Happy to help here!
I believe it may be well-suited for your application. It sound like you are looking for a voltage control method but the DRV110 is a current controller. It sources a PWM to a FET, allowing current to flow through the solenoid/relay/etc. A current sense resistor is used on the low-side to measure current through the solenoid. You set a peak and hold current using separate resistors and a hold time using a capacitor. The parameters you mentioned are certainly achievable with the DRV110.
You shouldn't need any protection between the driver and coil because the DRV110 controls the FET, no current actually flows through the DRV110. My only question would be is the same voltage for driving the pick what would be used for VIN?
If you are wanting to test with the DRV110EVM you will need to replace the FET on the EVM with a higher current FET, or test with shorter peak
and hold current. It is rated for 1A continuous current. At 2.9A it could only take a pulse of around 1-10ms. Besides replacing that FET the EVM is a good preliminary test tool. There are also transient simulation models for TINA in the product folder (www.ti.com/.../toolssoftware).
Regards,
Kevin