Rory McIlroy made history at Augusta on Sunday when becoming just the sixth golfer in history to complete the career grand slam after winning the Masters following a thrilling play-off against Justin Rose.
McIlroy joins Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Gary Player as the only players to have won The Open, The Masters, the US Open and the PGA Championship during their careers.
MclIroy is a TaylorMade staff player and used a full complement of the company’s equipment to achieve his incredible feat.
Prior to his season debut at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the 35-year-old Northern Irishman switched to the brand’s TP5 golf ball for lower launch with irons and wedges and more spin around the greens. The switch sparked a historic run with McIlroy winning at Pebble Beach, THE PLAYERS and now in Augusta.
On the first playoff hole, McIlroy had 125 yards in with his Milled Grind 4 50° wedge and perfectly shaped it past the hole and spun his TP5 back down the slope to just two-feet. He secured the historic win by sinking the birdie putt with his Spider Tour X putter.
When talking about the benefits of TP5, McIlroy explained that he feels like overall he is better around the greens and playing half- and three-quarter shots.
McIlroy benefits from the launch angle of TP5 on all shots. We saw that in the third round, where he skied a 6-iron from 205 into the par-5 15th green to six feet before making eagle. Then, in the final round on the same hole, McIlroy hoisted a high draw from 209-yards with 7-iron to make birdie.
“He’s always been a high hitter of the golf ball and TP5 launches a little bit lower than TP5x,” said Adrian Reitveld, Senior Tour Manager. “He can couple that with the right spin and speed and it’s a golf ball he’s very comfortable hitting high.”
McIlroy showed his comfort with that shot once again on the 17th hole with 8-iron to two feet leading to make birdie to take the lead.
“He played the TP5x because it gave him a real consistency of spin at a low spin rate,” said Rietveld. “He found that in TP5 as well and felt he really could play both golf balls. Although TP5 spins more, it’s the consistency of the spin which gives it the predictability to hit the shots he wants.”
With all of those performance characteristics in tow, McIlroy has focused more on what the ball is doing rather than his mechanics, which is a big philosophical change in his approach.
RORY MCILROY’S WINNING WITB
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9°)
Fairway Woods: TaylorMade Qi10 3,(15°), 5 (18°)
Irons: TaylorMade P·760 (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9)
Wedges: TaylorMade MG4 (46°, 50°, 54°, 60°)
Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour X Short Slant
Ball: TaylorMade TP5