Rory McIlroy has spent the off-season before Christmas in Dubai, not relaxing on the beach but trying out every club under the sun. This is the outcome of Nike’s decision to pull out of the golf hardware market. So in many way’s the five- times Major Champion has free rein to chose whatever he likes and get millions more in sponsorship, depending on his selection.
“I was on the range in Dubai and I had just about every type of golf club and ball in the world laid out in front of me,” McIlroy said: “I used TrackMan a lot. As much as I can sense the ball flight and shape of the shots, seeing the spin and distance numbers is so important and getting that immediate feedback helps so much.”
Testing all the clubs in Dubai pays off
His rigorous testing appears to have paid off as his stats in the South African Open certainly show he’s instantly getting on with the mixed bag. Callaway have come off best with the number of clubs in the bag with Rory opting for their new Epic Sub Zero low-spinning driver; custom-made Apex MB irons and Odyssey prototype putter. He’s averaging close to 314 yards off the tee with an accuracy stat of 71.4% so you can say that the Epic driver is an instant success for a player who’s renowned for destroying courses off the tee.
Putting the fear into the rest
Worryingly for the likes of Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson, who are playing in at the Dubai Desert Classic and Abu Dhabi Championship respectively, Rory is averaging 1.488 putts per green in regulation in South Africa. Any player of Rory’s calibre who is on fire off the tee and on the greens is going to be hard to beat.
Titleist Prov1X is key
The advantage Rory has gained in testing, is that he has been able to match his clubs to the perfect ball combination.Normally players who sign a hardware deal are usually heavily committed to play the manufacturer’s ball. Which is exactly what Rory and Tiger were incentivised to do with Nike.So, if a player were to be restricted to playing the hardware manufacturer’s ball the clubs would not be fully optimised. Were the player able to match the clubs to any ball he wishes, as a ‘free agent’ he could ensure that his clubs perform 100% to their capability. That’s why it comes as no surprise to see Rory back playing a Titleist ProV1x, which still remains the number one ball on both the European and PGA Tours.
Wedge control with Vokey SM6
Rory has opted to go with the Titleist Vokey SM6 wedges due to the fact that their gapping and distance control is probably the best in the market. Having said that, it will be interesting to see how the new Callaway Mack Daddy Forged wedges compare. We will be doing a test in the February issue of Worldwide Golf on the Epic driver and the new Mack Daddy Forged wedges.
300 yards off the fairway!
Finally, Rory has opted for the TaylorMade M2 fairway wood. With the ability to rip it 300 yards off the deck and get it airborne, this could be the club that proves most effective in a similar way that Henrik Stenson uses his trusty old Callaway Diablo Octane pro three wood. The ability to knock a fairway wood off the tee when your rivals are taking driver is a huge advantage in the professional game and very intimidating to say the least.
South Africa boost ahead of Middle East swing
These stats from the South African Open will have Rory as favourite coming into both the Abu Dhabi Championship and Dubai Desert Classic. He has lifted the Desert Classic trophy before and has strong local support in a region which is home-from-home for him.
