When Tommy Fleetwood first tested the new TaylorMade R7 Quad Mini Driver at the RBC Heritage two months ago, the results were promising enough to get Fleetwood to take the club home to test for a couple of weeks before his next event.
Two years ago at the same event, Fleetwood tested and ultimately gamed the then-new BRNR Mini. He has since become possibly golf’s most prolific mini driver user as that original BRNR mini hasn’t lost its place in Fleetwood’s bag.
Until this week.
Tommy Fleetwood’s new mini driver testing
The change goes back to Hilton Head when Fleetwood had his first extensive testing session with the new R7 Quad, which was a major update to TaylorMade’s mini driver platform. Keeping with the throwback theme of TaylorMade’s mini driver releases, the R7 features a four-port TAS weighting system, similar to its namesake, compared to BRNR Mini’s and follow-up BRNR Mini Copper’s front and back adjustable weighting system.
Fleetwood and TaylorMade senior tour manager Adrian Rietveld did extensive testing on the range at Harbour Town to not only match the flight of Fleetwood’s BRNR, but also the look. TaylorMade posted an awesome behind-the-scenes look of these sessions. Fleetwood, who has become one of the most well-known mini driver users on Tour, along with Adam Scott and Si Woo Kim, initially thought the R7 Quad looked too flat.
Despite getting good numbers and matching the look of the BRNR with a switch to a 2-degree loft sleeve and going one lower from the upright setting, the BRNR stayed in the bag for Harbour Town and Fleetwood did more testing on his own at home.
When he returned to the PGA Tour in May at the Truist Championship, the BRNR was still in the bag.
Making the switch in Connecticut
But this week at the Travelers Championship, Fleetwood decided to test the Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 6-X shaft in his mini once again. That was the shaft he first had in the club when he got it, but he switched at the start of this season when he switched driver shafts to the Ventus Red with Velocore+ 6-X in his driver. He added the same shaft to his mini, but Reitveld had noticed his spin rates had increased by about 300 rpm from the start of the year.
At first, Rietveld said they were just going to test the shaft, but they eventually decided to throw the R7 Quad head back in the mix. That’s when they noticed something.
“We found that we could actually get the R7 spinning at 3,000, at about probably 0.75 degrees more launch,” Reitveld told GOLF Tuesday. “Which is important for him. That’s the difference between him carrying a ball at 275 yards or 280. So at 280, it becomes a real weapon for him.”
With the higher launch, longer carry and identical look and ball flight to the previous gamer, Fleetwood felt good enough after one session to throw the new mini in the bag this week at TPC River Highlands. The venue is key because the course is one of the shortest on the PGA Tour and one where the mini driver will be an often-called-upon option.
