Why did Rory McIlroy change his driver in the Players Championship 2023? Real reason explored

Rory McIlroy recently returned to using the TaylorMade SIM 1 driver, indicating his dissatisfaction with TaylorMade's most recent driver, the Stealth model. Colin Morikawa also joined him by using the SIM 1 driver in the first round of the Players Championship.

Since the start of 2022, Rory has been utilizing TaylorMade Stealth Plus, but he has expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of TaylorMade's latest driver model.

The change, however, is yet to be seen as the Northern Irishman posted a score of 76. He hit only six of the 14 fairways. Rory McIlroy has struggled to get the rhythm right this year since winning the Dubai Classic.

“I feel like this is as penal as I’ve seen it out of the rough for a long time. You don’t hit it on the fairway here, you’re going to struggle,” Rory said after his round.

Rory added that he wished to use the driver from last year but it wasn't just 'passing the test'.

"These driver heads are so finicky, it's hard to get one exactly the same," he continued.

During the Genesis Invitational, McIlroy was overdriven by Tiger Woods. Rory Mcllroy joked that this was one of the reasons for the driver's switch.

While McIlroy stated that the driver is the problem, stats say otherwise. He is ranked No. 1 in driving distance (327.6 yards), strokes gained from tee to green (2.28) and 10th in strokes gained off the Tee (0.800).

However, his hitting of the tee has not been impressive with an average of 52.68 percent of the fairways, 183rd on the PGA Tour.

“I just didn't even want to take the chance. I just was not comfortable [knowing that driver could potentially fail]. It doesn't look good on me, doesn't look good on TaylorMade,” said Rory.

Collin Morikawa returned to the TaylorMade SIM driver after failing to make a cut in the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He used TaylorMade Stealth Plus 2. As a TaylorMade SIM driver, he went on to win the 2020 PGA Championship and the 2021 Open Championship.

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Rory McIlroy struggles during the first round of the 2023 Players Championship

Collin Morikawa is at second position after the first round of the 2023 Players Championship

Rory McIlroy found it hard to find a rhythm on the first day of the Players Championship as he ended the day at 4-over 76. He holed only two birdies but putt 4 bogeys and a double bogey.

Chad Ramey topped the leaderboard with a bogey-free first round of 8-under 64 at TPC Sawgrass. Collin Morikawa carded 7-under 65, one stroke short of The Players rookie.

Here's the leaderboard for the Players Championship after the first round:

• 1 C. Ramey -8
• 2 C. Morikawa -7
• 3 J. Suh -6
• T4 T. Pendrith -5
• T4 B. Griffin -5
• T6 M.W. Lee -4
• T6 D. McCarthy -4
• T6 C. Bezuidenhout -4
• T6 A. Svensson -4
• T6 S. Scheffler -4
• T6 S. Burns -4
• T12 S.W. Kim -3
• T12 C. Davis -3
• T12 J. Rose -3
• T12 N. Lashley -3
• T12 V. Hovland -3
• T12 L. Glover -3
• T12 J. Spieth -3
• T12 R. Palmer -3
• T12M. McGreevy -3
• T12 D. Wu -3