Jonathan Wall

I was a @SunDayRed skeptic who questioned Tiger's involvement in the brand. No way did he have time to craft product. Tiger proved me wrong. On his legacy, blowing out buttons during testing, cutting up shoes at home and cold bagels. golfdigest.com/story/why-tige…

Bryson DeChambeau contends that drivers haven't changed all that much in recent years. Read more: glfdig.st/UHiR50Yw6rj

.@Titleist T-Series is getting the limited "Oil Can" treatment. Initially developed for Vokey, the durable PVD finish is designed to reduce glare at address.

@amolyajnik pca.st/podcast/2a11c0…

@amolyajnik Hah. You and me both. I don’t see it up there yet. I’ll get back to you.

I'll be the first to admit this is a long time coming: @GolfDigest's gear podcast finally has a new name and dedicated feed. Welcome to Club Lab 🧪 Same data-driven discussions on the latest gear, tour trends, and interviews with the people who matter most in the industry.

@amolyajnik I can work on that for you. Which one do you use?

@jonathanrwall Any chance you have a direct link that isn't apple or Spotify? I use another app for my pods

Cameron Young's 375-yard 🚀 on the 18th has received a lot of press — and rightfully so. It was the longest drive ever recorded on the hole in the ShotLink era. But let's talk about the driver he used to pull it off. Since he switched to a Pro V1x "Double Dot" prototype last year, Young has worked with J.J. Van Wezenbeeck, Titleist’s senior director of player promotions, to dial in his entire setup. Driver included. Young initially moved from a 9-degree GT2 into a 10-degree GT2, but some offseason swing changes produced a third build. Work with Van Wezenbeeck led Young to try out an 11-degree GT3 at Bay Hill. While the head says "11," it's actually lofted down to 10.25 degrees in the D1 SureFit setting. A quick turn of the wrench resulted in a higher launch without negatively impacting spin. In Young's case: 11 degrees and 2,500 RPMs (GT3) versus 9 degrees and 2,400 RPMs (GT2). So a tick more spin with a higher launch. Many call those high 💣s. "I don't know if I can think of one that's better... first time that thought's really popped in my mind, and I think I did what I intended," Young said of the driver. "It’s one of the best shots I've ever hit in my life."

@Hititlonger Not sure anyone is openly trying to miss high toe. However, if you're someone who tends to miss toe-side, it's important to know which driver(s) will mitigate distance loss better than others.

@jonathanrwall But who out there is intentionally trying to miss high toe?

Because distance in the last 25 years has mostly been about spin.

@Hititlonger Correct. But what we found is you didn't need to increase AoA to reap the benefits of the technology. The scatter plot is the same neutral AoA for heel (three impact locations; high, mid and low) and toe (same three impacts) misses.

@jonathanrwall Yes you simply increase AOA and reduce spin loft.

@BubbaDave64 If only we were that clutch!

@jonathanrwall JWall and Uncle Gene are ...

@bobbdn @GolfDigest Thanks for interacting and following along from the jump! It means a lot.

@jonathanrwall @GolfDigest Glad to see there is a change! I enjoy the pods with JWall and Uncle Gene!

@kingofsnaphooks @GolfDigest ❤️ appreciate you!

@jonathanrwall @GolfDigest Following from frisco.

We compiled all of the old episodes under the Club Lab feed since we fired the pod back up in 2024 — if you want to give those a listen. Big thanks to @LukeKerrDineen for allowing us to clutter the Golf IQ pod feed.

Be sure to give us a follow. Do it for Uncle Gene... Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/3WoGs44QC… Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/clu…

Justin Rose is already in full-on Masters prep. Used a @CallawayGolf Quantum Mini prototype (D3) last week at Sawgrass. It’s an 11.5-degree head, turned down to 11. Plays at 43.25” with 9 grams of weight in the forward setting, 7 grams in the back. Seeing ~173 mph ball speed with the mini, which is closer to his driver than the 3-wood. In recent years, we’ve seen more players require a club that carries 300 to reach areas where the fairway necks. Driver is too much, but mini fits the bill.

@coachjohnlemmon for most drivers, yes. in some instances, a few models performed admirably on heel misses. the draw-biased cobra OPTM was a unicorn on heel misses.

@jonathanrwall But a heel miss is a distance killer.

This is the exact spot you want to miss it on 90 percent of today’s drivers. In recent years, we’ve found numerous models that gained distance (in relation to center) high and towards the toe during robot testing. The top 10 drivers for 2026 lost roughly 5 yards on a toe miss.

@Coach_Mackay_ this test we ran at tiger's 2000 swing speed with a 975D and current Pro V1x is worth checking out. Notice the dispersion... golfdigest.com/story/tiger-wo…

@jonathanrwall 5 Yards on a toe miss is insane. Do that with a 300cc driver and you're hitting yourself in the mouth.

Here’s the scatterplot from robotic testing showing heel and toe misses for 42 drivers. Notice the cluster for toe misses versus the gap between the top driver for heel misses versus number two.