Rory McIlroy gets tongues wagging with new piece of equipment at The Showdown

Rory McIlroy has become the latest TaylorMade staff player to test out their new driver. 

McIlroy, 35, teased the new club in an Instagram post ahead of The Showdown in Las Vegas.

The Northern Irishman partnered PGA Tour player of the year Scottie Scheffler in an 18-hole contest against LIV Golf recruits Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau at Shadow Creek Golf Club in Las Vegas. 

TaylorMade's new drivers appeared on the USGA's conforming list earlier in the month. 

The OEM has yet to comment publicly on the new drivers, so we can only speculate on what new technologies are on offer. 

What we do know, though, is that the four new drivers are called: Qi35, Qi35 LS and Qi35 Max. 

There's also a left-handed Qi35 LS.

LPGA Tour superstar Nelly Korda gamed the Qi35 Max 10.5-degree during the Grant Thornton Invitational last week when she teamed up with Daniel Berger in the hit-and-giggle mixed event. 

As for McIlroy, he told The Showdown's live broadcast that he 'dialed in' his new driver pretty good during a range session, providing feedback for the TaylorMade reps on site. 

Here's Rors' current set-up:

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees; Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X)

5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees; Fujikura Ventus Black 9 X)

Irons: TaylorMade P·760 (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9; Project X 7.0)

Wedges: TaylorMade MG4 (46-09SB, 50-09SB, 54-11SB) Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks (58-K); Project X 6.5

Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour X

Ball: TaylorMade 2024 TP5x MySymbol “RORS”

McIlroy went yet another year without a major championship victory in 2024. 

But he picked up victories at the Dubai Desert Classic, Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Wells Fargo Championship and DP World Tour Championship. 

He also won DP World Tour's Race to Dubai for a sixth time, matching Seve Ballesteros' haul. 

On the PGA Tour, McIlroy was second in the driving distance category, averaging 320.2 yards off the tee. 

Cameron Champ averaged 322.8 yards. 

McIlroy hit 60.29% of fairways.