Good news for older golfers everywhere. When we say ‘older’, we mean 40-somethings.
We’re constantly being told that golf at the very top level is a young man’s game, which is why those of a certain age will have enjoyed Justin Rose – a real old man at 45 – winning the Farmers Insurance Open a few weeks ago.
After a quick check on the driving stats, there’s another ‘old boy’ currently leading the driving distance average: 41-year-old Gary Woodland.
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In fact, the former US Open champion’s numbers are obscene; he’s the only player (through the Genesis Invitational) averaging over 330 yards (330.2 to be precise).
Adam Scott, meanwhile, who turns 46 in July, is 33rd on the list – although at 313.1 yards he’s not quite in the same league as young Gary.
Meanwhile, on the PGA Tour Champions, 52-year-old Stewart Cink leads the way at 312.2 yards, which would put him inside the top 40 on the PGA Tour. Isn’t modern technology great?
So, if you’re worried about losing distance as you creep into your 40s and 50s, this will hopefully give you some encouragement.
The Big Hitters And Their Weapons Of Choice
On the subject of distance – and because we’ve seen such a flurry of new driver launches already this year – we were interested to see how driver model usage was shaping up at this early stage of the season.
Here’s what the top 10 longest drivers* on the PGA Tour are currently using.
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Gary Woodland
330.2 yards
Cobra Optm X
Michael Brennan
329.5 yards
Titleist GT3
Aldrich Potgieter
325.8 yards
Titleist GT2
Rasmus Hojgaard
324.7 yards
Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond
Chris Gotterup
322.0 yards
Ping G440 LST, TaylorMade BRNR Mini Copper
Isaiah Salinda
321.8 yards
Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond
Nicolai Hojgaard,
321.3 yards,
Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond Max
Jesper Svensson
321.3 yards
Titleist GT3
Min Woo Lee
319.9 yards
Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond
Sudarshan Yellamaraju
319.6 yards
Titleist GT2 driver
* Through Genesis Invitational
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Earlier this year, Cobra released its new Optum lineup (watch the video above), doubling down on stability by a introducing a new metric to the lexicon of club design: POI (Product of Inertia).
Woodland is playing with the Cobra Optm X driver, which is the mid-spin, high-forgiveness option.
By using AI and supercomputing to optimize mass placement, the manufacturer claims to have reduced ‘POI’ by over 50% compared to previous designs.
(Image credit: Cobra Golf)
As a result, the gear effect on mishits has drastically reduced, with a tightening of dispersion of up to 23%.
The Optm X is specifically is designed to balance accuracy and forgiveness in a footprint slightly larger than the LS (lower-spinning) model.
In our review of the Optm X, Joe Ferguson said it produced “solid ball speed numbers and a clean look will please prospective purchasers.”
For Woodland, it’s safe to say it’s doing more than a decent enough job.
Winning Records
Staying with news from the tour, gear junkies may have noticed that TaylorMade extended it’s winning run on the PGA Tour at the weekend.
Genesis invitational winner Jacob Bridgeman got the job done at Riviera using a combo iron set and three different fairway wood models.
The 26-year-old opted for a TaylorMade Qi4D HL (High Launch) 3-wood in Los Angeles, which got the nod over his TaylorMade Qi35 7-wood and TaylorMade Stealth, a club he also has in a 7-wood configuration.
TaylorMade, of course, has built a strong reputation for producing some of the best fairway woods over the last 30-plus years – and every winner on the PGA Tour so far this year has had a TaylorMade fairway in their bag.
For Chris Gotterup, at the Sony Open in Hawaii in January, it was the TaylorMade Qi35.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
A week later, World No.1 Scottie Scheffler won The American Express with a TaylorMade Qi10 3-wood.
Then, at the Farmers Insurance Open, equipment free agent Rose had two TaylorMade Qi4D fairways (3- and 7-wood) in the bag.
Gotterup was at it again in the desert, as was his Qi35, before Collin Morikawa secured victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am with a Qi4D Tour 3-wood and 5-wood.
So, Bridgeman’s win made it six from six for TaylorMade fairway woods.
Talking of 100 per cent records, the American’s victory also made it six in six for players competing in replaceable spikes.
A total of 35 of the top 40 finishers at the Genesis Invitational chose replaceable spikes over spikeless or tennis-style golf shoes, underlining the preference among elite players for maximum traction and ground connection when performance matters most.
“Week after week we’re seeing the very best players in the world choose replaceable spikes because they understand the performance advantage,” said Joe Henderson, President of Softspikes.
“When tournaments are being decided by a single shot, traction and stability are not optional. The data and the results speak for themselves. Six straight wins to start the PGA Tour season is a powerful statement.”
This is not the Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship, but can anyone land a glove on TaylorMade in ‘The Fairway Wood League’? Will replaceable spikes continue to dominate?
And, can anyone outdrive Gary? On we go to the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches.