Titleist Pro V1, Pro V1x golf balls (2025)

Gear: Titleist Pro V1, Pro V1x golf balls (2025)

Price: $54.99 per dozen

Specs: Three-piece, urethane-covered ball (Pro V1); four-piece, dual-core ball with a urethane cover (Pro V1x)

Available: Jan. 25

Who they're for: Golfers who want elite levels of distance and greenside spin, along with enhanced iron and wedge spin (Pro V1); and players who want a higher launch angle, more spin and a firmer feel (Pro V1x).

What you should know: With the 2025 Pro V1 and Pro V1x, golfers will see little change off the tee but should get more spin with irons and wedges.

The deep dive: The first Pro V1 was released on the PGA Tour 25 years ago, and it quickly became the most-played ball in golf, an honor it has never relinquished.

Last season, according to Titleist, about 70 percent of the golfers competing on the PGA Tour used either a Pro V1 or a Pro V1x. On other tours and at elite amateur events, the dominance is even higher: 74 percent on the DP World Tour, 76 percent on the LPGA, 79 percent at the U.S. Junior Amateur, 84 percent at the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Women’s Amateur, 89 percent at the NCAA Men’s Championship and 92 percent at the NCAA Women’s Championship.

The Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x are also the most-played balls among recreational golfers, so it is understandable that Titleist does not make radical changes to the Pro V1 or Pro V1x. Instead, the brand talks with elite players, conducts surveys with weekend golfers and studies trends in the equipment world before refining and releasing new versions of its crown jewels.

Seeing that more equipment is taking spin out of the game – like low-spin drivers and stronger-lofted irons – and knowing that spin can enhance control, Titleist went to work on the Pro V1 and Pro V1x with the same goals: Maintain driver spin and distance off the tee but give the balls more spin with irons and wedges.

While there is a perception among many amateur players that “low spin” products create more distance, the reality can be different. Titleist works with its staff players to ensure they play the ball best suited for their game, but at golf ball-fitting events the brand conducts, the higher-spinning Pro V1x is recommended more than any other ball. Why? Weekend players often lack the spin needed to maximize carry distance off the tee or achieve the height and stopping power they need on approach shots. Generating more spin can help address all of those shortcomings.

With those goals in mind, Titleist created and tested over 100 prototype balls, eventually winnowing the number down to about three or four that were tested by PGA Tour and LPGA golfers. Among the players was 2023 U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, who tested a prototype at Bay Hill before the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational. Playing a few holes while using his portable launch monitor, Clark saw shots fly on his preferred trajectory with slightly increased ball speed and more spin on shots from the fairway.

“This ball does exactly what I need it to do. It checks all the boxes for feel, flight, and spin,” Clark said, echoing the feedback from Lilia Vu, the 2023 LPGA player of the year, and 2013 Masters champion Adam Scott.

Pro V1 (2025)

From a construction standpoint, Titleist has not changed the Pro V1. It still has a large rubber core, a firm mantle layer and a soft, cast urethane cover. The core remains gradational, meaning it is softer in the center and gradually gets firmer toward the perimeter. However, in the 2025 ball the core has a higher overall compression. That helps it generate slightly more ball speed off the tee while maintaining a similar trajectory compared to the 2023 Pro V1.

From the fairway and on approach shots, the increased compression and reformulated core help the 2025 Pro V1 generate more spin, enabling accomplished players to shape shots more easily and giving every player more stopping power on the greens.

The 2025 Pro V1 should still feel softer, spin less and fly slightly lower than the Pro V1x.

Pro V1x (2025)

The updated Pro V1x retains its dual-core construction, featuring an inner core encased inside an outer core, covered by a firm mantle layer and a cast urethane cover.

Like the new Pro V1, the 2025 Pro V1x has a new gradational core that provides more speed. However, Titleist discovered that some Pro V1x prototypes were in danger of exceeding the USGA’s Overall Distance Standards test of 320 yards. As a result, the final version was designed to produce a slightly lower peak height than last season’s Pro V1x. A positive result of that is tighter dispersion, more consistency and better control.

The 2025 Pro V1x has a higher compression than the Pro V1, so it should still feel firmer. The Pro V1x will also create spin more through the bag and fly slightly higher than the Pro V1.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Titleist releases the 2025 Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls