DJ, Morikawa, McIlroy among early adopters of SIM2

TaylorMade officially launched its new SIM2 drivers and metalwoods this week, but the buzz has been strong for months now. The original SIM was a serious heavyweight on TOUR and in fitting bays last year. But, as we have seen with the Carlsbad-based company, engineers are always pushing the envelope even further. This particular iteration is built around head stability and forgiveness. An almost all carbon-fiber outer construction of the clubhead and new weighting system give players not only the speed they would expect from a TaylorMade stick but more forgiveness than ever.

The TOUR seeding – i.e. the process of putting the club in players’ hands -- started at TaylorMade’s traditional marketing shoot at The Floridian in early November, and the product was an instant hit with TaylorMade staffers. The overall feedback was clear enthusiasm around optimal spin and forgiveness across the face. Every TOUR player has a miss tendency, and the feedback reflected that toe or heel misses not only retained the appropriate spin but ultimately kept the ball in play.

“To be fair, it’s still very early in the season to get a full grasp on what these drivers can do, but so far, the main things I’m hearing are definite improvements in dispersion (forgiveness), and ball speeds jumped up a bit,” said Chris Trott, TaylorMade’s Director of Global Tours-Sports Marketing. “We are excited to see what happens as the season progresses. Stay tuned.”

Here is a list of the current players on staff and the non-staff players who have made the switch and what they have in play.

TaylorMade staff

Dustin Johnson (Kapalua)
SIM2 10.5 degrees with a Fujikura Speeder Evolution 661 X shaft

Collin Morikawa (Sony)
SIM2 10.5 degrees set at 9 with a Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 60 TX shaft

Rory Mcilroy (Abu Dhabi)
SIM2 10.5 degrees set at 8.5 with a Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X shaft

Tommy Fleetwood (Abu Dhabi)
SIM2 or SIM2 Max 10.5 degrees at 8.5 with a Mitsubishi Diamana DF 70 TX shaft

Matthew Wolff (Torrey)
SIM2 9 degrees with Graphite Design Tour AD TP 7 TX shaft

Michael Gligic (Sony)
SIM2 9 degrees with a Mitsubishi Kuro Kage XT 60 TX shaft

Nick Taylor (Sony)
SIM2 10.5 degrees with a Fujikura Atmos Blue 6 X shaft

Non-staff players
Chris Baker: SIM2 9.0 degrees
James Hahn: SIM2 8.0 degrees
Jim Herman: SIM2 Max 9.0 degrees
Sung Kang: SIM2 9 degrees
Danny Lee: SIM2 9.0 degrees
Brendan Steele: SIM2 9.0 degrees
D.J. Trahan: SIM2 9.0 degrees