In his first start of the season on the PGA TOUR, Rory McIlroy ran away from the field on the final nine at Pebble Beach Golf Links to capture his 27th victory on TOUR at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. McIlroy fired a back-nine 31 to break free from the pack atop a clustered leaderboard on the California coast.
The Northern Irishman’s dominance at Pebble Beach came off the back of a surprising ball change, switching from the 2024 TaylorMade TP5x to the softer-feeling TP5.
“I sort of stumbled upon it,” said McIlroy, after the first round where he made his second ace on TOUR. “I was messing around at the Grove the other day. This has got to be like Thursday last week. I just started to hit some chips with the TP5 instead of the TP5x and I really loved how I felt. And I hadn’t really tested the 2024 TP5 and I loved how it was reacting around the greens. … I started hitting some like 60, 70-yard shots with it and it was coming off much lower launch, but spinnier.”
McIlroy made the most of the different ball during a bogey-free third-round 65, where weather conditions and strong winds meant lower-flighted shots were key to signing for a low score. He also kept a clean card by going 8-for-8 in Scrambling on a course that lays claim to the smallest average greens on the PGA TOUR.
The TP5 offers a notably softer feel with improved spin around the green and produces lower driver spin compared to the TP5x McIlroy is used to.
“This seems to launch probably a degree lower for me, but the spin rate’s very, very similar, which I really like,” said McIlroy. “Yeah, did some testing with it, really like it. Doesn’t seem to lose any speed with the driver either, even though it’s a lower-compression golf ball.”
The ball switch didn’t affect McIlroy’s major weapon with distance off the tee. McIlroy led the field in Driving Distance, averaging 336.70 yards, and gained over 6.173 strokes on the field off the tee. A prime example was his final-round eagle at the par-5 14th, where an aggressive line over the tall Monterey pine resulted in a 339-yard drive of the day.
Despite testing the new TaylorMade Qi35 driver during the off-season, McIlroy stuck with the older Qi10 model at Pebble Beach, which he used during the 2024 season to win twice.
See his full setup below at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees @8.25)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X (45 inches)
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X
5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9 X
Irons: TaylorMade P760 (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9)
Shaft: Project X 7.0 (4-9)
Wedges: TaylorMade MG4 (46-09SB, 50-09SB, 54-11SB, 60-08LB)
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46-54), Project X 6.5 Wedge (60)
Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour X
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Pistol Tour
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Ball: TaylorMade TP5
Source: pgatour.com
