History of TaylorMade Drivers Through the Years

Gary Adams started TaylorMade in the late 1970s out of his home in Illinois with an idea that the two-piece golf ball wasn't a fad. Adams recognized the way irons interacted with the new balls and believed steel drivers would outperform the persimmon drivers of the day.

Founding TaylorMade

Adams approached PGA touring pro Ron Streck in 1978 with three metal woods. Adams' metal woods out-drove some of the longest hitters on tour, and at that year's PGA Merchandise Show he received close to $50,000 in orders.

Pittsburgh Persimmon

Ron Streck won the 1981 Houston Open using the first TaylorMade driver. The company's drivers earned the nickname "Pittsburgh Persimmon" as TaylorMade used steel rather than persimmon to construct their drivers. Adams and Streck started stamping it on the toe of all their drivers, and it developed into one of their strongest lines throughout the 1980s. In the process, golf adapted to the popular “metal-woods" seen today.

TaylorMade Burner Drivers

In 1983, the Burner and Tour Burner were introduced and the company boasted 147 tour pros as product ambassadors. By 1986, the Burner became the No. 1 driver.

Curtis Strange won the 1988 U.S. Open with a Burner driver, giving TaylorMade its first major championship. The company claimed its first Master's in 1994 with a prototype of the Bubble Shaft.

Read More: The Best Driver Shafts for Your Swing Speed and Budget in 2024

TaylorMade’s 300 and 500 Series

In 2000, the 300 series became the number one driver on tour. The 300, 320 and 360 were developed for the three most prevalent swing types. The R500 series was introduced in 2002, featuring the inverted cone technology.

The r Series

In 2004, r7 quad came along with its movable-weight technology and won 24 of 48 tour events. The following year TaylorMade introduced the r5 and became the second-most used driver on tour, behind the r7. TaylorMade continued to develop the r7 by introducing draw models, 460cc models and introduced the Burner series with a bullet shaped head for increased swing speeds. TaylorMade used the r-series until 2013 as they wrapped the series with the R1 Driver.

From RocketBallz to Stealth

Taylor Made branched away from the r-series in 2012, and since then the company has released several different models, pushing the golf technology limits.

From the Rocketballz, SLDR, Jetspeed, Aeroburner, M-series, SIM series, Stealth series, and the current Qi series, TaylorMade continues to produce some the best drivers in golf.

In 2022, TaylorMade introduced Carbonwood with the Stealth lineup of drivers, which evolved with the Stealth 2 line in 2023.

In 2023, TaylorMade also released a mini driver, the BRNR Mini, with throwback styling and modern performance in a package that's built to rival a full-sized driver off the tee while offering the ability to be hit off the turf with relative ease. The BRNR mini was followed in 2024 by the BRNR Mini Copper and the R7 Quad Mini in 2025.

2026: DIY Fitting Breakthrough

The 2026 launch of the TaylorMade Qi4D drivers introcued a new way for golfers to improve off the tee: the easiest access to fitting the right head and shaft combination to date.

Along with developing the Qi4D drivers, TaylorMade made three new REAX shafts, each designed to optimize a specific rate of rotation - high, medium or low.

According to TaylorMade's announcemnt of the Qi4D drivers, "fitters and golfers themselves are now able to capture a single face-on video of their driver swing and determine their rotation rate which is a critical data point in choosing the correct shaft." 

TaylorMade Drivers By Year