This unreleased 2026 driver has everyone buzzing

Going into ClubTest 2026, I thought I had a pretty good idea which 2026 driver I would like the best.

But we started at Ping and their new G440 K driver threw a wrench into my and presumably every other tester’s ideas about their dream setups of the 2026. And let’s be clear, it’s a big wrench.

We can’t go into specifics, but most of us are pretty excited about this driver.

On this week’s episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped, co-hosts Johnny Wunder and Jake Morrow, recording live from the final day of our 2026 ClubTest equipment, talk about why — again, without sharing details — the G440 K might be the hottest driver of 2026.

PING G440 Max Custom Driver

The G440 driver family (MAX, LST, SFT) is optimized to deliver more ball speed through numerous advancements, including PING’s deepest CG in a driver to date and a shallower, thinner face, while still providing the game-changing forgiveness expected of a PING driver. The G440 MAX is the most forgiving model and suits most golfers; available in 9°, 10.5° and 12° loft with a three-position adjustable back weight. VERY FORGIVING Lighter head weight allows for more back weight. FASTER FACE Shallow, thinner face increases ball speed for more distance, higher release. SOUND DESIGN New moulding, carbon crown and internal ribs produce impactful silent experience. FREE-HOSEL DESIGN Saves weight to lower CG, increase forgiveness. Allows more heel-side face flex for consistent ball speed across the face.

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“I think that driver is going to be like a cheat code,” Morrow said. “It’s the closest thing I’ve had to a cheat code.”

What was most surprising is that many of us testing the G440 K expected it to be a high-spinning, high-forgiven model like its predecessor, the G430 Max 10K. But that’s not exactly what it is.

“Anybody who’s afraid of that thing, training or not, doesn’t do anything,” Wunder said. “All it does is pull out into the middle of the freeway and it’s really fast.”

of driver embarked on tours around the world in November, and just won the season finale on Lauren Coughlin’s purse at the Grant Thornton Invitational last weekend.

“I think you were there when I was hitting. I think I turned to somebody and said, ‘That’s not a Ping driver,'” Wunder said. “Quickly.”

“Anyone going into a proper driver in 2026, if you don’t try the 440K, you’re an idiot. And take away what it looks like. It’s big and this and that and whatever, but it sounds like an LST. It rolls like an LST all over the face.”

Coughlin is not the only professional who has taken the new driveror. Charles Howell III also received the new 440K and told Wunder about his experiences testing it.

“He calls me, he’s like, ‘Pro, this thing just spins too much,'” Wunder recalls. “And I go, ‘Did you go down? Like, what have you done?’

“It’s like, ‘No, I just got it at nine and flat.’

And I go, ‘You have to do some things about it.’ I said, ‘So you’ve got to move the weight, you know, toward the toe. You have to get down.’

“So he says, ‘I’m just going to have Spencer send me a new one with a little forward weight. So he got one with 10 grams of hot melt on the front.”

“And he called me last night when we were done. And he was like, ‘Holy s***, Pro, this thing is incredible!’

For more from Wunder and Morrow on the ClubTest 2026 experience, listen to the full episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped hereor see below.

Want to overhaul your bag in 2025? Find a convenient club location near you at True Spec Golf.

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