Joe Ferguson runs through all the drivers on the market and picks out his favourites in looks, feel/sound, performance, consistency and value before picking his overall favourite
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SportsTranscript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 Okay, let's get started by talking about the looks,
00:04 and that's crucial because in driver as any other club,
00:07 it's really important you like what you're looking down on.
00:10 And I think 2024 might just go down
00:13 as a vintage year for driver releases.
00:15 I'm going to start with the Callaway AI Smoke.
00:18 Now I love the look of this driver.
00:19 It's been a little divisive.
00:20 I've seen some other reports and reviews
00:22 and thoughts online,
00:23 people not quite liking the effect on the bottom.
00:25 I love it.
00:26 I think the vibrant kind of smoky effect
00:28 that's created here really pops
00:30 from a retail point of view on the shelf.
00:32 And I love the accent colors they've used
00:33 in the fonts and the weights here.
00:35 So what Callaway have done here,
00:36 they've created a more light gray color
00:39 that blends beautifully into that front piece.
00:42 And I think the aesthetic overall,
00:44 all the drivers in this family look absolutely fantastic.
00:47 Now, similarly with TaylorMade,
00:50 they've changed tactics as well.
00:51 So the red face of the Stealth and Stealth 2 is gone.
00:56 And I think I've said this in one of my other reviews,
00:58 but it was quite divisive.
01:00 So there'll be many people jumping for joy that it's gone,
01:03 and there'll be a few people a bit upset
01:05 because they really liked the red.
01:06 I'm in the jumping for joy camp.
01:08 I much prefer this kind of dark navy face.
01:12 It's a bit subtler,
01:14 and I think it'll appeal to more of the masses,
01:16 and it certainly suits my eye better.
01:19 Also what you'll notice on the TaylorMade range,
01:21 the whole family, the QI10 family,
01:24 they've dropped this sort of banner strip
01:25 at the front altogether.
01:26 It's been replaced with an Infinity crown.
01:28 So it's the same sort of black gloss finish
01:31 all over the head.
01:32 And I just think it looks really, really clean.
01:35 One other thing I like about the QI10 range,
01:37 handy little white strip they've put
01:39 on the leading edge here at the top.
01:42 Because the face and the crown
01:43 are now a little bit more similar than they were,
01:45 we haven't got the red and the black
01:47 as different as they were before,
01:50 they've added this little strip to help with alignment,
01:52 to really pick out that face angle.
01:54 I think it's really, really good.
01:56 I've got the LS model in my hand,
01:58 and that's a similar shape to its predecessor.
02:00 But in the QI10 standard and the QI10 max,
02:03 it's a much more rounded and larger profile.
02:06 And I actually really, really like that.
02:08 I really like the new shape they've created there.
02:10 So great work from TaylorMade too.
02:13 Another noteworthy mention before I get to my winner,
02:16 Cobra Darkspeed.
02:17 Now there's not much to say about this,
02:19 because there's not actually that much going on,
02:21 but that's what I like about it.
02:22 Super minimal, they've got matte black all over.
02:25 Looks really slick, looks really sleek.
02:27 On the other ranges, there's some blue accents,
02:29 there's some red accents, but we're talking minimal.
02:32 So it's one of the most minimal and least offensive heads,
02:35 but looks really sophisticated in that matte black.
02:38 But for me, my overall winner in terms of looks,
02:41 it might be a bit of a surprise, the Mizuno STG.
02:45 I just think Mizuno have got a knack
02:46 of making some really, really good looking drivers.
02:49 They've got plenty of tech that you can see on the bottom
02:51 of the sliding rails here.
02:53 They don't overdo it with logos,
02:55 they don't overdo it with colors.
02:57 But the standout point for me in the STG
02:58 that probably won it for me in this category
03:01 is the profile down behind the ball.
03:03 It's a little bit more compact, it's got 440cc
03:05 as opposed to most drivers which are looking at 460.
03:08 So it's a little bit more of a compact head,
03:11 and it's a bit, it's quite deep in terms of its face,
03:14 which is a look that really appeals to me.
03:16 On the top, it's all gloss black,
03:19 but it's got a blend of carbon effect
03:21 into a more solid color.
03:23 It's just a really sophisticated, premium looking driver.
03:26 Mizuno keep knocking them out, and I keep liking them.
03:29 So this is my best looking driver of 2024.
03:31 (upbeat music)
03:34 So the first one I want to talk about in terms of feel
03:37 is the Mizuno STG.
03:39 Much like its looks, it's got kind of a subtle
03:43 and understated feel and sound to it.
03:45 It's kind of muted, a bit more of a dull thud.
03:48 So I'm just going to hit one away here,
03:49 and hopefully you'll be able to pick up on the camera,
03:52 on the audio, the noise that it's emitting.
03:55 Nicely struck shot, and it just,
04:01 it's got quite a deep thud to it.
04:03 Like I said, there's a certain sophistication to the strike
04:05 that I really like about that.
04:07 And at the other end of that sound and feel spectrum,
04:10 we've got the Cobra Darkspeed LS.
04:13 Okay, so onto the Cobra Darkspeed LS.
04:15 And like I said, this is probably just at the other end
04:17 of the spectrum.
04:18 For me in testing, just feels a bit harsher, a bit firmer,
04:22 and emits a more, sort of high-pitched, sharper noise.
04:25 I'm going to, again, I'm going to hit one away,
04:26 and hopefully you'll be able to pick that up on the audio.
04:29 Again, decent hit there.
04:36 And I hope you just heard that,
04:38 sort of the impact sound just feels a little bit quicker,
04:42 a little bit, a bit of a sharper, sharper burst,
04:44 so a higher-pitched noise.
04:45 And that's not good or bad,
04:47 they'll just be personal preferences
04:48 at each end of the spectrum.
04:50 But my favorite feeling and sounding driver of 2024
04:54 is the PXG Black Ops.
04:56 So before I talk about the PXG Black Ops,
04:58 I just wanted to give an honorable mention
05:00 to the Titleist TSR3.
05:02 This is a really solid drive.
05:03 It's been around a little longer.
05:05 And again, all-round performance, great,
05:07 but from a feel and sound point of view,
05:08 it's pretty much bob on.
05:11 But I think this just eclipses it, if I'm totally honest.
05:13 So PXG, they've done a lot of work on human audio
05:18 and how humans' perception of sound,
05:20 and they've come up with what they call
05:22 natural frequency optimization.
05:25 And within this head, there's a lot of tech
05:27 that's really fine-tuning that noise and feel.
05:29 And again, like the others, I'm just going to hit one away,
05:31 and hopefully you'll pick it up,
05:33 because for me, what they've achieved here is fantastic.
05:37 Yeah, great drive as well,
05:43 but noise-wise, I just think it's perfect.
05:46 You know, again, this will all be subjective
05:47 in terms of what you like to hear
05:48 and what you like to feel,
05:49 but this, to me, sits beautifully in the middle.
05:52 It's not too soft and modely coddling my hands at all.
05:55 It's not too harsh, and there's too much feedback.
05:57 It's just a really good, solid-feeling driver,
06:00 makes a great sound right in that sort of mid-pitch,
06:03 and it really suits everything I want.
06:04 So for me, the best sounding and feeling drive
06:06 of the 2024 PXG Black Ops.
06:10 (upbeat music)
06:12 Before we get into that, if you could do us a favor,
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06:20 Subscribe to the channel if you haven't,
06:22 and comment down below,
06:23 what's been your favorite driver of this release season?
06:25 I'd love to hear it.
06:26 Okay, so let's talk about distance.
06:28 And as I mentioned, I've hit an awful lot of drivers
06:30 over the past few months,
06:32 so I'm just going to pop some data up on the screen
06:34 for you to take a little look at.
06:35 And again, if you need to pause it to take that in,
06:37 there is a lot of data and a lot of numbers there.
06:39 Please do take a look and get back to me.
06:42 But from a data point of view, as a driver tester,
06:45 try and make things as fair and equitable as possible
06:48 in terms of testing with the same base loft,
06:50 the same balls, the same launch monitors,
06:52 making it as equal as possible.
06:54 But the nature of club testing
06:55 and how manufacturers get you samples,
06:58 there can be some small discrepancies in there.
07:00 So you do need to take these
07:01 with a little bit of a pinch of salt,
07:03 but this is what I experienced from my testing.
07:06 Now there is one anomaly in 2024 that I need to talk about
07:09 that's sort of come up through testing,
07:11 and that's around shaft length.
07:12 And it sort of came to my attention
07:15 through the TaylorMade QI10 Max.
07:17 So a lot of the drivers that are trying to maximize
07:20 moment of inertia this year
07:21 have squashed their heads down a little bit
07:23 in order to be able to spread weight wide.
07:25 And what that's done is when they've squashed that head down,
07:28 the hosel's gone down,
07:29 and shaft lengths are coming down with it, really,
07:31 in theory, unless you address that.
07:33 So TaylorMade haven't addressed that with the QI10 Max.
07:36 They've just let that play a quarter of an inch shorter
07:39 than the rest of their range.
07:40 And that's, in my testing,
07:42 I noticed that in terms of ball speed.
07:44 The shorter length of shaft,
07:45 I wasn't able to generate as much club head speed,
07:47 and as such, that didn't translate into ball speed.
07:50 But don't let that fool you.
07:51 The QI10 Max head is a really quick head.
07:54 It's just I wasn't able to generate
07:55 as much speed at that length.
07:57 However, that could be addressed through a custom fitting.
08:01 And interestingly, other manufacturers
08:02 have gone the other way.
08:03 So Mizuno, with their ST Max driver,
08:07 have actually gone longer in length.
08:09 Assuming that if you hit it across the face
08:11 a little bit more because of that extra length,
08:13 you're going to get away with it
08:14 because of the quality of the head.
08:15 So they've addressed that in a couple of different ways,
08:18 which is really interesting.
08:20 But back to the raw data, and this is just about distance.
08:23 My longest carry and total numbers
08:25 both came with a TaylorMade QI10 Standard model.
08:29 And that's, interestingly, the model that Rory McIlroy
08:31 has just switched into from the LS model.
08:33 So that was a really high performer for me
08:35 in terms of overall distance output.
08:38 And that is clearly the winner of this category.
08:40 But before we go, an honorable mention
08:42 to the Ping G430 Max 10K driver,
08:45 which was less than a yard behind
08:47 the TaylorMade QI10 Standard model,
08:50 with significantly higher MOI
08:51 and a lot more stability in the head.
08:53 So from a driver of that ilk,
08:55 to produce that level of ball speed was truly impressive.
08:57 But consistency for me encompasses dispersion,
09:04 not just from a left to right point of view,
09:06 but also from a front and back point of view.
09:08 You want to make sure that all your good strikes
09:10 with the driver are going to carry that bunker
09:12 or that ditch or whatever you need to.
09:14 So consistency is key.
09:15 And I've picked out three drivers
09:17 that I think really embody that sort of consistency theme.
09:20 And the first one of which is the TaylorMade QI10 Max.
09:25 Now this is a big story for TaylorMade this year.
09:27 This is their hero driver.
09:29 And how they've created this MOI story
09:32 is they've essentially squashed down the head.
09:35 So it's shallower than it was,
09:36 but they've pushed all that weight backwards
09:38 into more extreme positions.
09:39 So to create real stability in that head.
09:41 And the effect that has is on these off-center hits,
09:46 there is tremendous consistency.
09:48 You're losing less ball speed,
09:50 tighter dispersion down the range
09:51 from a left to right point of view,
09:52 but also as I said, from front to back.
09:54 So this is one of the most consistent drivers
09:57 that I've tried this year.
09:59 Now next up, the second driver that I've picked out
10:02 is the Mizuno ST Max.
10:05 Again, it's a similar principle.
10:07 They've gone down the same kind of route,
10:09 squashing that head down, shallowing the face,
10:11 and pushing those weight to extreme locations.
10:14 Very similar stuff that I saw with the QI10 Max.
10:18 Huge consistency across the face.
10:20 And that's key in this category, I think.
10:22 Those across the face hits.
10:24 None of us are perfect.
10:25 None of us center it every time.
10:27 And the ST Max really performs.
10:29 But for me, in this category, there's only one winner.
10:34 And that is the Ping G430 Max 10K.
10:38 I'm telling the same story again here to a certain extent,
10:42 but that's what's happened.
10:43 The head's been spread wider,
10:45 more extreme weight locations,
10:47 but across the face I've found it so difficult.
10:49 I'm not renowned as the world's straightest driver
10:51 of the golf ball, if I'm brutally honest,
10:53 but this driver flatters me so, so much
10:56 no matter where I hit it on the face.
10:57 Center strikes are obviously great,
10:59 and they usually feel great throughout this equipment,
11:02 but across the face, the retention of ball speed
11:05 and the tightness of the dispersion
11:07 just sets this driver apart.
11:08 So for me, the Ping G430 Max 10K
11:12 takes the title of the most consistent driver of 2024.
11:16 Right, I want to talk to you a bit about value.
11:21 And with the economic climate looking a little,
11:23 shall we say, under the weather,
11:25 price point is probably a really relevant category
11:28 to talk about this year.
11:30 So to start with, I just want to point out
11:31 the Ping G430 Max 10K.
11:34 Now this comes in, this is pretty punchy.
11:35 This is at 599, so that's about 600 pounds for a driver.
11:39 Whilst I really like it in huge amount
11:42 of performance elements, that is quite a punchy number.
11:45 So a couple more that represent some,
11:47 probably more value here,
11:49 got the Wilson DynaPower Carbon,
11:51 which is a nice overall performing driver,
11:53 good numbers as you'll have seen
11:54 from the performance section.
11:56 And it retails at 429, but you can actually pick it up.
11:59 It's been out for a little longer than some of these drivers.
12:01 You can actually pick it up for under 400 pounds,
12:03 which I think represents really good value.
12:06 But for me, probably the winner in this category
12:09 is the Cobra Darkspeed, the family as a whole, really.
12:12 You can pick them up for 429, a recommended retail price.
12:16 And for the performance elements that go into this,
12:18 the look, very premium look,
12:20 and the head cover, which is phenomenal, by the way,
12:24 that is exceptional value.
12:25 So for me, the most value you can get in a driver in 2024
12:28 would be the Darkspeed family from Cobra.
12:31 (upbeat music)
12:33 So the time to reveal is here,
12:35 and my favorite driver is the Ping G430 Max 10K.
12:40 Now, if anyone's seen my review of this driver,
12:44 that may not have come as a surprise to anyone
12:46 because I was effusive in my praise.
12:48 Ping has achieved something here,
12:50 which I didn't even know was possible.
12:51 The level of stability, of forgiveness,
12:54 and playability of this driver on its own is exceptional.
12:58 But combined with the ball speed,
13:00 the spin, the lowest spin number I was getting from this,
13:04 I didn't even, as I said, I didn't know this was achievable,
13:06 and it really is truly exceptional.
13:09 The price is punchy at 599,
13:10 but to me, this is worth every penny.
13:14 You're going to see all of the performance benefits
13:15 I've just spoken about.
13:16 It looks great, it feels great,
13:18 and it's going to stand the test of time, this one.
13:20 I think this will go down as an all-time classic,
13:22 and it's my favorite of 2024.