Equipment

How far does Rory McIlroy hit a persimmon driver? We got the shocking answer in Scotland

Published

10 months ago

Jul 12, 2023

Scotland is a place of nostalgia for golfers – even for those who have never been there. As the home of golf, and the mecca of the sport itself, Scotland offers all golfers a place to pay homage to those who blazed the golfing trails before them, learn about the game’s history, and to experience golf courses that were built hundreds of years ago.

Every year, PGA TOUR players make the trek overseas to the United Kingdom to play in the Genesis Scottish Open, and then the Open Championship the following week (this year, the Open is at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England).

In recent years, we’ve seen PGA TOUR players post some of their local adventures to social media. Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, for example, visited the famed North Berwick Golf Club (West Links) this year for an evening round.

Just two friends having fun ?#GenesisScottishOpen | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/KtwO9lERJ5

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) July 11, 2023

In the same nostalgic vein, Rory McIlroy experienced a different piece of history before the start of the Genesis Scottish Open: a persimmon driver.

Persimmon drivers, which are made from wood (and have screws on the face to attach face inserts), were the most popular drivers of choice for golfers from the 19th century until around the 1980’s, when they were overtaken by steel (and eventually titanium and carbon composites). Famous golfers such as Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer used persimmon drivers during their careers.

Obviously, persimmon drivers are no where to be found in the bags of PGA Tour players anymore, since they produce slower ball speeds, less forgiveness, more spin, and decreased durability when compared to modern designs and materials. They’re fun to revisit, though, especially when in Scotland.

Using his new-age TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus driver, McIlroy currently leads the PGA Tour in Driving Distance for the 2022-23 season, averaging 327.6 yards per drive. He also ranks 6th in ball speed at 184.6 mph per drive, on average.

But what happens when you hand McIlroy a persimmon driver?

Past vs. Present ?@McIlroyRory tried out a persimmon driver during his practice round @ScottishOpen. pic.twitter.com/WdFb0uKPNs

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 12, 2023

According to the launch monitor results, McIlroy’s drive with the persimmon driver was clocked at 168.6 mph ball speed, with 255.7 yards of carry, and 4410 rpm of spin. It should be noted, he was using his modern TaylorMade TP5x golf ball.

McIlroy’s numbers with the persimmon driver certainly pale in comparison to his modern driver, which highlights how much technology has improved in the last 40 years. It also goes to show that golf doesn’t HAVE to be played with the newest and most expensive equipment for it to be enjoyable. Sometimes, mixing it up with older (and much less expensive!) clubs can provide a really fun challenge and memorable experience.

Not to make this about me or anything, but I recently got my own taste of what it’s like to play golf using an old wooden driver. In a recent match against my Two Guys Talking Golf podcast co-host Brian Knudson, I used just 3 clubs – one of them was a wooden Ben Hogan driver from last century. Technically speaking, it wasn’t a “persimmon” driver, but rather a “laminate.” Essentially, a laminated driver is built with sheets of wood, whereas a persimmon driver is made from a block of wood; persimmon drivers are currently more expensive and collectable, for the most part, while laminate drivers are arguably more durable. They’re similar in function, however, and equally technologically-stunted.

In my experience, I found the Ben Hogan laminate to produce drastically more spin and less ball speed compared to my 2023 driver, and it severely affected both direction and distance. While I typically average around 295 yards and 170 mph of ball speed with my gamer driver, I struggled to fly the ball more than 240 yards using the old wood driver.

By clicking on the video embedded below, you can check out the full 9-hole match between myself (0-handicap) and Knudson (9-handicap) to see my experience with the wood driver in action:

For more persimmon driver content, check out the links below:

Your Reaction?

LIKE109
LEGIT15
WOW14
LOL18
IDHT11
FLOP8
OB8
SHANK15

Up Next

Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (7/13/23): Bobby Grace F18 putter

Don't Miss

Spotted: Project X Denali wood shafts

Andrew Tursky

He played on the Hawaii Pacific University Men's Golf team and earned a Masters degree in Communications. He also played college golf at Rutgers University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

14 Comments

Pingback: How Long Is Rory Mcilroys Driver? Exploring His Impressive Golf Game
Larry

Jul 27, 2023 at 3:57 pm

This is the answer to PGA and other Tours worries about distance, simple anything other than an Iron, (hybrids, fairway, drivers} must be made of wood. Simple distance taken care of and we move on all courses over 6,800 hundred yards would be fair play. And best of all reaching a par 5 would be a driver and a fairway wood not a driver and a 8 iron anymore and forget driving a 330 yard par 4 anymore.

Reply Report comment
N

Jul 13, 2023 at 2:13 pm

Not shocking at all. It’s exactly how it should be. Why would you say it’s shocking? I don’t get it

Reply Report comment
Pingback: How far does Rory McIlroy hit a persimmon driver? We got the shocking answer in Scotland - SOCAL Golfer
Brian

Jul 13, 2023 at 10:08 am

Did Kamala Harris write this article:

“persimmon drivers are made of wood.” “Woods were used by golfers”

Lol. Terrible.

Reply Report comment
- Rich D
  
  Jul 14, 2023 at 11:14 pm
  
  You mean the woman who graduated from Hastings with her law degree? The one who was California State Attorney General, US Senator, and it currently the Vice President of the United States? The one who has never lost a general election? That Kamala Harris?
  
  No.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Jbone
    
    Jul 15, 2023 at 1:41 pm
    
    The woman is a disgrace…
    
    Reply Report comment
Jurren

Jul 13, 2023 at 9:48 am

Does anyone know how accurate these trackman numbers are with persimmon woods? Do they actually measure launch angle, spin and ballspeed a yard or two off the clubface, or do they calculate (predict) these based on the measured swingspeed and one or two other factors? Ball stays on the face of a persimmon driver a fraction longer than on a titanium or carbon driver for instance.

Reply Report comment
- P
  
  Jul 13, 2023 at 2:10 pm
  
  Ballspeed is ballspeed. It doesn’t matter whether you hit the ball with a spatula, it just sees the ball flying and extrapolates that from the algorithm programmed into it
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Jurren
    
    Jul 13, 2023 at 2:44 pm
    
    ok thanks. Wasn’t sure if trackman just measured clubheadspeed and calculated ballspeed based on that or if it also measured ballspeed.
    
    Reply Report comment
M

Jul 13, 2023 at 12:36 am

Yeah? But what length was it? 43.5?
Rors TM driver is 45.75.
If you can add that extra 2 inches to a persimmon driver without making it too heavy to swing, he’ll be right there at 290 carry and then you’ll know tech really hasn’t done much

Reply Report comment
- Brian
  
  Jul 13, 2023 at 10:06 am
  
  The one thing I hate about these “persimmon” challenges is that whoever just grabs some random persimmon wood and gives it to somebody to hit. What’s the loft of it? What’s the shaft?
  
  Maybe if we put a 44” graphite shaft and fit the loft of the persimmon and matched it up to a ball with the correct spin, I bet we would see a huge difference.
  
  Knowing what we know now, do you think Rory would be happy with such low launch and high spin on that driver. This could easily be tweaked with a different ball and loft.
  
  Reply Report comment
Mike

Jul 12, 2023 at 10:01 pm

Makes me feel better about how I could hit the ball in my youth and wish I had today’s technology “back in the day” when all we played was blades and persimmon or strata block woods. If you found a good driver back then, you would replace the insert because a good cut of persimmon was hard to find.

Reply Report comment
LivvyDivvy

Jul 12, 2023 at 9:49 pm

Jack Nicklaus “roll back the ball, roll back the ball, roll back the ball”…

Oops

Reply Report comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Equipment

A shocking Backstryke putter appearance + 7 interesting gear photos from the Zurich Classic

Published

10 hours ago

Apr 25, 2024

Andrew Tursky

Welcome to New Orleans, where TPC Louisiana plays host to the 2024 Zurich Classic. In between breakfast beignets and nightly Creole feasts, PGA Tour players are also competing in the unique two-man format at the Zurich this week.

Although the vibes in Nawlins are a bit lighter-fare than the recent back-to-back competitions the Masters and the RBC Heritage signature event), the gear news was no less serious this week.

We spotted some recent changes from Rory McIlroy, a very rare Odyssey Backstryke putter, dove into the bag of legendary New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, and spotted Patrick Cantlay continuing to test new equipment.

Get your beads out and crack your crawfish, because it’s time for an equipment rundown from The Big Easy (meaning New Orleans, of course, not Ernie Els).

See all of our photos from the Zurich Classic here

Rory’s on-and-off lob wedge

Since the end of 2023, Rory McIlroy has had an on-again, off-again relationship with a Titleist Vokey K-Grind lob wedge. In his last start, it was on, and the wedge is back in the bag again this week. We got a great look at the complicated grind that McIlroy uses.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx)

A full look into McIlroy’s bag above also shows that he switched out of the TaylorMade BRNR Mini Copper that he used at the RBC Heritage, and he’s back into the Qi10 core 3-wood. As we discussed last week, McIlroy will likely keep the BRNR around as a course-specific club, trading it in and out for the 3-wood.

See Rory McIlroy’s full 2024 WITB from the Zurich here

Turning Back the clock

Unless Tommy Gainey is in the field, it’s unlikely you’ll ever see Odyssey’s Backstryke technology make an appearance on the PGA Tour.

But then, when you least expect it, Russ Cochran shows up.

For more than a decade – since the 2013 Sony Open in Hawai’i – Cochran has been stuck on 599 PGA Tour starts. This week will be his 600th.

Cochran is in the field at the Zurich this week playing alongside Eric Cole, whose regular caddie is Reed Cochran, Russ’s son.

The Backstryke putter was first released back in 2010, and its unique design helps shift the axis point of the putter closer to the CG of the head. And, the putter is getting a nod this week at the Zurich Classic, thanks to Cochran’s 600th career PGA Tour start.

The putter is certainly awesome, but don’t forget to check out Cochran’s full WITB from this week.

Drew Brees with a Super Bowl winning Scotty Cameron putter

Drew Brees, a legendary retired quarterback for the hometown New Orleans Saints, made an appearance at the Zurich’s Wednesday Pro-Am, playing alongside Zach Johnson, Ryan Palmer, and current Saints QB Derek Carr.

Brees’ bag included a TaylorMade Stealth2 Plus driver, a BRNR Mini 13.5-degree, a Stealth 5-wood, a mixed set of P-790 and P-760 irons, Milled Grind Hi-Toe wedges, and a custom Scotty Cameron “New Orleans Saints” putter, which Scotty made for Brees following his Super Bowl MVP-winning performance in 2010.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx)

It should also be noted that Brees has his Venmo QR code as a bag tag.

If you’re gambling with Brees on the course, just know that not having cash won’t work as an excuse.

Brilliant.

See Drew Brees’ full WITB from the Zurich here

Stricker’s unrecognizable putter

Steve Stricker has made numerous upgrades to his bag recently, including a new TSR3 driver and T100 irons, but his longtime Odyssey White Hot No. 2 putter is still going strong. It’s the most recognizable unrecognizable putter ever.

Here’s a better look at Stricker’s flatstick, which he started using back in 2007.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx)

Patrick Cantlay has opened the equipment-switching floodgates

Over on the PGA Tour’s Equipment Report this week, we covered Cantlay’s recent switch into Ping Blueprint S irons, and a Titleist TSR2 driver.

Cantlay hadn’t switched irons for about seven years, so the iron switch he made at The 2024 Masters came as a shock to the norm. He simply isn’t one to change gear very often, so anytime Cantlay makes a switch, it’s news.

It seems the floodgates of equipment testing have opened up a bit for Cantlay, who was also spotted testing a custom Scotty Cameron blade putter on Tuesday this week. By Wednesday, Cantlay was back practicing with his familiar Scotty Cameron T5 Proto mallet, but it’s certainly something to keep an eye on going forward.

Daniel Berger’s custom Jailbird site lines

Berger, who’s currently using Odyssey’s Ai-One Mini Jailbird mallet putter, has a unique 3-dot, 2-line alignment on the crown of his navy-white-navy-white mallet putter. Looking down at the putter, it’s easy to see why this alignment system would help; it just seems impossible to set up to the ball off-center, or misaligned to the target.

Also, for anyone worried, you can rest easy. Yes, he’s still playing the 2013 TaylorMade TP MC irons, which we highlighted in our recent “Modern Classics: Old vs. New” video testing series.

FitzMagic teams back up

Brothers Matthew and Alex Fitzpatrick are teaming up once again at the Zurich this year, and Bettinardi Golf hooked them up with some festive “FitzMagic” headcovers to match this week.

See what else is in Alex Fitzpatrick’s WITB here

And, with that, we say goodbye to the Zurich Classic in New Orleans. Don’t forget to check out all of our photos from this week, including 30 unique photo galleries full of equipment photos.

We’ll see you next week in Texas for the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson!

Your Reaction?