Rory McIlroy Makes Golf Ball Switch Days Before Pebble Beach Ace

World No.3 Rory McIlroy has changed golf balls again, and it seems to be paying off.

A TaylorMade staffer since 2017, McIlroy had played with the 2019 version of the TaylorMade TP5 for several years before announcing he had switched to the 2024 version of the TP5x early on last season.

During pre-season tests 12 months ago, McIlroy and TaylorMade noticed the TP5X (2024) had resulted in a fraction more distance gained with the Northern Irishman's irons and an increase in ball speed with his new TaylorMade Qi10 driver.

McIlroy went ahead and put the TaylorMade TP5x in his bag for a year, performing admirably and picking up four wins - almost adding Major number five, to boot.

Hoping to carry that form into 2025, an alteration in equipment was exactly planned by the 35-year-old as he headed back to his home in Florida for some practice.

But, after putting the TP5x aside for a moment and began hitting shots with the firmer, lower launching TP5 (2024), McIlroy liked what he felt and what he saw, so he opted to put it into play during his PGA Tour season debut on Thursday.

And after the first round of the 2025 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the World No.3 sits T8th and just two strokes off the lead, having carded a bogey-free round of 66 at Spyglass Hill which also contained just his third-ever ace as a pro.

Explaining how he came to make the change, McIlroy said: "I sort of stumbled upon it... I was messing around at the Grove the other day. This has got to be like Thursday last week.

"I just started to hit some chips with the TP5 instead of the TP5x and I really loved how I felt. And I hadn’t really tested the 2024 TP5, and I loved how it was reacting around the greens. And then I started hitting some like 60, 70-yard shots with it and it was coming off much lower launch, but spinnier.

"Then I just did some testing with it and compared it to the TP5x. I used a 2019 TP5 and the difference between a 2019 TP5 and a 2019 TP5x was a lot in terms of the spin rates and the launch angles.

"This seems to launch probably a degree lower for me, but the spin rate’s very, very similar, which I really like. Yeah, did some testing with it, really like it."

McIlroy insisted his statistics had remained virtually identical with the TP5 (2024) and was keen to use it in competition this week - although the Northern Irishman did not share whether it would be a permanent change.

He said: "Doesn’t seem to lose any speed with the driver either, even though it’s a lower compression golf ball. I thought I’ve got four rounds this week, no cut, may as well give it a go and see how it goes.

"I played 18 at Pebble on Tuesday, played 18 at Cypress yesterday with it and obviously played here today and it’s been really, really good."

McIlroy will continue to use the 2024 version of TaylorMade's TP5 golf ball throughout the remainder of this week's Signature Event, with a $20 million total prize purse and additional FedEx Cup points.