Equipment
The most popular design trend in irons you’re just noticing now
When it comes to being a golf equipment junkie, irons have always been the most fascinating clubs to me. They are designed cohesively from top to bottom and vary greatly in aesthetics from set to set—more so than any other club in the bag beyond a putter.
What also makes irons appealing, is—if you feel so inclined—you can use a set from 30 years ago and play golf without noticing a huge drop off in performance—depending on the style of clubs of course. Any modern game improvement irons with lighter weight, higher-launching shafts, and fast faces are going to go further, fly higher, land softer, and offer better performance on mishit shots thanks to technology—but as many golfers have proven, you don’t need technology to enjoy the game.
So where does this leave us with modern iron design?
It used to be that when picking a set of irons you had to make the choice between game improvement or blades. There were few options in the middle, and those options that existed still trended strongly towards one or the other.
Then came along “combo sets”—and we have covered them in the past (Greatest forged combo sets of all time)—beyond a few exceptions these were configured from the manufacturer with little wiggle room for swapping out clubheads for performance. But a few years ago, that started to change for the better, and we are seeing a modern revolution in the way irons are designed from OEMs.
The modernization of iron families
This is where custom fitting, as well as “big data,” is helping OEMs change the way they think about iron design and building a perfect set for every golfer.
If we go back, some of the earliest examples are the 2011 TaylorMade Tour Preferred line that featured blades, muscle cavity irons, and large CB’s, which could be interchanged quite easily—although the CB irons were noticeably larger than the other two clubs.
Another example from that era were the Mizuno MP-63 and MP-53 irons, which looked very similar from an overall design perspective, but the MP-53 offered more forgiveness thanks to a wider sole and undercut cavity. The sets were released simultaneously and could be custom ordered as a combo set.
Past examples can be found from almost every OEM, but now more than ever, we are in the golden age of optimization and club fitting. With the help of new manufacturing technologies that allow engineers to produce smaller clubs with faster faces and higher MOI, we are seeing entire lines of irons being released together in the hope of providing every golfer with the opportunity to get everything they can out of a set of irons. The most recent examples being the TaylorMade P700 Series and the Mizuno JPX 921.
Other examples include
Titleist T-Series
PXG’s Gen3
Srixon Z-Series
Honorable mentions go to Cobra for its Forged Tec irons that blend into longer irons as well as Ping’s i500—which although not a perfect “looks” match to other Ping irons, has become a mainstay for a number of players looking to maximize long iron performance.
Where this leaves you
When looking for your next set irons, think less about matching and more about maximizing.
Thanks to club designers who have put endless hours into sculpting each edge and radius on iron heads in CAD and master shapers that put on the finishing touches, you can mix and match to your heart’s content and still have a set of clubs that matches perfectly behind the ball—becuase that’s where it matters the most.
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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James R
Sep 2, 2020 at 12:01 pm
Look back at the Mizuno Grads of the 90’s. To my knowledge they were the first set that combined cavity backs and blades. There is nothing completely new under the sun.