News

Club Junkie Review: Callaway Paradym drivers! All 3 heads!

Published

3 years ago

Jan 7, 2023

Callaway just started off its 2023 golf season strong with the release of the new Paradym driver line up. There are three Paradym models to fit your swing and offer cutting edge technology to enhance distance, forgiveness, and control spin. I was fortunate enough to hit all three models, only on the range so far, and came away impressed with the entire line. For a more detailed review, please take a listen to the Club Junkie below or on any podcast platform. Just search GolfWRX Radio.

Paradym Driver

The “standard” Paradym driver is the bread and butter option that should fit a wide range of golfers. From tour professionals to high handicaps will be playing this head with the amount of adjustment available. I like the look from address and think the combination of gloss blue carbon fiber goes well with the matte black front of the head. The shape also looks less stretched from face to back compared to the Rogue ST and the transition from hosel to the topline is cleaner and smoother. The sound is also improved to my ear with a much more muted and lower pitched “crack” sound at impact. The feel is also very good and you can feel the ball compress off the face on center strikes and are gently reminded that you missed the center with slightly louder sound and vibration to the hands. Ball Speed on the Paradym is excellent on center strikes, as you would expect, but the driver can keep the speeds high even when out on the toe or low heel. Ball flight was very straight with neutral with gentle draws and the ball falling to the left on well struck shots. You have the ability to use the rear sliding weight to adjust the bias of the driver, but felt very neutral to me. The launch is mid/high and low spin. I average a launch angle of 12.3 degrees and a spin rate of 3,029RPM with the Project X HZRDUS Silver shaft and range golf balls. Dispersion was tight and I felt like the Paradym wanted to go as hard left when I gave it my dreaded hook swing.

Paradym Triple Diamond

This “players” head is definitely more compact at address, shorter from face to back, but still has enough of a footprint to give you confidence that you don’t have to play on tour to hit it. The sound was a smidge louder than the Paradym and with just a little more of a metallic sound to it. I still really liked how muted the Triple Diamond sounded and the feel was solid. Center strikes were met with a soft impact where you again could feel the ball compress off the face. Shots outside of the center were again met with minimal noise and vibration increases. The shocking thing about the Triple Diamond was how forgiving it was on those mishits. Ball speed stayed up and I averaged 145.2MPH ball speed and a 1.46 smash factor through my session. The other surprising thing with the Triple Diamond was how straight poor swings went and with the heavy weight in the rear the Triple Diamond is a very playable driver. This head launched the lowest for me at 11.1 degrees and spun the least at 2,929RPM with range golf balls. I did notice that moving the heavier weight (14g) forward would reduce the spin for me around 250RPM without really effecting my launch angle too much.

Paradym X

The X is the most forgiving head in the Paradym lineup and also has the largest footprint when you set it down. But even with the larger footprint, the shape is proportional and has a much cleaner look to it than last year. It is a bit more round and less triangular at the back for a look that I really like. It did launch the highest out of the 3 drivers for me at an average of 14.6 degrees but the spin still was low for me at 2,998 RPM. Shots with the X were high with a little draw on them. The X is very easy to turn over and provided more of a gentle draw than a big hook like some would think this driver might do. I am a player who naturally hits a draw and the Paradym X didn’t make it any stronger, if anything it took the right side of the course out of play.

Overall, I am very impressed with my initial testing of the Callaway Paradym drivers. Performance was very good and the biggest thing that stood out was the consistency of the spin number on off center hits. Hitting shots high, low, toe, or heel on the face never resulted in a spin number that was wildly high or low, everything stayed within a few hundred RPM of a center strike. I didn’t notice it at first, but after the range I was looking at the numbers and it really stood out. I think it is in your best interest to add the Paradym to your list of drivers to try this year!

News

Charles Schwab Challenge Tour Report: MacIntyre, Åberg and Spaun all switch putters, TaylorMade launches new Spider

Published

1 day ago

May 29, 2026

Alistair Cameron

There must be something in the water. Or potentially on the greens. A whole host of big-time players decided that the Charles Schwab Challenge was the perfect place to test out new putters.

With the 2026 U.S. Open just around the corner, defending champion J.J. Spaun made a surprising switch away from his center-shafted Df3 and into L.A.B. Golf’s OZ.1i HS – the heel-shafted mallet putter.

“Just something I kind of wanted to change the way the putter was looking, just a completely different look than the DF3 that I’ve been using for the last year and a half,” Spaun told GolfWRX about the swap. “So it’s just easier to line up for me with less onset looking design, and it’s just something I felt like switching it up and seeing how it goes.”

You can find more about the putter and the reasoning behind Spaun’s change here.

Robert MacIntyre also decided to change the flatstick at Colonial Country Club. He’s using a custom Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5R. The Scotty team created a specially-milled face featuring horizontal grooves and shortened the plumber’s neck to increase toe hang.

Another custom feature of the build is the welded wings added to the rear of the putter, similar to those found on the Phantom 11 head.

It’s potentially part of a major overhaul to his bag. The Scot has recently switched from the Titleist Pro V1 to the Pro V1x golf ball, added the new GTS2 driver, and is currently testing a GTS 3-wood that could replace his ancient TaylorMade AeroBurner 3-wood.

Ludvig Åberg joined the trio of superstars making alterations on the greens. He’s added a Scotty Cameron Phantom 3.2.

It’s not Åberg’s first putter switch of the season. He had been using different versions of his usual Odyssey Versa #1 head to try to get better speed control on the greens.

? Ludvig Åberg is using a new putter! He’s playing a @ScottyCameron Phantom 3 head. First major putter switch, although he has been changing loft and heads in the Odyssey #1 style this season.
Here’s a Phantom 3 built for him earlier in the season https://t.co/oGrNk6p0hz pic.twitter.com/edRbpk22m4

— Alistair Cameron (@ACameronWRX) May 28, 2026

Currently, a Tour-only offering, the Phantom 3 head is a half-moon mallet shape. Like the previous version that GolfWRX captured at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which Åberg never put in play, the current version appears to feature the Studio Carbon Steel face insert and chain-link face milling. Instead of the all-black version one, Åberg’s current flatstick is in the metal finish.

Rico Hoey’s make-shift Jailbird

Some of the best builds on Tour have a certain Frankenstein theme to them.

Odyssey decided to do this when breeding a turtle and a bird together. The result, Rico Hoey’s latest broomstick.

The custom Jailbird S2S Tri-Hot head includes an aluminium-milled insert from the unreleased TRTL head, which the team machined down to fit the face of the Jailbird after removing the usual Ai-Dual insert.

The team also filled the wings of the putter with epoxy to redistribute mass away from the face, with the metal insert weighing more than the original.

Hoey was also spotted with a custom Damascus Milled Jailbird Mini broomstick. Check out the full gallery here.

Brant Snedeker’s full WITB

Arguably, the PGA Tour’s feel-good story of the year so far was 45-year-old Brandt Snedeker returning to the winner’s circle for the first time in nearly 8 years.

His victory didn’t come without some equipment updates, either. The Presidents Cup Captain added the 2016 M2 driver equipped with a Fujikura Speeder Evolution 661. It’s a shaft that’s even older than the driver.

The historic driver setup might have been added because Snedeker was missing some antique vibes. He recently switched out his 2-decade-old Odyssey Rossie White Hot XG for a TaylorMade Spider Tour X.

He first put the Spider in play at the Cognizant Classic. Still, at the Valspar Championship, he tested TaylorMade’s True Path Alignment versus without, and preferred the added aim benefits he was getting. In previous testing, the biggest thing Snedeker noticed was the launch and how quickly the ball got to true roll from the Spider and its Pure Roll insert compared to anything else he had tried.

Check out Snedeker’s full what’s in the bag during this week’s episode of “Inside the Ropes” from Colonial.

Everything’s bigger in Texas

TaylorMade Golf chose the second stop of a Texas two-step in Dallas as the spot to launch the tour’s latest Spider putter.

On-site Monday at Colonial Country Club, GolfWRX’s Tour Photographer Greg Moore captured the new Spider ZT Max putter ahead of the Charles Schwab Challenge.

The Max version of TaylorMade’s zero-torque putter style has a larger footprint than the original ZT, which will likely lead to a higher MOI thanks to wider perimeter weighting.

The original ZT is made of high-density 303 stainless steel at the front, and then a lower-density 6061 aerospace aluminum on the back to create a high-MOI foundation, with a center shaft featuring slight forward shaft lean and 25mm onset behind the leading edge.

The Spider ZT Max also appears to use the ZT cambered sole, which is also seen on the recently Tour-launched Spider Tour, Tour X, F and V models, which were first spotted at the RBC Heritage.

Brian Harman gamed the original Spider ZT for his victory last year at the 2025 Valero Texas Open, and the putter also saw victory on the DP World Tour in the hands of Michael Kim for his FedEx Open de France win.

Check out the full gallery here.

Odds and Ends

Project X officially Tour launched the Titan Yellow shaft, just a few days after Wyndham Clark played it for the first time and won The CJ Cup Byron Nelson. The shaft features a smoother feel in the handle compared to past Project X wood shafts, along with a firm midsection and firm tip. The Synex Technology allows a player to feel more load in transition without losing the feel of the clubhead. Titleist launched the GTS300 back at Quail Hollow, and just a few weeks later, it’s in the bag of Justin Thomas. Could this be a test run for Shinnecock?

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the ShopRite LPGA

Published

2 days ago

May 28, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX Tour Photographer Greg Moore was on site in Galloway, New Jersey, ahead of the ShopRite LPGA powered by Wakefern to snap some WITB photos and more.

Check out links to all the photos below!

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

Odyssey putters – 2026 ShopRite(LPGA)

News

Club Junkie WITB, week 18: Driver still needs a grip!

Published

3 days ago

May 27, 2026

Brian Knudson

Back again for week 18 with another new bag for this week’s league night! Last week I played well but lost so hoping to get back on the winning side of things. I am pretty excited to get this driver out on the course as I think it is a legit sleeper in the category. It is also time to break out some newly built irons from JP Golf that look awesome and hopefully play just as good! Here is what is in the bag this week.

Driver: PXG Lighting Tour-Mid (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Red 6s

4-wood: Wilson Dynapwr Carbon (16.5 degrees @ 16)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Red 7s

Hybrid: Callaway Apex Ti Super Hybrid (21 degrees @ 20)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus HB Red 9x

Utility: Mizuno JPX One (22 degrees @ 23)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Black 85s

Irons: JP Prime (5-PW)
Shafts: UST Mamiya Dart V 105 F5

Wedge: Cleveland RTZ (50-10 MID)
Shafts: KBS C-Taper Lite 110 s

Wedge: Cleveland RTZ (56-10 MID)
Shafts: KBS C-Taper Lite 110 s

Wedge: Cleveland RTZ (50-8 ADAPT)
Shafts: KBS C-Taper Lite 110 s

Putter: Mizuno M.Craft City Osaka
Shaft: TPT Pulse 50

Ball: PXG Xtreme Tour

Bag: Ghost Anyday Black Ops Stand Bag