The Top 10 Drivers on the PGA Tour in 2018

The best way to work out the best drivers on the PGA Tour is through the Strokes Gained: Off The Tee statistic.

Here, we run through the Top 10 on the list of Strokes Gained: Off The Tee for the 2018 season and the driver each player used in their quest for success. As you’ll find out, one brand dominates more than most…

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10. Patrick Cantlay

Driver: Titleist 917D2

Strokes Gained: .637 (per round)

Patrick Cantlay claimed his first PGA Tour title at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open last November as part of the wrap around 2017/18 PGA Tour season. The win highlights a remarkable return to form for this young talent following a lengthy injury lay-off. Cantlay has Titleist’s 917D2 driver in the bag and has decided to stick with it despite the launch of the new TS drivers.

9. Brooks Koepka

Driver: TaylorMade M3

Strokes Gained: .680

Two major championships, Player of the Year and $7,094,047 in official prize money, it is fair to say Brooks Koepka had a rather sensational season on the PGA Tour. Despite his incredible success, the American has decided to remain an equipment free agent, putting into play clubs from various brands, including his trusty Mizuno JPX900 Tour irons. The 28-year-old replaced his 2016 M2 driver with TaylorMade’s M3 at the beginning of the year, which is a swap that certainly seems to have been the right call.

8. Keith Mitchell

Driver: TaylorMade 2017 M1

Strokes Gained: .706

Keith Mithcell enjoyed a pretty successful debut season on the PGA Tour in 2018. He made 21 cuts in the 29 events he started, finished 67th in the FedEx Cup and was runner-up at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship. All season, he stuck with TaylorMade’s 2017 M1 driver but it looks like that could be changing, with the Mizuno staffer spotted testing the new Mizuno ST190 in recent weeks.

7. Francesco Molinari

Driver: TaylorMade M4

Strokes Gained: .719

The shortest hitter on this list but the most accurate by some distance. Despite his lack of length compared to the other nine on the list, over the last four years he has steadily climbed up the driving distance stats, going from 153rd in 2015 (281.6 yards) to 52nd in 2018 (301.0 yards). Other than a putter contract with Bettinardi, the Open champion is a free agent and opted this year to put the TaylorMade M4 in the bag.

6. Rory McIlroy

Driver: TaylorMade M3

Strokes Gained: .739

Rory claimed top spot in the driving distance stats on the PGA Tour in 2018, averaging a truly astounding 319.8 yards off the tee with his TaylorMade M3. Before claiming his sole victory of the 2018 season at Bay Hill, McIlroy made a shaft change, switching from the Mitsubishi Tensei White to the counterbalanced Orange model as he felt it gave him a more consistent ball flight and little bit of extra ball speed.

5. Bubba Watson

Driver: Ping G400 LST

Strokes Gained: .781

After a couple of years in the doldrums, Bubba Watson enjoyed a return to form this year, winning three time including the WGC Match Play title. The eccentric left-hander put his distinctive pink G400 LST driver into play when it was released in 2017 and it hasn’t left since, with his longest drive of the season measuring an incredible 394 yards the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

4. Gary Woodland

Driver: TaylorMade M3 440

Strokes Gained: .798

Along with Koepka and Molinari, Woodland is a free agent, which a growing trend on the PGA Tour. More and more golfers are opting to go without an equipment contract and instead opt to put the clubs they want from various manufacturers into their bags. Woodland ended a five-year winless streak in 2018 by claiming victory at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The big-hitting American added a 9° M3 440 driver to the bag the week prior to the win and averaged 314.1 yards off the tee in Phoenix, with his longest bomb measuring 364 yards.

3. Jon Rahm

Driver: TaylorMade M4

Strokes Gained: .815

Rahmbo won on both sides of the pond this year and won a crucial point against Tiger Woods in his Ryder Cup singles match to help Team Europe regain the trophy. He hit one of the standout drives of the week at Le Golf National, bombing it up the 480-yard 17th hole to leave only a short wedge into the green that would set up the birdie that closed out the match. All season, he has been gaming the TaylorMade M4 to great effect.

2. Luke List

Driver: TaylorMade M4

Strokes Gained: .816

Luke List enjoyed the best season of his career thus far with the TaylorMade M4 driver residing in his bag for 2018. He finished 29th in the FedEx cup standings, with his best finishing coming at the Honda Classic, where he lost out in a sudden death play-off to Justin Thomas.

1. Dustin Johnson

Driver: TaylorMade M3 & TaylorMade M4

Strokes Gained: .920

The big-hitting American topped the 2018 Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee stats for the 2018 PGA Tour season using both the TaylorMade M3 and M4 drivers, switching between the two on more than one occasion. All three of his wins this season, however, came with the M4 in the bag. Following his victory at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January he praised the performance of the M4 having put it into play for the first time that week. “It was the driver that won me the tournament this week,” he said. “I really drove it well – I don’t think I hit a bad drive all week and I wasn’t ever really out of position.” Johnson also hit the longest drive of the 2018 PGA Tour season in Hawaii, bombing his M4 a staggering 430 yards.

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