The TaylorMade Qi35 Review: When Less Becomes More

TaylorMade’s new Qi35 Core driver model has the company seriously excited and with good reason – it may be their most versatile product ever

When a company like this one makes statements about how impressed they are with their own product—like with the new core model TaylorMade Qi35 Driver—you should pay attention. The middle ground head in the Qi35 driver range is possibly the most versatile product TaylorMade has ever made and one of the best drivers of 2025.

Not only are you getting a very adaptable driver, that can work for multiple trajectories and scenarios within the same golfer’s delivery, but there are also deeper (and I mean that literally) performance benefits to be had with the mainline model in the 2025 family.

Looks/Feel – 4/5

I’ve struggling between giving the looks five out of five or sticking with the four. I think the score you give the Qi35 driver will be entirely down to what you’re looking for out of the big stick.

It’s got elements of a classic TaylorMade driver; the profile looks inviting, face graphics frame the golf ball nicely, and the color scheme they’ve gone with this year, as I said in our review of the Qi35 LS Driver, is eye-catching in a positive way. Not distracting but certainly something you’ll be happy staring down at.

The difference between this model (and the Qi35 Max Driver) versus the LS version is size. Because of how TaylorMade has redesigned the core model to allow for the technological improvements, they had to bring the shape closer, nearly identical to my eye, to the Max model.

This is what I mean by saying that what you’re looking for from the club will change your view. To me, it looks slightly too oversized. I’m used to seeing more compressed shapes in my driver (I really love the Qi35 LS’ look!), but I think if you want to be encouraged that your mishits are going to receive help, this model is exactly what you’ll fall in love with.

Technology – 5/5

As we’re talking about that larger head shape, maybe we should discuss why it’s been designed this way (and why TaylorMade is so excited about this driver, in particular).

The distinction was made last year between the Qi10 Max, with its ultra-forgiving 10K MOI position, and the Qi10 LS, a classic, weight-forward TaylorMade distance machine. What wasn’t as clear was where the core model sat. It became something of a ‘Jack of all trades, Master of none’ within the Qi10 family; which isn’t to say it was a bad driver, just that it wouldn’t receive as much attention as its brothers did.

TaylorMade has taken this statement to heart, it seems, with the Qi35 driver. The ’25 head is still built as a one-size-fits-all approach, but the technology can absolutely back this up.

So, that larger head shape! It’s been made bigger because the TaylorMade Qi35 driver has had its MOI – the Moment of Inertia and a forgiveness-measuring stick – pushed nearly as far back as the Max head. This puts the core model at over 9000 g-cm2, making it an extremely forgiving head.

The difference between the Max and the core model, though, is with the new dual-weighting system built into the sole of the driver. Qi35 comes standard with a 13g and a 3g weight; leaving the heavy weight at the back of the head you’ll get that 9000+ MOI but with a CG Projection of 1.6mm – that’s nearly half of the Max’s 2.9mm.

What is CG Projection? You can find a detailed explanation of TaylorMade’s keyword here, but it’s effectively how high- or low-spinning a driver might be. Pulling the CG (Center of Gravity) lower down towards the neutral axis gives you more room on the face for a lower spin connection and therefore more distance.

Where the TaylorMade Qi35 driver goes from being a ‘master of none’ to being a master of absolutely every-dang-thing is by moving that 13g weight to the forward position. When you do this, you send that CG to just 0.2mm above the neutral axis. For reference, that’s lower than the Qi10 LS driver’s CG. To balance that out, the MOI only drops around 600 g-cm2. So you have an even lower-spinning powerhouse, that still retains help across the face for mishits.

It’s impressive. Like, really, really impressive. And as you can imagine I was keen to take this thing for a test drive.

Performance – 5/5

Bulletproof may be the best way to describe this driver. I don’t think I’ve seen anything that offers so much inside one package.

From being fit for the product, I know I’m better off in the forward position due to my spin, but I’ve wanted to play with the driver in both settings to find out if I can really see a difference on course. It’s been pretty obvious from just one round that there is.

In my optimized version, there’s not much to separate this from the LS model series. It should be obvious from the technical specs but there’s nothing like seeing it in real time to help solidify the thought.

With that weight forward, the flight that you get is strong, clearly pushing the ball forward more than upwards. It still launches high, but it’s not a ballooning flight by any stretch. What I really like is that, while the great strikes do what you expect, the higher MOI still does the job that TaylorMade has said it will do. Mishits from either side of center had little drop-off in distance and, directionally, were barely off-line from where I hoped the ball flight would go.

Switching the weights around, so that we’d put that heavier 13g to the rear, the driver does play differently. It’s not that the TaylorMade Qi35 driver becomes a new model entirely, it’s more like the priorities for it change.

Whereas before it felt like ball speed and distance came before forgiveness, with the weight further back forgiveness took center stage. The back nine at my local course is the harder of the two from the tee so it felt like a better opportunity to maximize the extra control.

Unhelpfully, I found quite a lot from the middle of the face during this stretch, but I took some time to hit some deliberately bad shots when we had a moment to breathe on the 17^th hole. From the middle, the flight and spin are definitely higher. It’s not appalling in this setup for me, but it certainly wasn’t what I look for. For someone with less spin or slower club speed, that will be a different story though, and I expect more golfers to be comfortable with the weight further back.

The five shots I hit from the 17^th tee box are a different story. I hit two low, one in the toe, and two from the heel – my normal miss with driver. There was a change in flight on the low shots, of course, but for the life of me, I couldn’t see anything different from the heel-toe misses. Walking up the fairway, all five drives were also within 15 yards of each other, which says everything about the help on offer here.

Overall – 5/5

If I weren’t such a sucker for head shape (and a tiny bit more ball speed), I think I’d have to strongly consider playing the TaylorMade Qi35 Driver. It’s got power in line with any competitor’s model, but the additional forgiveness, in either weight position, makes this a truly impressive driver.

Looks and feel are as good as anything the company has produced, and the performance lives up to the hype. I will not be surprised to see this driver become TaylorMade’s number one model at retail, nor would I be shocked to see more of their tour professional staff take this model to the course over the LS throughout the season.

There’s nothing to really fault with this driver beyond my preference for aesthetics, and I can already see this becoming iconic for the company, alongside models like the R9 and M2 drivers. It’s just a case of when, not if, time makes that statement come true.

About the author

Lewis Daff

Lewis joined the Today’s Golfer digital team in 2024, having spent more than a decade in both big-box golf retail and independent stores working as a club fitter and builder.

Experienced with every level of golfer, from beginner to professional, he has achieved Master Fitter and Builder status with most major manufacturers, including Mizuno, Taylormade, and Callaway, helping him to cement both a wide and deep knowledge base, ideal for helping guide golfers towards the correct equipment for them. Lewis specializes in Clubs, Shafts, Training Aids, Launch Monitors and Grips.

In Lewis’ bag is Titleist GT3 Driver (9º) with Fujikura Ventus Black, TaylorMade SIM Max Fairway Woods (15º and 18º), Wilson Staff D9 Forged 3-iron, Srixon ZX7 MKii Irons (4-PW), Titleist SM9 Wedges (52º, 60º), Toulon San Diego Putter, and the Titleist ProV1X Left Dash.

Talk to Lewis about why steel shafts are now dead and graphite is the only way forward, or any other equipment you’d like to debate, via his email, Instagram, or Bluesky.

RRP: £529.00 / $599.99

Lofts: 9° / 10.5° (RH/LH), 12º (RH)

Head Size: 460cc

Standard Shaft Length: 45.75”

Stock Shaft Options: Fujikura Air Speed 50g / Mitsubishi Diamana T+ 60g

Stock Grip: Golf Pride Z-Grip Black/Silver