Rory McIlroy Using New Driver Amid 'non-conforming' Report

“Rory McIlroy using new driver amid ‘non-conforming’ report”

By:

Sean Zak

Might 16, 2025

Rory McIlroy’s driver was a significant matter of dialogue Friday on the PGA.

Getty Pictures, Jack Hirsh

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — He could also be 9 photographs off the lead and have made the lower on the quantity, however there nonetheless is loads of consideration round Rory McIlroy at Quail Hole.

Extra particularly, round Rory McIlroy’s driver.

McIlroy swapped out driver heads this week. His beginner is a TaylorMade Qi10 mannequin, identical to his gamer, however extra polished; the driving force McIlroy had in his bag at Philadelphia Cricket Membership final week had outlined put on marks on the only (see beneath). This won’t have raised eyebrows if McIlroy hadn’t gained the Masters together with his gamer a month in the past, and if he had performed effectively with the brand new driver head this week on the PGA Championship.

Rory McIlroy's driver on Sunday and on Thursday this week. — Rory McIlroy’s driver on Sunday on the Truist and on Thursday this week, with a transparent distinction within the put on mark on the only.

Getty Pictures

However McIlroy hasn’t pushed it effectively in any respect, hitting simply 4 fairways on Thursday and 6 on Friday. In the midst of that Friday spherical, SiriusXM reported that McIlroy’s previous driver head had been deemed “no longer permissible.” That phrasing is obscure sufficient that it may imply a lot of issues, however SiriusXM staffer Jason Sobel clarified it meant the driving force was deemed “non-conforming by the USGA.” The USGA oversees driver testing this week at Quail Hole, simply because it does at PGA Tour occasions.

In the course of the Sirius XM spot, host Taylor Zarzour mentioned: “[McIlroy] was not able to use it this week — his gamer, if you will. it was deemed to be no longer permissible. Whether it was cracked or something had happened to the head. Rory [was] unable to use that driver and switched drivers yesterday…”

Gamers change out driver heads all through the season, generally as a result of there are cracks within the face and different instances as a result of the faces put on a lot that they generate a spring-like impact, like a trampoline, wherein the ball stays in contact with the face for a longer-than-permitted time frame. Within the battle towards distance, the USGA and R&A have set requirements that restrict this spring-like impact (known as Attribute Time, or CT) and conduct driver testing at tournaments.

So, why was McIlroy’s driver head deemed, as SiriusXM reported, now not permissible?

That’s a thriller that won’t get solved till McIlroy explains it himself. When GOLF.com requested the PGA of America about McIlroy’s driver, a media official referred us to the USGA, which performed this week’s testing. The USGA declined to touch upon the Sirius XM report, saying solely that the PGA Championship testing program “is consistent with the same level of support that we provide to the PGA Tour as part of their regular program for driver testing” and “the results are confidential.”

A TaylorMade spokesperson mentioned he didn’t know why McIlroy had a brand new driver head.

As for McIlroy? After capturing 74 Thursday, he declined to talk to reporters. And when he rallied to make the lower Friday, regardless of ending with consecutive bogeys, he declined once more, racing up a set of steps from scoring and heading to the parking zone.

The same state of affairs performed out for McIlroy two years in the past on the 2023 Genesis Invitational. In that occasion, McIlroy revealed that he had proactively switched into a brand new driver head as a result of he was frightened the previous one wouldn’t cross a CT take a look at.

“I wish I could use my driver from [2022],” McIlroy mentioned a month later, “but I can’t just because of — you use a driver for so long, and it starts to get a little too…basically, it just wouldn’t pass the test. I just didn’t even want to take the chance. I just was not comfortable knowing that it could feel — doesn’t look good on me, doesn’t look good on TaylorMade.”

McIlroy has been wildly profitable with, and dedicated to, the Qi10 driver. In March, he paid an Uber driver practically $1,000 transport his previous driver from Jupiter, Fla., to Orlando so he may make a mid-tournament membership change on the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

This isn’t the primary time driver testing has change into a narrative at a significant. On the 2019 Open Championship, the R&A deemed Xander Schauffele’s driver non-conforming, which had him elevating questions in regards to the testing course of, which incorporates solely a fraction of the sphere. The R&A examined 30 gamers’ drivers at random, and Schauffele’s was the one one which failed the take a look at — that we heard about.