Equipment

USGA Adjustibility – TaylorMade’s Response

Published

19 years ago

Oct 15, 2007

R Hetzel

The USGA recently announced that on January 1, 2008 a new rule would be in effect allowing different types of adjustability for golf clubs.

How will this new rule affect manufacturers and OEM’s? GolfWRX recently asked Dr. Benoit Vincent, Cheif Technical Officer for TaylorMade Adidas Golf about how this new rule would influence TaylorMade clubs in the future.

GolfWRX: What impact will the the USGA’s recently approved changes in the adjustability ruling have on TaylorMade?

Dr. Benoit Vincent: The USGA’s adoption of adjustability validates the efforts made by TaylorMade to create products offering customization – such as our Movable Weight Technology – in order to fit the performance of the products with the swing characteristics of individual players. Our Movable Weight Technology recently reached a new level with the release of the r7 CGB Max driver. It has three weight ports, with the heaviest weighing 16g, allowing the player to dial in his/her trajectory with a 35-yard right-to-left variance. As the USGA has now permitted adjustability beyond weight, we will continue to create additional performance benefits for players that result in the best specifications for that player’s exact preferences.

What is still in question is how the consumer will react to certain facets of adjustability. For practical purposes and simplicity, will the masses continue to play equipment as it is known today or will they engage heavily into adjustability? We’re not sure that players will immediately jump into products that offer adjustability. That is part of the research and market studies we’ve been working on.

GolfWRX: Will the new rule for adjustability in clubs be a catalyst for any revolutionary changes in design, especially in traditionally conservative items such as irons and wedges?

Dr. Benoit Vincent: The level of complexity with irons increases a lot as you need to dial everyone for 8 clubs plus wedges. Even if it is technically possible to bring adjustability for these clubs, it may be too much for golfers to deal with. Practicality may limit what players can embrace.

GolfWRX: What impact does SelectFit have on feel for the end product compared to a traditional epoxy bond?

Dr. Benoit Vincent: What we’ve been able to accomplish with our SelectFit system is no difference in feel coming from the mechanical bonding link between the head and the shaft. You do not feel the portion of the shaft that is secured in the head, you feel only the part that is free to flex outside the head. Our SelectFit fastens the shaft at the same level as the bond does, so the free portion of the shaft outside the head is the same.

GolfWRX: Do you expect traditional players to readily move into a system like SelectFit for their rounds?

Dr. Benoit Vincent: Yes, because once the clubhead is affixed to the shaft through the SelectFit system, the performance and feel of the club is the same as if it were bonded with epoxy. It’s similar to players who have moveable weights attached to the sole plate of the club head. Unlike most of the systems created, SelectFit is blending with the hosel and does not change the length, fit or weight of the attachment. We designed SelectFit to be mechanically similar to a bonded link. Traditional players will not be able to tell the difference. Now, how long before they can overcome fear in their head? It may be as fast as the 50+ PGA Tour golfers who embraced our r7 driver overnight.

GolfWRX: How far away are we from completely removing traditional epoxy bonds? When do you think TaylorMade will release a product that takes advantage of the changes in this rule?

Dr. Benoit Vincent: We may never totally walk away from epoxy bonds for a lot of reasons. If you do not need to change your shaft, why do you need to have a club with the additional complexity that allows you to do it? Why would you pay for something that you may not use? Both systems may exist side by side for a while. As you know, TaylorMade already has a product with a shaft that can be removed in its SelectFit cart and we think it is greatly beneficial for fitting. In January 2008, for the golfers who borrowed some of our SelectFit clubs from the carts, they may post their scores.

GolfWRX: How will this affect the way golf clubs are bought and sold? Do you see a time when golfers could walk into a store, buy a head only and pair it with an already prepped shaft?

Dr. Benoit Vincent: Buying golf clubs is somewhat complicated today when you consider all variations offered. I am not sure that golfers are looking for too many additional levels of complexity and choices to make. For sure, we will see few golfers experimenting with heads and shafts separately because they do it today with the extra effort to unglue the shaft from the head and glue another shaft in it. Is it going to be the normal way of buying equipment? Do you buy your computer, do you buy your bicycle in pieces today? You can if you want to, but do you?

GolfWRX: Does this rule change hurt or help you as an OEM? It seems like you might sell less products on the whole, but could possibly minimize custom departments and excess stock?

Dr. Benoit Vincent: The removable shaft-head liaison requires additional components compared to the bonded version, starting with a tool to lock and unlock the liaison, which introduces cost to the system. All adjustability mechanisms will require additional “devices” or “design features” which will generate cost and will use weight. We are not sure how many golfers will pay for adjustable features in their products or want to deal with adjustability altogether. We may see a portion of golfers currently buying custom clubs who will pay for additional custom possibilities and also a portion of golfers who are not willing to pay for or be involved beyond current custom services offered by manufacturers. Not everyone adjusts their car tire pressure or changes tires themselves, even though a kit and spare wheel are included with the car.

GolfWRX: The big beneficiary here seems to be amateur golfers who can receive Tour player treatment without costly shaft changes or purchases. Do you see big advantages for Tour players as well?

Dr. Benoit Vincent: We do not foresee a significant increased level of benefit for Tour players who already have our Tour van to build clubs with different shaft specifications. We see a handful of amateurs who are very involved with specifications of their products gaining some advantages with more modifications of their clubs.

GolfWRX: Are there any physical changes to the club or playability characteristics that change from the addition of a system like SelectFit?

Dr. Benoit Vincent: The design of the SelectFit system does not affect the playability of the club at all. The hosel length was reduced slightly to compensate for the additional length from the fastening bolt. That slight modification provides a system that has the same overall hosel length and same shaft-head link portion. Again, we saw golfers using our SelectFit clubs today, certainly in anticipation of the rule!

GolfWRX would like to extend our appreciation to Dr. Benoit Vincent and TaylorMade for taking the time to answer all of our questions.

Whats in the Bag

Christiaan Maas WITB 2026 (June)

Published

4 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D LS (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P770 (3), TaylorMade P7CB (4), TaylorMade P7TW (5-PW)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 10 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold X100

Wedges: TaylorMade Prototype (50-SB09), TaylorMade MG5 (56-HB12, 60-LV07)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S400

Putter: TaylorMade TP Juno

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord

Check out more in-hand photos of Christiaan Maas’ clubs here.

Equipment

TaylorMade MySpider Tour and Tour X: More customizable build options now available

Published

4 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Alistair Cameron

TaylorMade Golf’s MySpider program underwent a substantial overhaul over the last month. Firstly, the company launched the option to customize the Spider ZT model, and now the program has returned with the MySpider Tour and MySpider Tour X.

The revamped page now gives golfers complete control over every visual and functional detail of their putter on the popular Tour and Tour X head, with every cosmetic idea thought of. In MySpider Tour, golfers can choose from four head finishes, 16 paint fill colors, nine Surlyn face insert colors, three aluminum insert options, six sightline configurations, and four hosel options — L-neck, small slant, double bend, center shaft. Six sightline options are available in MySpider Tour, including the optically engineered True Path alignment system. MySpider Tour X gives builders the option of four head finishes, four hosel configurations, and five sightline options, also including True Path alignment.

One of the more interesting features of the new MySpider program is the availability of three distinct face insert options. Along with the usual Surlyn Pure Roll insert trusted by Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, which can be customized from nine colors, golfers can now also select firmer options. Two are offered with the black aluminum Pure Roll insert, slightly firmer than the traditional insert, or for the firmest feel, golfers can choose from two colors of milled aluminum inserts.

Another fun addition to the MySpider Tour is the ability to use the “Tommy Sightline.” The custom alignment aid design, which was first drawn onto Tommy Fleetwood’s putter by PGA Tour Rep James Holley, is based on the milled sightline on his Spider ZT head. There are five shorter lines on the left and right of a longer central line serving as the traditional short line alignment aid.

See below for the full specifications sheet for MySpider Tour and Tour X:

MySpider Tour

MySpider Tour X

Equipment

Then and now: Comparing Rory McIlroy’s current setup to his record-breaking 2019 Canadian Open victory

Published

7 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Alistair Cameron

In Rory McIlroy’s first appearance at the 2019 RBC Canadian Open, he crushed the record books to earn his 16th PGA Tour title in dominating fashion, winning by seven shots over Shane Lowry and Webb Simpson.

McIlroy’s score of 22-under-par 258 is the lowest 72-hole score to date at the Canadian Open, and his closing 61 is also the best final-round score in the history of one of golf’s oldest tournaments. Finally, with his win in 2019, McIlroy became only the sixth player to win the career Triple Crown, adding to his victories at the U.S. Open in 2011 and The Open Championship in 2014, joining Tommy Armour, Walter Hagen, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Tiger Woods in a coveted list.

So, with that, why not compare his current setup to the clubs he used to break all the records?

Driver

2019: TaylorMade M5 (9 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees @8), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7X (45 5/8 inches)

McIroy led the Tour in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee in 2019; he’s doing the same in 2026. Between now and then, McIlroy has switched from the Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX (a shaft with slightly more feeling in the tip) to the original Fujikura Ventus Black 7X, having just made the change to the heavier version from playing the 60X.

What’s interesting about McIlroy’s 2019 setup is that the weighting on his driver is actually set in the high-draw setting, using the T-Track weighting system, whereas in the Qi4D, he’s currently using a heavily rear-weighted setup. (Two 13-gram weights in the rear and only two 4-gram front weights.)

The TaylorMade M5 driver he played in during his Canadian Open win was the company’s first head that they claimed to design to initially exceed the USGA’s COR limit, and then injected with tuning resin to bring it back in bounds.

Fairway woods

2019: TaylorMade M6 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 80 TX; TaylorMade M5 5-wood (19 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 90 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8X; TaylorMade Qi4D 5-wood (18 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9X

The TaylorMade M6 fairway wood that McIlroy was using during the 2019 season is still in the bag of some of the best golfers on Tour in 2026. Just check out Justin Rose’s winning setup from the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year. This year, though, McIlroy has still been searching for his top-end-of-the-bag setup, having played both the new Qi4D and the Qi10, which he won the Masters with.

The same shaft swap can be seen in the fairway woods as the driver, along with slightly less loft on the 5-wood.

Irons

2019: TaylorMade P750 (4) Buy here, TaylorMade P730 (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0
2026: TaylorMade P760 (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0

The biggest difference between McIlroy’s custom set and the stock P730s is the groove design. While the P730s were constructed with 14 MX-9 grooves on their milled faces, McIlroy’s proto heads instead use the higher-spinning, 16-groove layout of the TW2 grooves. Other big differences between the sets are that McIlroy’s 7- and 8-irons have thinner toplines, are 1 degree stronger in loft, and are 1/4 inch longer than the original P730 builds.

With McIlroy’s 4-iron, the switch from P750 to P760 sees a transition to a two-piece construction with Speed Foam in it, which allows McIlroy to launch the ball slightly higher, with more workability.

Wedges

2019: TaylorMade Milled Grind (48-09SB), TaylorMade MG Hi-Toe (52-09SB, 56-09SB, 60-LB09), Shafts: Project X Rifle 6.5
2026: TaylorMade MG5 (46-09SB, 50-09SB, 54-11SB, 60-08LB @61), Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46-54), Project X 6.5 Wedge (60)

Between 2019 and 2026, McIlroy’s focus on his short game has been much more apparent. It was the reason why he switched back to the TP5 golf ball, to help with launch, spin and control with his wedges leading up to his career Grand Slam victory in 2025. The most apparent changes to McIlroy’s wedge setup are his lofts and bounce. He’s slowly delofted his pitching to a sand wedge, but has increased the loft on the lob wedge, bending his current 60-degree to 61. With that, adding more loft to his lob wedge also slightly increases the bounce and leading-edge sit point, so, as a result, he plays a lower-bounce lob wedge compared to 2019. The MG5 wedges are also softer than the first Milled Grind option from 2019. McIlroy also no longer plays the full-face grooves found on the Hi-Toe.

Putter

2019: TaylorMade Spider X
2026: TaylorMade Spider Tour X

Notice anything similar. Yes, the copper finish on Rory McIlroy’s Spider X putter in 2019 is a slightly more reflective finish than the recently released torched PVD finish. McIlroy was using the True Path alignment system, but now uses only a single white sightline.

Ball

2019: 2019 TaylorMade TP5 (#22)
2026: 2025 TaylorMade TP5 (RORS)

As mentioned above, McIlroy had transitioned from the TP5 to TP5x golf ball since his victory in Canada in 2019, but now is black with the same style of golf ball as his victory at Hamilton Golf & Country Club.

Grips

2019: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
2026: Golf Pride MCC

Interesting, McIlroy actually used Golf Pride’s Tour Velvet Cord grips during his victory in 2019 (it was during a 2+ year switch to the corded TV) as opposed to his usual MCC grips, which he has played for most of his career.