“I was sick of Tiger [Woods] outdriving me”: Rory McIlroy on his infamous driver switch mid-event at Riviera

Rory McIlroy had a phenomenal start to the new year. The former World No. 1 won the 2023 Dessert Classic using TaylorMade's Stealth Plus driver.

However, the PGA Tour's star player subsequently made changes to his golf gear at the Genesis Invitational Series as he opened the round with the new Stealth 2 Plus, which he carried to Florida to compete at the Arnold Invitational.

The Northern Irish golfer arrived in Orlando on Wednesday and attended the press conference.

“I was sick of Tiger outdriving me," said Rory McIlroy on Wednesday, March 1 before adding. "I played the (WM Phoenix Open) and noticed that my spin numbers on my driver were a little low. So then I went to L.A. and I put my driver up a click in loft. But I'm so particular about face angle when it comes to drivers that when I went up a click in loft, obviously I can see a little more face, it looks a little further left to me. And I didn't hit one drive out of the middle of the face the first day at Riv. I needed to go and try something else."

He went on to say:

“I feel like this Stealth 2 head for me has just got a little more spin on it, but at a more neutral or what I perceive to be a more neutral face angle. I think if other people saw it they would probably see that it sits slightly open, but to my eye it sits square. To me it was all about face angle. …I hit balls on Thursday night at Riv. Started middling that and started to get way more consistent spin numbers, sort of in the range that I like. Then I just went with it from there. Actually felt like I drove it pretty good for the final three days at Riv, and it's been pretty good in practice over the past week.”

The Arnold Invitational is scheduled from March 1 to March 5.

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"Rory didn’t want any tampons from Tiger" - Fan teases Rory McIlroy

The PGA Tour shared a post about Rory McIlroy talking about Tiger Woods. However, fans found it a perfect opportunity to take a jibe at Woods, highlighting the tampon controversy.

A fan wrote:

"Rory didn’t want any tampons from Tiger."

For the uninitiated, Tiger Woods slipped a tampon into Justin Thomas' hand after outdriving him on the ninth hole at the 2023 Genesis Invitational. Woods was slammed by people for his childish behavior.

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What's in Rory McIlroy's bag?

• Driver: TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus (9 degrees @7.5)
• Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
• 3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus (15 degrees @13)
• Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X
• 5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus (18 degrees @16)
• Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9 X
• Irons: TaylorMade P760 (3, 4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-PW)
• Shaft: Project X 7.0
• Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (54-10S @55), Vokey WedgeWorks Proto (58 @59)
• Shafts: Project X 6.5
• Putter: TaylorMade Spider Hydroblast
• Ball: TaylorMade TP5x