Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt of a piece our Andrew Tursky filed for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report in conjunction with our ongoing partnership. In the piece, AT discusses the shots mini drivers might help with at Augusta National and speaks to a couple of reps. Read the full piece here. 

Mini drivers are designed as a “best of both worlds” type of solution for the modern golfer, because they provide more distance and surface area on the face than fairway woods, but they also offer more control and workability than drivers. Think of these mini drivers as the “sweet spot” between drivers and 3-woods.

Mini driver usage on the PGA TOUR has boomed over the last several years. The craze started with the TaylorMade BRNR, which was first spotted in early 2023, and players such as Tommy Fleetwood and Adam Scott were early adopters. Now, nearly every major club company has a mini-driver of their own. Callaway has a new Elyte Mini, Titleist has a GT280, and Cobra has “The Deuce” prototype 2-wood.

“I call this mini driver season,” said Adrian Rietveld, TaylorMade’s senior Tour manager. “If you look at the stats around Augusta National, there are holes where you’d lose half a shot to the field if you miss the fairway. So now how do you hit the fairway? Do you hit 3-wood? Now you’re really giving up something to the field there (because of a lack of distance). But you can find that happy medium by using a club like a mini driver, get it in play, get it far enough down there, and statistically, over four rounds, you’re probably gaining on the field. … It’s a golf course where you do need every shot, and I think the mini driver adds to the ease of producing those golf shots.”

It’s not just the 13th hole where using the mini driver can be an advantage at Augusta National, either.

“The second hole now with the tee further back, if you’re not one of the guys that can carry the (right fairway bunker), for me, can I hit a mini that’s short of it, knowing that it’s fine, and I’m still going to get it on the green or greenside from where I am,” Fleetwood said. “I think for me, 10 is a great mini-driver hole, unless it’s playing short and I can hit driver and turn it. Thirteen, my mini driver turns over, so that will be a nice one. … And 18, as well, I can hit it and it’s short of the bunkers on the left. So there are actually a few holes I can hit (the mini driver).”

When asked about mini driver or “2-wood” usage at Augusta National this week, Cobra rep Ben Schomin added further insight.

“I think there are enough holes, like 13, where you don’t want to hit it too far, and you don’t want to hit it too short, and if you have something where you’re a little more confident working from right to left, it could be worth (using it at the Masters) just for the 13th hole if you think about it,” he said. “It’s very important for you to have your tee ball in the right spot on that hole. And even No. 10, off the tee is a really good one to sling and get it working right to left, so if it’s easier to … hit a low 2-wood off the tee from right to left, that may be a better play.”

Read the full piece here.