Which Drivers Are Winning On The PGA Tour?
Which Drivers Are Winning On The PGA Tour?
May 27, 2021
By Drew Mahowald -- 2nd Swing Staff Writer
It’s been an amazing year for golfers seeking a new driver. All of the best golf manufacturers have released new models this year, with new technologies designed to take distance and forgiveness to a new level.
The results have been superb for both amateurs and professionals alike. The newest driver models have been quickly adopted by the best players in the world on the PGA Tour.
But what drivers in particular have proven to be successful on the PGA Tour so far this season? With a little over three months remaining in the season, Titleist leads the driver win count with nine, followed by PING and TaylorMade with eight, and Callaway with seven.
Here’s a more in-depth look at the drivers PGA Tour winners have used this year:
Nine PGA Tour winners this season have used a Titleist driver, the most of any manufacturer. Titleist’s new TSi drivers, the TSi1, TSi2, TSi3, and TSi4 drivers, feature a new Aerospace Titanium clubface that delivers tremendous energy at impact for high ball speeds.
Of the four models, the TSi3 has been the most popular on Tour this season due to its low spin and traditional shape and has garnered five of the nine wins:
- Cameron Smith at the Zurich Classic
- Jordan Spieth at the Valero Texas Open
- Billy Horschel at the WGC-Match Play
- Max Homa at the Genesis Invitational
- Patrick Reed at the Farmers Insurance Open
Also, two players (both top-15 in the Official World Golf Rankings) have used a TS3 driver to win this season, which was part of Titleist’s previous driver generation. Patrick Cantlay used a TS3 to win at the Zozo Championship last fall, while Justin Thomas used a TS3 to win The Players Championship.
Eight PGA Tour events in the 2020-21 season have been won with a PING driver. Notable is two-time winner this season Stewart Cink, who has won with two different PING drivers. He won the first event of the season with a PING G410 LST Driver, and then followed that with a win at the RBC Heritage this spring after putting a PING G425 Max in the bag.
Additionally, three of the eight wins by PING drivers so far this season have been from the G400 driver family released 2017. Hudson Swafford won the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship with a G400 Driver, Carlos Ortiz won the Houston Open with a G400 Max, and Harris English won the Sentry Tournament of Champions with a G400 model.
In addition to PING, TaylorMade drivers have also been in the bag of eight winners on the PGA Tour this season. Interestingly, only two of the eight wins were earned with a SIM2 driver in the bag, while the other six happened with a prior-generation SIM driver.
Brooks Koepka averaged 321.1 yards off the tee at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, and Rory McIlroy averaged 324.4 yards at the Wells Fargo Championship en route to wins with SIM2 drivers in the bag. Other winners with a TaylorMade driver, such as Dustin Johnson at The Masters in November and Collin Morikawa at the WGC-Workday Championship, used a SIM Driver.
Callaway is right on the heels of Titleist, PING, and TaylorMade with seven wins in the 2020-21 PGA Tour season. The first win of the season for a Callaway driver was Kevin Na’s win at the Sony Open with a GBB Epic Driver first released in 2017. Na’s last four PGA Tour wins have all come with the GBB Epic.
The Callaway driver lineup has picked up serious steam of late on the PGA Tour, blasting tee shots for winners at four of the last five events on Tour. This includes Phil Mickelson’s epic triumph at the PGA Championship over the weekend in which the 50-year-old averaged over 313 yards off the tee with an Epic Speed Driver.
Bryson DeChambeau has become the face of power and strength in golf, and with good reason. He’s the PGA Tour’s current leader in driving distance with an average of 322.5 yards.
He joins Cink as the only two-time winners this season so far. Also, like Cink, DeChambeau earned his wins with two different drivers. He overpowered his competition at the 2020 U.S. Open with a Cobra KING SpeedZone Driver. This spring, DeChambeau averaged 321.3 yards off the tee with a Cobra LTD Pro driver to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
While Srixon’s driver win count may not match the counts of other manufacturers, the one win a Srixon driver has earned this season may be the most impactful. Hideki Matsuyama won his first major championship at The Masters Tournament with a Srixon ZX5 Driver in the bag.