Rory McIlroy curiously changed out his driver, 3-wood, 5-wood, and 3-iron while adding a gap wedge to his bag ahead of the final round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
At Bay Hill, McIlroy was in contention to add a 28th PGA Tour title but slid down the leaderboard on Saturday after posting a one-over 73. Hoping to adapt and rectify his chances, McIlroy surprisingly made some changes to his bag as he leaned on his equipment.
Rory McIlroy made changes to his bag after struggling on Saturday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational (Image: Getty Images)
Heading into the final round, the Northern Irishman made significant changes to his equipment despite changing his clubs at the start of the week. McIlroy reportedly changed out his driver, 3-wood, 5-wood, and 3-iron – and added a gap wedge – before the final round at Bay Hill.
McIlroy shot an even final round to finish on three-under for the tournament, finishing tied for 15th as Russell Henley claimed victory. While he improved on his Saturday showing, he was still far from his best.
Perhaps it was due to the setup. At the start of the week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, McIlroy was seen using a custom TaylorMade Qi35 ‘Dot’ head coupled with a Fujikura Ventus VeloCore+ Black shaft, as well as a pair of Qi35 fairway woods. But then on Sunday, the 35-year-old was seen using an older TaylorMade Qi10 driver as well as the Qi10 fairway woods in Florida.
This is a more similar set to the equipment McIlroy used at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, which he dominated. He posted rounds of 66, 70, 65, and 66 to storm to victory, and even swapped golf balls to help his victory.
Rory McIlroy won The Players in 2019 ( Image: AP)
Ultimately, McIlroy is no stranger to using different equipment to boost his chances of winning. Every advantage counts as he seeks the elusive green jacket at Augusta, or just a fifth major title in general given his last title came at the 2014 PGA Championship.
Ahead of the 2024 season, McIlroy and TaylorMade noticed the TP5X (2024) had led to a fraction more distance gained. However, McIlroy began hitting shots with the TP5 (2024), which is firmer and lower launching – and he opted to put it into play.
It will be interesting to see what equipment McIlroy uses to boost his The Players Championship hopes at TPC Sawgrass next week. McIlroy has been grouped with World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, who won three majors between them last year.
Starting with the Masters in April, the monthly run of majors is set to begin with McIlroy desperate to finally end his drought. The Players – which begins on Thursday, March 13 and runs through Sunday, March 16 – is the perfect place to get into form.
