Rory McIlroy Reveals Multiple Equipment Changes At Arnold Palmer Invitational

World No.2 Rory McIlroy has made a plethora of equipment changes ahead of the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational, having added a multitude of new clubs to the bag.

Notably he has made the move away from his TaylorMade Qi10 driver, with the manufacturer's latest model - the TaylorMade Qi35 - being seen in his hands during this week's TGL contest for Boston Common and again in pre-event practice on the PGA Tour.

McIlroy has been testing out a Qi35 'dot' head prior to the Signature Event at Bay Hill and could fully move on from the club which had become an extremely successful weapon in his armoury that he used in several victories over the past two years, including the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am last month.

But two months after TaylorMade officially released its latest driver creation, it appears as though McIlroy is now ready to put the Qi35 in play on the PGA Tour, with his custom 'Dot' head coupled with a Fujikura Ventus VeloCore+ Black shaft.

He has also added two new Qi35 fairway woods, both with Ventus Black shafts, and a prototype 3-iron, which is fitted with a Project X HZRDUS Black shaft.

It all stems from his move from the TP5x ball to the TP5 ahead of his Pebble Beach win, which forced a number of other tweaks throughout the bag.

"I think it's all really come from the ball change a few weeks ago. So because this ball, especially with the shorter irons, spins a little bit more, especially with the sort of three-quarter shots, I feel a little more comfortable playing those, so I actually weakened my pitching wedge by a degree and a half to sort of bridge the gap between having a 46 and a half and a 54," he explained.

"So that's my 48 degree, and then 54, 60. I just feel like with the ball I'm a lot more comfortable playing those sort of half- and three-quarter shots, so comfortable going back to three wedges.

"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, and 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, but 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.

"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 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."

McIlroy is due to go off with Shane Lowry at 1pm ET (6pm GMT) in the opening round at Bay Hill.

McIlroy's equipment setup at the Arnold Palmer Invitational:

• Driver: TaylorMade Qi35 9°
• 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi35 15°
• 4-wood: TaylorMade Qi35 18°
• 3-iron: TaylorMade prototype
• 4-iron: TaylorMade P760
• 5-9 irons: TaylorMade RORS Proto
• Wedges: TaylorMade MG4 48°, 54°, 60°
• Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour X
• Ball: TaylorMade TP5