Early in the “modern” era, Callaway’s Big Bertha proved that bigger could be better. When introduced in 1991, its 190cc head was unprecedented. The Big Bertha was more than just a golf club – it was a cultural phenomenon. Pros snapped them up right away: the oversized, stainless-steel-faced driver gave huge forgiveness and distance for the time, and televised wins quickly made amateurs line up for it.

Another titan of the tee is Titleist’s venerable 975D (1998). Compact and pear-shaped at only 260cc, it quietly became the go-to tour driver. It famously sat in Tiger Woods’ bag through his historic 2000 “Tiger Slam” (four majors in a row), and helped David Duval reach world No.1 that year as well. It was a phenomenon back in 1998, and led the driver counts on almost every major tour with Tiger at his best. Even years later the 975D remained a top-seller and the No.1-played driver on the PGA Tour. It was prized for its soft, controlled feel and the shot-shaping it gave skilled players.

TaylorMade’s early-mover hits count too. In 2004 TaylorMade released the r7 Quad, introducing movable weights to the masses, and in 2007 came the r7 SuperQuad with four internal weights. This driver was revolutionary for its time – up to 26 grams of sliding weight in a 460cc head – and captured the attention and the hearts of golfers everywhere. It helped far-higher handicappers fine-tune launch and draw/fade biases on the fly. Later came the Copper Burner Bubble of 1995 (TaylorMade’s first titanium head, famous for its “bubble” shaft), which sold in droves mostly by cutting a trendy figure. All these classics – from persimmon-era antiques to turn-of-millennium metal monsters – form the backbone of the “best ever” conversation.