Equipment
Exotics XJ1 Fairway Woods: What you need to know
Tour Edge is best known for its fairway woods, so it makes sense that its new launch makes forward strides in the world of fairway woods. Its new Exotics XJ1 line uses a new titanium material, a surprisingly sole-heavy design for a higher launch and more forgiveness, and debuts a new shaft from Fujikura.
Photo courtesy of Tour Edge
The entire body of the XJ1 woods is constructed from 9-1-1 titanium, which Tour Edge calls “Supermetal” due to its combination of strength and light weight (it’s 10 percent lighter than 6A4v, a popular titanium used in golf club manufacturing). With the salvaged weight from the body, Tour Edge was able to create a heavier sole, which now holds 124 grams of tungsten, or two-thirds of the heads total weight.
Specs
The tungsten sole is applied to the body using a process called combo brazing, and the face, made with SP-700 Beta titanium, is laser bonded to the body. The face uses variable thickness across its surface to maximize ball speeds, even on off-center hits.
To help slicers turn the ball over, there is also a 12-gram tungsten screw in the heel that can be interchanged with 10-, 14- or 16-gram weights.
Exotics XJ1 woods will come stock with Fujikura’s Air Speeder shaft, which weighs in at 45 grams. According to Tour Edge, it’s the first company to put that shaft into a retail launch. The fairway woods will sell for $449.99 starting on November 15 in right-hand only, and will be available in the following lofts; 3-wood (15 degrees), 4-wood (17 degrees), 5-wood (18 degrees), and 7-wood (21 degrees).
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- Photo courtesy of Tour Edge
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- Photo courtesy of Tour Edge
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- Photo courtesy of Tour Edge
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- Photo courtesy of Tour Edge
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...
BK24BK
Dec 14, 2016 at 11:58 am
Anybody hit any of the XJ1 clubs?
Matt
Oct 29, 2016 at 4:16 pm
45 gram shaft, no thanks
HEBERT
Nov 1, 2016 at 4:56 am
Well … you may chosse among 180 shafts available .. No worry !
Doug A
Oct 28, 2016 at 12:57 pm
Looks pretty good. Gonna have to try it at a demo day
John
Oct 28, 2016 at 12:38 pm
Right hand only. What a shame. They should at least have custom order options for left hand so they wouldn’t get stuck with excess inventory. I really don’t think there is a huge difficulty flipping a right handed club around & producing a left handed model.
gw
Oct 28, 2016 at 12:28 pm
Seems like a really heavy head for the lightweight shaft.
RCM
Oct 29, 2016 at 11:19 am
The table provides total club weight, not head weight. They’re actually quite light for total club weight.
Rimjob
Oct 29, 2016 at 11:33 am
He said, FOR the lightweight shaft. Duh. Could’ve been a lighter head. But look at the size of the thing!
Desmond
Oct 28, 2016 at 11:33 am
The Fuji air speed shaft is a great idea – I am using a 45g shaft in a 4 wd, and it launches mid, and even when hit on the face a bit low or from the rough, it still gets air and ball go far.
AC
Oct 28, 2016 at 10:49 am
those are big, the 5 wood is almost identical in size to the F6 3 wood. For the off the deck, that’s just too big for player of my skill level.
Jon
Oct 28, 2016 at 10:16 am
As a matter of fact, Exotics is releasing XJ1 driver for $699.99.
http://golfweek.com/2016/09/20/tour-edge-exotics-xj1-driver/
SV
Oct 28, 2016 at 8:07 am
$450 for a fairway wood? Are you kidding me! If they make a similar driver will it cost $800? TourEdge used to be known for goods clubs at a reasonable price. I guess that is over. Seriously, with prices like this and PXG, clubs it is a wonder anyone buys clubs anymore.
Desmond
Oct 28, 2016 at 9:03 am
It is a Tour Edge Exotics – that line is premium with a premium price – has always been that way. I demoed its EX9 4wd with a Grand Bassara 39, and it was almost as long as my driver , and I hit it off the deck- and that is a steel head. Ti may go as far as your driver.
Johnjohn
Oct 28, 2016 at 10:37 am
Give it 3-4 months and price will plummet