Rory McIlroy cashed in two significant equipment changes at the start of 2024 and they immediately paid dividends.
Not only did the four-time major champion complete a quartet of career triumphs at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic with the new TaylorMade Qi10 driver, but he also used a new golf ball.
He might’ve been beaten by Tommy Fleetwood at the Dubai Invitational in the previous week too but still, during this fruitful period in January under the Middle Eastern sun, McIlroy was happy enough to use the dry, still conditions to embrace the new version of the TaylorMade TP5x golf ball.
“I thought it was a good opportunity to at least test it in Dubai,” McIlroy said, reported by GolfWRX. “You’ve got desert conditions, there’s not a ton of wind, it’s a place that I’m comfortable with. I obviously tested it a little bit at home, liked that it was a touch of a lower launch than the golf ball I was previously playing, then a touch lower spin as well.
“The greens got pretty firm at the weekend on both courses, so it was a good test to still make sure that the mid-irons were spinning enough going into greens and still being able to hold greens.
“And it’s fast, it’s a really, really fast golf ball. Definitely feel like I’ve picked up a little bit of speed with it, especially off the tee. And it’s a little – it’s funny, it’s a lower-spinning ball, but it feels a touch softer to me around the greens, so I like that feel of it.”
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Rory McIlroy: TaylorMade golf ball doesn’t spin too much
TaylorMade reported that the Northern Irishman was hitting the 2024 TaylorMade TP5x further with his irons and gaining ball speed with his driver.
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The ball had a flatter and lower peak trajectory with his big stick and a softer feel around the greens. The new edition of the TaylorMade TP5x is made with a “Speed Wrapped Core” that helps to cut down spin on long shots and enhance it around the putting surface.
2024 is another year that promises much for McIlroy. With his newfound freedom, relieving himself of diplomatic duties on the PGA Tour at the end of 2023, he is aiming to end his 10-year major drought at the PGA Championship at Valhalla, where he won his last major at the same venue.
Having won in the weeks leading up to the second major of the year in Kentucky, at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and the Wells Fargo Championship, it might finally be time for McIlroy rekindle the magic that him who he is a decade later,
The qualities of lower launch up the bag and softness down the bag were “big selling points” for McIlroy in the new TaylorMade TP5x golf ball, as well as reducing concerns of coming up short of the green when hitting what he likes to describe as a “hold-off cut.”
“I like to play a low spin ball, but not so low spin that when you’re hitting a 6-iron or something into the green that you can’t hold it,” he added.
“A very comfortable shot for me at the minute is sort of hitting this like hold-off sort of cut. The fact that it doesn’t spin too much when I hit that shot, I really like because I’ve always had this fear with whatever golf ball that I’ve played that if I hit that shot, there’s a tendency to come up short because it spins a little too much.
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“But I don’t really have that fear with this golf ball, which is a really nice feeling.”
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