Rory McIlroy's dalliance with 'old flame' was short-lived

Rory McIlroy has reverted back to his TaylorMade Spider X Hydro Blast for the forthcoming Wells Fargo Championship. 

With only two weeks to go before the 87th Masters, McIlroy, 33, decided to do some equipment tinkering. 

McIlroy looked very much in his groove in early 2023 but the numbers painted a vastly different story. Particularly on the greens. 

Related: PGA Tour boss comes down hard on McIlroy by confirming PIP fine

Okay, so from tee-to-green he's been in God-mode. But in SG: Putting and Average Distance of Putts made he's been poor (for him). 

So decided to put the Scotty Cameron Newport into play. For those not in the know, he won his first two major championships with that putter. 

"I'm trying to rekindle an old flame," McIlroy told the media of the decision. McIlroy also switched to a much softer shaft in his TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus. 

He has made no secret of the problems with the chief. He was filmed slamming the club into a tee box during Tiger Woods' Genesis Invitational. 

That footage has since been deleted. 

McIlroy previously told the media of this issue:

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As expected the Spider is back in the bag, reminder the Scotty was seen as a short term solution for Augusta and was probably only used in the event before to get it ready for Augusta, so I think this was always planned @ToddLewisGC pic.twitter.com/2MJVa3KNGa

— RORY FANS (@rory_fans) May 2, 2023

It’s here and it’s beautiful 



Take a look at Rory’s new Scotty Cameron GSS putter pic.twitter.com/1FoMOL1IJ4

— Rory McIlroy Tracker (@RMTracker) March 21, 2023

Suffice to say, things haven't gone to plan for McIlroy in recent months. He posted round of 72-77 and missed the cut at The Players. 

We all know how The Masters went. McIlroy then confirmed that he just needed a break from the game for the sake of his mental health. 

Per Todd Lewis of Golf Channel, it was 'always planned' that McIlroy would go back to the Spider and the Scotty Cameron was a short term solution. 

McIlroy ranked 174th in strokes gained putting last year, averaging .429. Maverick McNealy led the Tour last year with 1.237 strokes gained.

Rory McIlroy, WITB?

Driver: TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus (9 degrees) 

Fairways: TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus (15 degrees), TaylorMade Stealth Plus (19 degrees)

Irons: TaylorMade Rors Proto Irons (3-PW)

Putter: TaylorMade Spider X Hydro Blast

Golf Ball: TaylorMade TP5x 

What do you think about McIlroy's equipment tinkering? Will he win a major championship this year? Why not Tweet us with your thoughts. 

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