TAYLORMADE SIM2 MAX

◆ LOFTS 9° / 10.5° / 12° ◆ STOCK SHAFTS Fujikura Ventus Blue 50 or Mitsubishi Kuro Kage Silver 60

VERDICT Most golfers never get to see what’s inside their driver, but our test pro was blown away when he went inside a SIM2 Max. The levels to which engineers take driver construction nowadays, just to eke out tiny amounts of performance, is absolutely incredible. The new aluminium back ring is beautifully Cnc-milled and thanks to Taylormade’s final finish construction method, not a single gram is positioned inefficiently. It’s a level of detail that just wasn’t possible a few years ago, and you don’t get it with every brand today, either. What does it mean in raw data terms? The SIM2 Max was a couple of yards (that’s less than 1%) behind the Callaway Epic Max on carry distance (our longest traditional forgiving driver), which could well mean they’d switch places on a different day’s testing.