TaylorMade for Rors
Justin Parsons has watched Rory McIlroy blossom from a shaggyhaired teen to the summit of world golf. The Director of Instruction at Dubai’s Butch Harmon School of Golf also witnessed the 28-year-old Northern Irishman settle on his new bag of swag and off
Justin Parson’s fascinating insight into McIlroy’s $80m equipment deal.
It has been an interesting year for the major golf equipment manufacturers. Some have left the market, others have entered and we have seen a lot of changes by high profile players. The biggest has seen Nike depart the equipment market which left Rory McIlroy in the rather unusual position of being able to hand pick whatever equipment worked for him at the turn of the year.
I have known Rory since he was around 12 and have helped him find a good place for warm weather practice in the UAE since 2005 when I moved here to work at The Montgomerie, Dubai. Rory has always enjoyed the facilities and weather as he gets his game into shape after his Christmas break. It traditionally entails swing work with his coach Michael Bannon and preseason strength and conditioning with trainer Steve McGregor over two to three weeks but this year it was rather different.
Over the course of two weeks our putting studio at The Butch Harmon School of Golf in Sports City was more akin to the back of a pro’s shop as clubs and balls arrived for Rory to test. Most manufacturers sent what they felt might be best suited to the world No.2 and we stored them for Rory to look at as the sessions gathered pace. One of the biggest issues Rory faced was not getting confused by all of the different product. It meant he went through things systematically, quickly offloading equipment that was unsuitable. This was interesting to watch and why wouldn’t it be - one of the best ball strikers of all time allowing himself the freedom to settle on clubs that were best for him without any constraint.
PUTTER
Rory uses the fine expertise of Phil Kenyon to help him on the greens. Phil is the best in the business in my opinion and helped guide Rory on his choice of putters to complement some of the changes in technique they began working on when Rory won the FedEx Cup at the end of 2016. Rory didn’t test too many crazy shapes and sizes with those he did test sharing a familiar (blade) style, a shape most good players stick to. The appearance and feel of a putter are paramount for a player, helping them line up correctly. Phil also monitors how the ball rolls accurately, something which the make-up of the face and loft of the putter are responsible for. Eds note: At the time of print, TaylorMade’s Tour and product teams were “working closely with McIlroy to find a model that is optimal for him”.
BALL AND WEDGES
The Butch Harmon School of Golf took delivery of a lot of different golf balls for Rory to test on the range at The Els Club, Dubai. The balls were marked and the markings cross-checked against the resulting performance and preference of the balls.
All players are, of course, looking for distance from their ball but trajectory, feel, spin, stability (in the wind) and even sound/colour are important. While putting a new ball undoubtedly gives you a feel, it is once the ball/wedge work begins that the most important feedback begins.
Rory worked with a number of different wedge brands looking for the right feel, spin, trajectory and distance control and combining different wedges with different ball choices before narrowing things down. Rory has a preferred wedge make up (the lofts and bounces) and as these clubs are probably the most multi-functional pieces of equipment, they needed to check the flight and gaps (between wedges) of fuller shots, how the bounce and trail edge grind worked for the way he pitches, chips and hits bunker shots. This was done from various lies both on and off the course.
IRONS
Rory was, and remains, quite clear on his irons – he doesn’t need any ‘help’ to find the sweet spot or get long irons up into the air which is a nice place to be. He simply focused on settling on the most attractive looking blade sent to him in tandem with superior feel. Rory’s iron play and striking is something which truly sets him apart and his choice of blade is all about precision of strike, control and speed. In this area, the choices were simple and like the wedges, he knows his shaft and grip preferences which were not changing so it came down to a choice between two or three of the sets sent over.
DRIVER
Rory spent the most time settling on his driver. It turned out to be painful effort too as he ended up with that nasty rib injury just before South Africa and was ultimately forced to withdraw from the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and Omega Dubai Desert Classic as well as the BMW SA Open.
This is an area where Rory is very specific as it forms his greatest strength. He has a number of different tee shots that he can use in different situations with the ‘stock’ drive being a tight and (very) long draw. His caddy JP Fitzgerald, a good player himself, would often challenge Rory to replicate one of these shots or even duplicate a situation where he would need a certain shot and Rory would hit it - think a high draw on the 18th at Emirates Golf Club for the Desert Classic.
There were a few drivers that suited the stock tee shot, marrying the spin, launch and distance that he wanted to see. It was a very detailed process.
For the ball to fly through the air best at Rory’s speeds (120mph club-head and 180mph ball-speed), it requires around 2300rpm’s of backspin.
Too much spin and the ball balloons (in relative terms) and too little and it falls out of the sky too quickly. Interestingly, when the tour goes to South Africa, Rory often fits for more spin as the air is thinner at the higher altitude and the ball needs more spin to stay up.
The correct shaft and loft make up were standard for Rory but some drivers way outperformed what he had been playing - somewhere in the region of 15 yards more carry which is huge at the top level and something he was clearly excited by. He eventually chose the driver which was most consistent across the range of his shot profiles. It was a driver which spun less when he hit his fade - one test driver sent the spin up to 2900rpm when he hit the fade, the other stayed in the 2500rpm range - which made the flight more stable.
WHAT YOU CAN LEARN
This unusual process highlighted the detail that the best players in the world go into with their equipment choices. I work closely with the Titleist Tour Department with a number of players and the staff there (and in all of the manufacturer’s trucks) do an excellent job ensuring that players have what they need. Lofts and lies are checked regularly, grips changed and distances charted. If you can learn a little from this it would be to make your equipment choices wisely. The bottom line, like Rory, is to choose equipment that can help your worst days as well as your best days and maintain your equipment to a good standard.