Sports
TaylorMade’s Qi4D driver, Spider putters steal the show
Welcome to Fully Fit 2026, GOLF’s new platform for providing you with real-golfer insights into what 2026 gear might be best suited for your game. To this end, we assembled six GOLF content creators of varying abilities and ran them through the gauntlet of six full-bag fittings (driver to putter!) at six major club manufacturers in Phoenix and Carlsbad, Calif. Our hope: that you might see shades of your own game in one of our panelists’ and take some learnings and inspiration from their fitting experiences.
ICYMI: Ep. 1: Ping’s G440 K driver makes surprising first impression
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Day 2 of our journey through the major golf club makers took us from the Arizona desert to the California coastline in Carlsbad, where we spent the bulk of time on the trip. And our first stop on the California leg was TaylorMade’s Kingdom.
This is also where our sixth tester, GOLF senior writer Sean Zak, joined the fray for his first taste of the gear nerd life (complete with a 15-year-old Adams driving iron and a golf bag with more holes than a golf course itself).
In his fitting, fitter Matt Simone quickly targeted that Adams driving iron to replace and fill out Sean’s gapping between his longest iron and fairway woods. It wasn’t long before they decided Sean needed a utility iron, TaylorMade’s PUDI, in his 4-iron slot, but with a lightweight steel shaft, more similar to what he had in his irons. That got him to a 200-yard carry number, which started to make the rest of his bag click into place.
MORE FULLY FIT: Fully Fit hub page | Here’s why we’re ‘testing’ golf clubs differently this year | Inside 6 days of fittings and testing | Browse 2026 drivers | Browse 2026 irons
Elsewhere, Wadeh was continuing down the path of finding more forgiveness with players’ distance and player performance irons and Maddi was testing out different weights and shaft materials to see what makes the most sense for her.
TaylorMade Qi4D Custom Driver
SHAPED FOR SPEED
The re-engineered head profile increases ball speed thanks to improved aerodynamics developed through advanced simulations.
FACE FOR DISTANCE
60x Carbon Twist Face™ is a technological cornerstone that provides weight savings, incredible ball speed and more consistency vs. a titanium face.
ADJUSTABLE PERFORMANCE
4° loft sleeve can be used to adjust loft, lie and face angle for optimized flight.
TOUR PROVEN TECHNOLOGIES
New and improved cut-through Speed Pocket™ protects ball speed and reduces spin on low-face strikes.
Advanced CAD modeling creates a design with a clean and powerful sound, a foundation of TaylorMade driver performance.
Multi-Material Construction allows engineers to strategically place mass in areas of the head where it maximizes performance, speed, and stability.
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ALSO AVAILABLE AT: PGA Tour Superstore, TaylorMade
But the big story of the day was the new Qi4D drivers and fairway woods, which ended up in the bags of myself, Jake Morrow and Johnny Wunder.
For Jake, who was working with Kingdom fitter Duane Anderson, finding a 3-wood was a huge surprise because he hadn’t played one for several years. But by the end of the fit, he had one he could hit more than 255 yards off the deck and over 270 off the tee!
We also went inside to do a fitting for TaylorMade’s Spider putters, and Johnny and I learned how the Pure Roll insert helps to create forward roll of the strike. I was also shocked when I picked up a Spider ZT and recorded a 0.01˚ face angle at impact with my first stroke. Am I going to be a low torque guy?
LOW TORQUE DESIGN
TaylorMade Spider 5K-ZT Custom Putter
The KBS putter shaft is bored directly toe-ward near the CG at a 1° shaft lean with 25mm onset behind the face allowing golfers to realize the benefits of a new stable, toe up design.
UNIQUE SOLE SHAPING
New and improved sole shaping to work specifically with this unique hosel configuration, engineers worked tirelessly to find new ways to improve accuracy from the moment the putter is placed behind the ball. The new sole curvature accommodates different player types and ball positions, giving golfers the ability to find a consistent and repeatable stroke.
SPIDER STABILITY
Combining high density stainless steel and low-density aerospace quality aluminum provides the perfect foundation for a design that is high MOI and allows for a shaft orientation that sits closer to the face.
MILLED TRUE PATH™ ALIGNMENT
Based on tour player feedback, we were tasked to find a new premium alignment system. Building on the classic TaylorMade True Path™ technology, milled lines the width of the golf ball were added helping golfers properly index to center face.
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ALSO AVAILABLE AT: PGA Tour Superstore, TaylorMade
At the end of the fittings, Sean was wrapping up his bag, getting into a 3-wood with a 5-wood length shaft to help optimize his strike location, something he would have never thought of without the help of a fitter.
“It doesn’t seem like it’s possible,” Sean said. “I know that rabbit hole goes so deep. Johnny is like Bugs Bunny, ripping me down.”
The day ended with Sean being presented with a brand new TaylorMade golf bag to use for the rest of the trip, much to the joy of the rest of us, who no longer had to be seen with his previous one.
Ready to overhaul your bag in 2026 like our Fully Fit panelists? Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.
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