5 Most Forgiving Drivers in Golf for 2023

(our full length review of this club can be found here)

Yep, you knew this bad boy was going to be on the list. The Ping G425 MAX does a little bit of everything well and is a point-and-shoot guru.

As we noted in our PRIOR REVIEW of this beautiful head, the MAX places a premium on MOI and stability with 26 grams of tungsten located low and at the back of the head. This weight is moveable, to an extent, to promote or correct the shot shape of your choice.

Ping continues to refine its proprietary “Dragonfly” webbing technology through the crown which strengthens the head and keeps it stable on impact.

Ping also continues to deploy the turbulator fins on top of the driver that help frame the ball for setup and cut through the air on your swing.

Consistency is the name of the game with this driver and while it won’t be the longest option available, it will likely be the easiest to dial in and maintain. Stability is top notch with this head and it’s a welcome update to Ping’s already legendary forgiving line.

I play with several sub-5 HCP golfers that swing the G400 line even today.

Why is that relevant? The G400 line was launched in 2004!!! That alone is a pure testament to just how good this driver series is year after year.

The G425 MAX carries that legacy and is the most forgiving driver I’ve hit yet.

Coupled with the LST (Low Spin) version, Ping wins the award for the best pick up, point, and swing options on the market. Truly, this driver fits in anyone’s hands, and whether you bag it comes down to looks, the sound, and the feel — which are all unique to Ping.

Along with the Callaway Rogue ST MAX, this is the first suggestion I make when asked for driver options.

(full test results of the Callaway Rogue ST Max driver are in this post)

The Rogue ST line is by far one of the most accurate series of golf drivers I’ve had the luxury of reviewing. If you need lower spin or have a higher swing speed, the MAX LS is neck-and-neck with the MAX regular.

Callaway really dug deep and worked with their proprietary AI technology to tweak both the Jailbreak stabilization (two structural stabilization bars that sit behind the face of the club to frame the sweet spot) and the design of the flash face, to produce a consistently high ball speed off the face that feel solid on every stroke.

The club does everything well and inspires confidence in any swing. Callaway delved into the numbers to refine what was already an excellent driver platform, and make it supremely accessible to players of all ranges of handicaps.

In the MAX version specifically, Callaway employs a 26g tungsten weight positioned low at the back of the club (this is what makes it so forgiving!) for a high MOI design that works well with a unibody (single piece frame for those of us who cut through the fluff).

This all translates to keeping the club head steady upon deflection so that if you can replicate your swing, you’ll get the same, consistent results every time.

I love what Callaway did with both the Epic and Rogue ST line of drivers. The Epic MAX LS was one of my top 3 drivers reviewed last year, and the ST manages to refine an already excellent design.

The MAX is the go-to-every-day driver that I can comfortably recommend to any player as a starting point, and more often than not, ends up in their bag. It does everything well, looks good, and doesn’t disappoint. It’s easily one of the best drivers for forgiveness in 2023.

(our full review with test results of this club can be found over here)

Distance, Distance, Distance… did I Mention Distance?

The Stealth Plus+ is considered the low spin version of the Stealth family, but don’t let that dissuade you from this club.

Technically the Stealth (non +) version of this driver is marketed as the most forgiving driver of the family, but with mid-high swing speeds, the Plus takes the cake in my opinion.

The pink (red?) elephant in the room is TaylorMade’s new 60x carbonwood face. For the layman, this represents a 40% weight reduction over the equivalent in pure titanium.TM has also designed the Stealth face to be 20% larger than its predecessor offering more real-estate to propel the ball forward. This ultimately translates to a bigger sweet spot and faster ball speed across the board. We tend to agree.

In particular, the Stealth Plus produced the fastest ball speed off the face, and some of the longest total carries of our testing.

For this reason alone, the Stealth Plus edges out the Stealth (non plus) as our selection for the most forgiving driver of the TaylorMade family. Your ball is primed to go far whether it’s on carry, or by roll-out.

TaylorMade calls their new line the “stealth”, but there’s nothing subtle about this driver.

Carbonwood is not a new concept, but in this case TM did an excellent job re-inventing the wheel and offering players something outside the box.

The Stealth drivers as a family are fast off the face and are designed for distance despite their inconspicuous name.

In this case, the combination of low spin and fast ball speed produces a driver that will result in favorable numbers in most players’ hands. This driver will cater to players that are looking to go big off the tee and extend their reach with some extra carry and roll-out.

Stability is the name of the game with the latest edition of this Mizuno driver, but it doesn’t place the focus in the most conventional way…

Mizuno starts with a premium material “Beta Titanium CoreTech face” that promotes strength and flexibility in the face allowing for faster ball speed and longevity over time.

This driver is designed to be used, abused, and practiced with… while producing consistent results through the years. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a driver that feels “hit out” even 5 years down the road.

Mizuno went out of their way to redesign the term “stability” with a focus on the horizontal plane from crown-to-heel instead of hosel-to-toe.

Instead of shaving weight off the top of the club like many other manufacturers, Mizuno engineers took an opposite approach and thinned out the sole with 40% more carbon fiber allowing weight to be positioned low and back.

Overall this driver promotes a sleek and understated look with a slight pear aesthetic. We found it to be wonderfully stable and very easy to hit the fairway for players that are a bit more advanced and routinely pull out their driver to shoot the distance off the tee.

This driver is one of the most friendly vertical-axis-miss drivers I’ve played and it shows up when you try to elevate the ball for extra launch. It fits perfectly on our list of most forgiving drivers.

Mizuno makes a product that appeals to a player that has developed their swing and isn’t afraid to go after it when the situation calls for it. It won’t be the longest driver on the rack, especially since the stock length is 45”, but it will serve you well for a long time.

Carbon fiber, high center of gravity placement, moveable weights, and a diamond face? All at a price that won’t break the bank? Yes please!

The Tour Edge C722 is in my top 3 favorite drivers this year for both the ease of use, and the price.

I was a big fan of the C721 series as a natural low-spin driver, and the C722 carries the day with a 20% thinner Ridgeback Spine (center crown support) than its predecessor, with the same or better stability.

The Carbon wrap technology in the head/crown of the driver adds 26% more carbon fiber to promote flex from the C721 and to reduce weight even further. This allows the driver head to be faster, flex more for high ball speed, and launch higher.

The C-series specifically is an eye-opener and earns a spot in our most forgiving drivers because it is the smallest volume driver head on the list at 445cc and still produces numbers akin to a 460cc driver. That’s truly impressive.

Paired with premium shaft options, you can’t go wrong. I specifically chose the C-series driver instead of the E-series because of spin characteristics.

In my testing, I found the E722 to have anywhere from 350-500 rpm’s more backspin than the C722. While that is ideal for those that are seeking a fairway finder and can shape shots, players that are prone to aggressive shot shapes (slices) may not appreciate the extra spin in the E model.

This is a premium driver with top-of-the-line components.

At $429.99 brand new, there is no better value/performance driver on the market. Period!

The driver looks good, feels good, and sounds good, so long as you can get past the fact that it doesn’t have a big-box name stamped on it.

Anyone looking for a naturally lower-spin driver, or a more compact head should give one a rip. Let’s keep this secret between us so that TE doesn’t blow up and hike the price tag!!!