What is the most forgiving hybrid?

The OPTM won the test's forgiveness category while spinning the most in the field at 3,885 rpm, which is what gets a ball up from a poor lie and holds a green, and it suits a slower swing or a golfer who needs height. The cost is carry, at 167.21 yards the shortest of the eight. It also sits at the top of the price band at $329.99, has the weakest warranty structure of the majors and depreciates faster than average.

Forgiveness is not the only way to measure a forgiving club. The overall winner, the $279.99 Mizuno JPX One, had the tightest dispersion of all at 1,675 square yards with 95.97% of shots playable, and the PXG Lightning was second-tightest at 1,686 and runner-up for forgiveness. For a golfer whose miss is a slice, the Callaway Quantum Max OS posted the highest straight-shot percentage of the leaders at 55.52% from an oversize head.

Outside the test, a magazine tester named the Titleist GT2 among his most forgiving hybrids, and a self-described fitter on Reddit put the PING G430/G440, TaylorMade Qi4D Max and Callaway Quantum OS forward as starting points while saying he sees no predictable pattern in who hits which hybrid well. Those are opinions rather than measurements, and one owner in the same thread argues a 7-wood is more forgiving than any hybrid. Hit the candidates in your loft and keep the one whose misses stay inside the width of a green.