Taylormade M4

www.taylormadegolf.com X Lofts: 8.5° / 9.5° / 10.5°/ 12° X Shafts: Fujikura Atmos Red X Adjustable hosel: Yes X Loft change: +/- 2°

TECH: The same Twist Face & Hammerhead tech as the M3, but with 41g of weight positioned in the rear weight pad to max out forgiveness. Geocoustic engineering means the recessed sole frees up volume to create a bigger, more forgiving footprint.

WE SAY: All three testers found M4 generated higher levels of backspin, which is likely down to 41g of mass being located so far back in the head, meaning it’s well worth your time to select a shaft carefully as our test pro picked up 13 yards of carry by finding a good match. We like the new silver strip on the crown and how the carbon-fibre crown joins the titanium leading edge. After plotting where every impact occurred, we were able to prove that Twist Face launches shots from the high-toe and lowheel faster with less sidespin than the competition. It doesn’t mean you’ll hit every fairway, but we’d always like any advantage stacked in our favour.

TOP GEAR VERDICT

Dustin Johnson won his first event of 2018 with an M4, giving the club instant tour validation. It produced very solid distance and forgiveness numbers for our testers but the stock shaft’s quite high spin, so select your set-up very carefully to max out performance.