What belongs at both ends of your bag?


Hi Reader,

🏌️‍♂️ Mini drivers are not just for big hitters

​GOLF.com’s 2026 PGA Tour review found mini drivers in five winning bags, three for Chris Gotterup.

We've analysed the top 100 bags too over the years.

  • No mini driver appeared in 2022.
  • Three were found in 2024 and
  • at least 16 in Tour bags this year, including Tommy Fleetwood.

The club has clearly moved beyond novelty among the pro ranks.

But that does not mean everybody needs one.

A 2nd Swing fitter says he has had success with slower swingers using up to 15 degrees of loft and a shorter shaft on mini drivers.

​Precision Golf, Europe's leading club fitting studio meanwhile adds a boundary.

Against a 460cc driver, the mini’s smaller head was less forgiving from the tee. At 100mph it was more playable from the turf than a lofted driver, but demanded a competent strike.

Their master fitters saw its clearest value from around 95mph.

For slower golfers needing that club for approaches, a lofted fairway wood may launch more reliably.

So forget fashion. What job must the spot you are looking to fill in your bag do: provide a safer second tee club, or hit approaches from the fairway?

Mallets keep winning. That does not make them automatic

​Golf Monthly’s season-long count of every winning putter used throughout the 2026 PGA Tour season shows a shape trend.

TaylorMade’s Spider Tour family won 13 times, including 11 for the Spider Tour X.

Scotty Cameron recorded nine wins across seven models. Odyssey’s six wins came from six models, with only one blade among them.

Our more comprehensive top-100 research found the same clear evidence : 77% used a mallet or mid-mallet.

That suggests larger, more stable shapes have become normal at elite level.

It does not prove however you should automatically order a Spider.

The variety among winners matters. Fit, feel and confidence still beat the logo.

If you fight inconsistent strike or alignment, test a mallet against your current putter. Compare start line and pace, not looks.

Tour popularity is useful evidence, but it is not the automatic answer.

Our interview a while back with master fitter - Simon Cooper of Precision Golf - provides some fantastic insights into what regular amateurs can learn from the clubs of the best pro golfers in the world!

Thanks for reading and as ever and most importantly enjoy your golf!

Play well until next time 👍

Graeme Hay

Founder, GolfingFocus.com

Golfing Focus Limited, 73 Maple Road, London, KT6 4AG
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