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Rory McIlroy’s thoughts on the modern game and leading by example

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In a recent interview with Lawrence Donegan and John Huggan on the McKellar Golf Podcast, world No. 1 Rory McIlroy opened up about his golf game, his outlook on the PGA Tour returning, and how the upcoming TaylorMade Driving Relief Skins match can set an example for recreational golfers.

The interview is a prime example of why Rory is not only one of the best players in the game but also one of the best ambassadors.

On walking vs. riding in carts

…we were gonna play in carts but I was a bit against it because if this is going to be the first time showcasing golf as we try and get past whats going on with Covid19, that with golf we can socially distance by carrying our own bags and show that it’s also a great way to get exercise. Getting out walking 18 holes instead of using a cart and jumping on jumping off, it’s a good image for the game to see four tour pros out there carrying their own bags and having a good time… I’m excited to show this side of it and promote people walking and carrying their own clubs.

As a walker, I love to hear Rory appreciate the position they are in and the opportunity they have to showcase golf as a game meant to be played: by walking.

Playing a half set

… I think it’s one of the best ways to practice, I do it quite a bit… because when you have only half your clubs you are always in between clubs and you have to do something…I tell junior golfers to learn to hit a 7 iron 140 yards (implying hitting it much shorter than a stock shot) because it teaches artistry, which is something they don’t do enough of in the modern game.

As a lover of playing golf with less than 14 clubs (check out my thoughts here: Long live the half set, & Building the perfect half set) these comments by Rory make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Even though he is one of the longest players on tour he still sees the benefit to learning how to hit shots and control trajectory as a way to distance himself from his peers. For modern golfers this has become a bit of a lost art and its nice to hear Rory’s promote the benefit of varying ways to enjoy the game.

On golf becoming too much science vs art

Huggan asked a great question about the game shifting too much towards science and less artistic and Rory’s take was spot on what many believe to be the deciding factor.

… I believe the artist will always win in that battle because that’s what golf is. You know Tiger Woods is an artist, and I would consider myself an artist. I would consider a few other guys at the top of the world ranking… although we all have power and swing differently, some of the short games are incredible and that’s the stuff people don’t hear enough about. 

Again as someone that loves technology but appreciates the classic style of the game, Rory’s thoughts one how players rise to the top of the ranking proves that hitting far, will only get you so far in the game before precision and artistry take over to help execute.

The entire interview is a wonderful insight and I encourage and fan of golf to check it out

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Ryan Barath is a club-fitter & master club builder with more than 17 years of experience working with golfers of all skill levels, including PGA Tour players. He is the former Build Shop Manager & Social Media Coordinator for Modern Golf. He now works independently from his home shop and is a member of advisory panels to a select number of golf equipment manufacturers. You can find Ryan on Twitter and Instagram where he's always willing to chat golf, and share his passion for club building, course architecture and wedge grinding.

4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. jgpl001

    May 18, 2020 at 4:21 am

    Fake News

    Next Question

  2. Momo

    May 16, 2020 at 5:21 pm

    Haha seethe

  3. Jack

    May 16, 2020 at 2:07 pm

    Don’t follow his example. He’s a cheater and club thrower.

  4. Not Bryson

    May 16, 2020 at 11:38 am

    The artistry is why I don’t think Bryson wins a major in the next few years. To mechanical. Great technician but is missing the feel it shots. Sometimes you need to just feel a shot.

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Equipment

Spotted: Tommy Fleetwood’s TaylorMade Spider Tour X Prototype putter

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Tommy Fleetwood has been attached to his Odyssey White Hot Pro #3 putter for years now. However, this week at the Wells Fargo Championship, we did spot him testing a new putter that is very different, yet somewhat similar, to his current gamer.

This new putter is a TaylorMade Spider Tour X head but with a brand new neck we haven’t seen on a Spider before. A flow neck is attached to the Spider head and gives the putter about a 1/2 shaft offset. This style neck will usually increase the toe hang of the putter and we can guess it gets the putter close to his White Hot Pro #3.

Another interesting design is that lack of TaylorMade’s True Path alignment on the top of the putter. Instead of the large white center stripe, Tommy’s Spider just has a very short white site line milled into it. As with his Odyssey, Tommy seems to be a fan of soft inserts and this Spider prototype looks to have the TPU Pure Roll insert with 45° grooves for immediate topspin and less hopping and skidding.

The sole is interesting as well in that the rear weights don’t look to be interchangeable and are recessed deep into the ports. This setup could be used to push the CG forward in the putter for a more blade-like feel during the stroke, like TaylorMade did with the Spider X Proto Scottie Scheffler tested out.

Tommy’s putter is finished off with an older Super Stroke Mid Slim 2.0 grip in blue and white. The Mid Slim was designed to fit in between the Ultra Slim 1.0 and the Slim 3.0 that was a popular grip on tour.

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Equipment

Rickie Fowler’s new putter: Standard-length Odyssey Jailbird 380 in custom orange

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Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article. 

…The Jailbird craze hasn’t really slowed down in 2024, either. According to Odyssey rep Joe Toulon, there are about 18-20 Jailbird putter users on the PGA TOUR.

Most recently, Akshay Bhatia won the 2024 Valero Texas Open using a broomstick-style Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter and Webb Simpson is switching into a replica of that putter at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.

Now, Fowler, who essentially started the whole Jailbird craze, is making a significant change to his putter setup.

Fowler, who has had a couple weeks off since the 2024 RBC Heritage, started experimenting with a new, custom-orange Jailbird 380 head that’s equipped with a standard 35-inch putter build, rather than his previous 38-inch counter-balanced setup.

According to Fowler, while he still likes the look and forgiveness of his Jailbird putter head, he’s looking to re-incorporate more feel into his hands during the putting stroke.

He told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Championship that the 38-inch counterbalanced setup “served its purpose” by helping him to neutralize his hands during the stroke, but now it’s time to try the standard-length putter with a standard-size SuperStroke Pistol Tour grip to help with his feel and speed control.

Although Fowler was also spotted testing standard-length mallets from L.A.B. Golf and Axis1 on Tuesday, he confirmed that the custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 is the putter he’ll use this week at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.

Head over to PGATour.com for the full article. 

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Equipment

Details on Justin Thomas’ driver switch at the Wells Fargo Championship

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Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article. 

So, with a couple of weeks off following his latest start at the 2024 RBC Heritage, Thomas sought to re-address his driver setup with the remote help of Titleist Tour fitting expert J.J. Van Wezenbeeck. About two weeks ago, Thomas and Van Wezenbeeck reviewed his recent driver stats, and discussed via phone call some possible driver and shaft combinations for him to try.

After receiving Van Wezenbeeck’s personalized shipment of product options while at home, Thomas found significant performance improvements with Titleist’s TSR2 head, equipped with Thomas’ familiar Mitsubishi Diamana ZF 60 TX shaft.

Compared to Thomas’ longtime TSR3 model, the TSR2 has a larger footprint and offers slightly higher spin and launch characteristics.

According to Van Wezenbeeck, Thomas has picked up about 2-3 mph of ball speed, to go along with 1.5 degrees higher launch and more predictable mishits.

“I’d say I’d been driving it fine, not driving it great, so I just wanted to, honestly, just test or try some stuff,” Thomas said on Tuesday in an interview with GolfWRX.com at Quail Hollow Club. “I had used that style of head a couple years ago (Thomas used a TSi2 driver around 2021); I know it’s supposed to have a little more spin. Obviously, yeah, I’d love to hit it further, but if I can get a little more spin and have my mishits be a little more consistent, I felt like obviously that’d be better for my driving…

“This (TSR2) has been great. I’ve really, really driven it well the week I’ve used it. Just hitting it more solid, I don’t know if it’s the look of it or what it is, but just a little bit more consistent with the spin numbers. Less knuckle-ball curves. It has been fast. Maybe just a little faster than what I was using. Maybe it could be something with the bigger head, maybe mentally it looks more forgiving.”

Head over to PGATour.com for the full article. 

 

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