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It's a small club but it's a big trend for the 2024 PGA Tour season.
We are talking about young drivers.
Think Rory McIlroy. The switch from the Masters at Augusta National to the RBC Heritage at Harbor Town in April always calls for a change of strategy.
Augusta is long, with wide fairways. Harbor Town is short, with solid streets.
McIlroy knew he needed more control so he joined the trend by adding a TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper 13.5 degree club to his latest golf club.
Of course, it replaced his 3-wood and not his (normal) driver but it was an important part of his thinking of the church.
The club has a similar but smaller face to the driver, while it is larger than the 3 wood. It creates more spin than a driver, and has more distance and forgiveness than a 3 wood.
Adrian Rietveld, chief executive of Tour TaylorMade, who works closely with McIlroy, told PGATour.com at Harbor Town: “For Rory, it's a course-specific golf club. You have two pictures of it. He can move it right to left or left to right. And the main thing about this club has been its precision and dispersal.”
Fleetwood follows the strategy
Rietveld added: “It was good for Tommy Fleetwood.”
Of course, the Englishman has also been hitting the younger driver this season, as have Max Homa, Adam Scott, Cameron Young and the two young men who won for the first time on the PGA Tour this year, Chris Gotterup and Jake Knapp.
In a video on PGATour.com Akshay Bhatia talked about his switch to the Callaway Ai Smoke Paradym Ti340 Mini Driver before the Tour Championship:
“I can shape this club so it's a good option. The 3 wood may not be very consistent for me but the smaller driver gives me a lot more options. It is fast but turns slowly. It's tough. It's a great team.”
What about the future?
The trend is set to carry over to 2025 with rumors that nearly every major equipment manufacturer will have released one by the end of next year.
WATCH: Is this Tiger Woods' best club twirl?
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