There have been some memorable performances with hybrid clubs in the men’s professional game over the years. I can still see Todd Hamilton navigating the links of Royal Troon with his Sonartec hybrid en route to winning the 2004 Open Championship, and who could forget Y.E. Yang taking down the great Tiger Woods at the 2009 PGA Championship with seemingly a bag full of them!
Y.E. Yang using one of his many hybrids to defeat Tiger Woods at the 2009 PGA Championship.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Looking through equipment lists on the PGA and DP World Tours lately, however, it seems that even the best golf hybrid clubs are struggling to find a place in the bag of many of the world’s best male players. For context, it might surprise you to know that not a single player in the top ten of the OWGR (Official Golf World Rankings) regularly (if at all) uses a hybrid golf club. Xander Schauffele is the closest of that top ten to do so, using the Callaway Apex UW on occasion, which is marketed as somewhat of a blend between a fairway wood and hybrid, although to my mind based on the hosel diameter, CG location, and length specs, it is to all intents and purposes a fairway wood.
The Callaway Apex UW Xander Schauffele uses that somewhat blends a hybrid with a fairway wood.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
When you spread that search to the Top 25, we do see a hybrid presence of sorts but that only equates to five hybrid clubs in play, and when you consider every one of those 25 players is permitted 14 clubs, 5 out of 350 clubs isn’t exactly a great return.
Only Tom Kim (Titleist TSR3), Russell Henley (Titleist TSi2), Bob MacIntyre (TaylorMade Stealth2), Aaron Rai (Titleist TSR2), and Sungjae Im (Titleist H2 818) are flying the flag for the hybrid brigade currently in that world’s top 25.
Robert Macintyre using his TaylorMade Stealth2 hybrid.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Historically at PGA Tour events, we would regularly see hybrid numbers well into the hundreds in the club count, but in 2024, it has been a surprise if that number surpasses 30 in a given week, but why is that? Well, the answer is not necessarily clear but based on my discussions with tour technicians and players alike, I do have a hunch.
Even at the height of their popularity, hybrid clubs were not without their issues. Many high-speed players complained of a persistent and destructive left miss (for right-handed players) which was subsequently addressed by many manufacturers through horizontally manipulating…
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