NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
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Watching Rory McIlroy’s weekend demolition of Pebble Beach to win a few weeks ago, the instrument that had everyone marveling was the Northern Irishman’s efficient excellence with his TaylorMade Qi10 driver. But the one item that came into play on every shot was his new TaylorMade TP5 golf ball.
McIlroy had been using a 2024 TP5x ball before noodling with a softer TP5 during casual play at Michael Jordan’s Grove XXIII club in south Florida a few days before his Jan. 27 TGL debut and subsequent AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am start.
“I sort of stumbled upon it,” McIlroy said after the first round at Spyglass Hill that was highlighted by a Jordanesque dunk of an ace on the 15th hole. “I was messing around at the Grove the other day. … I just started to hit some chips with the TP5 instead of the TP5x and I really loved how it felt. And I hadn’t really tested the 2024 TP5 and I loved how it was reacting around the greens. ... I started hitting some like 60-, 70-yard shots with it and it was coming off much lower launch, but spinnier.”
McIlroy put the TP5 in play in his first PGA Tour start of the season at the signature event and pulled away from the field with a finishing 31. He also deployed a different lob wedge, adding another TaylorMade MG4 bent to 61 degrees and benching his Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks 59-degree.
“I went two more degrees on my lob wedge … just a little bit of loft just for some of those short-sided chips and a little bit better out of the rough,” said McIlroy, who ranked 134th on tour last year from 50 to 75 yards. “It’s my go-to, but two more degrees, it just makes a little bit more of a difference.
“My short game last year was a little up and down. I would have a good week, then I’d have a bad week. There wasn’t a ton of consistency in it.”
McIlroy continued with his TP5 ball at the relocated Genesis Invitational, while other marquee players made a couple of setup adjustments to handle the rough, length and heavy weather conditions at Torrey Pines.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler added a TaylorMade Qi35 7-wood with 19.5-degree loft in his bag en route to a T3 finish at the Genesis, working with company reps to build him a club to help him advance it out of the rough on the South Course.
“The way the tour is setting up these courses for signature events demands being adaptable to the golf course,” said TaylorMade senior tour manager Adrian Rietveld. “Scottie’s 7-wood is not only more versatile than a 3-iron out of the rough, but can be used on the long par-3s.”
During his 18-hole pro-am on Tuesday, Scheffler hit his Qi35 7-wood seven times including off the tee on the par-3 11th and 16th holes, out of a fairway bunker on No. 12 and from the fairway on the par-5 13th. He let it fill the gap at around 245 yards between his 3-wood and 4-iron.
Other players opting for site-specific 7-woods to gain lift from the rough at Torrey were Sam Burns (Callaway Apex UW), Si Woo Kim (Elyte Triple Diamond) and Jordan Spieth (lofted Titleist GT2).
Meanwhile, one of the world’s best iron players, Tommy Fleetwood, popped new TaylorMade P770 4- and 5-irons in his bag to offer some forgiveness and help him handle Torrey Pines. He opted to use his 9-wood out of the juicy rough, but gamed the P770 long irons that were giving him 2-3 extra yards to help on the long par-3s and par-4 approaches.
As Fleetwood texted to his TaylorMade reps after his practice round: “They are ffffffffflush.”
“On the range, Tommy hit every shot perfect so it was obvious that we needed to consider the P770s as an option,” said Rietveld. “When we went out on the course, the forgiveness on mis-hits and spin/launch characteristics were perfect for what this golf course demands.”
Ludvig Åberg made an interesting switch en route to his signature victory at the Genesis Invitational. He’d started using the Titleist GT2 driver at the end of 2024, but before the final round at Torrey Pines he switched back to his old Titleist TSR2 driver. Whether that rebound relationship sticks will be found out when the 25-year-old Swede shows up at Bay Hill next week.
Åberg also transitioned into the 2025 Titleist Pro V1x golf ball after testing. “Just to tighten that [spin] window a little bit was a big deal with the driver,” Åberg said. “And then I felt like my irons reacted very similar and then just a little bit softer and more spin control I think around the greens. So I’ll take that.
“The game at our level is so tight and a good season can be separated by just a couple of points here and there. So if you can find just a little bit that’ll make you a little bit better, a little bit more consistent or a little bit more control, I’m going to be up for it.”
Scott Michaux