Sans Driver

[Tim Martin]

Ariya Jutanugarn does not and has not carried a driver for the last four plus years. Even without it she is near the top of the driving statistics with a three wood. Her achievements are impressive both before and after the banishment. I’m trying to think of a player who has eschewed the driver and achieved her level of success. Not a player who might take it in or out for select tournaments, rounds or even half a season but someone who doesn’t have it in the bag ever. Looking for any examples regardless of whether male, female, professional or amateur at the highest level.

[JMEvensky]

Agree it's an amazing thing--equal parts amazing she's so long with her 3-wood and that an LPGAT player can't find a driver she has confidence in.


Closest male might be Henrik Stenson. He carries a driver but hits it very infrequently.

[Phil Burr]

As a 5 handicapper I have struggled to find a driver that I hit as reliably long and straight as my trusty 3 wood.  I think I've never overcome the feeling that I need to play home run derby with a driver, swinging for the fences when a consistent doubles swing with my 3 wood produces equal and often lower scores.


I do love the discussion of quirks in the composition of touring pros' bags.  My favorite is Fred Couples using a Ram ladies' driver that belonged to Linda Watson (Tom's first wife) as his 3 wood for a number of years.  The story is that he spotted it in Watson's garage during a visit to Kansas City and that Watson let him take it.

[David_Tepper]

Legend has it Peter Thomson won most of his Open Championships hitting 4-wood off the tee.

[Mike_Clayton]

Legend has it Peter Thomson won most of his Open Championships hitting 4-wood off the tee.

David,


I was going to say Peter won at least one of his Opens primarily driving with a 3 wood.
John Jacobs has alluded to him being a great player with 13 clubs but because he hit down on it he struggled a little with the driver. And, he was a great iron player who could give up a few yards and make it up with the irons - not a strategy that works now.
I once asked Graham Marsh who was the straighter driver - him or Thomson.
"Oh, he was - but he hit a lot of 3 woods off the tee"


And Marsh was as straight a driver as I ever saw.

[Thomas Dai]

Not sure Ariya J carries many if indeed any other fairway metals, just the 3-metal. Hits it far mind, which kinda helps.
As to other examples, not full-time but single events .... Pablo Larrazabal won the French Open a few years back with no Driver and didn't Phil Mickelson win The Open at Muirfield with no Driver? I expect there are other examples too. Must be a fair chance Tommy Bolt won an event without a Driver, having maybe previously chucked it in a lake somewhere?
And who really knows what loft or internal weighting or face angle or shaft length etc a club has when it comes out of a tour truck these days or the workshop in yee olde times?
As to the 'good old days' when shafts were all the same colour and woods were made of wood, the size differential between Driver and other woods, and not all Drivers were deep-faced, wasn't so great as these days so some players particularly in matchplay would keep their Driver under a fairway wood headcover and vice-versa. Canny or sneaky?
atb

[Rob Marshall]

Hardest club in the bag for me to hit is the 3 wood. If anyone has an anti hook 3 wood let me know. Thinking about adding another hybrid and taking the 3 wood out of the bag.

[Alex Miller]

Hardest club in the bag for me to hit is the 3 wood. If anyone has an anti hook 3 wood let me know. Thinking about adding another hybrid and taking the 3 wood out of the bag.

Any club can be build anti-hook but the ball striker has to eliminate toe misses... Hybrid and driving iron tech is getting so good now that taking 3 wood out of the bag is not an unreasonable thing anymore. More distance and forgiveness throughout the bag means there are more options at the top end than there used to be.

[David_Tepper]

Don't forget Tiger at the 2006 Open at Royal Liverpool.

"Tiger Woods' win in 2006 was a thinking man's win: On the crispy fairways at Royal Liverpool, Woods had no need to hit with a driver, he could get plenty of distance off the tee with a 2-iron (and an occasional 3-wood) and better control his ball.

  So throughout the 2006 British Open, Woods used his driver only once, and that was on Day 1."

[Thomas Dai]

Don't forget Tiger at the 2006 Open at Royal Liverpool.

Nicklaus, The Open at Muirfield 1966 wasn’t dissimilar.
Faldo at Medinah finished only one shot off the Irwin/Donald playoff avoiding using his Driver not for strategic reasons but because he was apparently hitting it so poorly. And the famous Sandy Lyle 3rd round at Muirfield in appalling weather at The Open was 1-iron time, no Driver used. Did anyone every hit a 1-iron better than Sandy and his Ping?
Atb