NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
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The new Titleist TSR drivers and fairway woods made their grand entrance at last week’s Travelers Championship, officially starting the Titleist tour seeding process for the company’s latest metal-woods line.
The seeding process focuses on getting feedback from players and giving them a chance to try the new clubs in competition well in advance of the clubs being available to the public. Many of the new TSR clubs were put in play, including 18 drivers counted during the tournament at TPC River Highlands, notably Jordan Spieth’s 10-degree TSR3.
This time of year always comes with some level of mystery as Titleist doesn’t officially comment on some of the club details, but we can gather some data from available photos. The TSR name is an extension of the TS (Titleist Speed) line of clubs, although it’s unclear what the R stands for in this latest crop. Similar to previous lines in the TS family, the core offerings are three TSR drivers and two TSR fairway woods. An intriguing new club has been added in the fairway-wood camp.
The drivers appear to be named TSR2, TSR3 and TSR4, and the fairway woods are TSR2 and TSR3. There is an additional fairway wood called the TSR2+ that appears to be a “strong 3-wood” given that it comes in 13- and 14.5-degree loft options, according to the USGA’s conforming-club list. Considering that it’s the first time since the Titleist 915FD that the brand has come out with a strong 3-wood, many observers are claiming that the TSR2+ is the biggest surprise of this lineup.
The new TSR4 driver seems to be the biggest change from previous iterations as a new rear-weight port was added alongside the forward weight that was on the TSi4. The idea apparently is to increase stability and forgiveness compared with the previous generation.
We’ll have to wait on official word for the technology featured in the TSR line, but the new drivers and fairway woods don’t seem to venture terribly far from the TSi line. It will be worth monitoring to see how many players switch this summer. If Titleist sticks to its traditional release cycle, the new TSR line will be available this fall for fitting accounts, and the full retail release soon will follow.
In other gear notes, the intrigue around Brooks Koepka partially breaking his Cleveland/Srixon contract at the U.S. Open has gained even more momentum given his move to LIV Golf. The speculation is that Koepka no longer feels the need to be tied to one equipment company given the influx of cash he will receive, but there has been no official word that the two parties have separated. It now makes sense that the company previously sent out a survey to brand followers asking how they would feel if a Cleveland/Srixon endorser used its equipment during a LIV Golf event.
Sean Fairholm