NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
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One of the biggest gear stories of the past six months is the success of Titleist’s TSR driver line.
TSR drivers have been responsible for 29 worldwide victories since their launch in June. At the Sentry Tournament of Champions, 17 players were using a Titleist driver, and 12 of those were from the TSR line. Titleist won the driver count by a wide margin and also swept every major equipment category for the 29th time since the start of the 2019 calendar year.
A common sentiment among players is that the TSR line is fairly similar to the TSi family of drivers, but features slightly more speed and better forgiveness.
Max Homa switched to a 10-degree TSR3 driver last summer at the Genesis Scottish Open and immediately ranked No. 1 in strokes gained off-the-tee for that event. Homa, who had ranked No. 78 in the stat over the course of the 2020-21 season, vaulted to No. 24 in strokes gained off-the-tee last season. He also gained about 6 yards in driving distance from one season to the next.
“I actually like the sound quite a bit,” Homa said. “Sounds like you’re smashing it, which is nice. I did notice that the spin didn’t change as much when you mis-hit it. The heel and toe strikes kept the spin a little closer to your good ones. That’s obviously something I think everybody would be happy to have. It’s a mile an hour faster for me, just ball speed … so it feels like a no-brainer.”
Will Zalatoris has also been thrilled after switching to an 8-degree TSR3. Zalatoris jumped 20 spots in the same strokes gained off-the-tee stat and averaged 7.3 more yards per drive than he did in the 2020-21 season. He finished at 314.7 yards per drive, good for No. 13 on tour.
“I literally took my old shaft and plugged it into the new TSR and I immediately saw results,” Zalatoris said. “The mis-hits for me were exponentially better. I mean, I was already seeing mis-hits go about 7, 8 yards farther. I have a lot of distance, but bringing it in left-to-right was something that was huge for me.”
Other players to see immediate gains from the TSR line of drivers include Cameron Young, Justin Thomas, Tom Kim, Billy Horschel, J.T. Poston and Tom Hoge.
Of particular interest, Kim’s surge to No. 14 in the world has coincided with his decision to use a 9-degree TSR3 before the Scottish Open.
“I had been playing the TSi3 for the longest time and I thought I wasn’t going to change it, but after trying it at (the Titleist Performance Institute), it was just so good that I had to put it in the bag, and it’s been working out really well,” Kim said. “My percentage in the fairway has gone up and, yeah, it’s a keeper. Missed hits, solid hits, it just stays in the wind so well for me. That’s what I’ve had trouble with before, and I thought I was going to use the ‘i’ for the rest of the season, but I put it right in the bag because I gained ball speed, gained swing speed, smash factor went up and holds it really well into the wind.”
Sean Fairholm