scored 4.25 or higher in Forgiveness or had an MOI measurement higher than 5 500, a number achieved by only one driver on the 2010 Hot List. What might be most telling about these drivers compared to those of the not-so-distant past is that they all look decidedly normal, unlike the oversize mailboxes found in this category a generation ago. More forgiveness and better looks – what’s not to love.
er, that is the defining element that’ll deliver the best product for them. “It’s not just about chasing the high- est MOI because that might not be the best position for all players. “It’s our ability to continue to raise MOI but also refine and opti- mise the CG. Those two together are what really lead to pretty signifi- cant dispersion improvements.” On this year’s Hot List, eight drivers
The rules limit how stable the head can be in terms of the heel-to-toe wobble on a mis-hit. That limit is 5 900 grams-centimetres squared, which doesn’t mean much unless you’re a total gearhead, only that a higher number is more stable – and the jumps in stability progressively diminish the closer you get to 5 900. In other words, it mattered more when a driver increased its MOI from 3 000 to 4 000 20 years ago than it probably does for a driver to go from 5 000 to 5 900 today. But that’s only part of the story when it comes to how much more forgiving drivers are today. Manufacturers have turned to stabilising the way the head wobbles in all sorts of directions. That’s why you see some drivers touting an MOI of 10 000, which essentially combines the MOI in the heel-to-toe direction and the MOI in the crown- to-sole direction. Using more light- weight materials in the body also allows designs to improve stability while reducing spin for more efficient, distance-enhancing and dispersion- tightening launch conditions. This overall boost in MOI has meant that tour pros are playing more forgiv- ing drivers than ever, ones that might have targeted only recreational golfers a decade ago. At this year’s Hot List, a big percentage of drivers received high marks for forgiveness. Our vector rating of Forgiveness asks our players to assign a value of “1” for least forgiv- ing to “5” for most forgiving. More than a third of the drivers earned a score of 4 or higher. In terms of measured MOI, the average for the field of drivers was nearly 5 000, or about 10 percent high- er than it was for drivers on the Hot List 15 years ago. It’s a new take on forgiveness that also embraces adjustability to match a player’s swing tendencies, says Ping’s director of product design Ryan Stokke, whose company’s drivers are among the highest rated for Forgiveness on this year’s Hot List. “You need to have high MOI, but it needs to be coupled with a proper centre of gravity (CG) location for the player,” he says. “When you pair that position or draw position for the play-
HOT LIST TESTING Here’s a selection of the drivers rated most forgiving on this year’s Hot List, with a comment on each from one of our players:
TIM LINN, 46 17-handicap Cobra OPTM Max-K “The trajectory on this club is unlike anything I've ever experienced. I struck the ball, and then it just looked like it glided and hung in the air for an hour. This club helped me without me changing my swing.”
WAYNE JOHNSON, 61 7-handicap Ping G440 K “You feel like you simply can't miss with this one. Just point it out towards the fairway and make a swing. It just doesn't seem to veer to the right or the left at all. The
THOMAS ALLEN, 61 7-handicap TaylorMade Qi4D Max “Forgiveness was off the charts. From the first swing to the last, it was an abnormally high ball, and it was also abnormally long. That's a good combination.”
WEI MAO, 56 14-handicap Tour Edge Exotics Max “Very beautiful presentation at address. It feels soft but powerful, if that's a thing. The distance was excellent. Control of that distance was also excellent. I felt like my default shot was a baby draw even when I didn't try to do anything.”
ball gets up quickly and goes far.”
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 83
JUNE 2026
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