At the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, Tennessee, Justin Rose ended his search for the right driver by making a bold equipment change that propelled him to victory. The Englishman switched to Callaway’s Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Max driver just before the tournament, a move that proved critical in his playoff win after four challenging days at TPC Southwind.
Before this event, Rose struggled through an unsettled season with multiple drivers, experimenting with up to six different models and even favoring smaller clubs off the tee over a traditional driver. His choice to adopt Callaway’s new driver—untried in competition until that week—marked a turning point in his performance and confidence.
How the new driver transformed Rose’s game on the course
Rose’s adjustment to the Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Max driver was both strategic and technical. PGA TOUR representative for Callaway Golf, Joe Toulon, highlighted Rose’s confidence in using the unfamiliar driver particularly on the difficult par-4 18th hole during Sunday’s playoff. Rose successfully executed three critical tee shots there, securing the championship in a three-hole playoff against J.J. Spaun.
Talking specifically about 18 and that tee shot and just with the confidence that he had in that club, which is crazy to say because he just switched to it, but who knows how he would’ve played that tee shot in the past, but how comfortable he was with the driver to allow him to hit that tee shot three or four times on Sunday I think says a lot,
said Joe Toulon, PGA TOUR rep for Callaway Golf.
Rose sought a driver that would create more of a leftward ball start and limit his recent issues with right-side misses. Toulon explained how the club’s design helped Rose establish a consistent, tighter ball flight that better matched his swing tendencies.
(Rose) was looking for was something that had a little bit more of a left start and would eliminate a right miss that he was recently struggling with,
Toulon said.
… worked on an option for him that would shift the start line a little bit further left, but let that ball flight kind of hang in there a lot tighter, a lot more consistently and then really it checked those boxes.
Impressive boost in distance and accuracy with the new driver
Driving distance statistics confirm the impact of Rose’s new driver. Previously ranking outside the top 100 on the PGA TOUR, he improved by increasing his ball speed by 4 mph, which elevated him to 12th in Driving Distance at the FedEx St. Jude. This combination of length and precision made a substantial difference, allowing Rose more options from the tee.
Reflecting on his success with the driver, Rose emphasized his new ability to cover the left side of the course, which had been a challenge before.
I’ve never been able to cover the left side,
Rose remarked about the challenging 18th hole at TPC Southwind.
… If I held the driver up a little bit, I probably wasn’t going to run out, and if I turned the driver over, I was going to make the carry, which obviously, that angle that I was able to create to the back left pin was very advantageous.
This improved balance between speed and accuracy was underlined by his leap from No. 141 to 14th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee, a key metric for driving effectiveness.
Season-long search influenced by multiple driver trials
Rose’s journey to this performance included testing a wide range of drivers throughout the season. Before the PGA TOUR even kicked off, he used a Titleist GT3 while captaining Great Britain & Ireland to victory at the DP World Tour’s Team Cup. Early in the 2025 PGA TOUR campaign, he shifted to the Titleist GT2 driver, but continued to seek better options.
His experiments extended to the innovative TGL golf league, where he tested TaylorMade’s Qi35 driver during weekday prime-time sessions, though it never made it into tournament play. Instead, he used a three-year-old Titleist TsR3 for a strong showing at Augusta National, nearly winning The Masters before losing in a playoff to Rory McIlroy.
Post-Masters through some of those tougher tournaments we played, Memorial, U.S. Open, just didn’t drive the ball well enough to do good in those,
Rose said candidly about the period before his turnaround.
He bounced back to the Titleist GT2 for the Memorial Tournament and tried TaylorMade’s M3 and M6 at the Scottish Open and The Open Championship respectively. Rose found his form improving in links golf, especially after adding a new mini driver to his bag, which he credits for positive shifts in strokes gained off the tee.
I felt like the reset going into links golf season helped me, and I definitely drove it better in Scotland and The Open,
Rose explained.
A key though was adding a new mini driver into the setup. I started to see positive strokes gained off the tee, put a mini driver in play, which I’ve felt like has been a nice shift for me.
Final driver choice was critical to playoff success in Memphis
Rose’s experience throughout the season prepared him to make a confident switch at the FedExCup Playoffs, where the stakes were higher and competition tougher. His improved physical condition and ability to generate more swing speed in warmer climates also contributed to better performance.
I feel like the body is moving well, beginning to find a little bit of speed, at least in these nice hot climates, to get a little bit more distance out of these big golf courses,
Rose noted.
Yeah, driving the ball will continue to be a priority because you can’t – I’m never going to be the longest player anymore on TOUR, but you can’t be short and crooked. You’ve got to have a weapon in there somewhere.
Ultimately, Rose’s decision to rely on his seventh driver of the season for the final stretch of the FedEx St. Jude Championship proved decisive. The new Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Max gave him the edge to seal a dramatic playoff victory, highlighting how the right equipment choice can revitalize a player’s ability to compete at the highest level.