Golf is all about optimization. From club fitting to swing dynamics, being optimized to carry the golf ball a long way with your driver helps avoid hazards off the tee. It also helps with irons and scoring clubs, allowing you to stop the ball closer to the hole.
Regardless of whether you’re a moderate swing speed amateur or a tour-level golfer, we all have the ability to get ourselves optimized off the tee, and on the PGA Tour, these are the top-five most efficient drivers of the ball based on carry distance. We also included the drivers they use.
Keegan Bradley – 2.56 yards for every MPH
Keegan Bradley became an instant star on the PGA Tour when he won in his major debut at the 2011 PGA Championship in a playoff over Jason Dufner. Since then he has gone on to win another five times, including the 2022 Zozo Championship.
Although he’s right around the PGA Tour average in terms of clubhead speed, he makes up for it by being extremely efficient with his driver delivery. He achieves that using a TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus with 10.5 degrees of loft.
Austin Smotherman – 2.549 yards for every MPH
There is a very fine line between first and second on this list, but one thing that doesn’t separate Austin Smotherman from Bradley is their driver of choice, the TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus.
Thanks to the low spin properties of this driver head, it’s interesting to see that two of the most efficient drivers of the ball use the same model and in a higher loft (10.5°).
Rickie Fowler – 2.546 yards for every MPH
2023 was a huge comeback year for Rickie Fowler. Between winning the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, to having a very close call at the U.S. Open at LACC, one of the standout parts of his return to form beyond his putting was his driving.
Like many players on this list, Fowler isn’t one of the fastest players on Tour, but he makes up for those few extra miles an hour by delivering the club into the ball very effectively with his Cobra Aerojet LS. Also, if you look at the embed above, you’ll notice the tee marks (the white markings on the driver’s face) are near the center or slightly toe-biased, which is the most effective area to use when trying to create optimal high launch and low spin conditions.
Byeong Hun An – 2.543 yards for every MPH
Unlike the others on this list, Byeong Hun An isn’t just efficient when it comes to carry distance, he gets there by also being one of the fastest players on Tour and ranks inside the top 10 for driving distance (6th) and top 40 in driver swing speed.
With his higher swing speed, there is a requirement to better control spin, and Byeong Hun does that by using the lowest spin driver model from Titleist. The TSR4 also happens to be one of the few drivers on the market under the legal limit of 460cc.
Troy Merritt – 2.539 yards for every MPH
With more than 13 years of golf on the PGA Tour, along with 169 cuts made, Troy Merritt has built himself one heck of a career despite being one of the players toward the bottom in driver swing speed rankings.
He certainly makes up for his lower swing speed with efficiency in launch, spin and accuracy, which puts him at 25th on the Tour’s 2023 rankings. He gets it done with a Titleist TSR2 driver.
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