Drivers

the right driver can change your world. every hole gets easier, each day gets brighter, and every drink tastes better

illustrations by simoul alva

performance

innovation

★★★★ ½

look • sound • feel

demand max ls

max d

◊◊◊ ls

player comment “Beautiful, understated head. Love the proportions. Annunciates impact. Even mis-hits were straight down range with a perfect combo of height and distance.”

callaway

ROGUE ST MAX/MAX LS/MAX D/◊◊◊LS RRP AED 2,795

what it does: The biggest driver family in Callaway’s history expands the company’s use of artifi cial intelligence to produce four distinct faces that don’t merely enhance power but control spin. That’s important because large clubheads can boost ball speed but often fi ght excessive spin. A large central weight cartridge low in the back provides extreme off -centre-hit stability. Callaway has also refi ned its “jailbreak” structure, an internal bracket that joins the crown and sole to stiff en the body and direct energy into the fl exing face. why we like it: Callaway found that adjustable weights aren’t enough to optimise performance, so the company created these four models with distinct attributes for specifi c types of golfers. Each features diff erent face angles, lie angles, shapes and degrees of draw bias and spin to better match the needs of diff erent golfer types. The line includes a dedicated draw model (Max D), a maximum forgiveness model (Max), a version that mixes equal parts high forgiveness, neutral launch and low spin (Max LS) and a compact, tour-favoured option with the lowest spin (◊◊◊LS).

lofts 9, 10.5, 12 (max, max d); 9, 10.5 (max ls, ◊◊◊ls); adjustable

performance

★★★★ ½

innovation

★★★★ ½

look • sound • feel

demand xl lite

xl lite draw

player comment “Maybe the most playable driver here. Everything is in play. Its big head and big sound might not be your thing, but those shots keep going, so it didn’t matter to me pretty quickly.”

cleveland

LAUNCHER XL/XL LITE/XL LITE DRAW RRP AED 1,945 / AED 1,645

what it does: With a focus on size, Cleveland’s mission is to make your worst hits go farther and straighter. The club isn’t merely at the volume limit allowed by the rules—almost all drivers can do that. No, this one stretches that volume to occupy the maximum distance from heel to toe and front to back. This mammoth footprint creates a stable head that resists twisting on mis-hits for better energy transfer into the ball. The face is pie-plate size, too, friendlier than a new neighbor bringing dessert. That face is supported by flexible sections surrounded by fi rmer sections that eff ectively create a second spring at impact. why we like it: This isn’t just a bigger head; it’s smarter, too, like a nose tackle who can explain behavioral economics. Extreme off centre-hit forgiveness is as real as it is spectacular, but so is the gamut of options from lightweight and draw-bias models to a 12-way adjustable head. Don’t overlook how eff ective the counterbalanced weight in the grip is, either. That makes the club easier to swing, which is what average golfers might appreciate most.

lofts 10.5 (launcher xl), adjustable; 10.5, 12 (xl lite); 10.5 (xl lite draw)

performance

innovation

★★★★ ½

look • sound • feel

★★★★ ½

demand max

ls

player comment “The way the materials meld gives off a cool transformer vibe. This is a fl amethrower: feels hot but understated— like a punch. Rocketing trajectory. Quietly gives you extra speed and distance.”

cobra

LTDx/MAX/LS RRP AED 2,425

what it does: Cobra’s LTDx line features three models for three ball-fl ight preferences. The LTDx has an oversize shape to maximise forgiveness. The LTDx Max is large, too, but includes adjustable weights for extra draw bias. The LTDx LS positions all of its discretionary weight forward to produce the least amount of spin of the three. Large, ultra-forgiving drivers often have an issue with an elevated centre of gravity; if the CG is too high, distance-sapping high spin is more likely. However, Cobra engineers use an internal cartridge with a heavy steel weight toward the front to lower the CG. The result is the low spin you want with the forgiveness you need. why we like it: These Sherman-tank stable clubheads achieve the low-spin and high-launch thing as well as any on the market. Another compelling technological accomplishment is a new variable-thickness face design that smartly fi nds extra heat for those off -centre hits while maintaining all the distance your best shots deserve. Even better, it’s lighter, saving even more weight to fi netune the distinct performance of all three models.

lofts 9, 10.5, 12 (ltd x , ltd x max); 9, 10.5 (ltd x ls); adjustable

performance

★★★★ ½

innovation

★★★★ ½

look • sound • feel

demand st-220 x

st-220 z

player comment “A titanium sound that’s not too loud. You can really go after it and not worry too much about where it’ll go. The sweet spot is huge. It has a nice, high ball fl ight that wants to go straight.”

mizuno

ST-220 G/X/Z RRP AED 2,195

what it does: Mizuno’s three-driver family, all sharing weightsaving composite-crown and sole sections, addresses two kinds of golfers: those who thrive on complexity and those whose approach is more grab-and-go. The Z and X drivers feature a 20-gram weight set in the extreme rear perimeter to help reduce spin and boost forgiveness. The Z places the weight in the deep centre, and the X positions it slightly toward the heel for a slicefi ghting draw bias. Meanwhile, the G driver features heel, toe and centre tracks to accommodate two seven-gram weights to tweak spin, draw and fade bias, forgiveness and workability. why we like it: These drivers are all designed to do diff erent things, but it’s what they have in common that makes them special. Each clubhead is signifi cantly more stable than past Mizuno models. Ball speed is not only consistently high, but the spin and launch angle have less variation on mis-hits. The beta-titanium alloy in the face let Mizuno engineers create new thickness patterns to produce distance in spots that were previously dead zones.

lofts 9.5, 10.5 (z); 10.5, 12 (x); 9 (g); adjustable

performance

innovation

★★★★ ½

look • sound • feel

★★★★ ½

demand sft

lst

player comment “The fi ns frame the ball, making it easy to set up. Eff ortless power. You didn’t have to put anything extra into it. Set, swing and go get it, because you’ll be in the fairway, a long way.”

ping

G425 MAX/SFT/LST RRP AED 2,850

what it does: Ping’s design philosophy since its founding six decades ago has been all about managing mis-hits, and this large, perimeter-weighted driver maintains some of the highest stability on off -centre hits in the industry. However, drivers that pursue large dimensions and maximum stability fi ght a centre of gravity that drifts higher as it moves toward the back. That can cause shots to spin too much and lose distance. The G425 models use ultra-thin, web-like ribs on the underside of the crown to reduce thickness (barely three bills thick) to save weight that keeps the CG low. why we like it: Besides their size, these models off er the most adjustable weight in company history. The 26 grams in the extreme perimeter on the Max (63 percent more than the previous model) is twice the movable weight than most other drivers have. The three models off er functional and intuitive solutions for specifi c problems: inconsistency (the ultra-stable Max), the slice (the lighter, heelweighted SFT) and excessive spin (the compact, fl atter trajectory LST). Each off ers overall forgiveness.

lofts 9, 10.5, 12 (max); 10.5 (sft); 9, 10.5 (lst); all adjustable

performance

innovation

★★★★ ½

look • sound • feel

★★★★ ½

demand xf

xt

player comment “The gray patch on the crown is a bit jarring, but the ball fl ies off the face like a rocket. I couldn’t tell if I had missed the centre of the face on any shots because it was so forgiving.”

pxg

PXG 0811 X/XF/XT (GEN 4) RRP AED 2,775

what it does: The three premium drivers in the PXG family accommodate a range of player types. The shallow-face XT maximises clubhead speed with an aerodynamically sleeker shape. The large-face XF helps mis-hits with a deep front-to-back frame. The X’s sloping crown lowers the centre of gravity for less spin. All benefi t from a fast-fl exing, weight-saving titanium alloy in the face that makes room for adjustable weight ports in the sole. Two are centreed—one forward and one back—and a third is toward the heel. Moving the heaviest weight to the back adds forgiveness, moving it up front reduces spin and in the heel enhances draw spin and makes it easier to square the face. why we like it: You might not be into Las Vegas Raiders colors, but that silver patch on the crown is a special aluminuminjected carbon composite that adds stiff ness to the top while reducing weight. This helps push the CG lower so that golfers can launch the ball higher. Sandwiching the composite between the titanium heel and toe sections of the crown also stiff ens the crown so that more areas propel the ball more effi ciently.

lofts 7.5, 9, 10.5, 12 (x); 9, 10.5, 12 (xf); 7.5, 9, 10.5 (xt); adjustable

performance

★★★★ ½

innovation

look • sound • feel

demand zx7

player comment “I like the congruency of the lines. It’s orderly, a real put-together design. Some drivers force you to hit one-direction shots. This one gives you options.”

srixon

ZX5/ZX7 RRP AED 2,095 / AED 2,245

what it does: Two models off er two takes on ball fl ight. The ZX7 uses movable weights to produce a lower-spinning, fl atter trajectory. The ZX5 helps you launch it higher with a draw. The two are so compatibly designed that Hideki Matsuyama won a tournament with each of them in 2021. It helps to have a super-fast, thin titanium alloy in the face, but what gives these drivers speed across the hitting area is how the thicknesses and materials change in the areas immediately around the face. Specifi cally, the start of the crown features a 30-percent thinner section. A strip of an even thinner titanium alloy around the frame off ers extra fl ex, and the larger carbon-fi ber crown and internal sole ribs add rigidity and save weight. why we like it: Getting the crown to help maximise the face’s fl exibility is next-level thinking, but we like how the hitting area’s performance is designed to match how a golfer makes impact. The Srixon team studied typical impacts and fi gured out where it makes sense to optimise fl exibility. Even more, those faces are unique for the more forgiving ZX5 and the more exacting ZX7.

lofts 9.5, 10.5 ; adjustable

performance

innovation

look • sound • feel

★★★★ ½

demand stealth

stealth hd

player comment “Solid as granite: nice heft behind every impact. Knocked the ball out there with good numbers on the launch monitor. I had great awareness of where the head was during the swing.”

taylormade

STEALTH PLUS/STEALTH/STEALTH HD RRP AED 2,850 / AED 2,695

what it does: TaylorMade engineers believe carbon composite’s lightweight benefi ts should not be limited to the body. Why not use the material for the face—the heaviest part of the clubhead? The Stealth’s composite face is 40 percent lighter than a titanium face yet 20 percent larger than Tayl rMade driver faces from just two years ago. The saved weight is redistributed in three distinct ways: a heelweighted draw version; a low-spin model with a sliding weight; and a rear-weighted, high-forgiveness version. why we like it: The reason composite-face drivers never caught on is that they performed—and sounded—like the headcover was on. The red-painted cap gets this one noticed, but the underlayers on the 60-ply carbon-composite face are arranged to form a large sweet spot. It’s just like a variable-thickness-face titanium driver, only more consistently precise for higher ball speeds across the face. The face’s lighter weight means more mass in the body, and that relationship can deliver speed into the ball at impact. How much? So much that TaylorMade believes titanium as a face material is a thing of the past.

lofts 8, 9, 10.5 (stealth plus); 9, 10.5, 12 (stealth/stealth hd); adjustable

performance

innovation

★★★★ ½

tsi1

tsi2

tsi4

titleist

TSi1/TSi2/TSi3/TSi4

player comment “So consistently crisp and clean in every move, every impact. Didn’t have to manipulate anything, almost naturally accelerated.”

RRP AED 2,825

what it does: Two of the four models cater to the extremes: the lightweight, slightly draw-biased TSi1 and the meaty, low-fl ying, ultra-low-spinning TSi4. The two middle models are for most of the market: those whose priority is forgiveness (TSi2) and those looking for playability and shotmaking (TSi3). Fitting four player types is nice, but the really neat achievement was fi nding extra speed. That meant using a special high-strength titanium originally designed for the Mars Lander. The lighter and faster-fl exing alloy (ATI 425) means more design freedom to create extra off -centre-hit stability in the TSi2 and movable weight in the more pear-shaped TSi3. why we like it: The 16-way hosel adjustability might still require a Google search, but because golfers are more diff erent than they are similar, those settings, combined with the four distinctly performing heads and a warehouse of custom shafts, make more perfect matches than Coff ee Meets Bagel. These head shapes are aerodynamically refi ned, too. But all those technology gains happen without touching the look, sound and feel that are as timeless as ever.

look • sound • feel

demand lofts 9, 10, 12 (ts i 1); 8, 9, 10, 11 (ts i 2, ts i 3); 8, 9, 10 (ts i 4); adjustable

performance

innovation

look • sound • feel

★★★ ½

demand player comment “I love the lightweight control. I got a lot of clubhead speed with pretty good distance, and it was defi nitely taking the right side out of play. A real heavy hit for how light it was.”

cobra

AIR-X TBC

what it does: It might sound like a golfer fountain of youth, but these ultralight drivers endeavor to create more swing speed for the same smooth eff ort. Players with moderate swing speeds (an increasing segment in golf’s growing numbers) could recapture lost speed with a lighter driver. However, the key to making a driver that weighs about 35 grams less than some of today’s leading models is to take the weight out in measured proportions—like a lightened grip, a feathery 48-gram shaft and a head that saves weight through its carboncomposite crown. A carbon-fi ber panel results in more saved weight that can be positioned in the heel. That heel bias makes squaring the face at impact more likely. An off set option will make that even easier. why we like it: The problem with many lightweight drivers is that there’s no material left over to help the head forgive off -centre strikes or launch shots higher. Not here. The new carbon-fi ber crown is 30-percent thinner than its predecessor, allowing more weight to rest lower than before and in the rear perimeter, providing enough forgiveness to reach the USGA’s limit for off -centre-hit stability.

lofts 9.5, 10.5, 11.5 (in offset and straight neck)

performance

innovation

look • sound • feel

★★★ ½

demand x

player comment “Properly weighted versus past models, which have felt too light. Hit like a fairway fi nder. Rising line-drive fl ight with noticeable forgiveness. Colors are a bit busy, but this was so easy to swing.”

xxio

12/X RRP AED 3,295

what it does: XXIO has focused on making lightweight drivers more powerful, and these two models barely weigh more than a McFlurry, including the first-time adjustable X model and the ultralight 12 with its 41-gram shaft. The power comes from a new fl at cupface and the strongest titanium alloy the company has used. That face design, which includes a fl ared-toe section for better off -centre ball speeds, gets extra fl exing help from the rest of the head. By surrounding the face with a rigid zone, then a more fl exible channel and fi nally a more rigid titanium and carbon-composite body, the whole system works to activate the face like a second spring at impact. why we like it: Lightweight drivers are pointless without making your tired old swing produce velocity more effi ciently and more eff ectively. These help get the club to impact faster and more square with less weight on each component and a distinctive aerodynamic ridge on the heel side of the crown. By changing the way air fl ows over the crown during the downswing, the ridge stabilises the head and makes it easier to close at impact for consistent and faster swings.

lofts 9.5, 10.5 (12); 9.5, 10.5 (x); adjustable

Yas Please

From Friday’s gale to Sunday’s dramatic fi nale, the new canvas for the Desert Swing opener wowed. By Kent Gray

THOMAS PIETERS added his name to the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship’s rich roll call of champions but wasn’t the only winner at the DP World Tour’s 2022 calendar year opener.

Following the 29-year-old Belgian during his composed closing round of 72, on-course commentator Wayne “Radar” Riley said he hadn’t initially believed the ‘links’ in Yas Links Abu Dhabi was warranted. But like fellow roving reporter Anthony Wall who said the $8 million Rolex Series event’s new venue had “grown on me”, Riley loved how the course was increasingly playing fi ery and fast. He wondered out loud what it would be like with a little less fairway watering then remembered where he was and that it would result in the layout “quickly turning back into desert”.

Up in the commentary booth, Ken Brown had no such reservations. He lavished praise on Yas Links Course Manager Corey Finn and his agronomy team for setting up a course “how it [golf] should be played”. He bemoaned not having more courses on the European circuit where players had every club in the bag tested, especially on and around the greens.

As Pieters was preparing for his fi nal wedge shot into 18, Brown summed up Kyle Phillips’ desert links gem in one fi nal word. “Magnifi cent.”