GolfWell Podcast · Cordie Walker - Formerly Golf Science Lab

Two Drivers in the Bag?! Here’s Why It’s Actually Genius

·34 min·2 clips

If you hit 300 yards, you’ll hit a three-wood off the ground 80% of the time.

1. GolfWell Podcast episode “Two Drivers in the Bag?! Here’s Why It’s Actually Genius” centers on Cordy Walker asking whether a second driver belongs in the bag. 2. Cordy Walker hosts the show and Marty Jertson, Ping’s VP of Fitting and Performance, explains the fitting and equipment logic behind the setup. 3. The episode asks whether a golfer who already carries a normal driver should add a shorter, higher-lofted second driver instead of a three-wood. 4. Marty says Ping has seen versions of this idea for about 10 years, including Phil at Augusta and Ben Silverman’s 12-degree G410. 5. He also names Tony Finau, Neil Shipley, and Preston Summerhays as recent examples of players using a second driver or similar build. 6. Marty argues that players who hit it far do not need their three-wood off the ground very often on modern tour courses. 7. He says Neil Shipley’s tee shot goal is accuracy, and that changing the club can improve left-right dispersion by 40% to 60% in Ping testing. 8. Marty explains that a driver head with more loft and a shorter shaft can create a fairway-finder setup rather than a max-distance build. 9. He says Ping has built these clubs as short as 42 inches and that 43 inches is a sweet spot, with 43.25 inches coming from a three-wood shaft. 10. Marty describes the club as useful for tee shots with low tee height, where the ball is struck lower on the face and the shot stays more controllable. 11. He says one purpose of the club is to maximize a specific distance window while tightening dispersion, using examples like Shipley at 280 yards and his own 275-yard target. 12. Marty says the larger driver head, around 460 cc and near 10,000 MOI, is part of why the ball can still fly straight even with a shorter build. 13. Cordy brings up his own tournament example, where a three-wood tee shot on a qualifier started badly and landed in the lake in front of him. 14. Marty calls the club an “anti-anxiety club” for players who feel fragile about a three-wood off the tee. 15. He says the build can be tee-height dependent, with low-to-medium-low teeing strategy and a spin target that often stays above 3,000 rpm. 16. Marty contrasts this with players like Tristan Lawrence, whose regular driver plays at 43.5 inches, showing that not every tour player is chasing the same length trend. 17. The episode has a conversational, gear-heavy interview style, with Cordy asking practical questions about loft, shaft length, and swing weight. 18. Marty answers in a technical but accessible way, using Ping’s proving grounds, Co-Pilot fitting tool, and strokes-gained math to make the case. 19. Golfers who like driver fitting, tour gear, or bag setup decisions would get the most from this episode. 20. Golfers who only want general golf tips and not equipment details might skip it.

As heard by us

A practical case for choosing a second driver over a three-wood or mini-driver.

Golf Well takes up a straightforward golfer's problem: when a second driver is the smarter call than a three-wood or mini-driver. It stays grounded in tee-shot nerves, dispersion, tournament pressure, and the quiet way one club decision can shape the rest of a round.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

If your 3-wood turns nerve-rattling, this second-driver conversation is worth your time.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from GolfWell Podcast