Rory McIlroy makes huge golf equipment switch at Arnold Palmer Invitational

Rory McIlroy has finally put the brand new TaylorMade Qi35 woods in his bag ahead of this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational on the PGA Tour.

The update was first confirmed by Golf Digest equipment editor Jonathan Wall on the ground at famed Bay Hill. 

TaylorMade then confirmed the news with a social media post of McIlroy's bag. 

The newly-promoted World No.2 spoke at length to reporters about four big changes he has made to his TaylorMade golf bag on Wednesday. 

McIlroy, 35, has taken a number of months to get fully equipped and comfortable with his new TaylorMade Qi35 woods.

The wait has been down to dialling in all his yardages having recently reverted to the TP5 golf ball.

The switch from TP5x to TP5 happened just before he sealed a 27th PGA Tour title and first ever at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in early February. 

Ahead of this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational, an event McIlroy won in 2018, the Northern Irishman has made significant changes at the top end of his bag with just four weeks remaining until he attempts to capture the career Grand Slam at The Masters. 

McIlroy has now replaced his Qi10 Driver, Qi10 3-wood and Qi10 5-wood with the brand new Qi35 Driver, Qi35 3-Wood and a Qi35 4-wood.

He has also removed one of his MG4 Wedges (50 degrees) to go back to just three wedges, and he has replaced it with a proto 3-iron. 

Related:

• Rory McIlroy WITB 2025

The Qi35 Driver was a clear outright winner in our Best Drivers Test 2025. 

The Qi35 Fairways also performed admirably in our Best Fairway Woods Test 2025.

Scroll below to hear McIlroy speak at length about the equipment changes he has made at Bay Hill...

McIlroy said of his equipment changes: 

"Yeah, 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. 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. So I sort of, 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, it's 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."

GolfMagic recently tested out the brand new TaylorMade Qi35 Driver and TaylorMade Qi35 Fairway Woods.

Check out our in-depth reviews below.

Here's our Qi35 Driver analysis: 

And here's what made made of the Qi35 Fairway Woods: 

How will Rory McIlroy get on at the Arnold Palmer Invitational this week? Do you like the equipment changes he's made to his bag? What have you made of the new TaylorMade Qi35 range of products so far this season? Head over to GolfMagic's social media channels and YouTube to let us know.