TaylorMade TP5x Review

TP5x is the TP5 with every layer firmed up and the consequences run in both directions. Off a driver it is one of the fastest balls in the category, with lower spin and a flatter, more penetrating trajectory that holds its line in wind better than almost anything here. Players with real speed who fight a high, spinny flight will pick up yards immediately and they should. The problem is everything inside 150 yards. The firmer mantle stack means the cover engages less at wedge speed, so the ball checks once and releases rather than grabbing and sitting, and off a putter it clicks in a way soft-ball players find genuinely unpleasant.

Feel is the weakest part of this ball by a wide margin and it earns the grade it gets rather than suffering from a harsh one. There is nothing wrong with the engineering here. It is a specialist tool built for a swing speed most amateurs do not have, sold at fifty dollars alongside a sibling that suits nearly everybody better. Buy it because a launch monitor told you to, not because the box has an x on it.