Connect with us

Equipment

The most iconic Titleist drivers of all time

Published

on

With the new TSi Series Titleist drivers on the horizon, there is no better time than now to take a look back at the history of the company’s metal woods and discuss their most iconic drivers to date.

Only time will tell if the newest drivers will earn a spot, but if everything we are hearing about the TSi drivers stands true, we could be adding to this list very soon.

Titleist 975D – 1998

The 975D was the very first “serious golfer” titanium driver. It was made famous thanks to Tiger Woods using one in 2000 to win the “Tiger Slam”, and David Duval, who is famous for being one of the few golfers to ever take away the world number 1 ranking from Mr. Woods in his prime.

It was a small pear-shaped head with a bore through hosel and full-face scoring lines that packed a real “thud” at impact. If you were a “player,” you probably used this driver!

Titleist 975J – 2001

 

The 975J’s release coincided with one of the most important equipment releases of the last 25 years—the original Titleist ProV1, which worked in conjunction to help golfers pick up a lot of yardage with the high-launch, low-spin revolution. Although the 975J was quickly surpassed a few years later by the 983K, it was the 975J that changed a lot of golfers’ perception about Titleist woods—and how could we forget the historically cool headcover!

One more note on the succeeding 983K. Its 2003 release also came alongside the original Pro V1x, which helped Ernie Els tame a windy Kapalua for an eight-shot victory at the 2003 Tournament of Champions. Golf hasn’t been the same since.

Titleist 905R – 2006

This was Titleist’s very first 460cc driver and was so good Adam Scott used the same model for well over six years. It offered a familiar pear shape, but in the biggest head size possible.

The 905R came shortly after the original 905 series drivers were released, which included the 400cc 905S and 905T models. The “S” was the deeper face lower spinning head (my personal favorite), while the “T” was the next evolution of the 983K. Both were popular, but with almost all other equipment companies at the time touting 460cc heads, Titleist had to keep up, and that’s where the 905R came in.

Speaking to “next evolution” products, one of the stock shafts in the 905R was the UST ProForce V2, and when it comes to cult driver head and shaft combinations, this one is a first ballot hall of famer.

Titleist 910D3 – 2010

After the 905 series, Titleist released some good-but-not-great drivers with the 907 and 909 series respectively (funny thing is, the 907’s can’t even be found on Titleist’s previous model archive). If there was one standout from that time it would be the 909D-Comp (for composite), which was the first Titleist driver to utilize a carbon composite crown. It was Titleist’s first real attempt at a more game-improvement driver, and for those that got fit into a 909D-Comp, it was a pretty good head, but what came next was the real revolution.

The Titleist 910 series—specifically the 910D3—ushered in the next generation of low spin adjustability. It was the first driver with hosel lie and loft adjustability, and it was also the first in the entire industry to offer independent control of both parameters. Although the adapter has been refined to save weight, the adjustments themselves have remained unchanged, which I believe proves just how revolutionary it was at the time.

Your Reaction?
  • 190
  • LEGIT24
  • WOW8
  • LOL5
  • IDHT2
  • FLOP9
  • OB3
  • SHANK26

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.

20 Comments

20 Comments

  1. Matt

    Oct 4, 2020 at 7:10 pm

    This is great content. Brings me back to all those legendary Titleist drivers over the years!

  2. duh

    Oct 3, 2020 at 10:31 am

    983 line more iconic than all apart from the 975D

  3. bradley v adams

    Oct 3, 2020 at 9:20 am

    It’s INSANE that Terry McCabe is not mentioned…..inconceivable and yes that word means what I think it does.

  4. Bruce

    Oct 2, 2020 at 3:57 pm

    983k needs to be on this list for sure! Still in my bag

  5. Bob Jones

    Oct 2, 2020 at 2:08 pm

    I still play my 975D.

  6. T

    Oct 2, 2020 at 12:38 pm

    Where is the 983K ???? That’s like leaving Larry Bird off the list of all time great Celtics.

  7. Bob Castelline

    Oct 2, 2020 at 11:35 am

    Where are the persimmon drivers? I used to have the most gorgeous amber Titleist driver that I could work either direction and sounded like a golf club was meant to sound. I loved that club almost as much as my own children.

  8. Mike Purcell

    Oct 2, 2020 at 11:25 am

    My wife still games my old 983K. We go to a demo day every now and then, she hits em all and says
    “nope, they can’t beat mine, I’m good.”

  9. Bri

    Oct 2, 2020 at 11:09 am

    Titleist PT? Hello…

  10. Golfinnut

    Oct 2, 2020 at 11:07 am

    What’s ridiculous is that I still have every one of these models mentioned in my bags. I just used the 905R this past weekend & realized why I had it in the bag … it was an awesome fairway finder!

  11. Paul Runyan

    Oct 2, 2020 at 10:41 am

    Love to see TXG’s Ian and Matty test the 905R against the new offerings from Titleist!

    Just mentioned in a discussion that at 70, yikes!, that I’m longer with the Mizuno ST 900G and Pro V1/B XS vs the 905R with the Professional Titleist wound and/or the first iteration of the Pro V1.

    I’m sure Mr Wunder can’t say that… ???? Tipped Ventus X … really?

    Something to do during the off season.

    • Anti-Old Cranky Rickheads

      Oct 5, 2020 at 12:37 pm

      We understand that you’re an old crusty curmudgeon that hates technology. Now I challenge you to have an even more outdated opinion.

  12. Ken

    Oct 2, 2020 at 10:40 am

    Still have my 905R and my 910D3 in my back-up bag

  13. Jbone

    Oct 2, 2020 at 10:29 am

    Graffaloy Blue >>> V2

    Still game the 905s with the blue

    • T.D.

      Oct 2, 2020 at 11:25 am

      This!! The Grafally blue X STILL stands up against today’s shafts, I don’t care what anybody says.
      Sadly, I just had to pull the blue out of my 905R this week and put it in my TS3. That combo was so good, but TS3 is just a longer driver and I’m sure I’ll have this combo in the bag for a long time.

      • Paulo

        Oct 3, 2020 at 9:59 am

        Shafts degrade after time. Be careful , it’s likely going to show noticeable performance issues if it’s been used too much. This is why stepson bought them wherever he could find them.

  14. Peter Uihlein

    Oct 2, 2020 at 9:34 am

    You left off the 983K which is arguably #1

  15. Jason Geraci

    Oct 2, 2020 at 9:18 am

    The 975 is the first club that Bob Vokey worked on after coming over to Titleist from Founder’s Club.

    I still don’t think that the TS line gets enough credit. It was the bridge to TSi and they are still winning in my fitting bay.

    • golfraven

      Oct 3, 2020 at 10:51 am

      I fully agre. I would add the TS to the mix as it was an evolution from the 91x models. I’ll keep my TS3 in the bag for the sake of the triangle alignment which got dropped with the TSi – I personally think its a bummer but hey what do I know.

      • Paulo

        Oct 3, 2020 at 2:31 pm

        In the eyes of the multi million dollar achusnet company and in particular their marketing and multi million dollar RnD departments , you sir, no precisely f all

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Whats in the Bag

Rasmus Højgaard WITB 2024 (April)

Published

on

  • 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.

 

Your Reaction?
  • 0
  • LEGIT0
  • WOW0
  • LOL0
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK0

Continue Reading

Whats in the Bag

Rory McIlroy WITB 2024 (April)

Published

on

  • Rory McIlroy what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic. 

Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X

5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9 X

Irons: TaylorMade Proto (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9)
Shaft: Project X 7.0 (4-9)

Wedges: TaylorMade MG4 (46-09SB, 50-09SB, 54-11SB), Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks (58-K @59)
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46-54), Project X 6.5 Wedge (60)

Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour X3
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Pistol Tour

Ball: 2024 TaylorMade TP5x

Grips: Golf Pride MCC

Check out more in-hand photos of Rory McIlroy’s WITB in the forums.

Your Reaction?
  • 2
  • LEGIT0
  • WOW0
  • LOL0
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK1

Continue Reading

Equipment

Spotted: Nate Lashley’s Ping PLD “Wolverine” putter

Published

on

Ping PLD putters have been a very common site on profesional tours. Pros seem to gravitate toward the PLD line’s custom options and precision milling. We have seen the PLD line expanded over the years, but we haven’t seen too many, if any, large mallets.

This week we spotted a PLD putter in Nate Lashley’s bag that has a similar look to the old Ping Wolverine head shape. This putter is a large mallet with the famous “claws” on the outside and oval center that housed the alignment aid.

Nick’s putter has the PLD logo on the back but also looks like it might have an insert installed on the face. It is hard to tell but at the address picture, it looks like the face is a lighter material than the rest of the putters. The putter is center-shafted and should be face-balanced with a high MOI for stability and forgiveness on mishits. The sole is completely milled and has no markings of name or technologies that might be present in the head. A single white site line is on the top of the putter for alignment.

Nick’s putter is finished off with a chrome steel shaft and a Super Stroke Zenergy Flatso 2.0 grip in black and white.

Your Reaction?
  • 0
  • LEGIT0
  • WOW0
  • LOL0
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK0

Continue Reading

WITB

Facebook

Trending