For Rory McIlroy, so much has happened since his last competitive outing - at the Masters, where his quest for that elusive leg of the career Grand Slam was confined to the wish-list for at least another year -it seems like an age ago, a different time altogether.
A month on, he’s a married man; and one with a new multi-million dollar multi-year endorsement deal with TaylorMade that will see the 28-year-old Northern Irishman make multiple changes to the equipment in his bag that come into play for the first time at The Players championship at TPC Sawgrass.
What went on behind the old walls of Ashford Castle have stayed behind them, which is a tribute to the guests who’ve honoured the code of silence. “We tried to keep it as private as possible, it was between our friends and families and we didn’t really want anything else . . . . so we spent three really nice days with the people that we cherished the most, and that was really special,” said McIlroy, speaking ahead of The Players.
Not so private, though, is what has occurred with his decision to use TaylorMade equipment in his pursuit of further glory: he has signed a $100 million deal over 10-years to use the company’s clubs, balls and golf bag for the next decade. The world number two has been without an exclusive equipment deal since last August when Nike withdrew from that market to concentrate on apparel and footwear, a contract which McIlroy extended last month.
McIlroy spent the end of last season and the early part of this season alternating between using Callaway and TaylorMade but, since Augusta, used a period of testing to decide to commit to TaylorMade: he will use the company’s M2 driver and fairway woods, while the company has fitted him with exclusive prototype irons.
Yet, it is the ball that McIlroy play that could prove to be the real game changer as he seeks to reclaim the world number one spot.
“I needed to address a few issues after Augusta. I alluded to the fact that I wasn’t really happy with the golf ball I was playing and I needed to do something. I felt like I struggled in the wind. So I sort of went back to the drawing board and tested for about 10 days pretty extensively after Augusta, worked with a lot of different things, but I worked with the TaylorMade guys one day and started just on TrackMan on the range and saw stuff with the golf ball, that new TP5x ball that they have, and I thought, ‘wow, this is what I need, this is exactly the thing that I’ve been struggling with’, and this is, I feel, is what I need.
“I tested different combinations, a lot of different stuff, and I came to the conclusion that that was the best way forward for me to try and improve, try and win more, try to get back to world number one, try to win more Majors. . . . . I feel like it’s a new chapter in my life with a lot of stuff going on, but I really feel with the new equipment, as well, it’s hopefully going to take me to that next level.”
He added: “I tested quite a few balls, and the one that I landed on - and that was really it, the ball was what led me to this point, because it was like, this is the best ball I’ve hit in - well, ever. I feel like it’s really the best ball for me going forward, and then it was just trying to match everything up to that, and that’s why I feel like this is the best way forward.
“It seems like with everything that’s went on the last few weeks, with getting married and teaming up with TaylorMade and everything, it seems like everything’s very settled. There’s not many question marks going on in my life right now. I feel like everything’s exactly where it’s meant to be, and if you feel like that off the golf course, then I can only imagine that it will help you on it.”
McIlroy - who has been drawn to play with world number one Dustin Johnson for the first two rounds at Sawgrass - has put a one-iron in his bag because, as he put it, "with driver being taken out of your hands a lot, (it) could be a club that could work really well."
