Equipment
Cleveland CG Black and CG Black Custom drivers
Driver swings on the PGA Tour clock in at more than 110 mph. According to Cleveland Golf, most recreational golfers play a much slower game and shouldn’t be using the same drivers they see on TV.
Cleveland’s new CG Black (260 grams) and CG Black Custom (275 grams) drivers have lightweight designs that cater to golfers with average swing speeds, as well as those who need more distance and forgiveness.
The CG Black driver is for golfers with less 95 mph of speed, while the CG Black Custom driver — which has an adjustable hosel — is for those who swing between 85-and-105 mph.
CG Black Custom ($400)
The CG Black Custom has what Cleveland calls “Speed Innovation technology” that makes the club head lighter for faster swing speeds. It comes stock with a Mitsubishi Bassara E50 shaft (A, R and S-flexes in both left- and right-handed options), and comes with an adjustable hosel that provides loft options between 9 and 12 degrees.
Cleveland CG Black ($350)
Cleveland’s CG Black is designed with what’s called “low swing MOI,” which helps generate more club head speed, but “high club head MOI,” for face stability at impact on off-center hits. The driver isn’t adjustable, but it’s offered in various lofts — 9, 10.5 and 12.5 degrees.
If you need more speed and forgiveness and don’t care about adjustability, try out Cleveland’s CG Black. If you swing it a little faster and want to dial in your ball flight with an adjustable hosel, you’ll want to try the CG Black Custom.
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- Daniel Berger what’s in the bag accurate as of the Farmers Insurance Open. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X
6-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 Tour (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X
Irons: TaylorMade P770 (3), TaylorMade Tour Preferred MC 2011 (4-PW)
Shafts: Project X Denali Blue 105 TX (3), Project X 6.5 (4-PW)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (50-12F), Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (56-14F), Callaway Jaws Raw (60-08C)
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (50), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (56, 60)
Putter: Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Mini DB
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy PistolLock 1.0
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Wrap
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Check out more in-hand photos of Daniel Berger’s clubs in the forums.
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What are the driver and shaft combinations of the best golfers in the world? For gearheads, it’s an endlessly interesting question — even if we can only ever aspire to play LS heads and 7 TX shafts.
At this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, GolfWRX got in-hand looks at the driver setups of a wealth of players.
Check out some of the most interesting combos below, then head to the GolfWRX forums for the rest, as well as the rest of our galleries from New Orleans.
Rory McIlroy
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees @8.25)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride MCC
Alex Fitzpatrick
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride MCC
Daniel Berger
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees @9)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Wrap
Rasmus Hojgaard
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Blue 60 TX
Grip: Golf Pride MCC
Alejandro Tosti
Driver: Srixon ZX5 Mk II LS (9.5 degrees @10.5)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS T1100 75 6.5
Grip: Golf Pride MCC Plus4
James Nicholas
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (8 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Kevin Streelman
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Sang-moon Bae
Driver: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond (9+ @8)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Russ Cochran
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke (9 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD TP 6 X
Grip: Golf pride MCC Align 
MJ Daffue
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max (10.5 degrees @9.5)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green RDX 65 TX
Grip: Golf Pride ZGrip Cord Align
Check our more photos from the Zurich Classic here.
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- Rasmus Højgaard what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic.
Driver: Callaway Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Blue 60 TX
3-wood: Callaway Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Prototype (16.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX
Utility: Callaway Apex UW (21 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw White 85 TX
Irons: Callaway Apex Pro (3), Callaway X Forged (4-PW)
Shafts: KBS $-Taper 130
Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (52-10S, 56-10S, 60-06C)
Shafts: KBS Tour 130 X
Putter: Odyssey Ai One Milled Eight T DB
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Check out more in-hand photos of Hojgaard in the forums.
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Daniel Berger WITB 2024 (April)
Daniel Berger what’s in the bag accurate as of the Farmers Insurance Open. More photos from the event here. Driver:...
Rasmus Højgaard WITB 2024 (April)
Rasmus Højgaard what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic. Driver: Callaway Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees)...
Rory McIlroy WITB 2024 (April)
Rory McIlroy what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic. Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus...
Sam Burns WITB 2024 (April)
Sam Burns’ what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage. Driver: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond S (9 degrees...
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19th Hole2 weeks agoDave Portnoy places monstrous outright bet for the 2024 Masters
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19th Hole3 days agoJustin Thomas on the equipment choice of Scottie Scheffler that he thinks is ‘weird’
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19th Hole2 weeks agoTiger Woods arrives at 2024 Masters equipped with a putter that may surprise you
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19th Hole2 days ago‘Absolutely crazy’ – Major champ lays into Patrick Cantlay over his decision on final hole of RBC Heritage
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19th Hole3 weeks agoReport: Tiger Woods has ‘eliminated sex’ in preparation for the 2024 Masters
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19th Hole1 week agoTwo star names reportedly blanked Jon Rahm all week at the Masters
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19th Hole1 week agoReport: LIV Golf identifies latest star name they hope to sign to breakaway tour
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19th Hole1 week agoNeal Shipley presser ends in awkward fashion after reporter claims Tiger handed him note on 8th fairway
FTWPhil
Feb 9, 2015 at 2:50 pm
We haven’t sold much of their drivers since the Hi-Bore Monster XLS. IIRC they had a BOGO fairway deal though. Honestly the most recent horrible feeling driver by a major OEM. I think they suffer from changing horses midstream with the acquisition of Cleveland by Srixon. Seems like too much Asian market equipment.
And I don’t care if Rotex 2.0 is better, it looks horrible.
j.a.
Feb 8, 2015 at 6:14 am
Last Friday there was a demo day at my home club. I tried the new CG Black but it didn’t impressed me. I pulled my Launcher XL from my bag for comparison and it felt much better, same as my Classic XL which is my current gamer.
I agree with the comments that Cleveland Golf is such an underrated brand. They do great clubs and it’s sad to see that they are coming in 2015 with such a limited offer. In Australia, they are quite popular.
Steve
Feb 7, 2015 at 1:08 pm
It seems like very little effort from Cleveland on this driver
JH
Feb 6, 2015 at 5:45 pm
non-adjustable driver for $350? lol
graymulligan
Feb 8, 2015 at 10:33 am
that’s okay…give these 3 months, they’ll be $169 at DSG.
Seriously, Cleveland…are you even trying any more?
LorenRobertsFan
Feb 6, 2015 at 3:39 pm
Disappointing. looks like a Machspeed
dcorun
Feb 6, 2015 at 1:20 pm
I’ve played the Cleveland Classic Custom XL since late 2013. One of the best drivers they have ever sold. I traded in my Launcher 460 which was also a great driver. Cleveland has long been an underrated company which is a shame. I also play their 588 MT irons and they are also outstanding especially with the forged face. I’ll probably try out the CG Black against my Classic to see if it’s worth changing. I was fitted for the Classic and haven’t changed it so, I’ll just buy the non adjustable and save $50 if I switch.
Denis
Feb 6, 2015 at 10:51 am
Why was the previous driver a flop in your opinion? I’m using XL270 and may consider upgrading to this one, so would be curious to know.
Thank you.
NGG
Feb 4, 2015 at 4:52 pm
Been a big fan of Cleveland drivers up to and including the classic XL custom…this rehash of a previous flop just smells like desperation and is a little disappointing.