When Rory McIlroy set off for a run-of-the-mill practice session earlier this year at Michael Jordan’s course, Grove XXII, little did he know he was about to stumble upon an equipment change that could turn out to be an important part of the formula he needed to finally win at Augusta National and join the true greats of the game.
McIlroy - who had been gaming the TaylorMade TP5x golf ball - began clipping a few shots around the chipping green and immediately liked what he was seeing.
“I was messing around at the Grove XXIII last Thursday, and I just started to hit some chips with the TP5 instead of the TP5x. I really loved how it felt, and I hadn’t really tested the 2024 TP5." McIlroy said earlier this year. "I loved how it was reacting around the greens and then I started hitting some 60- and 70-yard shots with it and it was coming off much lower launch, but spinnier.”
With a little more testing, Rory put the 2024 TP5 ball in play at Pebble Beach and cruised to a very impressive victory in some typically blustery conditions.
“The first time I worked on it a lot was at Pebble Beach, and we had to contend with some really windy conditions there at the weekend and played well in that. When the conditions come like that, I just feel like I'm a lot better prepared to handle them. It's flighting the sort of wedges and short irons, which have been the issue, and I feel like I've been able to rectify that.”
Since that excellent performance at Pebble, Rory has also clipped off his second Players Championship at Sawgrass and sits one round away from securing his first green jacket and with it a place in the history books as only the sixth player ever to have won The Masters, The Open Championship, The US Open, and the USPGA Championship.
In my own testing last year, I found clear evidence of what Rory loves about the TP5 ball compared to the TP5x. Throughout all of my irons, I saw lower launch angles and enhanced spin from TP5, and while I noted a slight loss in carry distances, this is unlikely to affect or bother someone of Rory’s immense power.
In addition to, and directly because of the ball change Rory has bent his 60° TaylorMade MG4 wedge slightly weaker to 61° this week. According to TaylorMade VP of Tour Operations Keith Sbarbaro, the 61° wedge doesn’t catch in the grain (because when adding loft we also add bounce) and has low enough bounce to perform well on tight grass like in Augusta. Sbarbaro also said the 61° wedge also makes hitting the 40-70 yard shots much easier with lower launch and spin, so look out for that later if he is forced to lay up on holes like the 2nd, 13th, and 15th.
This ‘stumbled upon’ change has been working rather well for Rory so far, but could it be the difference maker in his quest for the Grand Slam? I for one unapologetically hope so!
