Fairway Woods

performance ★★★★ ½

innovation ★★★★ ½

look • sound • feel ★★★★

demand ★★★ ½

player comment “The off set isn’t too pronounced, so it’s easy to align. Eff ortless to get the ball in the air and going straight. Even bad shots didn’t stray too far off line.”

performance ★★★★★

innovation ★★★★★

look • sound • feel ★★★★★

demand ★★★★★

player comment “The seamless carbon-fi ber blend gives it a high-tech look. Sits true. Feel is just right. I swung as hard as I wanted, and the ball still went straight.”

callaway

BIG BERTHA B21 RRP AED 1,395

▶ You can work around the edges to make fairway woods easier to hit. Or you can choose the unconventional measures Callaway takes because, well, systemic change might be the only way many average golfers will be able to consistently get their fairway woods airborne. Those changes include a confi denceinspiring shallow face to help players with slow swing speeds launch the ball higher, distinct off set that makes it easier to square the face at impact and slightly shorter shafts (between the length of a typical hybrid and fairway wood). Why a shorter shaft? Sure, you might lose some swing speed because of the smaller arc of your swing, but you will gain distance by contacting the center of the clubface more often. And if you start gaining confi dence, you might even gain swing speed. The oversize clubhead provides extra forgiveness through its off set design, and the face features variable thicknesses conceived through the use of artifi cial intelligence. Two steel bars behind the face join the crown and sole to stiff en the crown and help concentrate defl ection at impact. A wide selection of loft options, including a 24-degree 9-wood, off ers golfers even more help.

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callaway

EPIC MAX • SPEED RRP AED 1,495

▶ One of Callaway’s most successful advancements in recent years has been its “Jailbreak” technology that connects the crown and sole with vertical bars to stiff en the frame so that the face fl exes more. Although the design has been tweaked since its introduction four years ago, this year’s Jailbreak has undergone an overhaul with help from Callaway’s artificial-intelligence design platform. For starters, the bars are more like beams now and have been positioned farther apart to work better with the wraparound cupface. The bars also vary in size and width for each loft and head. The result is increased ball speed over a larger area of the face (with an emphasis on shots below the center). The forged, high-strength steel cupface also received the full A.I. treatment to help it defl ect at impact like it does on Callaway’s drivers. Furthermore, a carbon-fi ber crown helps lower the center of gravity so that shots launch higher with less spin. Making the approach even more eff ective are the two distinct models. The compact Speed is built for lower spin. The larger Max has more forgiveness than last year’s Mavrik Max and features adjustable weights in the front and back for tweaking trajectory and spin.

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performance ★★★★ ½

innovation ★★★★★

look • sound • feel ★★★★ ½

demand ★★★

player comment “I like the pop at impact. My shots had a high trajectory with optimal spin. On the pure ones, I get that nice squish on the ball.”

performance ★★★★★

innovation ★★★★★

look • sound • feel ★★★★ ½

demand ★★★★ ½

player comment “I dig the Secret Service look: stealth and cool under pressure. The dots help me set up. I hit low-spinning shots with good carry.”

cobra

RADSPEED • DRAW • TOUR • BIG TOUR RRP AED 1,245

▶ Cobra’s commitment to individualized performance begins with four models with diff erent head sizes. Also, a design process that saves 23 grams allows each head to be weighted diff erently. The two key savings come from a carbon-fi ber crown and a milling process that precisely tunes the curves, thicknesses and weight of the face. This lets the larger, standard model (Radspeed) balance front and rear weighting for the optimal mix of low spin and forgiveness on off -center hits that average golfers need. The similarly sized Draw version positions twothirds of the saved weight toward the heel and in a rear weight chip for maximum slice protection. Finally, the low-spin Tour and Big Tour models have all 23 grams positioned forward to maximize energy transfer on center-face strikes. The Big Tour is large, like the standard model, providing the forgiveness and low-spin that make it ideal as a backup driver on shorter, tighter holes. All but the Big Tour benefi t from twin rails on the sole that help minimize turf interaction. Unseen but no less effective, the front of the rails is hollow, enabling the face to fl ex more eff ectively, especially on low-face impacts.

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ping

G425 MAX • LST • SFT RRP AED 1,750

▶ Manufacturers have been engineering curves in the face of woods (bulge and roll) since the days of persimmon. “Bulge” (the horizontal curvature) helps mis-hits on the toe and heel curve back toward the target, and “roll” (the vertical curvature) helps impacts high and low on the face launch better. Ping has taken another look at the roll curvature on its fairway woods to prevent shots hit low on the face from launching with too much spin. (These shots generally shoot up in the sky and fall short of their target.) The lower part of the clubface naturally has less loft, but this line of woods from Ping has cut that loft in half so that shots launch with even less spin and with more consistency up and down the face. (With less loft, low-center strikes also launch with more velocity.) In addition, a high-strength steel alloy face wraps around the body to provide more fl exing at impact. The result, Ping says, are shots that launch higher with more speed. Finally, a rear tungsten weight increases stability in the Max model and minimizes spin on the more compact LST 3-wood. On the larger, higher-launching SFT heads, the tungsten chip moves toward the heel to provide forgiveness with a draw bias.

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performance ★★★★ ½

innovation ★★★★ ½

look • sound • feel ★★★★ ½

demand ★★ ½

player comment “I like the clean fi nish and shape. I can turn the ball over when I need to. Great feel at impact; the ball really jumps off the face.

performance ★★★★ ½

innovation ★★★★ ½

look • sound • feel ★★★★

demand ★★ ½

player comment “A pulverizing midtrajectory. Toe shots? No worries. Mine went straight and far. Instead of a metal clink at impact, there’s a bellowing exaltation.”

pxg

0211 RRP AED 1,375

▶ Making a fairway wood easier to hit for average golfers isn’t like trying to understand the gravitational eff ects of dark matter. Unlike the uncertainties of astrophysics, the road map for fairway woods is clear: Build a shape that inspires confi dence, design the sole to plow through uneven terrain and fi nd a face material that fl exes like a driver. That’s what’s going on here. The larger club profi le and deep face give average golfers the confi dence that they can make good contact even on less-than-stellar swings. Making the larger size more playable is the way the leading edge curves upward with heel and toe relief. Regardless of whether the ball is above or below your feet, less of the heel and toe will get in the way of returning the center of the club squarely back to the ball. The railed structure on the sole also cuts through the turf and keeps weight low for better launch. On top of the club, a carbon-fi ber panel in the center of the crown saves weight to help lower the center of gravity. The face is made of a highstrength steel alloy to provide a little more heat at impact. The design also helps control spin with a 10-gram sole weight positioned far forward to further lower the center of gravity.

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pxg

0341 X PROTO RRP AED 2,695

▶ There is no one consistent miss with a driver for all players. Similarly, plenty of golfers fi ght the lefts and the rights with their fairway woods. That’s why this model uses a trio of sole weights from 2½ to 20 grams to counteract the weak fade or the hard hook. Position the heavy weight in the heel for a draw or in the toe to rein in your snapperdoodle or in the front position to fl ight the ball lower with less spin. Of course, these heads aren’t just about mitigating weaknesses in launch, direction or spin. They get the basics right, too, including plenty of fi repower in the face and plenty of assistance in the sole. The fast-fl exing, high-strength steel-alloy face features a variable-thickness pattern for increased ball speeds. On the bottom, a center ridge running from front to back helps lower the center of gravity for easier launch with less spin. It also neatly smooths the club’s ride through the turf across rough, hardpan and sand, as well as fairway downslopes and sidehills. On top, a carbon-fi ber central panel reduces weight where it’s not needed. The surrounding steel reinforces the crown to make the face fl ex better while adding stability on heel and toe mis-hits.

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performance ★★★★ ½

innovation ★★★★ ½

look • sound • feel ★★★★

demand ★★ ½

player comment “Perfect size with a sleek, subtle design. The way the club lies on the ground is natural and pleasing to the eye. The sound at impact is a solid thump.”

performance ★★★★★

innovation ★★★★★

look • sound • feel ★★★★★

demand ★★★★★

player comment “It’s so easy to launch high that there should be a NASA countdown before you swing. Beautiful, functional looks. The thin white topline helps my aim.”

srixon

ZX RRP AED 1,295

▶ When trying to make the face fl ex more, especially within the compact shape of a fairway wood, it would seem natural to focus on the face. Srixon’s team found that approach limiting. By focusing on the crown and sole instead, they made the face more eff ective. Specifi cally, they started with a thin, wraparound cupface and then lined up stiff , fl exible and stiff regions in succession around it so that the face rebounds more effi ciently. These layers create a second fl exible region in the crown and sole that defl ects in conjunction with the face to produce consistently high ball speeds for mis-hits and center strikes alike. A lower center of gravity helps shots launch on a more piercing trajectory, and the lower lofts feature a carbon-composite crown to reduce weight up top. Every loft incorporates a stepdown shape in the crown that lowers what typically is the highest part of the crown, naturally lowering the center point. This year’s model has a shallower face to help average golfers launch the ball more easily. Even the angled, off set shape of the low, forward weight pad inside contributes to the way the face fl exes, particularly the lowest part of the face where most fairway-wood impacts occur.

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taylormade

SIM2 MAX • MAX•D RRP AED 1,395

▶ TaylorMade’s most forgiving fairway woods are designed to be larger so that average golfers have more clubface to power their mis-hits. By increasing the clubhead’s profi le size, weight can be positioned farther back from the face to increase stability on off -center strikes. However, there are two reasons you can’t just indiscriminately make a fairway wood larger: The clubhead needs to easily glide through the turf, and golfers need to feel suffi ciently confi dent they can launch the ball off the ground. That’s where TaylorMade’s V-shape sole comes in. It uses a lower central section to create a low center of gravity to help golfers launch the ball more easily. In addition, recessed areas in the toe and heel allow the head to move unencumbered through a variety of lies. The lightweight carbon-composite crown also contributes to the lower CG to help launch the ball with less spin. Finally, the high-strength C300 steel alloy face and the trademark slot in the sole give your strikes a little extra zip. To better meet the needs of all golfers, TaylorMade off ers a loft range that extends to a 9-wood, plus a heel-weighted (and even larger) Max•D option to fi ght the slice.

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performance ★★★★★

innovation ★★★★★

look • sound • feel ★★★★ ½

demand ★★★ ½

player comment “The slim topline makes it look like it’s ready to pounce. I can feel the weight perfectly during the backswing, with a sharp bing at impact. Very workable.”

performance ★★★★★

innovation ★★★★ ½

look • sound • feel ★★★★★

demand ★★★★

player comment “The classic, glossy black clubhead looks so sophisticated. The sole is simple, always gliding through the turf. Penetrating fl ight, fast and lean.”

taylormade

SIM2 TITANIUM RRP AED 1,795

▶ Better players typically prefer a compact fairway wood for easier workability, but they also want one with a hot face, and it would be nice if the wood could be forgiving for its size. Well, the only way to get all those things in a smaller package (both in volume and face area) is to use lightweight titanium. The Sim2 features a rare titanium alloy developed specifi cally for TaylorMade’s use in this tourshape model, which is 11 percent smaller than the SIM2 Max. The alloy is 20 percent stronger than typical titanium, which allows the club to have an extra springy face. When combined with a carbonfi ber crown, the club’s lighter weight makes room for an 80-gram steel weight pad on the sole. That’s almost 40 percent of the head’s total weight positioned directly on the bottom of the club. Doing this lowers the center of gravity to just 12 millimeters from the ground, which puts it in line with the center of the face for the most direct energy transfer at impact. The V-shape steel weight pad stretches front to back along the sole and connects to an additional weight screw so that the compact frame actually has a higher moment of inertia (stability on off -center hits) than last year’s larger head.

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titleist

TSI2 • TSI3 RRP AED 1,450

▶ There are two hard truths that get in the way of making fairway woods easier to hit. First, because fairway woods are played off the ground most of the time, the majority of impacts occur below the center of the face. That’s not where the highest loft is. Second, metal-wood faces don’t tend to fl ex as well low on the face. Titleist’s solution is to cut a slot in the front part of the sole to get the lower part of its high-strength steel alloy face to defl ect more at impact. Of course, achieving this design feat is more complex than it sounds. Wall thicknesses, widths and depths determine whether the slot works like it should. The channel is also relatively heavy, so the weight isn’t in the best place for forgiveness. This year, Titleist’s slot (“Active Recoil Channel 4.0”) is fi ve grams lighter. That saved weight is redistributed in diff erent ways in the two clubheads. The TSi2, which has a shallower face but appears larger at address, distributes the weight on the perimeter for optimal forgiveness and a higher launch. The TSi3, which has a taller face but looks more compact at address, features a 12-gram movable weight across three settings. The unit hides neatly within the sole for unobstructed turf interaction.

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performance ★★★★

innovation ★★★★

look • sound • feel ★★★★

demand ★★

player comment “The shallow face is eff ective: The ball really pops at impact and gets up quickly. The club is easy to control.”

performance ★★★★

innovation ★★★★ ½

look • sound • feel ★★★ ½

demand ★ ½ player comment “The sole might say non-traditional, but at address, it’s as classic as anything you’ll see. Felt like I had control of the head. Ball jumped off the face.”

cleveland

LAUNCHER HB TURBO RRP AED 999

▶ Cleveland wanted to fi nd out if by simplifying the elements in this design, it could make a more eff ective club, especially for what the company believes is the vast majority of paying golfers (not the best who get their gear for free). That’s why features like movable weights, adjustable hosels and interplanetary alloys aren’t part of the program. From Cleveland’s perspective, each either adds unwanted mass in the wrong place or excessive cost for an undetermined value. Freed from those constraints, the focus can be on creating the two things golfers really want or need: ball speed and a higher launch. The fi rst starts with a variable-thickness, wraparound cupface that extends the thinnest areas farther toward the perimeter for more overall face fl exing. Better launch is achieved by fashioning the crown with a step down to lower the overall weight of the crown and drop the center of gravity. Additional weight is pulled out of the hosel and distributed low and deep in the clubhead for higher launch and more stability on off -center hits. One fi nal piece to help us regular Joes reach our full potential: The shaft is designed with more weight in the hands for better control.

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honma

T//WORLD GS RRP AED 1,795

▶ This fairway-wood line is designed for golfers with average and slower swing speeds (what the company calls “improving golfers”). The GS stands for “gain speed,” and one way to increase ball speed is to have the face fl ex more. Cutting an opening in the front of the sole is one way to achieve that. The slot allows the sole to give at impact in concert with the face. That’s especially helpful for shots hit low on the face (precisely where most fairway-wood strikes occur). Honma does a good job of that here, but with a twist (or more specifi cally, with a “crank”). The slot is shaped somewhat like a crank rod in that it bends and gets wider at the heel and toe. In addition to helping those low-face shots launch with more speed, the idea is to contribute more fl ex at those weaker, off -center spots that need an extra boost the most. The design also enhances the way the face’s curvature brings mis-hits back toward your target line. One more thing these fairway woods do to help average golfers: Internal weighting is positioned more toward the rear for overall stability and toward the heel to help reduce the likelihood of a slice, which might be what average golfers need the most.

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performance ★★★★

innovation ★★★★ ½

look • sound • feel ★★★★ ½

demand ★★ ½

player comment “The pear-shaped head sits nicely and is easy to set up. Crisp feel at impact with muted sound, like a forged blade version of a wood. Tight dispersion.”

mizuno

ST-Z RRP AED 1,495

▶ Ideally, you want a fairway wood to perform as well off the turf as the tee. To help achieve that, Mizuno makes the face hot in two places: the center and below the center. Mizuno starts by using a high-strength maraging steel in the face coupled with a center-of-gravity-lowering carbon-composite crown. That special steel has been part of Mizuno fairway woods in recent years, but this third iteration features an intricate variable-thickness design to achieve the thinnest fairway-wood face in company history, pushing the USGA limit for springlike eff ect. Getting the lower part of the face to defl ect more aggressively requires additional imagination, however. That’s where the wave structure in the front of the sole comes into play. It’s thinner in the front part of the fi rst wave this year, making it fl ex more easily. As the wave fl exes, so, too, does the lower part of the face. With a large panel of carbon composite in the crown, the head size is large enough to provide off -center-hit forgiveness, but the CG remains low to help you launch the ball high. Finally, though the ST-Z has just two lofts, each is adjustable so that the loft range is 13 to 20 degrees, or a strong 3-wood to a 7-wood.

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pro tip: play more loft

The tour’s best prefer high-lofted fairway woods, hybrids

▶ hybrids and high-lofted fairway woods are handy clubs to have in the bag. At the inaugural Workday Charity Open at Muirfield Village Golf Club in July, Collin Morikawa was locked in a Sunday duel with Justin Thomas. Standing 230 yards out on the 506-yard, dogleg-right fifth hole, Morikawa pulled a club he had little experience with, a 19-degree TaylorMade SIM Max Rescue he had in the bag for only a few tournaments during the year. Morikawa hit the shot to three feet, setting up a key eagle.

“It’s a good club for coming into par 5s when you need some height and it’s not very windy,” Morikawa says. “The SIM Max Rescue has been an amazing club, especially when you compare the height to a 2-iron.”

Webb Simpson (below) also knows the value of hybrids. He has routinely carried a pair of older Titleist models. He also understands those clubs are helpful for approach shots and need to be dialed in to hit the correct yardage gap. “I actually have a steel shaft in my 23.5-degree hybrid,” Simpson says. “It was going too far with the graphite shaft, so at the 2016 PGA at Baltusrol, I went to a steel shaft that was cut down a little bit to decrease the distance and get more control, like a 4-iron. A lot of amateurs need a 3- and a 4-hybrid because they’re so easy to hit.”

Easy to hit might help explain why a fair number of PGA Tour players are turning to 7-woods. A dozen or more players have one in the bag on any given week. Once thought of as a club solely for those less skilled, the 7-wood has proved to be a valuable piece of equipment for five players that combined for six wins on the PGA Tour in 2020. Dustin Johnson used TaylorMade’s SIM Max (twice, including the Masters). Andrew Landry (The American Express), Tyrrell Hatton (Arnold Palmer Invitational) and Stewart Cink (Safeway Open) all used Ping G410 7-woods in their respective wins, and Robert Streb carried a Titleist TS3 7-wood at the RSM Classic.

Then there is Cameron Smith, who didn’t win the Masters but became the first player in tournament history to shoot four rounds in the 60s. Smith used a 21-degree Titleist TS2 7-wood.

“I carry a utility iron and the 7-wood to each event, and what the course demands is what I put in,” Smith says. “The 7-wood gives me some extra height on long shots into the par 5s. They both go the same distance, but the 7-wood lands softer. That is what I really needed at the Masters, which is why I had it in there.” Pretty handy, indeed. —EMJ