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WRX Spotted: TaylorMade “Original One” Mini Driver

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It’s been said before — what’s old is new again, and in the case of what just popped up on the USGA Conforming List, it appears the new “Original One” from TaylorMade could be 40 years in the making.

Although we have no official word from TaylorMade on any of the specifics of “Original One” yet, there sure are a lot of conclusions we could draw from the standard single black and white image that accompanies a new inclusion on the conforming list.

  • First off its clearly a Mini Driver (hopefully this proves I’m literate now). We’re not sure of the CCs of this club, but based off the previously released AeroBurner Mini, we would expect it to fall between the 255-300cc mark. Which on a side note is kinda funny because 300cc used to be considered an oversized club…
  • It’s adjustable: Unlike previous iterations of the “Mini,” this club will be fully adjustable. This means that it will have adjustability +/- two degrees from the standard lofts, currently listed as 11.5 and 13.5 degrees and on the USGA list; fantastic news for anyone concerned about fitting or shaft testing.
  • Original One (Pittsburgh Persimmon): Like I said off the top, this club is 40 years in the making because 2019 is TaylorMade Golf’s 40th Anniversary. The name is a throwback to its Original metal driver — the Pittsburgh Persimmon. (A TM spokesperson did confirm “This is a cool product to celebrate our 40th anniversary…more info to follow)
  • Technology aplenty: Just from the sole alone, we can clearly see that the “Original One” has hosel adjustability, a speed pocket, and a titanium crown. This is pure speculation but it will be interesting to see if it will also include TwistFace and the company’s new speed injected face.
  • Screws on the sole: To maximize mass properties, these screws could be holding a very heavy sole plate to the bottom of the club to move mass to the furthest reaches of the club’s shell. Again this is speculation, but taking a close look at the lines of the black and white photo (I’ve been staring at it for 10 minutes now), I have an inkling this might be the case.

This is not the first time TaylorMade has brought a mini driver to market. There was the SLDR Mini in 2014, and after that, there was the AeroBurner. Both clubs were great for both professional and recreational players alike to give another confidence inspiring option for off the tee — and for the truly brave souls with some speed to hit off the deck.

We will probably be seeing this on tour very soon as players fine-tune their setups for major season. In other words, we shouldn’t have to wait long to see our technological speculation confirmed (or refuted).

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Ryan Barath is a club-fitter & master club builder with more than 17 years of experience working with golfers of all skill levels, including PGA Tour players. He is the former Build Shop Manager & Social Media Coordinator for Modern Golf. He now works independently from his home shop and is a member of advisory panels to a select number of golf equipment manufacturers. You can find Ryan on Twitter and Instagram where he's always willing to chat golf, and share his passion for club building, course architecture and wedge grinding.

31 Comments

31 Comments

  1. Brian Moyse

    Apr 15, 2019 at 1:35 am

    I had one of those SLDR’s but couldn’t get any benefit from it so changed to an older TM R7 and W/S Ti td5, love them both. Had a lot of time for TM and good to see Tiger using them.

  2. LoPro

    Mar 28, 2019 at 2:00 am

    From the looks of where the screws are placed, this one has “Speed Injected Anus” for a better pounding effect and at least 20 more “Crap” yards ????

  3. Bob Castelline

    Mar 27, 2019 at 4:15 pm

    I carried the original Pittsburgh Persimmon. Carried it for a long time (back in the days when you didn’t change drivers every year). I wish I still had my old Taylormade. Loved that stick. I happen to be a guy who hits his 3-wood more solidly and more consistently than his driver, so this club makes sense for me, if it feels right. Can’t wait to test it out (because after all, my current driver is now a year old, which means it’s sorely out of date).

  4. Mike Cleland

    Mar 27, 2019 at 1:44 pm

    Wonderful…get it out…

  5. HDTVMAN

    Mar 27, 2019 at 1:25 pm

    I had the Callaway Bertha Mini and really liked it. 3-Wood length shaft and easy to hit. Traded it when the Fusion was introduced. But the new drivers are so forgiving, I don’t see the reason for this club.

  6. J Mytro

    Mar 27, 2019 at 1:22 pm

    Loved the MINI DRIVER when it came out but switch back to Tmad driver and cut 2″ off the shaft for more control and distance.

  7. joro

    Mar 27, 2019 at 1:14 pm

    April Fools !!!!!!!!

  8. juststeve

    Mar 26, 2019 at 11:21 am

    I carried the original “Original One” back in the day. Used it as a three wood. Easy to hit off the turf and very long. First mewtl headed wood I ever owned.

  9. Richard Douglas

    Mar 26, 2019 at 2:53 am

    I’ve been gaming the SLDR Mini since its introduction. It’s the only wood I carry besides the driver–it’s 3-iron through LW from there. I love it and use it as my fairway insurance device.

  10. Ricky

    Mar 25, 2019 at 6:33 pm

    Reliable insider sources report that this club is specifically coming to market in advance of the Masters as Augusta National will announce that the maximum size of clubs for this years tournament will be 300ccs. It is rumored that the announcement from Augusta is coming on April 1st. Instead of rolling back the ball the club has reportedly decided to take a stand against increasing distance in the game through the size of drivers and not the “Masters Ball” as discussed by many talking heads last year. All other manufacturers are working on similar products for their staff players at the Masters.

    • Simms

      Mar 25, 2019 at 9:01 pm

      Now I have to say they are going to announce this April 1st?? that would be crazy, if they have equipment requirements they would let the pros know a lot more in advance then that…do you really think giving the player less then a month to get a new club and put it in play…if this was so how come no one was hitting one on the range or playing one in the last few tournaments…reliable insider sources from one of the most private golf clubs in the world..Yea I believe that..

    • Richard Douglas

      Mar 26, 2019 at 2:50 am

      Ahh, the ground-breaking April 1st announcement. Of course.

      Did you know the word “gullible” is not in the dictionary. Go ahead, look it up.

  11. Curt

    Mar 25, 2019 at 5:28 pm

    Time for them to be the size pros have to use. Maybe they’ll have to think a bit more about swinging as hard as possible.

  12. ND Hickman

    Mar 25, 2019 at 5:14 pm

    Now waiting on Callaway to re-release some form of Big Bertha Mini / Phrakenwood … which I will probably end up buying anyway.

    • Pack7483

      Mar 26, 2019 at 8:28 am

      If they would add jailbreak I will definitely buy.

  13. Shallowface

    Mar 25, 2019 at 5:09 pm

    Love it! I was around for the original “Original One.” Maybe 125cc. The club was 43 inches with a steel shaft, and with a Top Flite 300 yard carries were not out of the question. Then on long par 5s you could hit it again for the second shot as the face depth was around 1.25 inches and the loft was 12 degrees. I didn’t work for TaylorMade, but letting guys hit my club sure sold a lot of them for them.

  14. C

    Mar 25, 2019 at 4:56 pm

    Cool! Can’t wait! TM is the best! Beat the rest!

    • Jon

      Mar 30, 2019 at 7:51 am

      You have been brainwashed by TM’s marketing, get help.

  15. JP

    Mar 25, 2019 at 4:33 pm

    Too late. The mini driver craze has ended. They didn’t realize, we’re at the tail end of the driving iron craze. You get rich knowing what’s coming NEXT!

    • Mike Rohmann

      Mar 25, 2019 at 5:05 pm

      I don’t necessarily agree. I have been gaming a 16 degree Slider mini driver for 4 years. It’s a superb club off the tee and is easy to get in the air from the turf. I have 1 that I game and another back up. I think that for many this club is a great alternative to any kind of driving iron. I have tried many and this is much easier for the regular play to use.

      • Alex

        Mar 25, 2019 at 8:20 pm

        Why do you play a 16 degree mini driver?

        • B

          Mar 26, 2019 at 3:24 am

          He obviously has problems getting it up

        • Benny

          Mar 26, 2019 at 8:41 am

          I play the same. 16* Mini as my 3w. Super easy off the tee and has great height while being able to shape it well. Off the deck I needed the 16* to get some loft.
          I had a 12* and 14* but the 16* was best for me as I am a low ball hitter. I have tried replacing it with a normal 3w but I have such issues with how the club sits and why I tend to game the Sldr Mini.

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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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A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx)

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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