The crucial equipment change Rory McIlroy has made which has been key to his success in 2025

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2025 might have been the best year of Rory McIlroy’s career.

McIlroy completed the career grand slam by winning The Masters. He won an away Ryder Cup in New York. He won at Pebble Beach, the Players, and the Irish Open. 

In one season, he achieved far more than most achieve in their entire careers. “What a year,” were McIlroy’s words to his wife during the Ryder Cup celebrations. What a year indeed.

McIlroy seemed to carry himself with a calm reassurance this season. After throwing away the 2024 US Open against Bryson DeChambeau, nothing could hurt him anymore, and the only way was up. 

But beyond leaping a mental hurdle by winning at Augusta, McIlroy made a significant change to his equipment that helped him to a historic season.

The big equipment change that Rory McIlroy made in 2025

What separates McIlroy from most golfers is his ability off the tee. To make the most of that strength, McIlroy has traditionally favoured a lower-spin ball to maximize his distance, but in doing so, he sacrificed some control in his short game. 

According to TaylorMade club fitter Adrian Rietveld, McIlroy wanted to make a change to a higher spin ball for his short game, but didn’t want to sacrifice his distance so stuck to the TP5X.

But an advancement made to their TP5 ball going into 2025 meant that he was able to add more spin without sacrificing the performance of his longer clubs. 

Rietveld, speaking on the Fore Play Podcast, explained: “We’ve advanced the ball every two years, with what we have at our disposal, to make them perform better. But really, what you have essentially is a golf ball that spins a little more than the other. One that launches a little higher than the other.

“These golf balls perform differently at different parts of your bag. And every time in the past when Rory has tested both balls, he’s always wanted to play the TP5. He feels like he can launch his little off-spec shots and his wedges a bit lower, and it holds the spin on softer shots.

“But as you move into his driver and the top end of his bag, that’s where he would have to sacrifice or give up a little bit of performance, because the ultimate of driving is high launch and low spin and ball speed, right?

“Every year he’s kind of got to that point and he’s gone, ‘I’m not willing to give up what I would lose in the top of the bag.’ And then with this model of golf ball, we’re trying to improve those parts of the golf ball.

“And I think that’s what Rory found out in his testing. When we tested at Pebble Beach, as he got into that three iron, four iron, three iron, five-wood, three-wood, driver, he was like, ‘I’m not giving up anything.’

“I think if you really dug into the numbers and the data, he would have been giving up a fraction. But on the surface, when he looked at it, he felt he was giving up nothing. And that to me was the switch, right?

“When you talk about the story of the year when it comes to equipment and golf ball, what a year that guy’s had has been phenomenal.”

Finding the right ball is difficult for the pros. Even Bryson DeChambeau is still looking for the right ball. Rietveld partly credits McIlroy’s ball switch for his incredible season and explained how important finding the right golf ball for you is. 

Adrian Rietveld says golf ball fittings are more important than club fittings

For those looking to become scratch golfers, the time comes when you want to get fitted for clubs. But according to Rietveld, you should first get fitted for a golf ball. 

That’s because the ball affects every club you hit, and some of your fitted clubs might not work well with the best golf ball for you.

He explained, “I think you can get it really wrong with a golf ball, because it affects every single part of your bag. I’ve done fittings with top 10 players in the world, where they chose not to use a specific golf ball just because of how it feels with the putter.

“So, that’s pretty detailed, right? With a golf ball, you should really go into detail. And that’s the big debate. If somebody’s going to buy equipment or go in and get fitted, do they start with a golf ball or do they start with the clubs?

“I think you start with a golf ball, and then you build your clubs around that ball, and you can tweak each club individually in relation to the ball. If you start with your clubs and then you try to choose a golf ball that’s going to work for everything, I think you’re going to get stuck somewhere along the line.”

It’s an interesting point that is often overlooked. There is no point in finding the right clubs if they won’t work with your ball. So take Rietveld’s advice and get fitted for a ball!