Callaway’s prototype Quantum TD-TD driver makes a big debut | Tour Report

Pebble Beach’s seaside gusts are usually the story, but this week the spotlight belonged to a single clubhead: Callaway’s yet-to-be-released Quantum TD-TD driver. Within hours of Thursday’s opening tee shots the prototype had already notched two high-profile converts—Min Woo Lee and Kevin Yu—and the early returns were impossible to ignore.

Lee, the 25-year-old Australian known for 170-mph 2-iron speed, had spent the off-season searching for a combination of lower spin and a neutral start line. After tying for the Tour lead in driving accuracy at last fall’s FedEx Open de France with Callaway’s Elyte Triple Diamond Tour Draw, he still felt he was “living at the high end of the spin window,” hovering between 2,400 and 3,000 rpm. A single range session with the Quantum TD-TD and a shaft swap to Fujikura’s new Ventus Black 7-X VeloCore+ shaved roughly 300 rpm and tightened his launch delta to 2,300-2,700. The result: 19 fairways hit through 25 attempts and a .648 strokes-gained off-the-tee figure in an opening 67 at Spyglass Hill.

“He loved the smaller footprint and the reduced face progression,” Callaway tour rep Kellen Watson said. “About 12 shots and nine windy holes at Pebble were enough for his stamp of approval.”

Yu’s path was different but equally decisive. A lifelong push-draw player, Yu had cycled through Callaway’s Elyte Triple Diamond Max and Paradym Ai-Smoke Triple Diamond Max models, altering his swing to keep the ball in play. The Quantum TD-TD’s more neutral onset allowed him to re-introduce a baby fade without sacrificing ball speed or launch dynamics. Yu hit 11 of 14 Pebble fairways on Thursday and gained nearly .8 strokes off the tee.

Spec sheets reveal subtle but important tweaks. Lee’s 10.5-degree head (set to 10.6) measures 45 inches with a half-inch tip and a Gripmaster leather wrap, while Yu’s 9-degree head (bent to 9.9) plays 45.5 inches with a Graphite Design Tour AD-VF 6-X. Both setups emphasize forward CG and reduced spin, hallmarks of the Quantum line that first appeared on the USGA conforming list last autumn.

The driver’s momentum is spreading quickly: eight of Callaway’s 10 staffers in the AT&T field—10 percent of the entire entry—teed up a Quantum model by week’s end.

Lee’s bag saw another overhaul, shelving the 2-iron he once labeled his “secret weapon” in favor of a 21-degree Apex Utility Wood. “I spun the hybrid way too much,” Lee explained. “This one keeps spin down but still gives me the height I want into par-5s.” Tour reps say the UW’s tungsten speed cartridge and stepped-sole design produced identical ball speed to his utility iron in stinger mode while offering a steeper landing angle when flighted high.

On the greens Lee swapped his black-and-white Odyssey S2S Jailbird for a new prototype featuring four sole weights to fine-tune center of gravity and encourage slightly more face rotation. Keegan Bradley and Sepp Straka made similar Odyssey moves, underscoring a week of micro-adjustments that could pay macro dividends once the West Coast swing shifts to more traditional venues.

Whether the Quantum TD-TD will graduate from prototype to retail remains unannounced, but its tour baptism has already delivered something every equipment manufacturer covets: immediate, measurable performance in the game’s most unforgiving environment.