Two months into the 2025 season, Rory McIlroy has made wholesale changes to the top of his golf bag this week, finally adding TaylorMade’s new Qi35 driver and fairway woods at Bay Hill.
Meanwhile, his TaylorMade stablemate and World No. 1, Scottie Scheffler, is sticking with his Qi10 from last season, at least for now.
On this week’s episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped, co-host Kris McCormack, who was in Orlando for the Arnold Palmer Invitational, saw Scheffler working on the range Tuesday with reps from both TaylorMade and Fujikura trying to dial in a new head and shaft combination.
“Beginning of the season, he was out with a hand injury, and hasn’t had a lot of off time to really test and put it through its paces, and trying to work in a new driver during competitions is tough,” McCormack said.
McCormack said Scheffler was hitting several different Qi35 heads including the Qi35 LS and the Qi35 (DOT) that Rory McIlroy just put in play, with at least seven different shaft variations with different lengths, weights and tippings.
Scheffler ultimately decided to keep his trusty Qi10 from last year in the bag for at least one more tournament, but that is no referendum on the new driver, just the fact that Scheffler hasn’t had much time to test due to his injury.
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The conditions this week at Bay Hill also play a factor. Strong winds wreaked havoc during the opening round, and the forecast suggests it will blow again on Sunday.
“The rough at Bay Hill is thick, and it is long, and I mean, I know that there is going to be a premium on accuracy,” McCormack said. “The golf course usually lends itself to being a little bit more player-friendly for those that have some distance. But I mean, with how thick and long this rough is, it really looks like it is going to be a little bit of a bear getting out of.”
McCormack posited, if the wind wasn’t blowing this week, it was possible Scheffler would have put the new driver in play, so it’s probably not too far from going in the bag.
For more from McCormack and fellow co-host Wadeh Maroun, listen to the full podcast here or watch it below.
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