Callaway, Cobra, Ping, Srixon and TaylorMade all have something cooking, which shouldn’t come as a surprise. Outside of Ping and Srixon, the other three follow a yearly cadence for product releases.

Gearheads are used to making do with black-and-white images of the sole that appear on the USGA and R&A’s conforming driver head list, but thanks to a select group of pros, we were able to get a peek at several models in the wild. Nothing beats seeing them in living colour.

With cricket season in full swing, it’s understandable that you may have missed several high-profile names making driver changes. We’re here to help get you up to speed on who might be playing a new big stick in the new year.

Below are 5 recent driver swaps that caught our eye:

Akshay Bhatia and Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond

David Cannon

Bhatia wasted little time praising Callaway’s Elyte Triple Diamond in his first start with the new driver. A dip in consistency off the tee — Bhatia went from 32nd to 59th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-tee last season — prompted a closer look at the driver to get rid of a two-way miss.

Instead of waiting until January to break in the driver, Bhatia opted to take it for a spin at the Hero World Challenge, where he finished fourth and ranked 9th in driving accuracy (73.08 percent).

“Some weeks it was good and some weeks it just wasn’t there,” Bhatia said of his driving in 2024. “[With the new driver], the spin rate’s gotten a little tighter. The misses especially for me when I hit it off the heel, it’s starting right and cutting versus, sometimes I would hit it off the heel and it goes straight right. Yeah, it’s been — it was really, really encouraging.”

Rickie Fowler and Cobra DS-Adapt X

Sam Navarro

Fowler struggled to find a Cobra Darkspeed driver that checked all the boxes last season. Darkspeed LS and Darkspeed X both made appearances in the bag, but it was ultimately Aerojet LS that saw the most action.

At the Grant Thornton, Fowler was spotted using a 9-degree DS-Adapt X alongside a TaylorMade BRNR Mini. Designed around stability and the ability to alter launch and spin through two centrally-located weights (forward and rearward), Fowler found the X to be a better fit after rigorous testing.

“The X head, it’s not like it was any or much slower than the LS,” Fowler told PGATour.com. “It was more just the stability side of it. I like playing out of the fairway as much as possible. That’s been a big (factor) for me and all the testing I’ve done.”

Sahith Theegala and Ping G440 LST

David Cannon

Similar to Bhatia, Theegala chose to change drivers at the Hero World Challenge, replacing G430 LST with an unreleased G440 LST.

We haven’t heard much in the way of insights from Theegala on the new driver, but it’s worth noting he finished 8th at the Hero with G440 in play. That’s the good news.

Theegala ranked second-to-last in Strokes Gained: Off-the-tee, losing more than 5 shots to the field off the tee on a demanding layout, so it’ll be interesting to see if he makes any adjustments to start the year in Hawaii.

TBD and Srixon ZXi

Outside of Hideki Matsuyama testing a ZXi LS prototype during the Tour Championship, Srixon’s forthcoming lineup has stayed out of sight. In a world where most of us run on instant gratification, you’ll have to wait and see on ZXi.

Hideki’s still playing ZX5 LS. Brooks Koepka was seen using TaylorMade Qi10 during The Showdown. It’s very likely both of those will change in the not-too-distant future. In other words, keep watching this space.

Nelly Korda and TaylorMade Qi35

I’ll be the first to admit I was wrong about Qi35. When TaylorMade’s newest driver landed on the list of conforming driver heads, I fully expected it to be a subtle hint that Tiger Woods was going to make a change. After all, if you’re going to tease a new driver, you might as well put it in the hands of the G.O.A.T.

Turns out, I picked the wrong Woods — only Charlie is using Qi35 at the PNC — and totally whiffed on who would be the first to put the driver in play. Nelly Korda turned out to be the right answer, followed closely by Rory McIlroy.

Korda offered a few positive insights on Qi35 at the Grant Thornton, but admitted there’s still work to be done before she returns to the course in January.

“So far [Qi35 has] been pretty good,” she said. “This is a great event to kind of test it out to see where I need to make some tweaks. First week in the bag, I do like it, but I do think I need to make a few more tweaks with it.”

Bonus: Bryson DeChambeau and LA Golf

Kevin C. Cox

DeChambeau’s LA Golf prototype driver didn’t make the cut at The Crypto.com Showdown. No matter. It still garnered plenty of attention from gearheads who noticed the massive slab of lead tape affixed to the sole.

DeChambeau has been dropping bread crumbs about a driver for the masses, but it’s unclear if the latest design from LA Golf is a peek into the future for the recreational golfer, or if it’s simply a one-off built for the two-time major winner’s swing and preferences.

“Certainly we’re working on some things,” DeChambeau said at this year’s Open Championship. “Would I like to see it more in play around the world and across different amateurs, different levels? Absolutely. That’s the main goal. It’s not just going to be unique to me. It needs to be built for the individual.

“… So really building a golf piece of equipment that works for that individual is incredibly important, and that’s what I’ve personally realised, and I hope to transition over to the public golfer. We’re working on that. It should be soon, should be sometime soon.”