Ping G20 Driver
is making its public debut this week at the PGA Tour's FedEx St. Jude Classic. (The club will be available at retail in mid-August.) Expect Ping's Tour pros, including defending champion Lee Westwood, to work with the new driver during the practice days, though, it remains to be seen whether anyone will put it into play come Thursday.
The company's "game-improvement"
are almost always among the highest-rated sticks in Golf Magazine's annual "ClubTest" program because of their ability to blend forgiveness and power. Ping's tried-and-true design checklist includes optimizing center-of-gravity location; aerodynamics; feel; clubface size; structure (how it interacts on shots around the face); and clubhead inertia (stability) on off-center hits (high/low or heel/toe).
The
has a heavier head than G15 (7 grams more than standard) for greater force at impact. Additional backweighting and a more elongated face shore up misses. (Ping "shaved" the head in the low toe area to meet the 460cc size limit.) The reconfigured clubhead — 5 percent higher moment of inertia on heel or toe hits — combines with a light, 45.75-inch "high-balance point" shaft (TFC 169D or TFC 169D Tour) to boost clubhead speed and, thus, distance. Specifically, the TFC 169D shaft has more flexible tip and butt sections for softer feel.
In total,
launches shots 0.75 degrees higher than G15, with 200 rpm less spin and 1 mph faster ball speed on center hits, which adds up to five yards more carry and roll.