Golf

Rory McIlroy reveals how Tiger Woods influenced driver switch

McIlroy noticed an uptick in distance after switching to TaylorMade’s Stealth 2 driver.

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ORLANDO, Fla. — As the PGA Tour’s present chief in driving distance (328.7 yards), Rory McIlroy isn’t accustomed to watching his taking part in companions smoke it by him off the tee. But it nonetheless occurs now and again.

And in the course of the opening spherical of the Genesis Invitational, McIlroy discovered himself on 5 separate events gazing Tiger Woods’ again for the second shot.

Distance stays only one a part of the system for fulfillment on Tour, however having Woods stroll previous him to longer tee balls turned out to be the impetus for an impromptu vary session after the spherical. Increasing the loft on his TaylorMade Stealth Plus driver to realize distance — and enhance spin — didn’t work, so McIlroy opted for one more choice: a brand new Stealth 2 Plus.

“I’m so particular about face angle when it comes to drivers that when I went up a click in loft, obviously I can see a little more face, it looks a little further left to me,” McIlroy stated. “And I didn’t hit one drive out of the middle of the face the first day at Riv. So I needed to go and try something else.”

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During testing, McIlroy noticed an enchancment in constant spin numbers that led him to alter drivers after only one spherical. While the swap didn’t produce a victory, it did enable McIlroy to search out one other gear off the tee. During the second spherical, Mcllroy routinely hit it previous Woods, uncorking a 388-yard missile at one level that wound up being roughly 50 yards longer than his longest drive in Round 1.

“I was sick of Tiger outdriving me,” McIlroy stated. “Partly to do with that.”

McIlroy noticed extra constant spin charges with Stealth 2 Plus.

Jonathan Wall/GOLF

In addition to eager to outdrive Tiger, McIlroy noticed one other, albeit extra delicate, profit to Stealth 2 Plus that didn’t turn out to be obvious till he regarded down on the membership.

“I feel like this Stealth 2 head for me … is more neutral or what I perceive to be a more neutral face angle,” he stated. “I think if other people saw it they would probably see that it sits slightly open, but to my eye it sits square. To me it was all about face angle.”

It’s all about face angle — and no matter retains him forward of Tiger off the tee.

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JWall

Jonathan Wall

Golf.com Editor

Jonathan Wall is GOLF Magazine and GOLF.com’s Managing Editor for Equipment. Prior to becoming a member of the workers on the finish of 2018, he spent 6 years protecting tools for the PGA Tour.


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