TaylorMade broke news of the R9 early this year and, since its first appearance, it has been a huge hit (excuse the pun...). It is currently the number-one driver model on the PGA Tour and so far has been a great success, so why introduce another one?

The R9 460 is the latest edition to the R9 “family”. It features a bigger (slightly shut)head and still has TaylorMade’s Flight Control Technology; this allows you to adjust the lie and loft of the club by unscrewing the shaft and putting it back in the hozel in one of the eight designated positions. However, it is missing the movable weights (proof that this only really makes a difference for the highly skilled player?).

The club will come in much cheaper than the original R9 and will make use of the Aldila RE*AX shaft instead of the Fujikura shaft currently found in the R9.

The Mole’s verdict: quite frankly I am not going to be too happy when I hear a 24-handicapper at the bar ranting about loft and lie angle when he can’t make half-decent contact with a golf ball... But that said, it’s an amazing club and a great concept, so if it works for you, why not?