After a two-month hiatus from tournament golf, Jason Day returned to competition on the PGA TOUR at the Bank of Utah Championship. The time away allowed the former world No. 1 and 13-time TOUR winner to evaluate his game and, with that, make a bevy of changes to his equipment.

Day turned up in Ivins, Utah, with all-new prototype irons, as well as new shafts, grips and even a hybrid in the bag. Even with all the changes, Day managed to have only 13 clubs in the bag Thursday at Black Desert Resort — but more on that later.

The Australian showed few signs of rust after a first-round, 3-under 68 at Black Desert Resort, hitting 12 of 14 fairways and just missing four greens, but admitted his iron play hadn’t been where he wanted it during the season.

“(I) hadn't been hitting my irons great at all,” Day said after the first round. “I decided to have a chat to my coach, Colin (Swatton), and say, 'Do you reckon we can go out and just maybe have a look?'”

While Day isn’t one to shy away from changes – he's used various blade and cavity back styles from TaylorMade and Ping this season – the new prototypes he turned up with at the Bank of Utah were a drastic change from the norm.

Sporting a set of 3D-printed Avoda Golf irons that he helped design, Day implemented the curve-faced technology that Bryson DeChambeau used for his win at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. As an equipment-free agent, Day says he’s looking to “see what the best of the best is,” and with the help of his coach, Swatton, he “stumbled across” the company.

“I just told my coach, 'Just have a chat to the guys, see what they think,'” Day said. “He got off the phone and called me and he goes, ‘Man, in all the years I've been doing this, I've never come across the guys the way they explained everything.’”

After meeting with the team at Avoda Golf and creating multiple 3D-printed models, Day’s irons feature the progressive face curvature, which is designed to help reduce side spin on off-center hits by counteracting gear effect. According to PGA TOUR LIVE host Lisa Cornwell, Day found the technology behind the clubs "phenomenal" and that he was able to see the irons tighten his dispersion immediately.

Unlike DeChambeau, though, Day has opted for standard shaft lengths through the irons instead of the same length for each, and is still looking to tinker.

“After this week, we're obviously going to get back together and see what needs to kind of be improved,” Day added. “I think, currently right now, I would like to see a little bit – a tiny bit more offset. Try and get a little bit more turn. If that has a little bit more offset, it will actually elevate the ball a little bit more in the air, which would be nice.”

Along with the new set of irons, he added JumboMax JMX Zen Lite grips and KBS graphite shafts to his arsenal. According to Day, going from the heavier Dynamic Gold X7 136-gram shaft to the KBS TGI Tour Graphite 110-gram was “definitely easier on the body.”

“The theory I think I have the same profile shaft from 60-degree all the way up to driver,” Day explained. “The goal is to be able to swing, just pretty much have one swing like whatever ball flight you want, whether that's a draw or a fade. For me it's a draw. To go up there and hit a draw and pretty much put the same swing on it and hopefully it produces the same shot over and over again.”

Despite all the changes, Day admitted that he’s “actually playing 13 clubs here this week,” while looking to figure out the yardages in his longer clubs after adding a new Callaway Apex UW into the mix.

“Right now I think we're in the testing phase,” Day said. “You know, we still got to get the gappings right, have to get the spins right, so obviously that is going to be more testing coming up for me.”

With Signature Event status locked up for 2026 after finishing 41st in the FedExCup, fall is a perfect time for Day to spend experimenting and look to return to the winner’s circle for the first time since THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson in 2023.

Day admitted he wished he had that 14th club on the par-5 ninth, where he closed with a bogey. Keep an eye on his bag on Friday to see if he adds that extra club.