The Putter and Ball
If there had been an Achilles’ heel in his game, it was his putting. But last season, after teaming with Brad Faxon and switching to a copper-toned TaylorMade Spider X putter, he ranked 24th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained putting. That’s up from 97th in 2018 and 159th in 2017. While it is compact, the Spider X has weights in the back heel and toe areas to boost stability on mis-hits and a grooved True Roll insert to encourage the ball to start rolling faster.
McIlroy played the firmer-feeling, higher compression TaylorMade TP5x ball at the start of 2019 but switched to the softer TP5 to get more greenside spin. All of his golf balls are No. 22. He married Erica Stoll on April 22, 2017, and McIlroy looked up the symbolic meaning of 22 and liked that it represents power, high risk and ambition.