Rory McIlroy claimed his second Irish Open title and 20th DP World Tour Title in epic style by holing a 28-foot eagle putt on the 72nd hole to force a playoff and eventually win on the third playoff hole.
Rory holed a staggering 160 feet of putts with his Spider Tour X putter during the final round to keep him firmly in contention. This week also marked the first week he put TaylorMade’s new MG5 wedges in play, leading him to straight to the winner’s circle.
MG5 WEDGES FOR THE WIN
TaylorMade’s new fully forged MG5 wedges have now claimed back-to-back wins following Brooke Henderson’s win at the CPKC Women’s Open.
At the start of the season, and with his focus directly on Augusta, Rory switched to a 60° low bounce lob wedge bent to 61° ahead of his first start of the season at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. That one degree paid off immediately as he won at Pebble Beach and then went on to capture his second title at THE PLAYERS and secure the career Grand Slam in Augusta.
The conversation of making this now crucial adjustment was centered around two areas of Rory’s game: turf interaction, specifically on tighter grass, and the 40-to-60-yard wedge shot. Rory simply wanted to explore how to make those shots easier.
This week at the Amgen Irish Open, Rory switched into a new Milled Grind 5 60° LB lob wedge still bent to 61°, as well as MG5 46°, 50° and 54° wedges. MG5 checked the three main boxes of what Rory looks for in a wedge: the visual of how it sets up, ground interaction specifically with his lob wedge and feel.
Spin Tread Technology and the new saw milled grooves of MG5 also enhanced performance in damp/wet conditions creating more friction resulting in higher and more consistent spin, as well as slightly lower launch.
Rory’s MG5 60° Spec
HEAD: MG5 60° LB
FINISHED LOFT: 61°
LIE: 63.5°
LENGTH: 35 1/8’’ CUT
SWINGWEIGHT: D5
SHAFT: Project X 6.5 Wedge
HEAD: MG5 54° SB
FINISHED LOFT: 54°
LIE: 63°
LENGTH: 35 1/2’’ CUT
SWINGWEIGHT: D4.5
SHAFT: Project X 6.5
RORY’S MG5 50° SPEC
HEAD: MG5 50° SB
FINISHED LOFT: 50°
LIE: 62.5°
LENGTH: 35 3/4’’ CUT
SWINGWEIGHT: D4.5
SHAFT: Project X 6.5
RORY’S MG5 46° SPEC
HEAD: MG5 46° SB
FINISHED LOFT: 46°
LIE: 62°
LENGTH: 36’’ CUT
SWINGWEIGHT: D4
SHAFT: Project X 6.5
Spider Tour X continues to Dominate
Rory was on fire on Sunday holing a staggering 160 feet worth of putts with his Spider Tour X putter, here are some of his notable putts:
38-foot birdie putt on the 2nd hole
43-foot birdie putt on the 5th hole
10-foot birdie putt on the 9th hole
8-foot par putt on the 12th hole
28-foot eagle putt on the 18th hole (to force playoff)
Rory’s Spider Tour X spec is:
SIGHT LINE: Full Line
INSERT: Pure Roll
FINISH: Torched
SHAFT: Black Stepless
LENGTH: 34.5″ EOG
LOFT: 2°
LIE: 69°
SWING WEIGHT: E0
GRIP: SuperStroke Pistol Tour
WRAPS: 1
Switch of the Year
Perhaps the switch story of the year, has been Rory’s move from TP5x to TP5 golf ball. During initialling testing, he loved the feel and control around the greens, and when he progressed from testing short wedge shots to full iron shots he found that his launch angle was a degree lower with spin rates the same as his TP5x. He also maintained ball speed with his driver.
All year Rory has seen improved flighting with his wedges and short irons, which he had struggled with in the past. TP5 has enabled him to improve his half- and three-quarter shots and has become better with shaping wedge and iron shots in both directions.
Rory’s Winning WITB
Qi10 9.0° driver (Ventus Black 6X)
Qi10 15.0° 3-wood (Ventus Black 8X)
Qi10 18.0° 5-wood (Ventus Black 9X)
P·760 4-iron (Project X 7.0)
Rors Proto 5-9 (Project X 7.0)
MG5 46° SB, 50° SB, 54° SB, 60° LB (Project X 6.5)
Spider Tour X Short Slant
TP5 “RORS”
