Ahead of next weeks US Open at Oakmont, Pennsylvania, two of Europe’s Ryder Cup stars Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley have failed to make it through qualifying at Walton Heath. Clarke finished three-over par after rounds of 75 and 72 on Monday, while fellow Irishman McGinley only managed two 71s.

News from America that Phil Mickelson is confident he will fully recover from a wrist injury in time to compete in next week’s US Open. The world number two had withdrawn from the St Jude Championship in Memphis, but is expecting to be fit for the Oakmont major.

Keep up to date at the official usopen website.

Callaway’s bold claim to having introduced the world’s straightest hitting driver in the Callaway FT-i Driver (Square) Draw, has been largely confirmed by a study in Today’s Golfer – What Gear 2007 where 100 readers tried this club and 80% of them hit longer whilst 70% hit straighter. With a similar concept to the R7 Draw this club is designed to provide natural draw on your shot or simply to correct those golfers who hit the left to rights!

The Callaway FT-I incorporates a 460cc club head and dispersed weighing positioned towards the rear corners of the club head. Callaway have also introduced in this club ‘Complete Inertial Design’, which basically not only targets the horizontal MOI, but also vertical MOI. This focus on vertical MOI is said to provide resistance to twisting on off centre shots, specifically the sole to crown.

The abundance of square drivers on the market now all aiming for increased MOI providing better accuracy and forgiveness is starting to become overwhelming. At first I had the SasQuatch, which I was very impressed with. The FT-I has a slightly less conventional head shape and I found it difficult to get comfortable standing over it on the tee. However, the club did play nicely and I was hitting long and straight but overall I just could not get past the shape! But then again the SasQuatch sounds like I’ve pulled a plank of wood out of my bag so I guess it’s each to their own! The Callaway FT-I is definitely worth a try but I would recommend trying before buying!

From Onlinegolf at £350