Wilson Staff Di9 irons and Smooth driver

The Di7 was a solid performer for Wilson in the mid-price iron market last year, bringing the brand’s famous Fat Shaft back into play, and offering very high degrees of playability and forgiveness for a relatively modest outlay. Wilson is now hoping the Di9 will take up the baton to help it ride the crest of a Harrington-generated wave hot on the heels of the Irishman’s sublime summer exploits.

The Di9 has an even wider sole than its predecessor and a slightly lower-profile blade for even greater playability, especially at the longer end of the set. It’s also been weighted such that the sweetspot is more towards the toe where the vast majority of amateur mis-hits occur – so if you snap up a set you won’t necessarily have to embark on that expensive series of lessons to iron out your ball-striking!

The brand’s Spine driver from last year didn’t achieve the widespread popularity hoped for, perhaps as a result of its unusual head shape and impact sound, and also the fact that it never found its way into Padraig’s “live” bag. So it’s perhaps no surprise that its forthcoming “Smooth” offering will boast a much more conventional head shape and style, prompting Padraig to undertake full playing tests in recent weeks (including tournament play) while he ponders its merits relative to those of the Dd6 and TaylorMade models he currently flits between. But this isn’t just a tour driver by any means, with head weight moving further back in the higher lofts to help all golfers find their optimum launch conditions. The club's launch date is yet to be announced.

You can read more about both in our November issue, with a full playing test of the Smooth provisionally scheduled for our January issue.