4 tour stars switched drivers — and one thing particular occurred

It began with a narrative on Scottie Scheffler’s driver. That’s how issues normally go today. Spotlight the tools utilized by the perfect participant on this planet and also you’re certain to seek out an attention-grabbing gear angle or two.

On this case, I occurred to seek out 4 whereas sifting via Scheffler’s stats. 4 gamers, to be precise.

Scheffler’s driver change has been nicely documented on GOLF.com, nevertheless it’s at all times vital to revisit the numbers throughout a probably historic season to see the place the true enhancements lie. On the halfway level of the yr, I made a decision to return and take a more in-depth have a look at Scheffler’s driving stats to pinpoint the areas of progress.

Contemplating Scheffler led the Tour in Strokes Gained: Off-the-tee in the course of the 2022-23 marketing campaign, I figured there wouldn’t be a lot in the way in which of noticeable enhancements. It’s troublesome to transcend the apex whenever you’re already main the way in which in a statistical class. That was till I occurred upon Scheffler’s driving accuracy share.

In a sport the place the “bomb and gouge” playbook is inspired to achieve an edge, discovering the quick grass with regularity has turn into a misplaced artwork. Getting the ball nearer to the inexperienced is the precedence. Discovering the golf green is for many who can’t mash it into oblivion.

What makes Scheffler such a uncommon breed is his capability to do each. Final season, Scheffler averaged 310.3 yards and hit the golf green at a 62 p.c clip. Exterior of Ludvig Åberg, who boasted related driving distance (317.1 yards) and accuracy (65 p.c) numbers to Scheffler, few got here near replicating the uncommon mixture of prodigious distance and pinpoint accuracy.

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“He had most likely the perfect driver he’s ever had in his life [last season], which is saying one thing contemplating how nicely he’s pushed it lately,” TaylorMade Tour rep Adrian Rietveld advised GOLF.com. “You’ve acquired a participant who’s main accuracy stats and within the high 5 p.c in distance. And also you’ve acquired to play in opposition to that mixture every week. It’s terrifying the power you’d must sustain with Scottie [off the tee].”

Including to the checklist of issues that make Scheffler terrifying to his friends is the belief that he turned much more correct within the final six months. Whereas perusing the 28-year-old’s stats, I noticed Scheffler had gone from hitting 62.09 p.c of his fairways to 71.99 p.c. Enhancing almost 10 p.c in any class goes to make you arise and take discover.

Scheffler’s driving distance took a slight dip (303 yards), however he’s turned out to be much more deadly when he spends extra time within the fairway. What a revelation! Tightening general dispersion — mixed along with his capability to make extra putts — has turned him right into a glorified Iron Byron. (The swing robot, not the Texas legend.)

Curious if different TaylorMade staffers had seen related enhancements in accuracy since switching to the Qi10 driver line, I dug into the numbers for Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Collin Morikawa to see how they stacked up. If one participant is a possible aberration, 4 is the start of a Tour pattern.

Not solely did the three professionals talked about above see enhancements in accuracy since switching to Qi10, however all of them improved by 10 p.c or extra within the accuracy division. McIlroy has been 15 p.c higher this season (53 p.c in 2023 versus 68 p.c in 2024) and Fleetwood has improved by 14 p.c throughout the identical interval. All 4 at present discover themselves inside the highest 25 in driving accuracy. (It’s additionally price stating that Morikawa and Fleetwood use Qi10 LS, whereas Scheffler and McIlroy use Qi10, so this isn’t one specific mannequin overshadowing the others.)

Much more spectacular? Morikawa leads in accuracy whereas McIlroy nonetheless tops the charts in driving distance. Much like Scheffler, there hasn’t been a drop-off in different areas with a tighter dispersion.

So far as the “why” behind the improved dispersion, look no additional than GOLF’s data insights from Qi10 robotic testing. The 9-point test revealed Qi10 was noticeably higher than Stealth 2 in a number of areas, most notably when minimizing toe misses.

After seeing high-toe misses lose a mean of three.4 yards (throughout all three fashions at 10.5 levels) with Stealth, the quantity doubled final yr to six.8 yards with Stealth 2. Dropping virtually 7 yards on a high-toe strike isn’t motive for concern, however no producer desires to go backward.

Not solely did TaylorMade engineers repair the current high-toe slide, additionally they produced a Qi10 driver lineup that negates one of the widespread misses. Trying strictly at 10.5-degree Qi10 heads — 2024 represents the primary yr GOLF has examined all lofts — high-toe misses gained distance, to the tune of two.2 yards.

It’s a staggering quantity that highlights the numerous enhancements made to the carbon twist face development.

Together with offering spectacular ball velocity safety on high-toe misses, the 12-degree Qi10, Qi10 Max and 10.5-degree Qi10 noticed distance lower by 6 yards or much less throughout all 9 factors on the face at 95 mph. Professionals are swinging it considerably quicker than the typical swing velocity used for our testing, nevertheless it’s protected to imagine they’re seeing improved ball velocity numbers throughout all the face, resulting in distances extra intently resembling what they could see on a middle strike.

It’s a deadly driver mixture that’s making a number of the finest gamers on this planet even higher.

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Jonathan Wall

Golf.com Editor

Jonathan Wall is GOLF Journal and GOLF.com’s Managing Editor for Tools. Previous to becoming a member of the employees on the finish of 2018, he spent 6 years masking tools for the PGA Tour. He will be reached at [email protected].