Tyrrell Hatton claimed the Dubai Desert Classic by a single shot over Dan Hillier and he did it with a new fairway wood in the bag.
Hatton was thrilled to get his first win at Emirates GC, saying the iconic trophy was one he’d always wanted to hoist.
The Englishman is now the leading LIV golfer on the world rankings which is some achievement given how the numbers are worked out and he is fast becoming the best player yet to win a Major.
Hatton has always been a Ping devotee and rarely mixes up his bag so it’s worth noting when he does.
So what made him switch to the G440 Max?
What is the G440 Max replacing?
In January 2023, Ping brought out the G430 fairway wood range to go alongside the rest of the family. This saw the introduction of Ping’s Carbonfly Wrap in the G430 SFT and Max fairways, following the same design addition in the G430 LST driver.
The idea was to replace steel with carbon fibre which reduced the weight by 10g that was then added back to the head through a tungsten backweight. This then lowered the centre of gravity (for more ball speed) as well as increasing the forgiveness.
Most of the crown was covered in carbon and then wrapped down to the heel and toe which also improved the sound. Otherwise there was the existing Facewrap (engineered to enhance ball speed) and Spinsistency (designed to enhance spin consistency).
What is in the new range?
There are three fairway woods: the LST (low spin), SFT (slice correction) and the Max. Hatton previously had the G430 Max and he’s now using the G440 Max.
The eight-time DP World Tour winner isn’t a big tinkerer but he has put this 15˚ wood straight in the bag and it paid dividends as he made it a record-equalling fifth Rolex Series victory. Hatton hit 83.3 per cent of the greens (rank: 2nd) and he would play the par 5s in eight under.
What’s behind the G440 Max?
There are five different lofts – 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9 – all with adjustability of +- 1.5˚. Hatton has a pretty high ball flight so the 3-wood is ideal for him while the new 4-wood in the range may well appeal to those golfers who normally rely on a 3-wood.
The face is 4 per cent taller which helps with confidence off the tee, something Hatton relied on a lot in Dubai. Here Ping have saved 11.5g from the hosel, screw and heel section which has allowed them to add the height to the face while the low centre of gravity helps with a higher launch off the turf.
What do Ping say?
“All of what we wanted do with the G440 fairway woods is centred around, ‘How do we get better performance off the tee and give golfers more confidence off the tee, while still maintaining the same performance off the turf?’
“The taller faces on the fairways make them more forgiving, especially off the tee. Players love the added height on the faces – it gives them confidence, especially for tight lies and tee shots.
“The 4-wood gives players a higher launch than a traditional 3-wood while providing more control and versatility. We added both a 4-wood and a 5-wood in the Max model to fill gaps and provide more fitting options.”
READ MORE: New for 2025 – how the Ping G440 driver has broken new ground
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