The top players on the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf have access to the best equipment in the world.
This isn’t to say they can’t malfunction from time to time. It isn’t a weekly occurrence, but when a golf club is flying at a golf ball at the rate these players do now, just one degree out of place and an iron or driver can snap.
This exact thing happened to Rory McIlroy at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. In the middle of the 12th fairway, his iron head broke off the end of the shaft. The ball finished in the middle of the green, but his club was finished.
He and his playing partners laughed about it, the laughs only top professionals can share when there are several equipment trucks on site ready to knock up a replacement within minutes.
These players swing it so fast. Ball speed and clubhead speed are the aim of the game and when moving clubs at such a rate, there are bound to be complications every now and then.
McIlroy’s iron malfunction is one of a couple of times when clubs have come apart at unexpected times. It has happened this year and in recent years on the PGA Tour, so let’s take a look at the most memorable moments where a player’s equipment has failed them.
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Golf club breaks during swing
Rory McIlroy – 2024 BMW PGA Championship
In the middle of the fairway of the par-5 12th hole on Wentworth West, McIlroy sent a towering iron close to the pin but reacted as if he’d been shot. He and everyone else realised that his clubhead had come flying off.
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“I hit 9-iron on the ninth hole, and I looked at it and looked as if the barrel was coming loose, but it was actually the head detaching from the shaft.
“I obviously didn’t realise that when I hit the shot on 12. Yeah, it was a bit of a weird feeling. I hit, and you know, obviously, you’re expecting the weight of the club to just pull through and there was nothing there.
“Thankfully the ball went where I wanted it to. It could have been a lot worse but thankfully got it repaired.”
Ludvig Aberg – 2024 Valero Texas Open
In the third round of the Valero Texas Open in 2024, Ludvig Aberg struck his tee shot on the par-4 17th hole and his driver head separated at the end. Even some of the shaft went with it on this occasion.
The drive still managed 301 yards and the young Swede went on to make birdie.
“It was odd, it was bizarre,” he said afterwards. “I’ve never experienced anything like that, not even in practice or anything, I’ve never seen it before, so I was just in shock. I’m glad the ball stayed in bounds because I really don’t know what could have happened.”
Hudson Swafford – 2022 Masters
The approach to the 13th hole at Augusta National is hard enough without the head of your iron flying off. This is what happened to Hudson Swafford in the second round of the Masters in 2022.
His ball sailed into the back bunker but he was still able to make par. Amen Corner, the three-hole stretch across 11, 12 and 13 has seen many things – birdies, eagles, pars – but perhaps not this type of par.
Bubba Watson – 2021 Travelers Championship
With his iconic pink driver in his hands, Bubba Watson took aim off the tee on the par-4 2nd hole in the second round of the Travelers Championship in 2021.
His ball flew on his natural fade, and his driver head took off at quite a pace as well. As you can see in the video below, the pink block heads towards the crowd to the right of the tee box.
“It’s one of the things where the driver is travelling, hot, cold, whatever it is, over time, overuse, my driver head popped off. It’s the shaft right above the hosel. It’s cracked, broke, whatever you want to call it.
“Did it probably – the last time it happened might have been Korea, Presidents Cup in Korea. I remember right before the first tee on the driving range. Again, nobody has ever been hit by it, and luckily DJ was just out of the way and it didn’t reach the crowd, so nobody got hurt, (or) hit. Nobody in my group knew where the ball was.
“Once you hit, you’re focused on where the driver head goes. So, again, luckily – but if I was going to hit anybody I was hoping it would be Brooks. But I missed him though. Not that good of an aimer.
“It’s one of those things that happened before and I always have a backup. They brought me the backup two holes later and I played with that the rest of the day.”
Phil Mickelson – 2015 Valero Texas Open
Bubba’s playing partner in 2021 was Phil Mickelson and Lefty had this happen to him with an iron in the first round of the Valero Texas Open.
This time, his ball didn’t go far out of the bunker and his club head slapped into the face of the sand.
“It was weird, the shaft broke just above the hosel. It was just a weird thing. It happens. It’s part of the game, I guess. You hit enough shots it’s going to work out.”
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What do you make of our ‘golf clubs breaking during swing’ list? Have you ever seen any golf club breaks during swing in real life? Tell us if we’ve missed anything out on X!
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