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GolfWRX Insider: Week one on tour with the new Titleist TSi metal woods

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The cat is outta the bag! After more than two years since the launch of the TS series metal woods, Titleist has cooked up something new, and from the response and comments on the Tour, this thing is a heater.

I had a chance to catch up with my buddy and Titleist Tour rep J.J. VanWezenbeeck while he is on a West Coast/East Coast whirlwind testing tour, and this is what he had to report.

JW: Overall, how are players responding to the new TSi drivers?

JJ: TSi launch has been a long time coming…but despite fires, heat, COVID-19 restrictions the product is coming out above it all. It has been 27 months since players have seen a new lineup from Titleist, so they were overly excited about seeing what we have been working on.

We have been working through playoffs, scheduling, travel restrictions, COVID rules/regulations, and safety needs to try and see as many players as possible, including this week in Portugal and Napa.

JW: In simple terms, what makes this driver unique/special vs other models? 

JJ: TSi drivers have shown up in a big way from look, to feel, to launch monitor performance.  Almost all players have to see ball speed increases out of the gate, but the stability of the head is what really is showing off—players are seeing incredibly consistent spin, speed, and direction numbers—this has let players find another gear (see Mark Blackburn post of Charley Hoffman TPI testing).

JJ Contd: We are incredibly excited about week one and what the coming weeks are going to bring with this product. The overwhelmingly positive comments from our staff is incredible. I would look out for some early and often success. Stephanie Luttrell and our R&D team did a phenomenal job. I can’t wait for all our Tour Staff and the rest of the golfing world to experience this product.

JW: How many players will most likely have it in play this week?

JJ: With players all over the globe, COVID-19, and scheduling challenges, we have not had a chance to see all our staff as we like to present the product in person and answer questions for them and get them fit perfectly. We have our worldwide teams on the road and seeing all of our staff over the coming weeks. This week, we have seen some early adopters on social media in Portugal after working with Liam McDougal, and we will have 15-plus players using the new metals in Napa after seeing them for the first time this week.

JW: Charley Hoffman has a white line down the face of his TSi3, what’s the reason?

JJ: Charley Hoffman has been drawing a vertical line on his driver for a while just to allow him to set up more centered. He was instrumental in helping with the new face graphics and felt like it framed the ball so well he may not need it. After discussing, he decided better to have and not need than not have.

*Tommy Fleetwood has also made the switch in Portugal, and from what I hear from my source, he’s killing this thing.

Driver: TSi3 9 @ 8.25 (D2 Surefit Setting) w/ Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X

(Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

From early reporting from Napa, these players will have TSi drivers in play: Blaum, Bramlett, Brown, Campos, Cauley, Duncan, Haas, Hadley, Hoffman, Hubbard, Kizzire, Ledesma, Malnati, Pan, Shelton, Spieth, Streb, Taylor, Uihlein.

And on the Euro Tour, beyond Fleetwood, Haotong Li is most likely putting in play as well.

4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. ht

    Sep 10, 2020 at 5:09 pm

    A lot of professional PR jargon here. I understand that’s his job, but I still don’t know how this club differs from the other models, as asked in the first question. Saying it’s a little faster and a little more stable is nice, but every single new release from every single company says that. Would have been more interesting to hear the why behind all of the improvements instead of how “excited” titleist is for everyone to “experience this line”. Ok, great. I get it and you should be excited. I just wish I knew more about it because it’s a beautiful head. This is site made for golf geeks by golf geeks. Wouldn’t hurt to play to that audience a little more.

    • John Wunder

      Sep 10, 2020 at 5:12 pm

      Simple. Because Titleist hasn’t released any Tech data on it yet so beside excitement and first reactions there isnt anything more to say.We get the why, how and whats new VERY soon. Stand By.

      • Chuck

        Sep 11, 2020 at 2:17 pm

        John,
        Three things:

        First, your reply immediately above is of course absolutely correct.

        Second, I have no doubt but that these new Titleist products are good. Tour players using them will hit drivers and fw’s longer and straighter.

        Third — and this is the striking thing to me — is how artfully Titleist’s reps can go, to avoid saying the obvious. Namely, that the company can and will continue to design and build equipment to produce ever-increasing distances. So here, instead of saying that Charley Hoffman May get five more yards with new balls and drivers from Titleist, they say, “He’s able to find another gear,” or other such euphemisms.

  2. 8 Is The Number

    Sep 10, 2020 at 4:57 pm

    8 or 9 degrees? I saw some pictures with 8 and some with 9. I wish it will come at 8. Lower loft + tee-up high is a good formula for a low spin. I also wish Titleist sells different weights for TSi drivers.

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Whats in the Bag

Christiaan Maas WITB 2026 (June)

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Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D LS (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P770 (3), TaylorMade P7CB (4), TaylorMade P7TW (5-PW)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 10 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold X100

Wedges: TaylorMade Prototype (50-SB09), TaylorMade MG5 (56-HB12, 60-LV07)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S400

Putter: TaylorMade TP Juno

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord

Check out more in-hand photos of Christiaan Maas’ clubs here.

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Equipment

TaylorMade MySpider Tour and Tour X: More customizable build options now available

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TaylorMade Golf’s MySpider program underwent a substantial overhaul over the last month. Firstly, the company launched the option to customize the Spider ZT model, and now the program has returned with the MySpider Tour and MySpider Tour X.

The revamped page now gives golfers complete control over every visual and functional detail of their putter on the popular Tour and Tour X head, with every cosmetic idea thought of. In MySpider Tour, golfers can choose from four head finishes, 16 paint fill colors, nine Surlyn face insert colors, three aluminum insert options, six sightline configurations, and four hosel options — L-neck, small slant, double bend, center shaft. Six sightline options are available in MySpider Tour, including the optically engineered True Path alignment system. MySpider Tour X gives builders the option of four head finishes, four hosel configurations, and five sightline options, also including True Path alignment.

One of the more interesting features of the new MySpider program is the availability of three distinct face insert options. Along with the usual Surlyn Pure Roll insert trusted by Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, which can be customized from nine colors, golfers can now also select firmer options. Two are offered with the black aluminum Pure Roll insert, slightly firmer than the traditional insert, or for the firmest feel, golfers can choose from two colors of milled aluminum inserts.

Another fun addition to the MySpider Tour is the ability to use the “Tommy Sightline.” The custom alignment aid design, which was first drawn onto Tommy Fleetwood’s putter by PGA Tour Rep James Holley, is based on the milled sightline on his Spider ZT head. There are five shorter lines on the left and right of a longer central line serving as the traditional short line alignment aid.

See below for the full specifications sheet for MySpider Tour and Tour X:

MySpider Tour

MySpider Tour X

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Equipment

Then and now: Comparing Rory McIlroy’s current setup to his record-breaking 2019 Canadian Open victory

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In Rory McIlroy’s first appearance at the 2019 RBC Canadian Open, he crushed the record books to earn his 16th PGA Tour title in dominating fashion, winning by seven shots over Shane Lowry and Webb Simpson.

McIlroy’s score of 22-under-par 258 is the lowest 72-hole score to date at the Canadian Open, and his closing 61 is also the best final-round score in the history of one of golf’s oldest tournaments. Finally, with his win in 2019, McIlroy became only the sixth player to win the career Triple Crown, adding to his victories at the U.S. Open in 2011 and The Open Championship in 2014, joining Tommy Armour, Walter Hagen, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Tiger Woods in a coveted list.

So, with that, why not compare his current setup to the clubs he used to break all the records?

Driver

2019: TaylorMade M5 (9 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees @8), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7X (45 5/8 inches)

McIroy led the Tour in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee in 2019; he’s doing the same in 2026. Between now and then, McIlroy has switched from the Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX (a shaft with slightly more feeling in the tip) to the original Fujikura Ventus Black 7X, having just made the change to the heavier version from playing the 60X.

What’s interesting about McIlroy’s 2019 setup is that the weighting on his driver is actually set in the high-draw setting, using the T-Track weighting system, whereas in the Qi4D, he’s currently using a heavily rear-weighted setup. (Two 13-gram weights in the rear and only two 4-gram front weights.)

The TaylorMade M5 driver he played in during his Canadian Open win was the company’s first head that they claimed to design to initially exceed the USGA’s COR limit, and then injected with tuning resin to bring it back in bounds.

Fairway woods

2019: TaylorMade M6 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 80 TX; TaylorMade M5 5-wood (19 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 90 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8X; TaylorMade Qi4D 5-wood (18 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9X

The TaylorMade M6 fairway wood that McIlroy was using during the 2019 season is still in the bag of some of the best golfers on Tour in 2026. Just check out Justin Rose’s winning setup from the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year. This year, though, McIlroy has still been searching for his top-end-of-the-bag setup, having played both the new Qi4D and the Qi10, which he won the Masters with.

The same shaft swap can be seen in the fairway woods as the driver, along with slightly less loft on the 5-wood.

Irons

2019: TaylorMade P750 (4) Buy here, TaylorMade P730 (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0
2026: TaylorMade P760 (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0

The biggest difference between McIlroy’s custom set and the stock P730s is the groove design. While the P730s were constructed with 14 MX-9 grooves on their milled faces, McIlroy’s proto heads instead use the higher-spinning, 16-groove layout of the TW2 grooves. Other big differences between the sets are that McIlroy’s 7- and 8-irons have thinner toplines, are 1 degree stronger in loft, and are 1/4 inch longer than the original P730 builds.

With McIlroy’s 4-iron, the switch from P750 to P760 sees a transition to a two-piece construction with Speed Foam in it, which allows McIlroy to launch the ball slightly higher, with more workability.

Wedges

2019: TaylorMade Milled Grind (48-09SB), TaylorMade MG Hi-Toe (52-09SB, 56-09SB, 60-LB09), Shafts: Project X Rifle 6.5
2026: TaylorMade MG5 (46-09SB, 50-09SB, 54-11SB, 60-08LB @61), Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46-54), Project X 6.5 Wedge (60)

Between 2019 and 2026, McIlroy’s focus on his short game has been much more apparent. It was the reason why he switched back to the TP5 golf ball, to help with launch, spin and control with his wedges leading up to his career Grand Slam victory in 2025. The most apparent changes to McIlroy’s wedge setup are his lofts and bounce. He’s slowly delofted his pitching to a sand wedge, but has increased the loft on the lob wedge, bending his current 60-degree to 61. With that, adding more loft to his lob wedge also slightly increases the bounce and leading-edge sit point, so, as a result, he plays a lower-bounce lob wedge compared to 2019. The MG5 wedges are also softer than the first Milled Grind option from 2019. McIlroy also no longer plays the full-face grooves found on the Hi-Toe.

Putter

2019: TaylorMade Spider X
2026: TaylorMade Spider Tour X

Notice anything similar. Yes, the copper finish on Rory McIlroy’s Spider X putter in 2019 is a slightly more reflective finish than the recently released torched PVD finish. McIlroy was using the True Path alignment system, but now uses only a single white sightline.

Ball

2019: 2019 TaylorMade TP5 (#22)
2026: 2025 TaylorMade TP5 (RORS)

As mentioned above, McIlroy had transitioned from the TP5 to TP5x golf ball since his victory in Canada in 2019, but now is black with the same style of golf ball as his victory at Hamilton Golf & Country Club.

Grips

2019: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
2026: Golf Pride MCC

Interesting, McIlroy actually used Golf Pride’s Tour Velvet Cord grips during his victory in 2019 (it was during a 2+ year switch to the corded TV) as opposed to his usual MCC grips, which he has played for most of his career.

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