Most PGA Tour players of Rory McIlroy’s caliber – admittedly there aren’t many – don’t like changing clubs once a season begins. Maybe a wedge here or a long iron there, but nothing drastic. But at this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational that begins today at Bay Hill Club in Orlando, McIlroy will play with a new TaylorMade driver (Qi35), and a new Qi35 farrway metals – 15 degrees and 18 degrees.
McIllroy, remember, last month won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am with a TaylorMade Qi10 driver and two Qi10 fairway metals.
“I think it’s all really come from the ball change (from a 2024 TaylorMade TP5x to a 2024 TP5) a few weeks ago,’’ McIltoy said. “So because this ball, especially with the shorter irons, spins a little bit more, especially with the sort of three-quarter shots, I feel a little more comfortable playing those, so I actually weakened my pitching wedge by a degree and a half to sort of bridge the gap between having a 46 and a half and a 54. So that’s my 48 degree, and then 54, 60. I just feel like with the ball I’m a lot more comfortable playing those sort of half- and three-quarter shots, so comfortable going back to three wedges.
“Then I sort of had to look at the top end of the bag then, of how I was going to configure it. For a while I’ve been looking for a club that sort of carries 300 in the air. I feel like there’s a lot of golf courses we go to that really pinch in at like 310, 320, and I would hit a 3-wood. I can’t hit driver because it’s just too narrow, but then I would hit my 3-wood that’s going like 285, 290, but guys that are shorter than me are hitting driver sort of 300 or 310. I feel like I was at a disadvantage in some ways, even to like people that hit it shorter than me, depending upon the course setup. I messed around with that the mini driver last year, but I just couldn’t quite get comfortable with it. So I’ve sort of been playing around with like stronger 3-woods.
“So this 3-wood that I have carries like 300, 305 in the air, which is a really, it’s a really good club for me to havve. Then I’ve went from a 5-wood to a 4-wood. And that 4-wood sort of bridges that gap. And then I’ve got the (Proto P-770) 3-iron that sort of replaces the 5-wood.
“So I’ve got a club that sort of flies 260, a club that flies 280, a club that flies 300, and then the driver. So that was sort of the reasoning behind ’em. It just sort of gives me more options off the tee.’’