wedges. And in the hybrid and putter categories they are the 2nd most popular. Callaway and PING are the next most popular brands.

For many years everyone has been aware of Titleist’s stranglehold over the golf ball market but I must confess to being slightly surprised of the popularity of Titleist clubs among all club types used by the best pros on the PGA Tour.

Titleist produces the most used golf clubs across all the main categories of golf clubs with the exception of fairway woods and putters.

But even in these categories Titleist is the second most popular brand with only 1 fewer player using its Scotty Cameron branded putters compared to Callaway’s Odyssey models.

Titleist’s dominance is evident however in every other club category and especially when it comes to wedges where their Vokey Design clubs are chosen 3 times as frequently compared to the next most popular wedge brands of PING and Cleveland.

The table below highlights the most used brands among the top 100 PGA Tour pros and as you can see Titleist’s dominance is very clear, as it was when we looked at the club brands being used by this elite group a couple of years ago.

We did though note two key points which have changed since then.

Firstly Srixon has become a more popular brand among the PGA Tour pros in that time, overtaking TaylorMade in terms of popularity and getting very close to the popularity levels of Callaway and PING when we take into account all the club categories.

And secondly PXG has fallen away by comparison with now none of the top 100 pros we looked at using any of their drivers, fairway woods, utility irons or irons compared to a few who were using them two years ago.

Before you go …

Knowing what clubs the top PGA Tour pros are using is always interesting but with the swingspeeds of the average male pro typically being over 20mph faster than the average amateur golfer (114mph vs. 93.4mph ) there is possibly more to learn from the clubs being played by the best female pros.

Read our next article to find out what clubs the best LPGA pros are choosing with their 94mph average swingspeeds …

What Clubs do LPGA Players Use?

Other great articles related to this topic:

• What Driving Irons do the Pros Use on the PGA Tour?
• What Putters do the Pros Use? Top 100 PGA Tour Player Guide
• What Golf Balls Do the Pros Use? Top 100 PGA Tour Players Breakdown
• What Golf Grips Do the Pros Use? Top 100 PGA Tour Player Guide
• What Shafts Do Pros Use? Top 100 PGA Tour Player Breakdown
• Do Pros Use Regular or Stiff Shafts? They’re Stronger Than That!
• Do Pros Use Graphite or Steel Shafts? It Depends Which Club
• Do Golf Pros Wear Metal Spikes? But They are Banned!
• Most Popular Driver on LPGA Tour? Top 50 Player Guide
• What Irons Do LPGA Players Use? Top 50 Pros Analysis
• What Golf Balls Do LPGA Players Use? Top 50 Player Breakdown
• What Drives the Senior Tour Pros? Most Popular Driver on Champions Tour
• From Tee to Green: Analyzing What Golf Balls Champions Tour Pros Use
• How Do Pros Hit the Ball So Far? It’s Not About the Equipment!

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Trackman Tour Averages

At Trackman, we're dedicated to providing the most accurate and up-to-date data to enhance your golfing experience. That's why we're excited to announce the release of our new Tour Averages, reflecting the latest insights from leading professional golf tours.

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Our team has been hard at work collecting data from a wide range of pro players, utilizing Trackman technology to capture every swing and shot with precision.

Explore the New Tour Averages

Discover the latest numbers for both PGA and LPGA Tours, now presented in a redesigned format for easy reference. To see how the game has progressed over time, check out this link to see what’s changed compared to the last Tour Averages.

What's Changed Since Last Time

Since Trackman last revealed the Tour Averages, certain areas of the game have changed. When driving, for instance, players are now hitting further, with greater ball speed and less spin rate. See how your figures compare to the pros.

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Trackman's role in driving performance gains cannot be understated. From influencing club manufacture to revolutionizing training methods and making data more accessible, Trackman continues to shape the future of golf. Additionally, integrating Trackman technology with advanced golf simulators offers players an immersive experience, allowing them to practice and improve their skills in a virtual environment.

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Whether you're a seasoned pro or a weekend warrior, Trackman is here to help you reach new heights on the course. So stay tuned for more updates and insights from Trackman as we continue to push the boundaries of golf technology.

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The updated Tour Averages data is available for download here in various formats (incl. in meters or yards), whether you're a coaching professional or simply want them handy on your phone when you're on the range.

Key Insights:

Male data is captured across 40+ different events and 200+ different players.

Data is captured at both PGA TOUR and DP World Tour events with majority coming from PGA TOUR events.

Female data is captured across 30+ different events and 150+ different players.

Data is captured at both LPGA and LET events with majority coming from LPGA events.

Averages are based on data from competition as well as on the range.

There are multiple processes in place to eliminate shots hit with a non-driver during competition.

There could be a small number of non-driver shots in the dataset (less than 0.5 percent).

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Meyer de Beco secures third win of the season

Stippelberg open 2024.

Stormy finish: Van Doren wins playoff thriller

Mono gelpenberg open 2024.

Special home victory: Kouwenaar wins Staan Open

Staan open 2024.

Second victory in Germany: Tetak wins Fairway Labs Open

Fairway labs open 2024, last tournament.

Stippelberg Open 2024 

Leader order of merit.

NEXT TOURNAMENT

Castanea Resort Championship 2024 

• From 09/30/2024 to 10/02/2024
• ProAm Date: 09/29/2024
• Castanea Golf Resort, Moorchaussee 3,
• Prize money: € 50,000.00

   DUTCH SWING TOP 5 AFTER THE STIPPELBERG OPEN 2024 - FINALE RANKING

Full Rankings

Photos: Pro Golf Tour

Top 5 Order of Merit 2024

MONO GELPENBERG OPEN 2024

ROYAL HOMBURGER OPEN 2024

CASTANEA RESORT CHAMPIONSHIP 2023

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JBL Tour Pro 3 review: Who could ask for anything more?

“For those who want it all, the JBL Tour Pro 3 have an unbeatable set of features.”

• Great sound quality
• Tons of features
• Case works as a wireless transmitter
• Improved call quality
• Fully Auracast compatible
• Options may be overwhelming
• Bulky charging case

It’s not every day that a manufacturer launches a product that addresses every criticism and suggestion that I had leveled at its previous model. And yet, that seems to be the case with the JBL Tour Pro 3.

Bigger and smaller

Tons of utility, the future is auracast, two new codecs, supercharged calling, silky sound, new spatial audio, battery life, even more ….

Better call quality, better spatial audio , the availability of a hi-res codec, and being able to use the case as a transmitter — I asked for all of these improvements in my review of the JBL Tour Pro 2 . The $300 Tour Pro 3 have them all and more: dual drivers, Auracast support, and a surprising feature that audiophiles and gamers will love.

It felt like JBL dared me to find a problem with the Tour Pro 3, so I spent two weeks trying. Spoiler alert: I failed.

Here’s what you need to know about JBL’s latest flagship.

• 1. The JBL Tour Pro 3 (left) and Tour Pro 2
• 2. The JBL Tour Pro 3 (left) and Tour Pro 2

The Tour Pro 2’s most eye-catching feature was the color touchscreen on the charging case. It returns on the Pro 3, but now it’s 30% bigger, while the case itself is a little smaller. It’s still a bit bulky and heavy when compared to something as svelte as the Apple AirPods Pro . But given what the Tour Pro 3’s case can do, that’s like saying an SUV is bulky and heavy compared to a sports car.

You still get wireless or USB-C charging. But if you look closely at the USB-C port area, you’ll notice a small hole that wasn’t there on the Tour Pro 2. JBL tells me that’s a speaker opening for the as-yet-unreleased Find My locator feature, which is planned for a future firmware update.

At first glance, the earbuds appear unchanged. But look a little closer and they’re actually a bit thicker (likely to make room for the new drivers) and now include an additional external mic grille. They’re also more robust, with an IP55 rating for dust and water resistance. JBL recognized that not everyone got a good fit with the Tour Pro 2’s three sizes of eartips, so there are now six sizes, and the largest set is made of memory foam.

The Tour Pro 3’s case is unprecedented in terms of functionality — it’s like Batman’s utility belt. The list is huge: playback control (play/pause, track skipping), volume control, ANC/transparency modes, control over spatial audio settings, the ability to choose EQ presets, and Find My buds — and those are just six of the 18 features you can control. That’s a vast increase over the features on the Tour Pro 2, so I was relieved to discover that you can reorder them (and turn some of them off) in the JBL Headphones app.

Most of what you can do on the case can be accomplished via your phone, the JBL Headphones app, or the earbuds’ touch controls, which led me to be a bit skeptical of the touchscreen’s value on the Tour Pro 2.

But the Tour Pro 3 are a different beast. When connected to a wired source of audio, the case takes over communication with the earbuds, severing the app’s Bluetooth link. In these scenarios, the smart case becomes the only way to adjust certain settings — unless you use the case’s audio source screen to switch back to the Bluetooth connection.

As Bluetooth Auracast becomes more common, using the case to find and listen to Auracasts (or share wired sources via Auracast) will be very handy.

I tried both of these activities using the Tour Pro 3 and a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (one of the few smartphones that can currently transmit and receive Auracasts) and they worked seamlessly. This is good news for Auracast as a technology — if it’s not easy, no one will want to use it.

The case can receive Auracasts if the broadcast hasn’t been password-protected. Accessing protected streams must be done with the app. However, when transmitting Auracasts from the case, you can do it both ways: free of restrictions or with a four-digit PIN.

With the addition of Sony’s LDAC hi-res codec, the Tour Pro 3 can stream high-quality audio from compatible Android devices. The iPhone, meanwhile, doesn’t support LDAC or any hi-res audio codecs. The difference can be quite noticeable. AAC, the default codec for iPhones, tends to emphasize lows and highs at the expense of midrange detail. With LDAC, the Tour Pro 3 sound more relaxed and balanced. Increasing the volume lets you hear more detail without increasing harshness.

LDAC isn’t the only hi-res codec that JBL has integrated. The Tour Pro 3 are also LC3plus-compatible. That’s the newest Bluetooth codec on the block and (on paper at least), it offers all of the benefits of LDAC, with lower latency and better error correction.

On its own, LC3plus isn’t very useful. Very few phones currently support it. However, the Tour Pro 3’s case uses LC3plus when communicating with the earbuds. And that means if you plug the case into a computer or phone, you automatically get the benefits of LC3plus. This even works on older Lightning-equipped iPhones, but you’ll need to buy your own OTG Lightning-to-USB-C cable .

The Tour Pro 3 are much improved over the second-gen when it comes to calls. Your voice will still wobble a bit when the earbuds attempt to squelch sounds around you, but it’s no longer a deal-breaker. Thanks to improvements in JBL’s VoiceAware (also known as sidetone) you can now hear your own voice as clearly as your callers can.

The big upside to calls on the Tour Pro 3 once again is driven by the case. Plugging it into a USB-C source like a laptop lets the buds communicate using the case’s ultra-low-latency wireless link. Along with LC3plus’ high-quality audio, this makes the Tour Pro 3 superb for things like Microsoft Teams calls. In fact, they’re also Zoom-certified when used with the case. The only drawback is that the wireless range can be quite short. In my testing, I could only get about 10 to 15 feet away from the case before my voice dropped out entirely.

I had no complaints about noise cancellation on the Tour Pro 2, and the third generation offers subtle, but noticeable improvements. They effortlessly killed a variety of distractions, from lumbering trucks to the sound of our vacuum cleaner. The real improvement, as I alluded to in the calling section, is the transparency portion. Being able to hear your own voice more clearly makes a feature like TalkThru (which dips the volume of your audio when you enter transparency mode) more enjoyable.

JBL has also added Smart Talk, which switches into transparency mode and pauses your audio automatically when you start talking — it’s one of my favorite new features. I’m also a fan of how fast you can switch between ANC and transparency modes. It’s almost instant, while other earbuds can take 2 seconds or more.

Transparency still isn’t as good as on the Apple AirPods Pro 2, which is a bit frustrating at this price. Still, in my experience, only the Sony WF-1000XM5 and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds come close to Apple on transparency.

Personal Sound Amplification (a hearing enhancer for busy environments) returns on the Tour Pro 3, and it also benefits from improved transparency performance.

Switching to a dual-driver arrangement in the Tour Pro 3 has given these earbuds better performance than their predecessors. But like many audio refinements in flagship products, this is all about subtleties and details. If you’re on public transit or working out at a gym, it’s unlikely you’ll notice much difference.

The point of using a dynamic driver for mid and low frequencies and a balanced armature for the highs is to give each frequency range its own optimized signal path. In the case of the Tour Pro 3, this involves the digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and the amplifier — there are two in each earbud.

In a quiet location, you may hear the additional clarity this architecture allows. It was most noticeable on tracks that combine deep bass hits with vocals, like Billie Eilish’s bad guy.  I could hear Elish’s whispery lyrics float above the throbbing bass line, instead of getting smeared by it.

Out of the box, with the equalizer turned off, the Tour Pro 3 have a slightly bass-forward sound signature that is otherwise quite neutral. If that doesn’t suit you, the available EQ presets and the 10-band equalizer give you tons of control to get the balance dialed into your preferences. There’s also JBL’s Personi-Fi custom tuning tool, which attempts to adjust EQ based on a hearing test. I didn’t like the results (it created a kind of hollow sound), but the test is only a few minutes long, so it’s worth trying.

I like that the app lets you save your own EQ formulas, but unfortunately, these aren’t uploaded to the smart case, so you can’t access them when connected to a wired source.

Speaking of wired sources, the case’s low-latency connection is great for watching videos — I didn’t notice any lip-sync delay at all. I didn’t try it with any video games, but LC3plus has a lower latency than AAC, LDAC, or even aptX Low Latency, so it should be great for gaming too.

Quality-wise, using USB-C easily outperformed using the analog connection, which isn’t surprising. Analog sources must be converted to digital before being compressed for wireless streaming — a step the case doesn’t need to take with digital sources.

On the Tour Pro 2, I noted that JBL’s spatial audio setting didn’t impress me as much as listening to a true Dolby Atmos Music mix from a service like Apple Music. Perhaps it’s the new driver setup, but I’ve changed my mind on the Tour Pro 3.

Enabling spatial audio using the Music mode (as opposed to Movie or Game) creates a greatly expanded soundstage. On some tracks, like Charlie Mingus’ Things Ain’t What They Used to Be , it gives the performance more space, while simultaneously boosting the low end a bit, adding greater resonance to Mingus’ bass work. But it can be unpredictable. I would have expected Dave Brubeck’s Take Five , another bass-rich jazz standard, to benefit from spatial in the same way, however, it robbed that track of much of its soft textures. In other words, your mileage may vary.

Head tracking (new on the Pro 3) does exactly what you would expect, keeping major song elements fixed in space as you turn your head left and right. It also works well when watching video content, as it keeps voices anchored to the screen’s location instead of moving with your head.

This can be a lot of fun when using the case to transmit a source like your TV’s headphone output, except for one annoyance: the case’s spatial controls are disabled when connected to wired sources. If you want spatial sound, you need to enable it when in Bluetooth mode and then switch to your wired source (and vice versa).

Sadly, spatial audio, whether fixed or head-tracked, isn’t compatible with the LDAC codec.

I have complained loudly about JBL’s odd control settings in the past. But the company remains steadfast. You can control ANC, volume, and playback, but only two can be active at the same time. Want to control volume and playback? You’ll lose ANC. Like ANC and playback? No volume control for you.

Given how many companies have figured out how to give customers control over everything (plus the freedom to assign gestures as they see fit), I’m not sure what’s holding JBL back.

Still, the earbuds are very responsive to taps, and the wear sensors do a great job of auto-pausing your tunes when you remove one.

That big charging case gives the Tour Pro 3 excellent stamina, with three full recharges for the earbuds. When using ANC, JBL says you’ll get up to 8 hours of playtime, which goes up to 11 hours when ANC is off. That means a total time of between 32 and 44 hours, which should be plenty, even for the longest flights.

JBL doesn’t give separate numbers for battery life when using the case as a transmitter, but it may end up being a wash: the earbuds will likely consume less battery life because the LC3plus codec is very power efficient, and yet the case may consume more since it’s being asked to send and receive audio signals, a task that is usually handled by the phone.

What I can tell you is that LDAC always reduces battery life, sometimes by as much as 2 to 3 hours, because it’s very power-hungry when compared to other codecs.

Yes, there’s even more I could say about the Tour Pro 3, but in the interest of space (and your attention span), I’ll just list a few of the extras I haven’t touched on:

• Google Fast Pair
• Microsoft Swift Pair
• Bluetooth Multipoint
• Find My Earbuds
• Silent Now (for ANC operation without Bluetooth)
• Customizable smart case wallpaper

Sure, $300 is certainly on the higher end of the wireless earbuds price spectrum, but the JBL Tour Pro 3 offer so many features that they’re an excellent value. They hit all of the important areas like sound quality, noise canceling, call quality, and battery life, and then they go even further with a slew of useful features like the case’s wired source connection, plus Auracast support.

If there’s a downside to the Tour Pro 3, it’s that they’ve got too much going on. The app (and the smart case) have a dizzying number of settings and features, which might simply put some people off. In many ways, the Tour Pro 3 are the antithesis of the Apple AirPods Pro, favoring a kitchen sink approach over Apple’s much more limited set of capabilities.

They aren’t for everyone, but if you like what they offer, they’re unbeatable.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Noble Fokus Apollo headphones are the first with planar and dynamic drivers
• JBL has added every conceivable feature to its Tour Pro 3 wireless buds
• Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 get smaller and smarter
• Earfun Air Pro 4 ANC earbuds go all-in on hi-res, lossless, and Auracast for under $100
• Samsung’s new Galaxy Buds 3 and Buds 3 Pro are like AirPods with AI smarts
• Headphone Reviews
• Product Reviews

Niche smartphone company Nothing has two new sets of wireless earbuds that go after Apple's AirPods Pro in more ways than one. The Nothing Ear ($149) and Nothing Ear (a) ($99) both offer noise cancellation, hi-res audio, and tight integration with Nothing's phones, but they also provide pinch-to-speak access to ChatGPT, arguably the most popular AI service in the world.

That's a full-frontal assault on the three major voice assistants that currently dominate on smartphones: Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa. These assistants are very capable when it comes to simple voice commands like pausing your music or asking about the weather, but they haven't kept pace with Open AI's ChatGPT, which offers more sophisticated tasks and turn-based conversations.

Cambridge Audio's new Melomania M100 wireless earbuds are the U.K. company's first model to offer active noise cancellation (ANC), a key feature of virtually every flagship model from competitors, including Apple's AirPods Pro. The Melomania M100 are priced at $219 and are available starting on March 27 at Amazon and other retailers.

While ANC is a big addition, Cambridge Audio appears to have caught up with the market in a number of other areas, too. The M100 has a case that supports wireless charging, and thanks to Qualcomm's Snapdragon Sound platform, the earbuds can receive lossless CD-quality audio from compatible smartphones, as well as lossy, hi-res audio at up to 24-bit/96kHz.

Wireless speakers are everywhere, but not all of them are created equal, making it difficult to sift through the crud. Additionally, what defines a "wireless" speaker can differ from person to person: Does it use Bluetooth or a Wi-Fi network (or both)? Is it portable (with a battery) or more of an at-home, plug-in kind or speaker that's part of a bigger multi-room network music system? Yes, yes, and yes.

For this roundup, we're going to focus more on the plug-in variety with Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth wireless capabilities, because we have a whole other roundup of the portable Bluetooth speaker variety for you to check out if that's your preference.

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