Highlighted by Phil Mickelson’s early adoption, the Callaway Apex UW is having a bit of a moment in professional golf.

The fusion of elements of both hybrid and fairway wood and the absence of traditional drawbacks make it an intriguing option at the professional level and a club that better players are gravitating toward (including our Brian Knudson, who reviewed it on his Club Junkie podcast).

• Related: New Callaway Apex UW utility wood

We spoke with Callaway’s PGA Tour manager Jacob Davidson about the rise of Apex UW on tour.

GolfWRX: We know the tech story of the UW. But from your perspective, where does the club succeed? How is both “utility” and “wood”?

Jacob Davidson: The great thing about Apex UW’s success is that Callaway has been leading the industry in this space, and it’s almost as if we’re creating a new category. With the increase in speed for a lot of these players, we want to make sure that fitting for a 5-wood or hybrid type of club is a focus for our players, when maybe they wouldn’t think about it as much in the past.

Using analytics, we really understood how important having a club that could work well as an option for high-speed guys and for players who maybe wanted something that provided a balance between a hybrid and a 5-wood, something that is versatile and that they can work both ways. It’s really filled a need in a lot of players’ bags and the reason that it’s been successful is that once we’ve explained it to them, and they’ve had the ability to test it, they quickly realized that maybe there was a hole that they didn’t even realize.

GolfWRX: What is it that appeals to tour pros, though? Why is this club working for them?

JD: It obviously allows for a fairway wood shaft which gives you a lot more options for tour guys, where they’re getting a shaft that they’re familiar with in their driver or 3-woods or even 5-woods. The ability to have a 2-hybrid, a 3-hybrid, or filling the gap of a 5-wood with a spin robustness that’s easier to a control, a flight that’s much better, and a sole design with forgiveness with the long heel-to-toe really allows guys to avoid that left miss that might peel off on them, especially off the tee.

GolfWRX: Who on Tour has put the UW in play?

JD: It’s been a popular choice already with our staff pros for guys like Marc Leishman, Phil Mickelson was the first to put it in play, Kevin Kisner, Wesley Bryan, and Adam Hadwin, among others. We’ve seen some strong conversions as well on the LPGA, Champions, and European Tours.

What’s especially stood out over the past few weeks is that more and more players who aren’t on Callaway’s staff are coming onto our tour truck and asking us to build UWs — more than we’ve seen for a club like this in a long time. There’s a lot of buzz, and we know we have a great product when guys who aren’t on our staff are asking for a club like this as much as they are.

GolfWRX: Can you share any stories about players testing and putting the UW in play?

JD: One thing we’ve really noticed initially is how happy players are after they try it — since it is a new category, and they didn’t know what to expect with how it would perform. Once they hit it, they usually love it. A few guys have delayed testing it because they were comfortable with their setup until they see other players hit it on the golf course, then they’re coming and asking for it.

Specifically, Tyler McCumber and Sam Burns weren’t early adopters for Apex UW, but they were coming to us because they saw other pros play with it in competition and they said, “Wow, that’s really good.”

GolfWRX: Sam Burns recently put a UW in play. A younger, higher-speed guy…what worked for him?

JD: He’s been playing an older Apex Hybrid, he’s liked it, he’s been playing well all year, and he’s probably the hottest golfer in the world so he’s very hesitant to make a change in his bag. However, we sent some to his house, where he did some initial testing. Then last week in Houston we really had a chance to work with him.

What he really liked about it is how aggressive the flight is without the ball spinning high up into the air. It launches quite a bit higher than his hybrid and spins less at a higher apex. For a guy like Sam who likes to work the ball slightly left or right, he couldn’t believe how neutral it was whether he was trying to take a little off a cut into a par 5, or flight it lower off the tee with a little bit of a draw. It gives him more versatility than his old hybrid.

GolfWRX: Why should better amateurs, who haven’t taken to hybrids in the past, give the UW a shot?

JD: Overall, this is the next thing for what a players hybrid can be. It gives you the benefits of hitting a reliable club into longer par 3s or second shots into par 5s where they can hold the green, particularly on firmer, faster conditions. This club gives them the height to do that without overspinning it when they get into conditions where they are slightly into the wind or they slightly mishit it. That ball is not going to spin into the upper 5,000 RPMS and come up 15-20 yards short. This club is a lot more forgiving in that aspect.