When Chris Gotterup won the Sony Open, part of the story was the golf ball. He was playing a Bridgestone prototype that had not yet reached retail. Just a few weeks later, Gotterup is back in the winner’s circle with the same ball.
Gotterup picked up his second win of 2026 at the WM Phoenix Open using the Bridgestone TOUR B X, the retail version of the VS Black prototype he first put in play in Hawaii.
From VS Black Prototype to TOUR B X
The ball Gotterup used in both wins came out of Bridgestone’s four-year VS Proto Project, an R&D effort that evaluated more than 240 prototype variations before narrowing the lineup to four final TOUR B models.
VS Black corresponds directly to the TOUR B X, Bridgestone’s firmer and faster option designed for higher swing speed players. During development testing, Bridgestone reported that Gotterup saw ball speed gains of just over two mph and roughly seven yards compared to the previous generation.
(Any gains will always be player dependent.)
Redesigned core and mantle
At the center of the updated TOUR B lineup is VeloSurge, a redesigned core and mantle integration Bridgestone has positioned as a foundational change.
The denser mantle shifts mass outward which increases the ball’s moment of inertia. With a golf ball, higher MOI is less about mishits and more about spin-axis stability. In practical terms, that means less curvature when impact conditions are not ideal.
Time to adjust your MindSet?
Gotterup also played a MindSet version of the TOUR B X, a visual cue system now used by multiple Bridgestone staff players. MindSet does not change the ball’s construction but it has gained real traction on the PGA Tour and with amateur players.
If you’ve been on the fence about playing Bridgestone’s new TOUR B golf balls, results like this are worth paying attention to. We’ll be testing the lineup this year to see how it performs across a wider range of swing speeds and conditions.
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