Equipment
The hottest drivers of 2019
More than likely, it’s the most expensive club in your bag, and the one you spend the most time researching before purchasing. OEMs direct rivers of cash into developing new driver technologies, and no shortage of resources into telling the stories of the latest and greatest in the world of the big dogs.
With respect to the new technologies and the associated stories, we present, in no particular order (OK, it’s alphabetical order), these are the most buzzworthy, hottest drivers of 2019 (so far).
Callaway Epic Flash
The lowdown: The Carlsbad-based company follows up the Epic-complementing Rogue with a driver whose story isn’t immediately visible upon a first glance at the club. Flash Face technology is the centerpiece of Callaway’s 2019 driver offering, and with it, beyond the usual distance-boosting claims, the company has done something truly interesting: leveraged artificial intelligence to create a golf club.
Cobra King F9 Speedback
The lowdown: Every driver company boasts a couple of technological advances with its new driver launches; maybe a new crown to save weight, an aerodynamic crown for more club head speed, a different sole design, a way to shift CG to dial in trajectory, higher MOI, or a different face technology. Cobra has thrown the kitchen sink at its new King F9 Speedback drivers, checking off all of those boxes.
Mizuno ST190G
The lowdown: Mizuno Golf is about more than just irons; that’s the message the company is keen to drive home with its launch of the Mizuno ST190 and ST190G drivers. In announcing its lowest spinning, most technology-packed driver in company history, with the 2019 Mizuno driver, the company seeks to position itself as one that has quietly innovated in the driver space for years. With respect to the specifics of the Japanese company’s most recent weaponry, the ST190 and 190G feature a forged Sp700Ti face (10 percent stronger than 6-4 titanium) with the company’s ultra-light Cortech structure, as well as a carbon composite crown.
Ping G410 Plus
The lowdown: To put into perspective what Ping is bringing to the table with its new driver, we have to think about how a driver is modified through custom fitting. The challenge presented to the design team was: how can the company bring moveable CG fitting to every golfer while also improving MOI and add ball speed? This is where all of the previous technology advances, along with the 16g of moveable mass positioned to the furtherest reaches of the perimeter to allow for a tour level fitting experience.
TaylorMade M5
The lowdown: TaylorMade’s M5 driver features a Speed Injected Twist Face, building on the Twist Face technology the company debuted with the M3 and M4 drivers last year. The M5 clubface is designed to initially exceed the USGA’s COR limit. In simple terms, TaylorMade takes all of the heads they produce, pushes them past the USGA limit in regards to COR, and works backwards to ensure they fall within the parameters — the algorithm-driven process of resin injection into the clubs via the two ports on the face brings the figure just inside the acceptable range.
Titleist TS2
The lowdown: TS2 and TS3 drivers have a 20 percent thinner titanium crown than the 917 drivers, allowing weight to be placed lower and deeper for lower CG (center of gravity) and higher MOI (moment of inertia, a measure of forgiveness). The faces also use variable thickness for faster ball speeds across the face, and this year, the faces have been made 6 grams lighter. With the combination of weight savings from the face and crown, these drivers have the lowest CG ever for a Titleist driver, and MOI is 12 percent higher than the 917 drivers.
Cameron Young’s WITB from his win at the 2025 Wyndham Championship. Cameron is a Titleist staff player but his bag is definitely filled with some unique clubs. Here are the clubs he used to secure his first PGA Tour win!
Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX
Hybrid: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus HB Black VeloCore+ 10 X
Irons: Titleist T200 (4), Titleist T100 (5), Titleist 631.CY Prototype (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X7 (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F @57), WedgeWorks (60-K* @62)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X7
Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5 Tour Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Prototype
- Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Titleist GT3 (10 degrees, C2 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Project X Denali Blue 60 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 X
7-wood: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 X
Irons: Titleist T150 (4, 5), Titleist T100 (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper AMT Tour White X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F, 56-08M @57, 60-04T @62)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Style Fastback 1.5 Tour Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Yellow
We’re proud to once again partner with 2nd Swing Golf to bring you GolfWRX Members Choice 2025! 2nd Swing has more than 150,000 new and pre-swung golf clubs available in six store locations and online. Check them out here.
What is the best driver in 2025? At GolfWRX, we take great pride in our online community and the cumulative knowledge and experience of our members. When it comes to the best driver of 2025, we want to know what our forum faithful think.
Since our founding in 2005, the bedrock of GolfWRX.com has been the community of passionate and knowledgeable golfers in our forums, and we put endless trust in the opinions of our GolfWRX members — the most knowledgeable community of golfers on the internet. No other group of golfers in the world tests golf clubs as frequently or as extensively, nor is armed with such in-depth information about the latest technology.
Below are the results of GolfWRX member voting for the 2025 best driver, along with the vote percentage for each club.
Best driver of 2025: The top 5
5. Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond: 6.02%
Callaway’s pitch: “For golfers looking for a fast, forgiving, yet workable driver, the Elyte Triple Diamond features a tour-inspired shape and is the preferred model by most Callaway tour players.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond here.
4. Ping G440 Max: 6.86%
Ping’s pitch: “The most forgiving G440 model, MAX has a hotter face to generate speed and distance, and a lighter overall system weight with a longer shaft (46″) for faster clubhead speed, higher launch and longer carries. The Free Hosel and Carbonfly Wrap crown save weight to create our lowest CG ever and increase forgiveness while contributing to a more muted, pleasing sound.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Ping G440 Max here.
3. Ping G440 LST: 9.53%
Ping’s pitch: “LST is an especially good fit for faster swings, offering less spin and more control with a penetrating trajectory. A hotter face, lighter overall system weight and longer shaft (46″) deliver more speed and distance while maintaining tight dispersion.”
@phizzy30: “Not a fan of Ping drivers in general, but 440 LST takes the cake. It’s super forgiving across the face for a low spin head, looks and sounds good and the ability to make it play neutral or slightly fade biased through the hosel settings is very appealing.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Ping G440 LST here.
2. Titleist GT3: 16.55%
Titleist’s pitch: “The GT3 Driver offers Titleist’s boldest combination of power and personalization through adjustable performance. Dial in the CG Track to your frequent contact location to make your biggest drives even bigger while taking total control over flight and shaping.”
@mrmikeac: “I’ve been Anti-Titleist for years and years and years (outside of Vokey, of course). With that being said, HOLY BEGEEZUS the GT3 driver is an absolute NUCLEAR MONSTER! This thing blew my G430 10K Max out of the water in every single category. Forgiveness is the biggest thing that stands out of me, the 3 model has always been one of the less forgiving models in the past but this GT3 can take bad shot after bad shot and still end up in the fairway, I think a ton of that has to do with the adjustability, it’s actually effective. Feel and sound is perfect, that solid crack is so addicting to hear and when you hit it out the screws this thing can absolutely bomb it. Titleist, I’m sorry for doubting you. You have converted me.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Titleist GT3 here.
1. Titleist GT2: 22.91%
Titleist’s pitch: “Delivering impressive distance from any impact point, the Titleist GT2 Driver extracts maximum performance through a forgiving design. Get the stability and added confidence of a high-MOI driver without sacrificing speed.”
@DTorres: “The Titleist GT2 has proven to be the best driver of the year. Packaged in a classic profile, GT2 perfectly balances performance and forgiveness while consistently being a high performer across all categories.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Titleist GT2 here.
Other drivers receiving >2% of the vote
| Driver | Vote percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| Cobra DS Adapt Max K | 4.85% |
| Ping G430 Max 10K | 3.85% |
| Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond | 3.68% |
| TaylorMade Qi35 | 3.51% |
| Callaway Elyte | 3.18% |
| Cobra DS Adapt X | 2.34% |
| Cobra DS Adapt LS | 2.17% |
| TaylorMade Qi35 LS | 2.17% |
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Peter Malnati WITB 2025 (August)
Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here. Driver: Titleist...
Cameron Young’s winning WITB: 2025 Wyndham Championship
Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting) Buy here. Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX 3-wood: Titleist...
Camilo Villegas WITB 2025 (July)
Camilo Villegas WITB accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. Villegas was undecided on a 3-wood when we shot his bag. ...
WITB Time Machine: Brandt Snedeker’s winning WITB, 2018 Wyndham Championship
Brandt Snedeker fired a final-round 65 at the 2018 Wyndham Championship to outlast Webb Simpson and C.T. Pan. His 5-under...
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Steve
Apr 3, 2019 at 1:28 pm
Being a over 70 golfer and still getting 250 yards with a Rouge Callaway I am going to support the distance claims of all the major OEM’s. Yea, close to $500 or more is high but they are longest clubs ever….I have several older drivers in the barrel at home that will never see the tee box again to prove that.
Central Oregon Golf
Apr 1, 2019 at 5:31 am
Is this headline considered clickbait -or- just a poor attempt to grab headlines from the same buzzwords used on other websites in the golf world? Asking for a friend…
Wtf
Mar 22, 2019 at 9:49 pm
This website is going downhill fast. Really unfortunate. Articles are useless drivel.
Elimination of witb from tournament sites each week.
And an utter meltdown off the mobile app. How do you release something to the public that is full of bugs??? It’s 2019!!!
Hopefully someone buys this site out and fixes the mess that has been made since Tursky left.
What a shame.
Scott
Mar 18, 2019 at 6:39 pm
I was surprised to see the PXG Gen 2 driver not on the list. I really like it. I bought mine in January this year. The price point is not much more than the Taylormade M5 and I think it is a better driver. Better feeling and better performing in my opinion.
john
Mar 18, 2019 at 4:58 pm
What people forget is the claims made about distance are based on tests done by machines where every single swing is identical to the last. In the real world, none us make the exact same swing two shots running so any potential gains are unrealised. With drivers pushing the £500 mark on a regular basis, it’s delusional to expect the club to do what the swing isn’t capable of. In my opinion, what we should be looking for from any new equipment is greater forgiveness. Better to be hitting 240 from the fairway than 250 from the rough.
Michel Van Dam
Mar 13, 2019 at 12:41 pm
i just bay M4 driver, about 2055 i wil bay a new driver, if i still live hi hi!
Morten Buckhoj
Mar 9, 2019 at 5:50 am
This is just the top6 brands….where is Tour Edge Exotics, Wilson, XXIO, Srixon…..??? My best guess is that they are equally good with as much tech….
Birdiemachine650
Mar 8, 2019 at 11:03 pm
Where’s th PXG love???
Joe
Mar 12, 2019 at 9:04 pm
Most folks ain’t gonna drop $800-1,000 on a driver… just sayin’
DLB
Mar 13, 2019 at 8:51 pm
Price point for PXG Gen2 drivers is less than what you stated.
JB
Mar 15, 2019 at 8:24 am
PXG Gen 2 driver retails at $575. The Taylormade M5 retails at $549. Just sayin’
Kyle
Apr 5, 2019 at 4:29 pm
PXG offers handcrafted Project X shafts as stock offerings. Those would be an up charge with other OEMs.
Anthony
Mar 8, 2019 at 5:57 pm
Does anyone have any first hand experience with the Mizuno?
Funkaholic
Mar 18, 2019 at 2:23 pm
I haven’t hit this one yet but, I have bagged the JPX900 for a while now and I would put it up against any of the bigger names any day of the week.
Warren R
Mar 24, 2019 at 6:27 am
Hit ST190 during a demo day on a whim. First off, it’s a beautiful club, it instills a lot of confidence. Contact was excellent. Three things stood out 1. You know exactly where the ball struck the face 2. Flight is lower than expected (hosel is adjustable) but very consistent 3. The distance numbers far exceeded the M5 I was trying and my gamer/backup (carry distance 310 w/ gamer/backup, 305 with M5, 335 with ST190, farthest was 355). Needless to say, had to get one (currently in the mail).
I would highly encourage you give it a try, if you can!
Jacopo Ferrero
Mar 8, 2019 at 12:36 pm
I own a Cortex Wilson and a Cobra F9 , same performances , same shaft , how can you leave the Wilson out of this article ?
N D Boondocks
Mar 8, 2019 at 2:22 pm
As long as there’s even a smell of subjectivity to ‘hottest’, I think you can be sure that there will always be excellent products that are dissed.
Mike McDonald
Mar 8, 2019 at 12:31 pm
I lead a sheltered life. Just curious if High Heat or GX clubs have ever had reviews. I have 2 daughters and looking to put them into a driver-woods that are easy to hit with good results They do not NEED 400-600 dollar golf clubs
Russell Ziskey
Mar 7, 2019 at 11:14 pm
I miss the official GolfWRX Gear Trials methodology of 2016 –
http://www.golfwrx.com/352108/2016-gear-trials-best-drivers-club-test/
I understand that the testing and evaluations done in 2016 probably were funded from revenue streams which may not exist now for GolfWRX but I echo other comments that this article just a catalogue of all the major OEMs driver offering for 2019 – having an objective and comparative ranking of the drivers is much more helpful.
Doug
Mar 8, 2019 at 1:07 pm
Exactly!!
Ace
Mar 7, 2019 at 8:17 pm
Im a Callaway guy (Rogue Draw currently) but boy does that Cobra F9 look sweet…On the other end of the spectrum how the mighty have fallen over at Titleist. IMO its the weakest entry on the list by far and even their long standing hold on balls is under assault by Big dogs like Callaway, small vendors
like Snell (My fav) & Sams club of all places.
HDTVMAN
Mar 8, 2019 at 12:22 pm
I fit clubs and commented on how Titleist has been no where in sight in drivers for many years. However, I was just recently invited to Titleist in Oceanside to learn about the TS Drivers. All I can say is that these drivers are FOR REAL! We were asked to bring our current driver, and virtually every fitter in our group out-drove our driver with the TS. This included speed, distance, and dispersion. The TS is not your dad’s Titleist, anymore.
JCGolf
Mar 7, 2019 at 10:41 am
How is this an article. “The hottest drivers of 2019” i.e. every single driver from the major companies.
Dormie
Mar 7, 2019 at 7:14 am
So it’s just happens to be that the hottest drivers of 2019 are just the newest drivers from the leading manufacturers. They’re all the hottest drivers.
Just title the article “newest drivers for 2019” if your concerned about pissing off advertisers.
Danny Bentley
Mar 6, 2019 at 8:23 pm
How could you leave off the PXG Gen2 drivers ?
Tom
Mar 6, 2019 at 6:03 pm
All sizzle, no steak. USGA equipment standards INSURE these clubs cannot perform better than previous models! Sellers be sellin! Save your money!!!
Alex
Mar 6, 2019 at 7:08 pm
Ball speeds and distance would indicate otherwise…is it worth 500 bucks every year? That’s for a consumer to decide. However making bold claims like that isn’t even close.
Brandon
Mar 6, 2019 at 11:41 pm
Enjoy your R7…
KK
Mar 7, 2019 at 2:23 pm
Love this comment! I was thinking 975D with the red Graffaloy shaft
Doug
Mar 7, 2019 at 3:02 am
Someone is not an engineer I hear.
Addison King
Mar 7, 2019 at 11:55 pm
Dumb, drivers are getting more aerodynamic and more forgiving every year. The COR limit is measured from a perfect hit out of the middle of the face
Dan
Mar 26, 2019 at 1:00 am
They don’t use COR anymore. They use CT, and it’s tested on 9 parts of the head. Heal, center, toe by top middle, bottom. Gotta pass all 9 to conform. Wilson Triton of driver v driver 1 fame was nonconforming on the high toe.