TOUR INSIGHT: SERGIO GARCIA

Taylormade tour fitter Mark Thistleton delves into the driver set-up of Sergio Garcia, one of the world’s best ball-strikers over the past 20 years

Sergio has always been very tuned in to Taylormade products, having tested them and worked with us for a long time over his career. He went straight into the Stealth Plus after a fitting at the end of 2021 and he likes a little bit more loft than most players, so he uses the 10.5˚ head with no adjustments on it. When we got him into the Stealth Plus, something he was really impressed with was the acoustics, which give that sort of dull, powerful and hot sound off the face.

While he’s not the longest on tour, you’ll always see Sergio right up there in the PGA Tour driving statistics because of his ability to control the ball, control his flight and ultimately find a lot of fairways. He’s got so much control over his golf ball that he can hit shots to order on the driving range. We were watching him on the range earlier this year and he spotted this 3ft gap between two palm trees and said, “Do you reckon I can hit it through this gap?” He then hit three perfect shots straight through the middle of them – that’s the kind of control he has off the tee! He’s got so much confidence in his ball flight and how he can shape the ball that it’s a joy to watch.

Sergio launches his drives flatter than the average tour player and because of this he needs a little bit more spin to keep it up in the air. He typically has a slightly heavier weight in the back of his driver because he likes to see this extra spin on the ball. Having the centre of gravity a little further back in the head makes the ball slightly easier to shape. Sergio likes to move it both ways so this really suits him.

Another thing worth noting about Sergio is that he plays a much shorter driver shaft than others on tour. He’s about an inch short of standard in the driver and the same in his 3- and 5-woods, too. It’s interesting that he’s stuck to that while a lot of other guys have gone the other way and started testing longer shafts. He’s played these shorter shafts throughout his career and has never really been tempted into the chase for more clubhead speed. He controls the ball so well and knows his driving game so well that he doesn’t want to tinker too much with what he’s comfortable with. In fact, he optimises his distance from consistently central strikes. He knows that with his regular shaft length in the driver he can nail it out of the centre of the face often, maximise ball speed, and shape the ball however he wants from there. He’s plenty long enough off the tee, by the way! He still averages comfortably over 300 yards, but when you combine this with his control, shot shape and accuracy, you’ve got a pretty formidable driver of the golf ball.