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TaylorMade extends AeroBurner line with Mini Driver

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TaylorMade’s AeroBurner Mini Driver exists in the space between the company’s drivers and fairway woods, and that’s the beauty of it.

Buzz around the Mini Driver category reached new heights after the 2015 Honda Classic, where it earned its first PGA Tour win. Padraig Harrington used TaylorMade’s original Mini Driver — a 12-degree SLDR S — as a driver alternative in route to his first PGA Tour victory since 2008.

[quote_box_center]”It’s too soon to tell, but it could be a category that becomes as popular as our rescue clubs,” said TaylorMade’s Senior Director of Product Creation Brian Bazzel. “Demand [for the SLDR S Mini Driver] was greater than we expected.” [/quote_box_center]

The new Mini Driver has a marginally smaller head size — 253 cubic centimeters, which is 9 cubic centimeters less than the original. That makes it substantially bigger than a fairway wood, for more forgiveness from the tee, but small enough that golfers can hit it off the ground if necessary.

The biggest changes to the club, however, revolve not around its size, but its sole and its shape.

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At address: TaylorMade’s AeroBurner Mini Driver (left) and AeroBurner Driver.

Like the AeroBurner metal woods, the AeroBurner Mini Driver uses the company’s latest Speed Pocket, a deep slot that extends across the entirety of its sole. According to Bazzel, the Speed Pocket increases the AeroBurner’s sweet spot, allowing it to launch the ball with slightly more ball speed and a little less spin (about 100-to-200 rpm) than the SLDR Mini Driver.

The sole of the club is also flatter, a change that will make the Mini Driver easier to use from the fairway and light rough, and it borrows the more aerodynamic shape of the AeroBurner metal woods. Its crown has a raised center that gently slopes from the front of the club to the back, and a “fin” on its hosel are both said to improve aerodynamics.

Related: Click here to learn about TaylorMade’s AeroBurner irons. 

Golfers comparing the AeroBurner Mini Driver to the SLDR S Mini Driver will notice that the AeroBurner shape at address is more symmetrical, whereas the SLDR S was more elongated in its back toe section.

As for the results? Our internal testing has seen some golfers hit the Mini Driver just as far and much straighter than their regular driver, but there are a lot of different variables at play. They include:

  • The Mini Driver’s 43.5-inch length, which is roughly 2-inches shorter than a driver.
  • Its smaller head size, which is easier for many golfers to square at impact.
  • The increased loft, relative to a driver, which helps many golfers launch the ball higher and with less spin — one of the keys to more distance.

The bottom line is this: If you find yourself using your lowest-lofted fairway wood primarily from the tee, why wouldn’t you want its head to be bigger, and thus more forgiving?

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At address: TaylorMade’s AeroBurner Mini Driver and AeroBurner Mini Driver TP (right).

The AeroBurner Mini Driver ($279) is available in lofts of 12, 14 and 16 degrees (RH only) and comes stock with Matrix’s Speed RUL-Z 60 shaft.

A TP version ($349), which has a flatter lie angle and more open face angle for more fade bias, is also available in lofts of 12 and 14 degrees (both RH only). It comes stock with a Matrix White Tie MSS 70X4 shaft.

They’ll be in stores March 27.

Click here to see what GolfWRX Members are saying about the AeroBurner Mini Drivers in our forum. 

Specs

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11 Comments

11 Comments

  1. RG

    Mar 12, 2015 at 3:44 pm

    I have an old school Callaway Big bertha 11 degree club. It was considered a ladies driver. I put a neww shaft in it and let me tell u off the deck or of the tee I’ll put it against any of these new “mini drivers.” It is hot and very accurate. This is not a new concept and there are clubs out there that are better and 1/3 the cost.

  2. james

    Mar 11, 2015 at 1:31 pm

    cant wait to get one of these! oh wait I cant as I’m a leftie

  3. Justin

    Mar 11, 2015 at 12:09 pm

    It’s really frustrating that it seems for this year, TaylorMade feels that there are no lefties who want TP clubs. As a lefty whose miss is a draw, I need the square to open face of a TP model.

  4. Leon

    Mar 11, 2015 at 11:49 am

    Cut your driver shaft to 43 inches, your driver will be much more forgiving than the mini ones. It will hit the ball much longer too, not only because of the lower loft of the driver, but also due to the higher COR from the Titanium face than the steel face.

    Plus, it will not cost you a stupid $300, but rather a reasonable $20 for a new grip and some lead tapes to bring the swing weight back to your comfort zone.

  5. GW

    Mar 11, 2015 at 11:45 am

    My favorite “mini driver” of all time is the original R7 line. I don’t see a point in buying a brand new driver that is smaller just so I can fill a gap between a driver and a 3 wood. Now, if I hit it as far as my current driver, or close to it, and kept it in the fairway more often then I might be interested in that.

  6. gwillis7

    Mar 11, 2015 at 11:31 am

    I always struggle from the tee….use a jetspeed and it has given me my best results (I only slice 3 out of 10 times from the tee now lol). But I will give this a try, if I can keep most my shots straight and only lose 15 yards or so I would jump on board. Not a TM guy, I am a Ping fan by far, but don’t mind their product cycle and I think a lot of their stuff looks good (not all, but a lot).

    • gwillis7

      Mar 11, 2015 at 3:44 pm

      Ok I just saw on TM website that they are gonna make aeroburner irons….The loft of the 4 iron is 19 degrees…19!!
      The PW is 43 and the AW is 49….

      I don’t care about them coming out with new stuff every 6 months, I don’t have to buy it. But I don’t like the fact that lofts have gotten absolutely crazy….4 iron that is 19 degrees, that’s just stupid

  7. Chad

    Mar 11, 2015 at 10:49 am

    I bet this thing is stupid long.

  8. Cally

    Mar 11, 2015 at 10:46 am

    Stop this product cycle comments….if you don’t like it don’t buy it, easy as that.

    • marty

      Mar 11, 2015 at 11:03 am

      Those are guys who are cheap and can’t afford new clubs.

  9. Josh

    Mar 11, 2015 at 10:07 am

    That didn’t take long.

    Looks like the market cycle is getting even faster.

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Whats in the Bag

Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)

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Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX

5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX

Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)

Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4

More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.

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Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?

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Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.

The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?

Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.

When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.

To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.

Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.

“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.

“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”

Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.

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Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird

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With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.

On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.

Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?

Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’

So that’s why I went back.

 

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OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?

It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.

Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.

It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.

Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.

Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.

So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?

Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.

Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play? 

Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.

There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.

It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.

Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.

And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?

Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’

If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’

My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’

I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”

And you’re going with it this week?

Hundred percent.

Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week. 

Thanks, man.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

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