When the new Titleist 917 drivers and fairway metals first arrived on the PGA Tour last summer, the initial reaction from players was resoundingly positive. The 917 models gave players greater distance with superior forgiveness, more optimized trajectory control through SureFit adjustability and the resonant sound and solid feel that Tour player feedback had inspired.

Click here to learn more about 917 drivers and fairway metals.

Since that initial seeding, players relying on 917 metals have already won 19 tournaments on the worldwide professional golf tours. In total, 917 drivers and fairways are in the bags of more than 150 players competing on golf's biggest stages.

We wanted to hear first-hand about the complete performance golfers can expect from the new 917 drivers and fairways, so Team Titleist reached out to the players who have had a chance to put these metals to the test on the ultimate proving ground - the PGA Tour.

Here's what a few players had to say...

 

• Titleist Brand Ambassador Jimmy Walker first began testing early 917 prototypes in January at the Titleist Performance Institute in Oceanside, Calif. At his first opportunity, he put his new Titleist 917D2 (8.5°) in play at the World Golf Championships event at Firestone. Less than a month later, Walker won the PGA Championship at Baltusrol for his first major title.
  
  Quoting Jimmy: “I put the 917D2 straight into play. It was definitely faster, had a better sound and feel, and I really loved the shape. Performance-wise, we found a lower sweet spot and I was able to lower my spin rate to exactly where I wanted. The ball flight was also what I liked to see, which is not super high. I can fly the ball on a rope anywhere from 295-310 and then it just rolls out far and straight. I’ve also picked up a lot of confidence hitting it into the wind. It's just a huge step up from what we've had.”
  
  "Then we won the PGA Championship with it," Walker continued. "It was literally probably one of the best driving tournaments I've had ever, honestly. Lots of fairways, consistent draws all week, it was a lot of fun. You have an incredible sense of calm when you've got that much control going on. I was very positive, I felt very calm because I just knew the ball was going where I was looking."

 

• One week after Titleist Brand Ambassador Justin Thomas put his new 917 driver in play, he stepped to the 16th tee at Firestone Country Club and unleashed a 414-yard drive down the fairway of the 667-yard par-5. It was the longest drive recorded on the PGA Tour during the 2015-2016 season.
  
  Quoting Justin: “It was the hardest I’ve probably ever hit a drive,” said Thomas, who chipped in for eagle. “As soon as I hit it I knew…”
  
  Since that time, Thomas has gone on to win three times on the PGA Tour, relying on a 917F3 (15°) fairway metal in addition to his 917D3 (9.5°) driver. Thomas went back-to-back, defending his title at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia and then sealed a Hawaiian sweep, opening up the 2017 calendar year with wins at the SBS Tournament of Champions and the Sony Open in Hawaii.
  
  “I immediately liked the look and feel of it," Thomas said. "What I've noticed most about the 917 drivers is the forgiveness on mishits. The feeling is better, the speeds were up and the ball doesn't go as far off line. For me, everything about it was better, so it was an easy switch. It's just an all around better driver for me and it's showed in my performance since putting it in my bag. I've been driving the ball better and it is one of the big reasons I've gotten my three wins this season."

 

• Titleist Brand Ambassador Adam Scott got his first look at 917 driver prototypes last February, when he tested the new clubs at the Titleist Performance Institute in Oceanside, California. In the past, Adam has trusted smaller Titleist driver heads, as they were more aesthetically pleasing to his eye. He told us, however, that the enhanced look and feel of the 917D2 made it easy for him to switch into the larger (460cc vs. 440cc for 917D3) and more forgiving 917D2 model.
  
  Quoting Adam: “I'm now using a D2, which I've never really used much in the past, but just the symmetry and proportions -- for a big-headed driver, it looks so well-balanced and very much like the old kind of pear-shaped driver heads I've favored. You've got to like the way they look, not just how they perform. Then I think the SureFit CG is a nice feature because already I've seen the benefit of just moving some of the weight around in the back of the club. Just having that option, moving the SureFit CG weight into a neutral position, my flight went from being just a little bit dippy to a really strong flight and I've certainly gained yardage since middle of the year switching to 917."

 

• In just his second start with his new 917D2 8.5° driver, Titleist Brand Ambassador Greg Chalmers won the Barracuda Championship for his first PGA Tour victory. Chalmers finished 6th at the event in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (3.888). He improved his Driving Accuracy each day by hitting 10 of 14 fairways on Thursday, 11 on Friday and 12 each on the weekend for a total of 45 of 56 or 80%. He averaged 297 yards off the tee for the week, including 315 yards per drive on Sunday.
  
  Quoting Greg: “Thanks to Titleist," Chalmers told Golf Channel in his interview on the 18th green, "I’ve got that new driver... that 917, and I gained some yardage and started driving it straighter. I drove it beautifully…”

 

• Titleist Brand Ambassador Webb Simpson finished runner-up at this year's Waste Management Phoenix Open, his best performance since a T2 finish at the 2015 Wells Fargo Championship. Simpson is gaming a 917D3 (10.5°) driver as well as a 917F2 (15°) fairway metal, a club that Simpson relies on "a couple times a round off the tee and then a couple more times from the fairway on the average course we play on Tour".
  
  Quoting Webb: “The biggest thing for me on this 917F2 3-wood is that mishits go a lot better than I expected. You know we always want to hit it in the center but even pros, we mishit it. And a lot of our fairways are really tight and it's hard to get that perfect contact. My bottom-groove or heel shots were flying up in the air and still carrying a number that would work for me. My next favorite thing was probably the height. I've always struggled getting 3-woods up in the air but no problem with the 917.”

 

• Like Simpson, Titleist Brand Ambassador Scott Piercy was quick to put both a 917 driver and 917 fairway metal in the bag. Since then, Piercy has enjoyed three top-10 finishes in the new season (T3 at the Safeway Open, T10 at the CIMB Classic and T4 at the OHL Clasic at Mayakoba). With the faster ball speed and flatter trajectory he's experiencing with his new 917D2 (8.5°) driver, Piercy is averaging 296.3 yards per drive. He's also experiencing more versatility from his 917F2 (16.5°) fairway metal.
  
  Quoting Scott: “The 3-wood is usually the hardest club in the bag to fit. It’s hard to find one that you can use off the tee and off the turf. From the fairway, usually the ball either goes straight up and just goes up, or you can’t get it off the ground at all. Conversely, when you have have a 3-wood that’s good off the ground, when you tee it up, it typically just balloons straight up the air. This one, the 917, it does both and it’s awesome. Off the turf and when you put it on a tee, the ball gets up nice and high but then it wants to flatten out and go. You’re not struggling to get it airborne and you’re not hitting that floaty or spinny shot.”

•••

If you're interested to see how 917s perform for your game, visit our golf shop locator to find a certified Titleist club fitter or check our schedule of upcoming local club trial events, where you can experience for yourself the complete performance offered by new 917 metals.

And please be sure to share your feedback with us!

•••

TOUR VALIDATED: Since the initial seeding and validation process for 917 drivers and fairways in late June, players relying on 917 drivers and fairways have captured 19 titles across the worldwide professional golf tours including:

JUSTIN THOMAS (PGA TOUR - Sony Open in Hawaii):
917D3 (9.5°) driver, 917F3 (15°) fairway metal

JUSTIN THOMAS(PGA TOUR -  SBS Tournament of Champions):
917D3 (9.5°) driver, 917F3 (15°) fairway metal

JUSTIN THOMAS(PGA TOUR - CIMB Classic):
917D3 (9.5°) driver, 917F3 (15°) fairway metal

JIMMY WALKER (PGA TOUR - 2016 PGA Championship)
917D2 (8.5°) prototype driver

GREG CHALMERS (PGA TOUR - Barracuda Championship)
917D2 (8.5°) prototype driver

ALEX LEVY (European Tour - Porsche European Open)
917D3 (9.5°) driver

ETHAN TRACY (Web.com Tour - Club Colombia Championship)
917D2 (10.5°) driver, 917F2 (16.5°) fairway metal

JAY HAAS (PGA Tour Champions - Toshiba Classic)
917D2 (10.5°) driver, 917F (16.5°, 21°) fairway metals

DIMI PAPADATOS (Australasian Tour - Victorian Open Championship):
917D2 (9.5°) driver, 917F2 (15°) fairway metal

JUSTIN HARDING (South African Tour - Vodacom Origins of Golf - Simola):
917D3 (8.5°) driver

GAGANJEET BHULLAR (Asian Tour - Bank BRI-JCB Indonesian Open)
917D2 driver (9.5°), 917F2 fairway metals (13.5°, 18°)

SANG-HYUN PARK (Japan Tour - Golf Nippon Series J.T. Cup )
917D3 (10.5°) driver, 917F2 (15°) fairway metal

MIN-GYU CHO (Japan Tour - Fujisankei Classic):
917D2 (9.5°) driver

HYUNGJOON LEE (Korean Tour - Caido Korea Tour Championship)
917D2 driver (10.5°), 917F2 fairway metal (16.5

JUNGHO YOON (Korean Tour - DGB Financial Group Daeju Gyeongbuk Open)
917D2/8.5° driver

GAGANJEET BHULLAR (Korean Tour - Shinhan Donghae Open)
917D2 driver (9.5°), 917F2 fairway metals (13.5°, 18

HUILIN ZHANG (PGA TOUR CHINA - Buick Open)
917D2 (9.5°) driver

TAEWOO KIM (PGA TOUR CHINA - Putian Open)
917D2 driver, 917F3 fairway metal

 

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