RORY M ILROY C
You’ll see a lot of Stealth Plus drivers in tour players’ hands this year, as its sliding sole weight adjustability allows us to dial the driver in for each player. We use the 10g sole weight to dial in the shot shape players prefer, which is really important when you realise Rory (like Tommy and Sergio) likes to draw it, whereas DJ and Collin Morikawa like to fade the driver. The Plus spins about 300rpm less than the standard Stealth, which is often a better fit for players at high speeds.
Rory’s driver is a 9º head, with the hosel adaptor set a notch lower so the loft plays more like 8.5º. The sliding sole weight is in a pretty neutral position, and the shaft is a Fujikura Ventus Black 6X tipped one inch (to make it play stiffer). We work with our tour players a lot more than consumers might realise; it’s not uncommon to work through 10, 15 or even 20 iterations of a driver for a player to feel comfortable and ready to hit the golf course.
We’ve seen Rory six times over the winter and he’s still using the same first Stealth Plus driver we originally fitted him into; that’s a really good sign. What Rory really likes is the forgiveness off-centre. He’s starting to hit driver where a cut (fade) will spin at 2,400rpm, a draw will spin at 2,100rpm and his high, straight bomb is at 2,200rpm. That’s a really tight spin tolerance for any driver. We’ve been surprised by the impressive numbers, so much so we’re asking our R&D guys if they can explain how we’re getting them.
For Rory it was a straight head swap. He liked the Ventus shaft he was already playing, so there was no reason to explore other shafts. From the Olympics (2021) onwards he drove the ball well, so he’s been getting his form back. Out on tour you only start looking at new shafts when there’s a reason too, that’s called searching – there just wasn’t a reason to search for anything switching to the Stealth Plus for Rory.
Rory lives between 185 and 190mph ball speed with his driver, but with Stealth Plus he’s now consistently in the high 180s, without forcing it. To get the previous product (SIM2) to spin as Rory wanted, we needed to take weight out of the back of the head and move it closer to the face, which meant losing forgiveness on heel and toe strikes. We haven’t needed to do that with Stealth Plus. Though Rory has gained ball speed – out on tour all players want that – he’s also gained the ability to miss better. He’s gained on forgiveness without sacrificing performance. If Rory is at 186mph ball speed on average, he’s at 186 all over the face. You could lose 4-5mph with previous and competitor products, but the ball speeds with Stealth stay consistently high. We’re not even selling the driver on forgiveness, for us it’s about ball speed gains.
The big thing for Rory, who we often need to create multiple iterations of a new product for him to feel comfortable, was him turning up to Abu Dhabi with exactly the same driver he was hitting 350 yards bombs with at our marketing shoot in November. My boss Keith Sbarbaro deserves so much credit for his work with Rory, we have a great system in place to make sure Rory can play his best.