Equipment
Callaway launches Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini Driver
![](https://www.golfwrx.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Feature-2.jpeg)
First in our sites on the PGA Tour at the RBC Heritage in April, Callaway announced today it is bringing its Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini Driver to retail as the competition for the “not quite a driver, not quite a fairway wood” slot in golfers’ bags continues to heat up.
Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini Driver: Tech story
At 340 cc’s and designed primarily as an alternate tee club (11.5 and 13.5-degree lofts), the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini Driver features the same Ai Smart Face technology as the Ai Smoke family of drivers — for more on Micro Deflections and Swing Code, check out our driver launch piece. Additionally, with the mini driver Callaway engineers opted for a dual weighting system (four grams and 12 grams), which can be swapped to adjust launch and spin.
Discussing the mini driver, Paul Winterhalter, Product Manager at Callaway, said, “This isn’t necessarily your “bomber” spec; this isn’t looking for extra added distance as compared to your driver. But this is an alternative club to where it’s giving you that consistent distance. It’s that smaller footprint for a player that’s probably a little bit higher caliber, looking to control.”
Added Advanced R&D Manager Nick Yontz, “What we’ve seen from a Tour aspect is that Tour players are rarely hitting their 3-woods into greens as approach shots. The 3-wood has become nearly a tee-only club, so situationally I think we’re going to see tour players lean into this at certain golf courses and certain setups as a club that they can use to hit more fairways.”
Yontz also stated the mini driver is 43.75 inches in length, two inches shorter than a traditional driver. He described it as “easier to swing and easier to hit straighter, because of that shorter shaft being able to square it up and control it a little bit more.” He also mentioned the Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 is well suited to players who struggle to hit their 3-woods, particularly off the tee.
Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini Driver: Pricing, specs, availability
- Price: $449.99
- Lofts: 11.5, 13.5 degrees
- Shafts: Project X Denali Blue (50, 60), Project X Cypher (40)
- Pre-sale date: 6/11
- At retail: 6/27
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Equipment
What clubs do equipment free agents choose to use on tour? We found out
![](https://www.golfwrx.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/EquipmentFreeAgents.png)
There are 15 “equipment free agents” in the OWGR top 100, as of June 9, 2024, which is the Tuesday ahead of the 2024 Genesis Scottish Open.
“Equipment free agents” are defined here as players who do not have a sponsorship or a brand deal to play a specific company’s golf clubs. If the player has a brand deal to use a company’s staff bag, or their driver, or their irons, or their putter, or they wear an OEM hat, then they’re excluded from the “equipment free agent” list.
Full disclosure, I’ve excluded borderline players such as Maverick McNealy, Justin Rose, and Matt Fitzpatrick from the list, due to their putter relationships. I probably could have kept them in, since they use varied brands throughout their full setups, but we have to develop some basic definitions here to keep this clean.
Given the amount of golf-ball brand deals there are on tour, however, “equipment free agents” are still considered “equipment free agents” if they have golf ball deals.
Since I’m making the rules here, that’s just something everyone will have to live with for this article/research study. I do think, however, that most “gearheads” would agree with me, that an equipment free agent is someone who can play any 14 clubs that he chooses, thus, he’s an “equipment free agent.” Golf balls just don’t count in this circumstance, in my opinion, and I hope you agree.
Aside from some sort of under-the-table deal that no one knows about, as far as I can tell, and based on what I know, the 15 “equipment free agents” listed below are not compromised by any current club deals. These are players who are free to test and use any golf club, made by any brand that they want to, unrestricted by a contract.
Maybe I’m wrong, and a few of the players do, in fact, have contracts to play certain clubs, but I guarantee that I do not know about it. I’m doing the best I possibly can here to keep these results unbiased.
Also, we have to keep in mind that we’re dealing with equipment free agents here. These are players who tend to enjoy the freedom to test equipment from different brands, and they tend to switch clubs on a regular basis. So, what’s listed below could change by the week, or even by the day. However, I’ve done my best detective work, using our GolfWRX.com weekly WITB photos, using information obtained from equipment companies, and by analyzing the most up-to-date photos on Getty Images, or otherwise. Despite my best efforts, however, I’m sure to get something wrong, because these free agents switch clubs on a whim, and their bag setups often vary day-to-day.
I apologize if I got any information incorrect, but I do guarantee that the information listed below is accurate at a moment of time in 2024. For each of the 15 players, their club information is accurate as of the most recent information possible, as of the day before the Genesis Scottish Open. When you’re reading this article, however, things may have changed slightly. Or, a player listed below could have already signed a new brand deal. That’s just the nature of the “equipment free agent” business, and it’s just something we’re all going to have to accept here.
Lastly, before we get to the results, a few brief notes on the categories.
The categories here are drivers, fairway woods, 7-irons, lob wedges, and putters. For the fairway wood category, I’ve excluded the TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver. It just makes things a little too confusing, because most players who have a mini driver in the bag also have a 3-wood that they use depending on the course or conditions. In this case, I used the lowest-lofted fairway wood in the bag for each player. It just kind of evens the playing field this way, because the Mini Driver is a specialty club, and it can’t necessarily be called a fairway wood – it literally has “driver” in the name! But, just know, that about 1-4 Mini Drivers are in play on a given week by free agents.
Also, I researched just the “7-iron” to avoid any confusion around mixed sets, and to avoid trying to determine what’s considered a “driving iron” and what isn’t. It’s a cleaner list going with just the 7-iron, and I think it gets us what we’re all looking for. Maybe I’ll do some further study on “mixed sets,” but for now, we’ll start with just the 7. Additionally, we’re breaking down just the lob wedge, rather than all wedges used throughout the set. Not only do I think that the lob wedge is the specific club that most people want to know about, but it’s also super messy to include all the wedges in a player’s bag, because many players use some sort of mixed-model or mixed-brand wedge set.
Anyways!
Below, I’ve compiled a list of the most popular drivers, fairway woods, 7-irons, lob wedges, and putters among the 15 “equipment free agents,” who are each ranked inside the top 100 in the OWGR.
The information compiled below is listed numerically, by most usage to least usage, and listed alphabetically.
Driver
Ping G430 LST (4 players)
Titleist GT2 (4)
Titleist GT3 (2)
Krank Formula Fire
Ping G430 Max 10K
Ping G430 Max
TaylorMade M6
Titleist TSR3
Fairway Wood
Ping G430 Max (5)
TaylorMade Qi10 (4)
Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (2)
Krank Formula Fire
TaylorMade Qi10 Tour
TaylorMade Stealth Plus
Titleist 915F
7-iron
Titleist T100 (2)
Titleist 620MB (2)
Avoda Golf Prototype
Callaway Apex TCB
Callaway X Forged CB
Miura KM-700
Mizuno MP-18 SC
Ping Blueprint S Forged
Ping S55
TaylorMade P770
TaylorMade P7TW
Titleist 620CB
Titleist AP2 718
Lob Wedge
Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks (7)
Titleist Vokey SM9 (4)
Titleist Vokey SM10 (3)
Ping Glide 4.0
Putter
Odyssey (6)
Odyssey Ai One 2-Ball
Odyssey O-Works Jailbird Mini
Odyssey Toulon San Diego
Odyssey Toulon San Diego prototype
Odyssey White Hot OG #7
Odyssey White Hot Pro Rossie
Scotty Cameron (4)
Scotty Cameron 009M
Scotty Cameron GoLo N7
Scotty Cameron P5 prototype
Scotty Cameron T5 Proto
TaylorMade (3)
TaylorMade Spider Tour Limited Red
TaylorMade TP HydroBlast DuPage SB
TaylorMade Spider Tour X
L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Proto
SIK Pro C-Series Armlock
Individual Breakdown of Free Agents inside the Top 100 (according to the latest WITB information and photography)
Patrick Cantlay
Driver: Titleist GT2
3-wood: Titleist 915F
7-iron: Titleist AP2 718
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey SM9
Putter: Scotty Cameron T5 Proto
Bryson DeChambeau
Driver: Krank Formula Fire Pro
3-wood: Krank Formula Fire
7-iron: Avoda Prototype
Lob Wedge: Ping Glide 4.0
Putter: SIK Pro C-Series Armlock
Jason Day
Driver: Ping G430 LST
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10
7-iron: TaylorMade P770
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks
Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour Limited Red
Denny McCarthy
Driver: Titleist GT2
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10
7-iron: Callaway Apex TCB
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks
Putter: Scotty Cameron GoLo N7
Davis Thompson
Driver: Titleist TSR3
3-wood: Ping G430 Max
7-iron: Titleist 620MB
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks
Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #7
Stephan Jaeger
Driver: Ping G430 LST
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond
7-iron: Ping S55
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey SM10
Putter: Odyssey Ai One 2-Ball
Aaron Rai
Driver: TaylorMade M6
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10
7-iron: TaylorMade P7TW
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey SM9
Putter: TaylorMade TP HydroBlast DuPage SB
Adam Schenk
Driver: Ping G430 Max 10K
3-wood: Ping G430 Max
7-iron: Mizuno MP-18 SC
Lob-wedge: Titleist Vokey SM10
Putter: Odyssey White Hot Pro Rossie
Adam Scott
Driver: Titleist GT2
Fairway wood: TaylorMade Qi10
7-iron: Miura KM-700
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks
Putter: L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Proto
Brendon Todd
Driver: Ping G430 Max
3-wood: Ping G430 Max
7-iron: Ping Blueprint S Forged
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks Proto
Putter: Odyssey Toulon San Diego
Cam Smith
Driver: Titleist GT3
3-wood: Ping G430 Max
7-iron: Titleist T100
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey SM9
Putter: Scotty Cameron 009M
Patrick Rodgers
Driver: Titleist GT3
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond
7-iron: Titleist T100
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey SM9
Putter: Odyssey Toulon San Diego prototype
Mark Hubbard
Driver: Ping G430 LST
3-wood: Ping G430 Max
7-iron: Titleist 620MB
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks
Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour X
Ben Kohles
Driver: Titleist GT2
3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth Plus
7-iron: Titleist 620 CB
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey SM10
Putter: Scotty Cameron P5 prototype
Matt Wallace
Driver: Ping G430 LST
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 Tour
7-iron: Callaway X Forged CB
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks
Putter: Odyssey O-Works Jailbird Mini
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Equipment
Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (7/11/24): Handmade TP Mills full prototype Genuine 1 of 1
![](https://www.golfwrx.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Screenshot-2024-07-11-at-12.32.02.png)
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a Handmade TP Mills full prototype Genuine 1 of 1.
From the seller: (@aston14): “For sale is a brand new Proto T bar alignment, handmade TP Mills Fleetwood putter. All black head and black shaft all done by David Mills with special stampings in the cavity and sole and unique headcover. This has a headweight of 370g, 33.5 inch long fitted with the new Golf Pride Reverse taper grip. Only used on my indoor green, this is a stunning putter but my stroke doesn’t deserve this!! Price is $999 plus shipping from the UK.”
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: Handmade TP Mills full prototype Genuine 1 of 1
This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules
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Whats in the Bag
Morgan Hoffmann WITB 2024 (July)
![](https://www.golfwrx.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Screen-Shot-2024-07-10-at-2.49.04-PM.png)
- Morgan Hoffmann what’s in the bag accurate as of the Ascendant Presented by Blue. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G430 LST (9 degrees)
Shaft: UST Mamiya Lin-Q M40X Red 6F5
3-wood: Titleist TSR3 (16.5 degrees, C2 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 X
Irons: Srixon ZX Mk II (3), Srixon ZX5 Mk II (4, 5), Srixon ZX7 Mk II (6-9)
Shafts: Accra TZFive 105D M5 (3), Project X 6.5 (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (46-10F, 52-08F, 58-08M, 62-08M @64)
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (52-62)
Putter: L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Max
See more in-hand photos of Morgan Hoffmann’s WITB here.
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