What drivers the world's best golfers use and why

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To simplify things in our list we've gone for the current top 10 in the world which also gives us a nice mix of drivers.

There are a collection of different drivers here, with different lofts and preferences, and it's also interesting to note how big a strength the big dog is to their game.

For reference, Total Driving measures a player's combined accuracy and distance off the tee. The numbers in brackets are a player's ranking.

1) Scottie Scheffler – TaylorMade Qi10 (8.25˚)

Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X (45 inches)
Driving distance: 303.8 yds (64th)
Total Driving: 87 (2nd)

What TaylorMade says: "Scottie's feedback when testing all of the Qi10 heads was that he felt the Qi10 standard head was more predictable and more forgiving for him. When you look at the way the head is set up, he's correct because of where he has weight in the head which produces higher inertia and more forgiveness."

What Scheffler says: “I asked if we could just go back to the neutral upright setting because now I could see the loft and what I needed to see and we moved it back to the neutral setting and it clicked instantly. I was able to hit all the shots I wanted to hit."

2) Xander Schauffele – Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.1˚)

Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana PD 70 TX (45.5 inches)
Driving distance: 308.5 yds (33rd)
Total Driving: 128 (20th)

What Callaway says: "We went down to The Grove and fit [Xander Schauffele], and his spin rates were probably 30 per cent tighter, shot-to-shot-to-shot, compared to the Paradym and the Paradym wasn't bad, either. Forgiveness has a different meaning for these guys compared to consumers, right? When PGA Tour players miss the centre of the face – and it's not very often – they miss by a millimetre or two. So, for them, it's more about tightening the disparity in spin rate from shot to shot. These faces are faster everywhere, but we want the spin rates to be within a 200-300 rpm window, and I think that's what we're seeing based on feedback and working with each player."

3) Rory McIlroy – TaylorMade Qi10 (8.25˚)

Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X (45 inches)
Driving distance: 320.2 yds (2nd)
Total Driving: 104 (6th)

What McIlroy says: "I played a 45-inch driver shaft for most of my career so I just felt like there's no reason why I shouldn't be able to hit a driver that's 45 inches and control it and do what I want to do with it. The one thing that has made me comfortable going back to a slightly longer shaft is the profile of this Qi10 head. I just think that the slightly larger profile of the Qi10 with the longer shaft in it looks good to me and I can find the middle of it easier.

“Honestly it’s probably the best driver I’ve had in the last few years. I’ve really gotten comfortable with the driver, and I think some of the technical things in my swing are just a little bit better – the good drives are still very good but the bad drives aren’t as bad so the misses aren’t as wild.”

4) Collin Morikawa – TaylorMade Qi10 LS (9˚)

Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 60 TX (45 inches)
Driving distance: 296.0 yds (135th)
Total Driving: 142 (31st)

Morikawa had been using the TaylorMade SIM driver since 2020 and stuck with it despite the new launches of the next three seasons. He did then move to the Qi10 Max at the start of 2024.

What Morikawa says: “I got a lot of crazy looks from the guys when I said I wanted the Max.

“Look, the TaylorMade guys have been amazing. They've obviously modified a bunch of heads, put in weights everywhere, try to match up the CGs (centre of gravity). The SIM has been amazing for me. It's a shallower head, not a deep head or a long head from front to back. It's pretty shallow compared to the new ones. That's always something that I've liked.

“Sound and feel is huge. I've got a lot of hot melt in this head. The Max is made for someone who needs to get the ball up in the air and needs the spin, I have to explain to everyone that I have the amateur version. But no, I truly love it and the mishits have been great."

The American has now switched to the LS version.

5) Ludvig Aberg – Titleist GT2 (9.75˚)

Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X shaft
Driving distance: 310.1 yds (22nd)
Total Driving: 96 (4th)

Titleist says: "Coming from TSR2 during the prototype phase, he had tested a GT2, a GT3 and GT4. Ludvig’s a player who really likes some forgiveness. He’s got incredible ball speed, but he’s an amazing iron player, so we want to do everything to kind of keep him in play. The GT2 is a sweet spot for him, of really good launch and spin, but forgiveness as well, and so that’s really powerful for him. He's different from some players out here. He actually adds a little bit of loft to it, which helps keep his spin up. He wants his miss to be a little spinny that keeps the ball in play so he can really take advantage of how good he is with his irons."

6) Hideki Matsuyama – Srixon ZX5 Mk II LS (9.5 degrees)

Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 TX
Driving distance: 299.4 yds (107th)
Total Driving: 239 (160th)

What Srixon says: "The ZX5 LS Mk II driver uses a forward-placed sole weight to reduce long-game spin – perfect for players with aggressive swing speeds. ZX5 LS Mk II features the same large footprint and flattened shape as ZX5 Mk II, along with its adjustable hosel sleeve for dialling face angle and loft."

7) Wyndham Clark – Titleist TSR3 (8.25˚)

Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green 60 6.5 TX (45 inches)
Driving distance: 314.0 yds (8th)
Total Driving: 172 (75th)

What Clark says: "When I switched to the TSR3, it had a touch more ball speed and a little more spin for me, which was huge. And then I was able to keep it straighter. I sometimes tail it off too much with fade. And so we did some fittings and honestly, that was one of the biggest keys."

8) Viktor Hovland – Ping G425 LST (8.5˚)

Shaft: Fujikura Speeder 661 TR X (45.75 inches)
Driving distance: 305.1 yds (55th)
Total Driving: 152 (45th)

What Hovland says: "My driver length was never really something I thought much about. When you're playing a [shorter length] driver, it's hard to get that much physically stronger in the gym. That's going to take time. So why not try a driver that's longer, which I ended up doing. I gained 4mph just doing that. Your brain realises you have a longer club and you can take off the governor you have on yourself a little bit. You've been swinging a shorter driver, so you open up that growth and then suddenly, instead of gaining 4mph ball speed, it got to 5, 6, 7, 8. Now I'm cruising at 177-178 mph ball speed. That's 10mph more than when I first came out."

9) Tommy Fleetwood – TaylorMade Qi10 LS (9˚)

Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 6 X
Driving distance: 300.4 yds (97th)
Total Driving: 108 (7th)

What TaylorMade says: "The biggest gains for Tommy with the Qi10 comes with really tight spin rates, especially on misses. On misses, Tommy would normally get 3100-3200 spin, on this one, he's getting 2700, which is huge for him because it means the distance is there. He's still getting a little bit of roll out of it. On the flush shots, he's gone from 10.5 or 11 degrees launch at 2,600 spin, to now at 12 degrees launch at 2,400 spin. When you add that up, that's a real game changer for him."

10) Bryson DeChambeau – Krank Formula Fire Pro (6˚)

Shaft: Project X HZRDUS T1100 75g 6.5
Driving distance: 343 yds (based on his own numbers as plays on LIV)
Total Driving: N/A

What DeChambeau says: "It’s probably performed the best I’ve ever had in the past five years in professional golf for me, ever since 2018 when I was striping it early in the year. I don’t want to say too much. It’s fantastic for anyone that’s over 175 ball speed."

Buy TaylorMade Qi10 Driver
Buy TaylorMade Qi10 Driver Max
Buy Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max D

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