Taylormade M4 £369
www.taylormadegolf.com
◆ Lofts: 8.5° / 9.5° / 10.5°/ 12° ◆ Shaft: Fujikura Atmos Red
◆ Adjustable hosel: Yes
◆ Loft change: +/- 2°
TECH: The same Twist Face and Hammerhead tech as the M3, but with 41g (up from 22g in the M2) 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. They’re only tweaks, but we like the new silver strip on the crown and how the carbon-fibre crown joins the titanium leading edge is more subtlety shaped. After plotting where every impact occurred during our drivers test (for all three testers) we were able to prove that Twist Face launches shots from the high-toe and lowheel faster with less sidespin (they also flew five to six yards further) 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 without quite topping the pile. The stock shaft’s quite high spin, so select your set-up very carefully to ensure you max out performance.