TaylorMade wants you to know that the reason your golf ball flew offline might not be entirely your fault.
OK, it probably is, but we’ve all hit golf shots that get up in the air and then do something unexpected. Maybe it cuts when you thought it would draw. Or perhaps it flutters a touch and comes up short. TaylorMade thinks that’s due to inconsistent paint, meaning each golf ball you use might be slightly different than the last.
That’s why, for the new TP5 and TP5x golf balls, TaylorMade is overhauling its painting process with a new technique called “Microcoating” that applies an even coat of paint to the golf ball, avoiding the dripping and pooling of traditional methods.
“Golf balls are the only piece of equipment we hit on every shot, but they are also the only piece of equipment we change in a round,” TaylorMade’s Mike Fox, Senior Category Director, Golf Ball, said in a release. “Making sure we produce the most consistent product from ball to ball and shot to shot is as important as anything we do. Until now, applying paint to a golf ball to protect its appearanc ehas carried with it the potential to adversely impact ball flight. Now, with microcoating, we have a process that solves what was once an invisible problem, and allows golfers to experience greater consistency in how their shots perform from tee to green.”
Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa have already switched to the new TP5, which has a new, larger core and dimple pattern to boost ball speeds and produce a more penetrating flight. The TP5x has new mantle layers to help boost ball speed further while keeping spin low.
Keep reading below for more on the 2026 TaylorMade TP5 and TP5x golf balls, including my take on the release.
What’s actually new with TaylorMade TP5 and TP5X golf balls — and why you should care
Even (micro)coats, even flight
So I know what you’re thinking… “Does the paint really matter all that much?” I never would have considered it either. But it’s also not hard to picture how painting a golf ball can lead to inconsistency with dripping or pooling inside the dimples, leaving some parts thicker than others.
TaylorMade was only able to notice the variations in flight thanks to the state-of-the-art range technology at the Kingdom, where they can track golf balls within three inches of their flight. The company has invested $100 million in the past five years into golf ball manufacturing and R&D.
They saw golf balls with the exact same construction flying wildly differently when launched under the same conditions with a robot.
“These golf balls look absolutely identical to the naked eye, but they can fly 20 yards differently,” Fox told GOLF. “Even three yards is too much when you’re trying to make a golf ball for the best players in the world.
“Injection molding is a precision process. Casting of urethane is a precision process. Milling is a precision process. Painting was not a precision process.”
It doesn’t just matter for Tour players either. Amateurs will lose confidence when they hit what they thought was a good shot and then watch it dart off into the unknown.
To solve this, TaylorMade invested in its paint process to come up with microcoating, which meant changing the paint application guns, how the paint flowed into those guns, the curing temperature and even the paint itself. Fox said TaylorMade is even controlling the atomization of the paint as it dries.
“We’re controlling paint at a level that no one’s ever controlled before,” Fox said.
Unlocking more speed
Part of TaylorMade’s massive investment in golf balls also led to a breakthrough. The company now has the data and the software to prototype different golf ball constructions digitally and simulate how they will perform.
Instead of producing a few hundred prototype iterations in the past, TaylorMade created over 100,000 prototypes for the new TP5 and TP5x to find the best combination of materials for each ball.
“This isn’t AI,” Fox said. “This is three years of proven data being fed into finite element analysis, and it’s telling us what we’ve already proven out as fact.”
For the TP5, that meant increasing the core size, which decreases the time the ball spends on the face, increasing energy retention while keeping the soft feel the ball is known for. Basically, TaylorMade is tightening the spring so it can be faster.
Fox said they’ve seen about 1 mph ball speed gains in testing.
The dimple pattern of the TP5 was also optmized the dimple pattern for a lower, more penetrating trajectory.
With the TP5x, TaylorMade engineers focused on fine-tuning the mantle layers around a firmer core to boost ball speed beyond the 2024 model.
The TaylorMade 2026 TP5 and TP5x lineup
Both TP5 and TP5x will be available in white, yellow, pix, 360˚ stripe and officially licensed NFL and collegiate designs. The TP5 and TP5x Stripe has been redesigned this year with tighter feedback lines and a new sight dot for players to focus on during the stroke.
TaylorMade is also bringing back the TRKR launch monitor-enabled balls for increased accuracy on indoor, radar-based launch monitors.
TP5
What is it: The softer and higher-spinning ball with a new, larger core to drive speed gains. A new dimple pattern also optimizes the lift-to-drag ratio for a lower flight and minimizes turbulence.
Who it’s for: Players looking for a lower flight, higher spin and softer feel.
TP5x
What is it: The lowest-spinning and fastest TaylorMade ball.
Who it’s for: Players looking for the most speed and to scrub excess spin.
My take: Solving an unknown problem
It’s not really hard to fathom how much of a difference a drop of paint can make when it comes to the flight of a golf ball.
Golf balls are a very complex aerodynamic creation, and if there is a subtle variation with the outermost layer — the one interacting with the air — it makes sense that that would be enough to send it offline.
