News

3 gear changes Rory McIlroy made for The 2022 Open Championship (plus full WITB)

Published

3 years ago

Jul 16, 2022

Rory McIlroy, the No. 2-ranked golfer in the world and four-time major champion, hasn’t won a major since the 2014 PGA Championship, and his lone Open Championship victory also came in 2014 at Royal Liverpool.

Eight years later, with 18 holes left to play in The 2022 Open Championship, McIlroy finds himself tied for the lead with Viktor Hovland, and in prime position to become Champion Golfer of the Year once again. This time at The Old Course at St. Andrews.

What would this win mean to McIlroy?

“That’s a moment you dream about, especially being from this part of the world,” McIlroy said in his press conference prior to the event. “This was the major championship, it was the first one I ever attended as a kid. Yeah, it just means a little bit more…to hear your name and winner of the gold medal, Champion Golfer of the Year, it’s what dreams are made of. I still remember that pretty vividly. I’d love to replicate that on Sunday evening.”

St. Andrews, as McIlroy discussed earlier in the week, is a different beast compared to most other events throughout the year, even ones that are also hosted at St. Andrews.

“I think everyone’s seen how firm and fast the fairways are,” McIlroy said after his first round at The Open. “The weather looks pretty similar for the rest of the week…I’ve played this course mostly in, like, September, October time for Dunhill, where it plays completely differently. Then, it’s sort of hit driver everywhere, get it as close to the greens as you can, and then take your chances from there. I think this week you’re going to maybe see guys laying back a little bit…laying back, giving yourself full shots into some of these greens, playing the angles a little bit more, I think that’s going to be really important this week. It’s definitely a lot more of a strategic golf course when it plays like this…if you hit a lot of drivers, you may get close to some of these greens, and it would be advantageous to lay back and give yourself fuller wedge shots into some of these greens.”

In preparation for a tournament that means something different, in course conditions that are extremely firm, fast and windy, McIlroy made 3 unique changes to his gear setup this week.

1) Rory changes out his 5-wood for a 2-iron

Throughout most of his career, McIlroy has opted to use a 5-wood at the top-end of his bag. This week, though, McIlroy benched the 5-wood for TaylorMade’s newly launched Stealth UDI 2-iron (18 degrees), equipped with a Project X HZRDUS 105 6.5-flex shaft.

As McIlroy alluded to above, blasting driver everywhere isn’t necessarily the most sound strategy at St. Andrews this week. He’s playing more of a chess game, and keeping the ball under the wind with his lower-launching Stealth UDI has proven effective thus far.

See more in-hand photos of Rory’s new 2-iron

2) A pitching wedge switch-up

Typically, McIlroy uses a set of TaylorMade Rors Proto blade irons through his pitching wedge. He’ll then usually go with two traditionally shaped wedges; at the recent RBC Canadian Open in June, for example, he opted for 54- and 60-degree TaylorMade Milled Grind 3 (MG3) wedges.

Rory McIlroy’s new pitching wedge (photo credit: Mike Esse/TaylorMade)

This week, however, GolfWRX spotted McIlroy with a 46-degree MG3 Raw wedge in the bag. His Open Championship pitching wedge is a “standard bounce” MG3 Raw model with 9 degrees of bounce.

3) A low-bounce lobber

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During most events throughout the year, McIlroy uses an HB (High Bounce) TaylorMade lob wedge. When he came to the firm conditions at St. Andrews, however, McIlroy switched into a TaylorMade MG3 Raw LB (Low Bounce) 60-07 wedge.

McIlroy spoke about the switch earlier in the week:

“I’m using a lob wedge with less bounce than I usually do,” McIlroy said. “Even still, I don’t know if — I think I could do with using even less bounce. Again, the fairways are so firm. And some of the lies are so bare that…I felt like if I had a full lob wedge there [on the 17th hole in the first round] and I didn’t get it quite right, then I could have thinned the thing…you’re worried about hitting a lob wedge out of bounds because of a bare lie off the fairway. It’s tricky.”

Below, check out McIlroy’s full WITB as he looks to capture his 5th major championship victory at The 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews.

Driver: TaylorMade Stealth Plus (9 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade SIM Titanium (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 80 TX

Driving Iron: TaylorMade Stealth UDI 2-iron (18-degrees)
Shaft: ProjectX HZRDUS 105 6.5-flex

Irons: TaylorMade Rors Proto (3-9 iron)
Shaft: Project X 7.0

Wedges: TaylorMade MG3 Raw (46-09, 54-13 and 60-07)
Shafts: Project X 6.5

Putter: TaylorMade Spider Hydro Blast

Ball: 2021 TaylorMade TP5x (#22)

Grips: Golf Pride MCC

More photos of McIlroy’s setup at The 2022 Open

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5 things we learned Saturday at The Open

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5 things we learned Friday at The Open

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.

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News

Tour Rundown: Bend, but don’t break

Published

3 weeks ago

Aug 4, 2025

Ronald Montesano

I’m going to gush in this intro paragraph, to get the emo stuff done early. I’ve not pulled harder for a professional to win, than Cameron Young. I coach golf in New York state, and each spring, my best golfers head to a state championship in Poughkeepsie. I first saw Cameron there as a 9th grade student. I saw him three more times after that. I reconnecected with Coach Haas from Wake Forest, an old interview subject from my days on the Old Gold and Black, the Wake newspaper. He was there to watch Cameron. After four years at Wake Forest, Young won on the Korn Ferry Tour, made it to the big tour, almost won two majors, almost won five other events, and finally got the chalice about 25 minutes from the Wake campus. Congratulations, Cameron. You truly are a glass of the finest. #MotherSoDear

OK, let’s move on to the Tour Rundown. The major championship season closed this week in Wales, with the Women’s Open championship. The PGA Tour bounced through Greensboror, N.C., while the PGA Tour Americas hit TO (aka, Toronto) for a long-winded event. The Korn Ferry lads made a stop in Utah, one of just two events for that tour in August. The many-events, golf season is winding down, as we ease from summer toward fall in the northern hemisphere. Let’s bask in the glory of an August sunrise, and run down a quartet of events from the first weekend of the eighth month.

LET/LPGA @ Women’s Open: Miyu bends, but she doesn’t break

Royal Porthcawl was not a known commodity in the major tournament community. The Welsh links had served as host to men’s senior opens, men’s amateurs, and Curtis and Walker Cups in prior years, but never an Open championship for the women or the men. The last-kept secret in UK golf was revealed once again to the world this week, as the best female golfers took to the sandy stage.

Mao Saigo, Grace Kim, Maja Stark, and Minjee Lee hoped to add a second major title to previous wins this season, but only Lee was able to finish inside the top ten. The 2025 playing of the Women’s Open gave us a new-faces gallery from day one. The Kordas and Thitikulls were nowhere to be found, and it was the Mayashitas, Katsus, and Lim Kims that secured the Cymru spotlight. The first round lead was held at 67 by two golfers. One of them battled to the end, while the other posted 81 on day two, and missed the cut. Sitting one shot behind was Miyu Yamashita.

On day two, Yamashita posted the round of the tournament. Her 65 moved her to the front of the aisle, in just her fourth turn around a women’s Open championship. With the pre-event favorites drifting off pace, followers narrowed into two camps: those on the side of an underdog, and others hoping for a weekend charge from back in the pack. In the end, we had a bit of both.

On Saturday, Yamashita bent with 74 on Saturday, offering rays of hope to her pursuing pack. England’s Charley Hull made a run on Sunday closing within one shot before tailing off to a T2 finish with Minami Katsu. Katsu posted the other 65 of the week, on Saturday, but could not overtake her countrywoman, Yamashita. wunderkind Lottie Woad needed one round in the 60s to find her pace, but could only must close-to’s, ending on 284 and a tie with Minjee for eighth.

On Sunday, Yamashita put away the thoughts of Saturday’s struggles, with three-under 33 on the outward half. She closed in plus-one 37, but still won by two, for a first Major and LPGA title.

PGA Tour @ Wyndham: Young gathers first title near home

Cameron Young grew up along the Hudson river, above metro New York, but he also calls Winston-Salem home. He spent four years as a student and athlete at Wake Forest University, then embarked on tour. This week in Greensboro, after a bit of a break, Young opened with 63-62, and revved the engine of Is this the week once more. Runner-up finishes at the Open, the PGA, and a handful of PGA Tour events had followers wonder when the day would come.

On Saturday, Young continued his torrid pace with 65, giving him a five-shot advantage over his closest pursuer. Sunday saw the Scarborough native open with bogey, then reel off five consecutive birdies to remind folks that his time had, at last, arrived. Pars to the 16th, before two harmless bogeys coming home, made Young the 1000th winner of an official PGA Tour event (dating back to before there was a PGA Tour) throughout history. What’s next? I have a suspicion, but I’m not letting on. Mac Meissner closed with 66 to finish solo 2nd, while Mark Hubbard and Alex Noren tied for third.

Korn Ferry Tour @ Utah Championship: Are you Suri it’s Julian?

Who knows exactly when the flower will bloom? Julian Suri played a solid careet at Duke University, then paid his dues on the world’s minor tours for three years. He won twice on two tours in Europe, in 2017. Since then, the grind has continued for the journeyman from New York city. At age 34, Suri broke through in Beehive state, outlasting another grinder (Spencer Levin) and four others, by two shots.

Taylor Montgomery began the week with 62, then posted 64, then 68, and finally, 70. That final round was his undoing. He finished in that second-place tie, two back of the leader. Trace Crowe, Barend Botha, and Kensei Hirata made up the last of the almost quintet. As for Suri, his Sunday play was sublime. His nines were 32 and 31, with his only radar blip a bogey at ten. He closed in style with one final birdie, to double his winning margin. Hogan bloomed late…might Suri?

PGA Tour Americas @ Osprey Valley Open presented by Votorantim Cimentos – CBM Aggregates

Some tournament names run longer than others. This week in Toronto, at the Heathlands course at TPC Toronto, we might have seen the longest tournament title in recorded history. The OVOPBVCCBMA was a splendid affair. It saw three rounds of 62 on Thursday, but of those early risers, only Drew Goodman would stick around until the end. 64 was the low tally on day two, and two of those legionnaires managed to finish inside the top three at week’s end. Saturday brought a 63 from Patrick Newcomb, and he would follow with 64 on Sunday, to finish solo fourth.

Who, then, ended up winning the acronym of the year? It turns out that Carson Bacha had the right stuff in TeeOhhh. Bacha and Jay Card III posted 63 and 64, respectively, on day four, to tie for medalist honors at 23-under 261. Nathan Franks was one shot adrift, despite also closing with 63. If you didn’t go low on Sunday, it was about the check, not the championship.

Bacha and JC3 returned to the 18th hole twice in overtime. Card nearly chipped in from the thick stuff for birdie, while Bacha peeked and shoved a ten-feet attempt at the win. On the second go-round, Card was long with his approach, into the native grasses once more. He was unable to escape, and a routine par from the fairway was enough to earn the former Auburn golfers a first KFT title.

Card III and Bacha both miss their birdie tries on the first playoff hole.

We’ll play 18 again @OspreyOpen. pic.twitter.com/vNpHTdkHDg

— PGA TOUR Americas (@PGATOURAmericas) August 3, 2025

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2025 Wyndham Championship

Published

4 weeks ago

Jul 29, 2025

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX is live this week from the final event of the PGA Tour’s regular season, the Wyndham Championship.

Photos are flowing into the forums from Sedgefield Country Club, where we already have a GolfWRX spirit animal Adam Schenk WITB and plenty of putters for your viewing pleasure.

Check out links to all our photos below, which we’ll continue to update as more arrive.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.

News

BK’s Breakdowns: Kurt Kitayama’s Winning WITB, 3M Open

Published

4 weeks ago

Jul 28, 2025

Brian Knudson

Kurt Kitayama just won his 2nd PGA Tour event at the 3M Open. Kurt is a Bridgestone staffer but with just the ball and bag. Here are the rest of the clubs he used to secure a win at the 2025 3M Open.

Driver: Titleist GT3 (11 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD VF 7 TX

3-wood: Titleist GT1 3Tour (14.5 degrees, A3 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 TX

7-wood: Titleist GT1 (21 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 9 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P7CB (4), TaylorMade P7MB (5-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-12F, 56-14F), Vokey Design WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Style Newport 2 Tour Prototype
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy 1.0PT

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Bridgestone Tour B XS (with Mindset)