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The 5 Most Forgiving Drivers 2023

Published on 01/03/2024 · 8 min readKick off 2024 on the right note! Our guide spotlights the 5 most forgiving drivers of 2023, essential for elevating your golf game with ease.
Ryan Haley, Golf Expert
By Golf Expert Ryan Haley

Photo by Mike Cox

The idea that the tee shot is the most important shot on a hole is not a revolutionary or bold statement. The longest swing typically introduces the most hazards into play and sets the mental tone for the next few shots. A slice fanned well to the right or a hooked strike on the toe can bring penalty strokes into play and make dreams of birdies or pars evaporate on the wind. A long, straight shot down the middle of the fairway, however, can add confidence and keep the stress out of the sport.

If only hitting fairways were as simple as trying really hard, right? The longest club in the bag can be fickle and difficult to control. The length of the shaft means the club has a lower moment of inertia (MOI), letting the clubface twist easier than any other club. However, the large clubface and the club’s weight mean you don’t have to be as precise with your contact as a wedge or an iron. A shot only an inch or two off-center with an iron can sail helplessly away from the green, but a miss by the same margin with a driver won’t quite be as disastrous.

Even with the extra forgiveness from the additional weight, golf club manufacturers are still finding ways to maximize the club’s performance. Companies like TaylorMade and Titleist have come up with new clubface designs or clubhead shapes that limit the damage of an inaccurate swing, creating forgiveness that finds the fairway much more naturally and easily. They’ve also increased driver adjustability in recent years, with golfers able to change the loft, lie angle (the way the club rests on the ground), and face angle (adjusting either open or closed to counteract a natural draw or fade) to calibrate their club to their swing.

I started playing golf 15 years ago, and I really started taking the game seriously in high school. I spent hours on the range pounding irons and wedges toward little flags in the distance. I had plenty of swing speed and distance, and I felt confident with a driver in my hand, so I didn’t think I had anything to work on with my driver.

It wasn’t until I got older and started playing casually that I realized my tee shots were ruining my games. I hit it 20 yards past my roommates or other golfers we were paired with when we played, but I lost three or four tee shots into hazards every round and needed to pitch out on two or three more holes. I made more birdies than most of my friends, but I made more doubles or triples than all of them. It took some calibration and work on my swing, but I eventually found a driver with a larger sweet spot that suited my swing nicely, and my confidence off the tee returned.

Whether you have a fast swing speed and want to break 80 every time you tee it up or you’re a beginner with a high handicap just looking to have more fun, every golfer can benefit from an additional two or three fairways per round. Here are some of the most forgiving drivers in the sport that can help increase your accuracy immediately.

1. Callaway Paradym X

The Callaway Paradym X is built specifically to maximize distance and forgiveness for every amateur. The carbon chassis was specifically designed so Callaway could redistribute the driver’s weight, creating a high MOI for extra forgiveness. The carbon crown and sole are over 40% lighter than a typical titanium chassis, and the change in weight also makes the club aerodynamic, increasing clubhead speed and ball speed for extra distance.

Callaway’s Jailbreak technology (two metal rods inserted just behind the club’s face) creates even more stability for consistent impact and consistent accuracy. Callaway also optimized the clubface’s design and inserted a small weight at the back of the clubhead to produce faster ball speeds and higher launch while also generating low spin, a combination that translates to “long and straight.”

The Paradym is not the best driver to use if you’re staring straight into the face of the wind, because it is a little hard to keep low. But if you don’t brave the winds very often or have a reliable stinger with another club, the high launch and increased stability of the Paradym are some of the best on the market to produce a routine fairway finder.

2. TaylorMade Stealth 2

If you’re in the market for a more forgiving driver, the TaylorMade Twist Face Technology is the most alluring concept on the market. Its slightly angled clubface increases the transfer of clubhead speed to ball speed, meaning even those with more moderate swing speeds can generate their longest drives, but its biggest benefits come from its forgiveness.

The Stealth 2 also comes with Inverted Cone Technology, which varies the face’s thickness to be thinner near the sweet spot and thicker near the edges. If you find the sweet spot, the club generates more spin to keep the ball tumbling forward on line, but if you hit the ball off the toe or the heel, the reduced spin stops the ball from traveling into an adjacent backyard or pond. There is not a driver on the market with more patented technology meant to add forgiveness, and the Stealth 2 is one of the longest and overall best golf drivers on the market to boot.

3. Cobra Aerojet Max

The Cobra Aerojet Max driver is, as the name would imply, built to maximize every aspect of your driver swing. The entire design is built around aerodynamics, with the lightweight construction generating extra power for all swing speeds. The carbon fiber in the clubhead is lighter than most drivers, and you can feel the difference in weight just as you hold the driver.

Speed and power aside, we’re here to talk about forgiveness. The large clubhead creates a higher MOI, meaning the club will not twist as easily and golfers have an easier time finding the sweet spot. The Aerojet also features something called the H.O.T. Face design, an element designed by artificial intelligence based on data from thousands of impact simulators that, much like the Stealth 2, varies how thick the club face is in certain spots. The variability helps control how much the ball spins based on different places of contact. The end result is limited spin on your worst swings to keep them in bounds without surrendered performance on your perfect shots. The standard Aerojet Max has a slight draw bias for a gentle right-to-left turn, but there are adjustability settings to create whatever ball flight suits your eye the most.

4. Mizuno ST-Z 230

Mizuno might be better known for their craftsmanship and performance with their irons, but the Mizuno ST-Z drivers can rival their brethren in the company inventory. The Forged SAT 2041 Beta Ti Face is constructed from a lighter and more resilient material meant to increase speed. A 3g stainless steel weight inside the club creates a low center of gravity for an additional source of power upon impact as well.

Unlike some of the other drivers on this list with a natural draw to their ball flight, the ST-Z is built to naturally fly straight. The clubface’s weight is spread across the driver evenly for additional stability, meaning the club just feels easier to swing and hit square. It might not match the launch angle of a Paradym, but the club is constructed to sit lower to the ground for better spin resistance to limit how far left or right the ball can go. If you need to tinker with the club to narrow in on your exact wants, the hosel has four degrees of adjustability to create a higher or lower ball flight.

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5. Srixon ZX5 Mk II

The selling point of Srixon’s ZX5 MKII is its Rebound Frame with Dual Flex Zones to transfer the most energy possible into the golf ball, meaning even high handicappers can generate the most distance for their swing speed. An 8g weight sits as low and as deep as Srixon can possibly put it, lowering the center of gravity for higher launch angles and a reliably high ball flight.

From a forgiveness standpoint, however, the ZX5 Mk II’s flatter clubhead shape makes it one of the most forgiving models you can find. The club also employs the same varied thickness technology in the clubface detailed in some other options on this list, and it’s just as effective here. The ZX5 Mk II is one of the best combinations of distance and accuracy you can find in the industry.

Finding the Right Driver for You

Photo by Orest Drozda

Realistically, all of these options would be a great fit for any golfer. However, it is impossible to know what clubs fit your game and your swing just from a few words, and that doesn’t even mention the graphite and steel shaft options or deciding what shaft flex is right for you.

Fear not, however, for our Curated Golf Experts are here to solve that very problem. Our experienced and knowledgeable team is available around the clock to hear about you and your game and help fit you with the right driver. Their advice is completely free and entirely personalized, with their sole focus on making you the best golfer you can be for the new year. Reach out to help unlock your best golf today!

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Have a question about the article you just read or want personal recommendations? Connect with a Curated expert and get personalized recommendations for whatever you’re looking for!

Shop Golf on Curated

Callaway Paradym X Driver
$399.99$750.00
TaylorMade Stealth 2 Driver
$219.97$599.99
Cobra Aerojet Max Driver
$249.00$549.00

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