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The most iconic Titleist drivers of all time

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With the new TSi Series Titleist drivers on the horizon, there is no better time than now to take a look back at the history of the company’s metal woods and discuss their most iconic drivers to date.

Only time will tell if the newest drivers will earn a spot, but if everything we are hearing about the TSi drivers stands true, we could be adding to this list very soon.

Titleist 975D – 1998

The 975D was the very first “serious golfer” titanium driver. It was made famous thanks to Tiger Woods using one in 2000 to win the “Tiger Slam”, and David Duval, who is famous for being one of the few golfers to ever take away the world number 1 ranking from Mr. Woods in his prime.

It was a small pear-shaped head with a bore through hosel and full-face scoring lines that packed a real “thud” at impact. If you were a “player,” you probably used this driver!

Titleist 975J – 2001

 

The 975J’s release coincided with one of the most important equipment releases of the last 25 years—the original Titleist ProV1, which worked in conjunction to help golfers pick up a lot of yardage with the high-launch, low-spin revolution. Although the 975J was quickly surpassed a few years later by the 983K, it was the 975J that changed a lot of golfers’ perception about Titleist woods—and how could we forget the historically cool headcover!

One more note on the succeeding 983K. Its 2003 release also came alongside the original Pro V1x, which helped Ernie Els tame a windy Kapalua for an eight-shot victory at the 2003 Tournament of Champions. Golf hasn’t been the same since.

Titleist 905R – 2006

This was Titleist’s very first 460cc driver and was so good Adam Scott used the same model for well over six years. It offered a familiar pear shape, but in the biggest head size possible.

The 905R came shortly after the original 905 series drivers were released, which included the 400cc 905S and 905T models. The “S” was the deeper face lower spinning head (my personal favorite), while the “T” was the next evolution of the 983K. Both were popular, but with almost all other equipment companies at the time touting 460cc heads, Titleist had to keep up, and that’s where the 905R came in.

Speaking to “next evolution” products, one of the stock shafts in the 905R was the UST ProForce V2, and when it comes to cult driver head and shaft combinations, this one is a first ballot hall of famer.

Titleist 910D3 – 2010

After the 905 series, Titleist released some good-but-not-great drivers with the 907 and 909 series respectively (funny thing is, the 907’s can’t even be found on Titleist’s previous model archive). If there was one standout from that time it would be the 909D-Comp (for composite), which was the first Titleist driver to utilize a carbon composite crown. It was Titleist’s first real attempt at a more game-improvement driver, and for those that got fit into a 909D-Comp, it was a pretty good head, but what came next was the real revolution.

The Titleist 910 series—specifically the 910D3—ushered in the next generation of low spin adjustability. It was the first driver with hosel lie and loft adjustability, and it was also the first in the entire industry to offer independent control of both parameters. Although the adapter has been refined to save weight, the adjustments themselves have remained unchanged, which I believe proves just how revolutionary it was at the time.

Ryan Barath is a club-fitter & master club builder with more than 17 years of experience working with golfers of all skill levels, including PGA Tour players. He is the former Build Shop Manager & Social Media Coordinator for Modern Golf. He now works independently from his home shop and is a member of advisory panels to a select number of golf equipment manufacturers. You can find Ryan on Twitter and Instagram where he's always willing to chat golf, and share his passion for club building, course architecture and wedge grinding.

20 Comments

20 Comments

  1. Matt

    Oct 4, 2020 at 7:10 pm

    This is great content. Brings me back to all those legendary Titleist drivers over the years!

  2. duh

    Oct 3, 2020 at 10:31 am

    983 line more iconic than all apart from the 975D

  3. bradley v adams

    Oct 3, 2020 at 9:20 am

    It’s INSANE that Terry McCabe is not mentioned…..inconceivable and yes that word means what I think it does.

  4. Bruce

    Oct 2, 2020 at 3:57 pm

    983k needs to be on this list for sure! Still in my bag

  5. Bob Jones

    Oct 2, 2020 at 2:08 pm

    I still play my 975D.

  6. T

    Oct 2, 2020 at 12:38 pm

    Where is the 983K ???? That’s like leaving Larry Bird off the list of all time great Celtics.

  7. Bob Castelline

    Oct 2, 2020 at 11:35 am

    Where are the persimmon drivers? I used to have the most gorgeous amber Titleist driver that I could work either direction and sounded like a golf club was meant to sound. I loved that club almost as much as my own children.

  8. Mike Purcell

    Oct 2, 2020 at 11:25 am

    My wife still games my old 983K. We go to a demo day every now and then, she hits em all and says
    “nope, they can’t beat mine, I’m good.”

  9. Bri

    Oct 2, 2020 at 11:09 am

    Titleist PT? Hello…

  10. Golfinnut

    Oct 2, 2020 at 11:07 am

    What’s ridiculous is that I still have every one of these models mentioned in my bags. I just used the 905R this past weekend & realized why I had it in the bag … it was an awesome fairway finder!

  11. Paul Runyan

    Oct 2, 2020 at 10:41 am

    Love to see TXG’s Ian and Matty test the 905R against the new offerings from Titleist!

    Just mentioned in a discussion that at 70, yikes!, that I’m longer with the Mizuno ST 900G and Pro V1/B XS vs the 905R with the Professional Titleist wound and/or the first iteration of the Pro V1.

    I’m sure Mr Wunder can’t say that… ???? Tipped Ventus X … really?

    Something to do during the off season.

    • Anti-Old Cranky Rickheads

      Oct 5, 2020 at 12:37 pm

      We understand that you’re an old crusty curmudgeon that hates technology. Now I challenge you to have an even more outdated opinion.

  12. Ken

    Oct 2, 2020 at 10:40 am

    Still have my 905R and my 910D3 in my back-up bag

  13. Jbone

    Oct 2, 2020 at 10:29 am

    Graffaloy Blue >>> V2

    Still game the 905s with the blue

    • T.D.

      Oct 2, 2020 at 11:25 am

      This!! The Grafally blue X STILL stands up against today’s shafts, I don’t care what anybody says.
      Sadly, I just had to pull the blue out of my 905R this week and put it in my TS3. That combo was so good, but TS3 is just a longer driver and I’m sure I’ll have this combo in the bag for a long time.

      • Paulo

        Oct 3, 2020 at 9:59 am

        Shafts degrade after time. Be careful , it’s likely going to show noticeable performance issues if it’s been used too much. This is why stepson bought them wherever he could find them.

  14. Peter Uihlein

    Oct 2, 2020 at 9:34 am

    You left off the 983K which is arguably #1

  15. Jason Geraci

    Oct 2, 2020 at 9:18 am

    The 975 is the first club that Bob Vokey worked on after coming over to Titleist from Founder’s Club.

    I still don’t think that the TS line gets enough credit. It was the bridge to TSi and they are still winning in my fitting bay.

    • golfraven

      Oct 3, 2020 at 10:51 am

      I fully agre. I would add the TS to the mix as it was an evolution from the 91x models. I’ll keep my TS3 in the bag for the sake of the triangle alignment which got dropped with the TSi – I personally think its a bummer but hey what do I know.

      • Paulo

        Oct 3, 2020 at 2:31 pm

        In the eyes of the multi million dollar achusnet company and in particular their marketing and multi million dollar RnD departments , you sir, no precisely f all

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BK’s Breakdowns: Cameron Young’s winning WITB, 2025 Wyndham Championship

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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

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Whats in the Bag

Peter Malnati WITB 2025 (August)

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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

Check out more in-hand photos Malnati’s clubs here.

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GolfWRX Members Choice presented by 2nd Swing: Best driver of 2025

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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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