Golf clubs are precious pieces of equipment, especially for professionals, as it’s the apparatus that makes them their living.
It’s no secret that manufacturers bring out new models every season but, in the case of Rory McIlroy, the four-time Major winner continues to use the older TaylorMade equipment, clubs that recently cost him $1000 to Uber to a competition.
McIlroy using the Qi35 and Qi10 driver during Saturday and Sunday of the Arnold Palmer Invitational
(Image credit: Getty Images)
At the Arnold Palmer Invitational, McIlroy swapped out the TaylorMade Qi10 driver and fairway woods for the brand new Qi35s and, after using them for the first three rounds, the 35-year-old switched back to the Qi10s for the final day.
However, although the swap sounds simple enough, it turns out it wasn’t, as McIlroy’s putting coach and eight-time PGA Tour winner, Brad Faxon, revealed on the Sky Sports Golf Podcast.
Speaking to Jamie Weir, Faxon stated that: “He (McIlroy) had them Ubered from his house on Saturday night.”
That may not sound like much, but the tournament (Arnold Palmer Invitational) was taking place in Orlando and the clubs were back in his Palm Beach home, some two-and-a-half hours away from Bay Hill.
According to Golfweek, McIlroy had “no idea” how much the Uber cost, but his Manager, Sean O’Flaherty, confirmed that the journey cost $665, with a $330 tip also added to the bill.
After one happy Uber driver went about his day on Sunday, McIlroy carded a level-par 72 on the same day to finish in a share of 15th, with the 27-time PGA Tour winner making a great start at this week’s Players Championship, where he is two shots back of the leaders going into the weekend.
Revealing that he will be keeping the older clubs in the bag for The Masters in mid-April, McIlroy explained the decision to put the Qi10s back in the bag at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, stating: “(I’m) going back to what I’m comfortable with.”
He went on to add: “I tried new woods for the first three days, didn’t quite work out the way I wanted it to… I led strokes gained off the tee in both Pebble and Torrey (Genesis Invitational), so it was a really good idea to change (laughing).
“Yesterday, I lost strokes off the tee, which is the first time I’ve done that in a long time. Yeah, just went back to what was familiar and what’s comfortable as I felt like I was just scrambling all weekend.”