Equipment
Spotted: Rory McIlroy adds Qi35 driver, fairways, and a new wedge to his bag
The PGA Tour’s minimal off-season makes switching into the latest golf equipment a little harder for the professionals. This week, we spotted Scottie Scheffler working with TaylorMade’s new Qi35 drivers on the range, and Rory McIlroy looks to also be adding some new gear to his bag as well. McIlroy had the TaylorMade Qi35 driver, fairway woods, and a new Milled Grind 4 wedge in the bag ahead of the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational.
TaylorMade Qi35 driver
Rory looks to be adding a TaylorMade Qi35 “Dot” driver to his bag this week. If you look at the loft on the head you can see a small dot on the upper right that isn’t just the symbol for degrees. Retail Qi35 drivers don’t have this little detail. Rory played a Qi10 “Dot” all of last year, as did many other pros, which was a lower spinning head. This Qi35 “Dot” looks to have a shape that looks more like the Qi35 LS head from address. The new Qi35 model has a larger and more rounded shaped to it where this Dot head tapers more down near the heel. Not sure if there are any performance changes but the shape might take a bit of stability out of the head. Rory has also made the switch to the new 2024 Fujikura Ventus Black with VeloCore+ 6 X shaft. Performance should be very similar to the previous 2019 Ventus Black with maybe a little added ball speed and stability.
TaylorMade Qi35 3, 5-woods
Club junkies jumped for joy when TaylorMade added its Loft Sleeve to their fairway wood line this year. We can now dial in the fairway woods with loft and lie adjustments to make them fit our swings and shots shapes even better. But out on tour, Rory has some Qi35 prototypes with a simple bonded hosel like last year’s Qi10 fairways. Bonded fairways typically let club engineers move some extra weight around to increase launch and forgiveness. The 3-wood is 15 degrees and the 5-wood is 18 degrees, but we are not sure if they are bent to any specific loft or lie. My guess is that these bonded models are designed to play just like the Qi10 as they were some of the most popular fairways on tour last year, used by Rory and others over the titanium Tour model. The 3-wood is shafted with a Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X and the 5-wood has the Fujikura Ventus Black 9 X shaft.
At Bay Hill, McIlroy told our Andrew Tursky the following about setting up the top end of his bag:
“Then I sort of had to look at the top end of the bag then of how I was going to configure it. For a while I’ve been looking for a club that sort of carries 300 in the air. I feel like there’s a lot of golf courses we go to that really pinch in at like 310, 320. I would hit a 3-wood — I can’t hit driver because it’s just too narrow, but then I would hit my 3-wood that’s going like 285, 290. Still, guys that are shorter than me are hitting driver sort of 300 or 310, so I’m actually, I feel like I was at a disadvantage in some ways, even to like people that hit it shorter than me, depending upon the course setup. So I sort of, and I messed around with that the mini driver last year, but I just couldn’t quite get comfortable with it. So I’ve sort of been playing around with like stronger 3-woods.
“So this 3-wood that I have carries like 300, 305 in the air, which is a really, it’s a really good club for me to have. And then I’ve went from a 5-wood to a 4-wood. And that 4-wood sort of bridges that gap. And then I’ve got the 3-iron that sort of replaces the 5-wood. So I’ve got a club that sort of flies 260, a club that flies 280, a club that flies 300, and then the driver. So that was sort of the reasoning behind ’em. It just sort of gives me more options off the tee. Especially with being so comfortable at the other end of the bag with the wedges and hitting those three-quarter shots that it’s nice to have those options up at the top end of the bag.”
TaylorMade Milled Grind 4 Wedge
While the MG4 wedges aren’t really new, Rory has a new one in the bag this week. The head is a 46-degree SB sole with nine degrees of bounce that is available through custom order on TaylorMade’s website or any authorized dealer. The team at TaylorMade then bent the wedge two degrees weaker to 48 degrees. I am not sure if this wedge is going to replace his 46 or 50-degree that he was carrying previously, but it must have been built for a specific need. Bending a wedge two degrees weaker will increase the bounce by the same amount, now making this an 11-degree SB sole. Some of the offset is also removed when bending weak, and I do see that from address, the straight leading edge and zero offset look great. The wedge is shafted up with a Project X 6.5, the same as he uses in his other wedges.
Check out the rest of our photos from the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational here.
Cameron Young’s WITB from his win at the 2025 Wyndham Championship. Cameron is a Titleist staff player but his bag is definitely filled with some unique clubs. Here are the clubs he used to secure his first PGA Tour win!
Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX
Hybrid: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus HB Black VeloCore+ 10 X
Irons: Titleist T200 (4), Titleist T100 (5), Titleist 631.CY Prototype (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X7 (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F @57), WedgeWorks (60-K* @62)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X7
Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5 Tour Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Prototype
- Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Titleist GT3 (10 degrees, C2 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Project X Denali Blue 60 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 X
7-wood: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 X
Irons: Titleist T150 (4, 5), Titleist T100 (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper AMT Tour White X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F, 56-08M @57, 60-04T @62)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Style Fastback 1.5 Tour Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Yellow
We’re proud to once again partner with 2nd Swing Golf to bring you GolfWRX Members Choice 2025! 2nd Swing has more than 150,000 new and pre-swung golf clubs available in six store locations and online. Check them out here.
What is the best driver in 2025? At GolfWRX, we take great pride in our online community and the cumulative knowledge and experience of our members. When it comes to the best driver of 2025, we want to know what our forum faithful think.
Since our founding in 2005, the bedrock of GolfWRX.com has been the community of passionate and knowledgeable golfers in our forums, and we put endless trust in the opinions of our GolfWRX members — the most knowledgeable community of golfers on the internet. No other group of golfers in the world tests golf clubs as frequently or as extensively, nor is armed with such in-depth information about the latest technology.
Below are the results of GolfWRX member voting for the 2025 best driver, along with the vote percentage for each club.
Best driver of 2025: The top 5
5. Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond: 6.02%
Callaway’s pitch: “For golfers looking for a fast, forgiving, yet workable driver, the Elyte Triple Diamond features a tour-inspired shape and is the preferred model by most Callaway tour players.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond here.
4. Ping G440 Max: 6.86%
Ping’s pitch: “The most forgiving G440 model, MAX has a hotter face to generate speed and distance, and a lighter overall system weight with a longer shaft (46″) for faster clubhead speed, higher launch and longer carries. The Free Hosel and Carbonfly Wrap crown save weight to create our lowest CG ever and increase forgiveness while contributing to a more muted, pleasing sound.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Ping G440 Max here.
3. Ping G440 LST: 9.53%
Ping’s pitch: “LST is an especially good fit for faster swings, offering less spin and more control with a penetrating trajectory. A hotter face, lighter overall system weight and longer shaft (46″) deliver more speed and distance while maintaining tight dispersion.”
@phizzy30: “Not a fan of Ping drivers in general, but 440 LST takes the cake. It’s super forgiving across the face for a low spin head, looks and sounds good and the ability to make it play neutral or slightly fade biased through the hosel settings is very appealing.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Ping G440 LST here.
2. Titleist GT3: 16.55%
Titleist’s pitch: “The GT3 Driver offers Titleist’s boldest combination of power and personalization through adjustable performance. Dial in the CG Track to your frequent contact location to make your biggest drives even bigger while taking total control over flight and shaping.”
@mrmikeac: “I’ve been Anti-Titleist for years and years and years (outside of Vokey, of course). With that being said, HOLY BEGEEZUS the GT3 driver is an absolute NUCLEAR MONSTER! This thing blew my G430 10K Max out of the water in every single category. Forgiveness is the biggest thing that stands out of me, the 3 model has always been one of the less forgiving models in the past but this GT3 can take bad shot after bad shot and still end up in the fairway, I think a ton of that has to do with the adjustability, it’s actually effective. Feel and sound is perfect, that solid crack is so addicting to hear and when you hit it out the screws this thing can absolutely bomb it. Titleist, I’m sorry for doubting you. You have converted me.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Titleist GT3 here.
1. Titleist GT2: 22.91%
Titleist’s pitch: “Delivering impressive distance from any impact point, the Titleist GT2 Driver extracts maximum performance through a forgiving design. Get the stability and added confidence of a high-MOI driver without sacrificing speed.”
@DTorres: “The Titleist GT2 has proven to be the best driver of the year. Packaged in a classic profile, GT2 perfectly balances performance and forgiveness while consistently being a high performer across all categories.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Titleist GT2 here.
Other drivers receiving >2% of the vote
| Driver | Vote percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| Cobra DS Adapt Max K | 4.85% |
| Ping G430 Max 10K | 3.85% |
| Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond | 3.68% |
| TaylorMade Qi35 | 3.51% |
| Callaway Elyte | 3.18% |
| Cobra DS Adapt X | 2.34% |
| Cobra DS Adapt LS | 2.17% |
| TaylorMade Qi35 LS | 2.17% |
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