Rory McIlroy's Mind-Blowing Stock Yardages For The BMW Championship Including 346-Yard Drives

Rory McIlroy has some eye-watering stock yardages for this week's BMW Championship being played at altitude in Colorado

Rory McIlroy
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The BMW Championship being played at altitude in Colorado this week is making for some pretty astonishing yardage gains for PGA Tour pros - with Rory McIlroy's full yardage making for eye-watering reading.

The latest FedEx Cup Playoffs stop is at Castle Pines Golf Club, which sits around 6,200 feet above sea level at altitude that makes the golf ball just fly through the thinner air.

At a maximum of 8,130 yards, Castle Pines can be the longest course in PGA Tour history, but it may still not be long enough to contain the game's biggest hitters such as McIlroy.

After spanking a drive off the range during practice in Colorado, McIlroy's full stock yardages at this altitude have been collated - with some jaw-dropping numbers.

Averaging 319 yards off the tee so far in 2024, McIlroy can bomb a driver on full send at Castle Pines to a whopping 346 yards - and that's just the carry! 

TaylorMade Golf did release a video on social media saying McIlroy had smoked a drive to an unbelievable 371 yards of carry, but even his stock yardage this week of 346 is impressive.

So is the 322 yards the Northern Irishman is able to carry his 3-wood at the greater altitude, while a 5-wood that can carry 300 yards is the stuff of make believe to most.

And the gains are right through the bag, with a 5-iron that can carry just under 250 yards (247) a weapon that few could ever dream of even on the PGA Tour.

Having an 8-iron that can carry 205 yards will be a great weapon in the BMW Championship and even the four-time Major champion's 9-iron can be ripped to 185 yards of carry.

There's a tournament to be won and FedEx Cup points to be gained this week, but there could also be long driving records broken at Castle Pines.

Max Homa currently holds the record for the longest drive in PGA Tour history with his 477-yard effort at Kapalua's Plantation Course in Hawaii.

That's more like hitting off a cliff as four of the top 10 drives in the PGA Tour record books have some at that same venue - but if McIlroy or someone else can really wind one up then they could possibly threaten that top 10.

They'll need 455 yards or more at some point during competition to get into that top 10, but on the right hole with the right wind at this altitude it could be on.

Paul Higham
Contributor

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website.  Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.