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The most iconic Titleist drivers of all time

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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.

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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.

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

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Whats in the Bag

Adam Scott WITB 2024 (May)

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  • Adam Scott what’s in the bag accurate as of the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson. 

Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 TX

 

Driver: TaylorMade BRNR (13.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 TX

5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees), TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 9 X, Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 9 X

7-wood: TaylorMade Stealth (21 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI Black 9 X

Irons: Srixon ZX Mk II (3), Srixon ZX5 Mk II (4), Srixon ZX7 Mk II (5), Srixon Z-Forged II (6-9)
Shafts: Graphite Design Tour AD DI Hybrid 105 X (3), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (50-12F, 54-08M), SM9 (LW), WedgeWorks (LW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-54), S400 (LW)

Putter: L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Proto

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

See the rest of Adam Scott’s WITB in the forums.

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Whats in the Bag

Pierceson Coody WITB 2024 (April)

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Driver: TaylorMade Qi 10 (9 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 70 TX

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi 10 Tour (15 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Black 80 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P790 (3), TaylorMade P7MC (4-6), and TaylorMade P730 (7-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: TaylorMade MG4 (50-09SB, 54-11SB, 58-08LB)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: TaylorMade TP Reserve Juno

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: TaylorMade TP5x

Check out more in-hand photos of Pierceson Coody’s WITB here.

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Equipment

Why Ben Griffin is making the surprising switch to a Maxfli golf ball

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Ben Griffin might be a little too young to remember some of the iconic Maxfli golf balls that won on tour, but that isn’t stopping him from putting the newest Tour X ball from the brand in play. Today, Maxfli and Griffin announced an exclusive partnership that will see the PGA Tour player using the company’s four-piece golf ball.

While Griffin might be the first PGA Tour player to put a new Maxfli golf ball in play, he isn’t the first profesional golfer to do so. Lexi Thompson has been playing the Maxfli Tour golf ball on the LPGA Tour since the beginning of the 2024.

 

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A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx)

We caught up with Ben at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in Texas this week to ask him about the new ball switch.

“I was able to finally get my hands on some and try it and immediately I saw faster ball speed with the driver, which is always something every golfer wants to see.

“Then I had to test a lot around the greens and test irons, test spins, test everything like that. Basically, I came to the conclusion that I thought this was probably one of the best golf balls for my game.

“And so I decided to make it official and partner with them and very excited to help kind of launch this golf ball and see where it takes us.”

Griffin’s ball of choice is the Maxfli Tour X, a four-piece golf ball that is made for highly skilled players that want consistent distance off the driver and spin around the green. An updated core design helps add the ball speed that Griffin mentioned and two ionomer mantle layers separate low spin driver shots from higher spin iron and wedge shots. Maxfli uses Center Of center-of-gravity balancing to ensure each ball has consistent flight in the air and roll on the green. Like all golf balls on tour, the Tour X features a cast urethane cover for maximum performance, and it has a tetrahedron dimple pattern to enhance aerodynamics.

It is exciting to see a golf ball at a lower price point — $39.99 at Golf Galaxy — being used by a top 100 ranked player in the world like Ben Griffin, and equipment junkies will be keenly watching his performance with the new ball.

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