50 Words or Less
The TaylorMade TP5 and TP5x golf balls are at the top of the game when it comes to performance. As good or better than anything on the market.
Check out the 2024 TaylorMade TP5 and TP5x golf balls HERE
Introduction
When golf equipment nerds get together, there’s a lot of talk about gear. However, it rarely centers around the ball. The TaylorMade TP5 is an exception: I’ve had more golfers talk to me about the TP5 than any other ball in recent memory. With all this hype, I had to see for myself, so I brought the TP5 and TP5x in for testing.
Feel
As with most company’s tour ball pairings, the “X” model is billed as being firmer feeling than the standard. I found this to be the case, but the difference is minute.
I found the TP5 to be damn near perfect. The “tock” it produced was very muted and low-pitched, but it didn’t have the feeling of being heavy on the putter face like some low compression balls. The TP5x has a crisper sound that’s slightly higher pitched, closer to the ProV1. Again, the difference is quite small, and I doubt many golfers would notice it during a round.
Short Game
I started my testing of the TP5 balls with short pitch shots and immediately saw the kind of results you’d expect from a urethane-covered tour ball. On everything from short pitches to half swings to full wedge shots, the spin was as high as any tour ball I’ve tested.
Interestingly, I hit my highest-spinning shots with the TP5x. The difference wasn’t huge, and both balls are advertised as having “Highest” wedge spin, but I still expected the TP5 to have higher peaks.
Long Game
The advertised difference between the TP5 and the TP5x starts with the irons. Spin with the TP5x is billed as “Low” whereas the TP5 is labeled “Mid.” My results were in line with this, but the gap was fairly narrow – approximately a 7% difference. For higher spin players, that difference could be much more significant.
The TP5x is also marketed as being “Longest,” compared to the “Longer” TP5. My guess is that this is due to the slightly lower spin off the driver. Again, the difference wasn’t huge for me – about 150 RPM – but I’m a low spin player. If you’re in the market for the longest ball possible, keep in mind that the TP5 may be longer for you if you need more spin to create more carry distance.
In comparison to other tour balls, the TP5 and TP5x sacrifice nothing. Both create as much or more ball speed in the long game while maintaining a strong trajectory and fairly low spin.
Conclusion
The TaylorMade TP5 and TP5x live up to the hype. Both balls feel great, with the TP5 standing as my personal favorite at the moment. More importantly, they perform in every aspect of the game from the tee box to the green.
Buy TaylorMade TP5 and TP5x Golf Balls HERE
TaylorMade-TP5-2
TaylorMade-TP5-3
TaylorMade-TP5-4
TaylorMade-TP5-5
TaylorMade-TP5-6
TaylorMade-TP5-7
TaylorMade-TP5-8
TaylorMade-TP5-9
TaylorMade-TP5-10
TaylorMade-TP5-11
He founded Plugged In Golf in 2013 with the goal of helping all golfers play better and enjoy the game more.
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
- Wilson DYNAPWR Carbon Driver Review - February 19, 2025
- SuperSpeed Speed Sticks Pro Review - February 18, 2025
- PING G440 MAX Driver Review - February 17, 2025
13 Comments
A good review Matt. I really can’t split the TP5 and the 2018 Pro V1. Both are excellent balls. In my opinion the 2018 Pro V1 is a significantly better ball than previous iterations of the Pro V1. The TP5 is the best ball TaylorMade have produced to date. I loved the Lethal, but was disappointed in the Tour Preferred. The only other ball I’m considering is Bridgestone’s new Tour B-XS.
Matt — Have you posted previously on what constitutes high spin and low spin, and what swing elements and club characteristics affect spin? I could use a primer. Many thanks as always for your great site. (FYI, I’m going to Streamsong with a group soon and have been circulating your reviews to my companions.)
Peter,
Have a look at this: https://pluggedingolf.com/ball-flight-laws-3-spin/
If you have other specific questions, please post them and I’ll do my best to answer them.
Enjoy Streamsong!
Best,
Matt
Matt — Tremendously informative and helpful. Thanks so much! Going to be digging in on all five parts of your ball flight series.
Best,
Peter
Did you see some really high moon balls with these models? I’ve hit by far the highest wedge shots in my life with the TP5X. It took me some time to get used to that. The TP5 was a little lower than the TP5X with wedges through 8 iron, but still far higher than anything else I have used. Isn’t the philosophy of the TP5X/TP5 that it’s the descending angle, more than spin, that is necessary to stop the ball on the green so the TP5X spins less than the average Tour-level urethane ball?
I also struggled to control this ball with chips and high lofted shots near the green. The TP5X didn’t spin enough compared to the ProV1 for me.
Great ball, just not for me.
Jeremy,
No, I didn’t see anything approaching a “moon ball.” I’m generally mid launch, low spin, so a ball would have to be very high spin for me to balloon it.
I’m surprised to hear you say the TP5x didn’t spin enough around the green compared to the ProV1. My launch monitor testing showed the spin to be a touch higher.
Best,
Matt
I am deciding between the TP5X and ProV1X. I started playing and testing the TP5X, Callaway Chrome and trying to see if one was better than the ProV1X.
I gave away two sleeves of Callaway Chrome due to poor performance.
The TP5X was doing well until I scuffed four balls in a dozen I bought without hitting bad shots or sandy conditions on the greens, cart path damage or bad fairways.
Maybe I got a bad batch, but I need feedback to see if it was a fluke or I need to switch back to Titleist?
Michael,
I don’t have many rounds in this year, but I have not experienced any durability issues with the TP5 or TP5X that are out of the ordinary for a urethane ball.
Best,
Matt
Recently I started playing Titleist AVX and had very high praise for them. A few rounds ago I needed to reload and the pro shop at the course I was playing only sold Taylormade gear so I decided to give the TP5x a try. I must say that I don’t see much difference at all in the performance between the two balls and I have actually seen a bit better durability from the TP5x. So even if the performance is about equal and the durability is the same or better, I’m leaning in favor of the TP5x due to the slightly lower price tag. I don’t see any reason that Titleist needs to charge 10% more for their balls.
Pingback: 2018 Hero World Challenge Recap - Plugged In Golf
I find the 2019 TP5x minimally shorter on irons and longer on play clubs than the TP5. Will we see a review of the 2019 versions? I am gaming the TP5x right now and am curious if you reproduce this.
Bill,
The 2019 TP5 is not on the calendar right now, but we may do that later this year.
Best,
Matt
Hi Matt, It would be good if you test these balls on launch monitors that you provide the data. That way we could see your results and make some of our own conclusions. Still a FAN… Keep up the good work… Jim