bulldog, you allude to some course management. Wingman gives us a picture - I'll come right out and say it.
'The Driver' is a misnomer for the 1 wood. 'The driver' is the club you tee off with on any given hole. Yes, I realise that 'driver' and '1 wood' are currently synonymous, but it wasn't always so.
For the OP, a 3 wood isn't a necessary part of his bag makeup. He figures to only use it to try and hit par 5's in two, so there's no need. While you bring up good points, bulldog, they're moot as far as the OP is concerned.
Now as for your point about hybrids, IMO they're a top replacement for high lofted woods and low lofted
irons. Their shorter length and wood-like soles make them truly utility
clubs. I would not recommend them to folks who think they already hit the ball high enough, however, as they're higher launching than their equivalent
irons.
But course management and which club to hit off the tee is simply math. Now that I'm bringing more management to the course, I hit terrible shots whenever my strategy off the tee is 'get it out there as far as possible'; because I have no target. I carry a golf GPS unit, and use it to get a number to the 150. If it's within reach, then I tee off with whatever club will carry me there - leaving me with somewhere between 100 and 150 as an approach. If it's not within reach, I divide the yardage in half, and hit a couple easy
clubs to inside 150, then hit my approach. A basic primer in course management that took me a year to implement
(granted, when you spray the ball all over the place, and can chunk or slice one off the planet at any time, there's no point in really laying up).