There is no club in the bag quite like the driver. The driver sets the tempo for our day on the golf course. Succeed with the driver and the rest of the game can slot into place. Struggle with it and see how the round quickly becomes a drag. Everyone wants to see their drives sailing straight down the fairway. That’s why choosing the right driver for our own games is so important. We want to stand on the tee, shoulder-to-shoulder with our playing partners, and be confident and proud of the club we are about to use.
Here at AMERICAN GOLF, we recognise that buying a driver is a serious investment. For the amount of money involved, we have to be sure that we are buying the right club for our golf game for the next few years. So as the peak golf season looms into view, we have picked out what we regard as the best drivers for 2024. Get one of these in our golf bags and (fingers crossed) we won’t look back!
Top Golf Drivers 2024
Ping G430 MAX Golf Driver (£499):
Lofts: 9°, 10.5°, 12° Left-handed: Yes (9°, 10.5°, 12°)
The Ping G430 MAX is one of the best drivers of 2024, quite simply because every single driver can be catered to meet a player’s needs. The loft, the flex, the shaft, the length of shaft, the grip and the thickness of the grip are all individually selected to get the exact type of driver we want. This driver promotes itself as the most forgiving of all on the market, and therefore best suited to the widest range of golfers.
The engineers at Ping use Spinsistency, a variable roll radius technology, which produces more consistency with impact, and distance on shots that come off the club less than perfectly – always useful for us handicap golfers! And this driver is seen as a very good option for more senior golfers.
To confirm its flexibility, the G430 MAX offers a 25g high-density tungsten moveable back weight and has an eight-way adjustable hosel. So if we are unable to find the right combination for our own golf game with what PING offers, the problem is definitely ours!
TaylorMade Stealth 2 (£499):
Loft: 9°, 10.5°, 12° Left-handed: Yes (9°, 10.5°)
The TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver was given the biggest seal of approval in January this year when a video was released of Tiger Woods assessing its qualities. If possibly the greatest golfer of all time is endorsing the Stealth 2, then it must be SOME club. That makes it easy to understand why it is one of the best drivers for 2024.
TaylorMade really have got all bases covered with this driver. Stealth2 is all about speed and forgiveness, something which Tiger mentioned as important from the elite pro-level down to local club player. Its Inverted Cone Technology (ICT) is designed to help maintain ball speed on off-centre strikes. The face curvature with a corrective face angle is engineered to reduce side spin and deliver straighter shots, because we all know how frustrating it is when a little bit of slice or fade takes yards off our drives.
The new 60X Carbon Twist Face provides more loft in the high toe and less loft in the low heel to produce more consistent spin where golfers commonly mis-hit. This makes it much easier for us to stand on the tee and feel confident about hitting straight shots.
Callaway Paradym (£529):
Lofts: 9°, 10.5°, 12° Left-handed: Yes (10.5°)
Looking for the best driver of 2024? Then look no further than the driver used by the best player in 2024! Jon Rahm has been crunching his drives in the early part of the season with the Callaway Paradym on his way to becoming World No.1.
The American manufacturers promise that the Paradym offers the perfect blend of distance, forgiveness and adjustability. Players who are not as confident with the driver can opt for the generous 12°loft for that extra comfort.
With an industry-first 360° carbon chassis, the driver is designed for golfers of all levels. It is 44% lighter than a titanium chassis and the weight savings allow for higher MOI (moment of inertia) and increased forgiveness – vital for those of us whose drives are not always dead straight. The Paradym also offers a 15g adjustable weight at the rear. That is ideal for choosing the type of ball flight we want from our driver.
Titleist TSR2 Driver (£529):
Loft: 10° Left-handed: No
Cameron Smith’s putting may have captured the headlines as he became Open Champion last summer. But you don’t lift the Claret Jug without being able to drive the ball well and the Australian put his trust in a Titleist driver. Smith narrowly beat American Cameron Young, another player using a Titleist driver, who famously drove the 18th green on the last day for an eagle two. A perfect endorsement on golf’s biggest stage.
The watch words for the TSR2 driver are speed and stability. That allows for maximum distance for shots from both on and off-centre contact. This driver has been refined to make it as fast as possible through the air to generate sufficient club head speed at impact. The TSR2 has an improved face angle for a better look at the address position, something that better players prefer. This hints that the driver is more suited to lower handicapped players, who are looking to hit the ball a long way.
Cobra AeroJet (£469)
Lofts: 9°, 10.5° Left-handed: Yes (10.5°)
It should come as little surprise that a golf company based in San Diego, not too far from the original Top Gun headquarters in Southern California, has produced one of the best drivers of 2024 thanks to its excellent use of aerodynamics, the sort that would not go amiss in a fighter jet!
The Cobra AeroJet driver uses an advanced aerodynamic sleeker design with rear back weight to produce the two things every golfer now wants from the driver, maximum club head speed and forgiveness. Streamline shaping, symmetric design and low drag could be descriptions used in a new jet aeroplane as opposed to a golf club, and when we think of a jet, we think of it flying through the air at incredible speed. The centre of gravity in the club is low and forwards, so the ball should come off the club faster and with low spin to send it flying down the fairway, Top Gun style.
Wilson Dynapower Titanium Golf Driver (£349):
Lofts: 10.5°, 13° Left-handed: No
The Wilson Dynapower Titanium Golf Driver comes in slightly more affordable than some of the other Best Drivers of 2024.
It is designed for straight distance and offers a six-way adjustable hosel. That allows the golfer to have the face more or less open while also choosing the spin and shot shape, and the launch angle depending on whether the player wants to lower or increase the ball flight.
The Dynapower AI face provides faster ball speed over the entire area of the club face, helping slightly mis-hit shots from off-centre to perform better. For those less confident drivers, the option of the 13°driver could be a good one, too, as the increased loft makes it more like an old-fashioned two-wood than a driver.
Cobra King LTDx Golf Driver (£279):
Lofts: 9° Left-handed: No
Fancy being like Bryson DeChambeau? The big-hitting American has made no secret of his desire to hit the ball further and further. And his driver of choice makes our list of best drivers for 2024.
Given DeChambeau’s aim to smash the ball up to 400 yards off the tee, the Cobra King LtdX lives up to those ambitions. The driver is purposely designed for less spin, more distance and faster ball speed. The driver has a multi-weighting material system of steel, titanium and aluminium that places the mass weight low and forwards into the clubhead. It has 13g of adjustable weighting (10g heavier fixed weight and 3g tungsten weight) which can be adjusted to either the heel or toe. That will help the golfer to choose either a fade or draw-based ball-flight trajectory depending on their preference. This driver is already proving popular, with buyers very satisfied with its performance.
Ping G425 Max Driver (£369):
Lofts: 9°, 10.5°, 12° Left-handed: Yes (9°, 10.5°, 12°)
The Ping G425 Max Driver is one of the best drivers of 2024 because it is all about helping the golfer get what they need from their club. Ping have put the time and effort in to give us the help we need to produce our best drives.
The Ping G425 Max has the highest MOI levels in history, up by 14% to produce the most forgiveness levels in a driver. That means we can stand on the tee confident that if we have a good swing and make a reasonable contact, this driver will get the best out of our shot. The driver has a 26g tungsten back-weight that can be positioned in three different settings (draw/neutral/fade) to put the centre of gravity lower and further back without sacrificing any other attributes. It also comes with eight loft and lie adjustments on the hosel to help us get the driver exactly to our specifications.
TaylorMade Stealth Plus Driver (£349):
Lofts: 10.5° Left-handed: Yes (10.5°)
There are few better sights in golf than Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson stood on the tee, driver in hand. The driver is their weapon, which they use to intimidate the opposition. These two make the game look effortless as they send drives miles down the middle. And what driver do they use? The TaylorMade Stealth Plus, automatically making it one of the best drivers for 2024.
Customers talk of a lovely sweet spot, extra distance and forgiveness for off-centre hits, things we are all looking for in a driver. And the manufacturers at TaylorMade really have come up with a club that covers all bases.
There is a 10g weight on a sliding track that allows us to find the desire ball flight. The adjustable loft sleeve means it is possible to alter the angle of loft and the face angle. That allows the club to cater for our preferred ball trajectory and the conditions we may face on any given day. The Carbon Twist face is nearly half as light as a titanium face and it is designed to optimise energy transfer. That means faster ball speeds over a larger surface area of the club for both optimal distance and forgiveness. A winning combination!
About the Author
Adam Lanigan - Golf Writer
Adam is a freelance news and sports journalist who has written for the BBC, The Sunday Post, The I, The Times, The Telegraph and more. He has been writing about golf for nearly two decades and has covered 13 Open Championships and two Ryder Cups. Not only does Adam cover golf, but he has played golf for as long as he can remember. He was a member at Northenden Golf Club for around 25 years until his children arrived and his last official handicap was 11, although on any given day his form fluctuates anywhere between eight and 18.