Flight Control technology (FCT) gives the player the power to easily change the club's face angle, loft and lie angle simply by loosening a bolt in the sole, rotating the shaft into the designated position, then tightening the bolt. FCT makes it so easy to adjust the angle of the clubface into a position that suits your eye and your swing, helping you hit the ball straighter and longer. It also promotes a side-to-side change in trajectory of up to 40 yards, helping golfers to promote a draw or fade, or diminish a hook or slice. The TaylorMade R9 460 includes a white FCT wrench that delivers the 40 inch-pounds of torque necessary to adequately tighten the FCT bolt.

Compared to the TaylorMade R9 driver, the R9 460 TP driver has a larger head, deeper clubface and lower and deeper-back center of gravity (CG). These features help deliver a higher MOI for greater forgiveness and a higher spin rate, helping low-spin players keep the ball in the air longer for increased carry and distance.

Powerful 460cc Clubhead featuring TaylorMade's New Classic Shape
"In addition to the advantages of FCT in a 460cc clubhead, the TaylorMade R9 460 also delivers the kind of shape, feel and sound that TaylorMade drivers are famous for, and which our competitors can't come close to matching," says Harry Arnett, TaylorMade senior category director for metalwoods. The shape is what TaylorMade calls "new classic" because it is at once modern and traditional. The TaylorMade R9 460's new classic shape offers three distinct advantages: 1) it allows for a deep back, far-from-the-face CG location that makes it easier to launch the ball; 2) it contributes to a higher MOI for greater stability on off-center hits; 3) it allows for an exceptionally low CG location.

The TaylorMade R9 460's clubhead is constructed with the aid of TaylorMade's Ultra-Thin Wall (UTW) technology, which allows for clubhead walls measuring as thin as 0.6 millimeters, with the saved weight redistributed to help make the low and-deep-back CG possible.

Longer Club-length; Aldila RE*AX 60-gram tip-soft shaft
The R9 460 TP driver is long in length - 45.75" - and equipped with aFujikura Motore F1 65g shaft (several other shafts are available), available in R, S and X flexes. The characteristics of the shaft and the club's added length together promote increased clubhead speed and distance. "Players who put a premium on distance are going to want to put the R9 460 in play," said Arnett. "It features a variety of characteristics designed to work together to promote faster ball speed and distance-enhancing launch conditions, while FCT technology will help them achieve the shot-shape they want to help keep the ball in the short grass."

Inverted Cone Technology
The R9 460 driver also incorporates TaylorMade's renowned Inverted Cone clubface technology, which expands the area of the clubface that delivers high ball speed. Characterized by an inverted cone that's milled directly onto the inner side of the clubface, Inverted Cone Technology increases the club's forgiveness on mis-hits. Together, the combination of the R9 460's Inverted Cone Technology, high MOI and exceedingly low CG makes it incredibly easy to hit.

On Tour
"Tour pros always want their drivers bent in some way, usually to change the face angle or to add or subtract loft," said Keith Sbarbaro, TaylorMade vice president of tour operations. It's so easy to do that with FCT. Instead of taking the club to our tour trailer and putting it in a bending block, we can adjust it quickly and cleanly, right on the spot, either at the practice range or the first tee. And now all golfers have the option to adjust their face angle, loft and lie angle, like tour pros do."

Tour professionals who have put the R9 driver in play include Sean O'Hair, Kenny Perry, Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose, Darren Clark and Andres Romero. The R9 460 is expected to attract similar interest among tour pros. "A lot of tour pros have been asking if we could incorporate FCT into a driver with a 460cc head, so we're expecting a lot of R9 460 drivers to go into play, which will further increase R9 dominance on tour."