Rory McIlroy Hilariously Changed His Driver Because of Tiger Woods

Rory McIlroy is one of the longest hitters on the PGA Tour, but on Thursday at the Genesis Invitational, 47-year-old Tiger Woods got the best of him on Riviera’s firm fairways more than once. 

After the round, McIlroy made it clear that he wasn’t too happy with Woods outdriving him, even though the Northern Irishman beat the 15-time major champion by two strokes and was outdriven only a handful of times. Woods, who still struggles with injuries to his right ankle, shocked fans with the speed he was able to generate off the tee on Thursday. A few of Woods’s drives reached 180 ball speed—PGA Tour average hovers around 171 mph. 

According to McIlroy, Woods’s powerful drives prompted him to make an equipment change to avoid lagging behind Woods off the tee. 

“I know, I’m going to go work on the range,” McIlroy said when a reporter asked him about Woods’s tee shots. “I put my driver up a click in loft at the start of the week. I might have to turn it back down again. I don’t like him hitting it by me.” 

McIlroy chuckled when he told the media about his plan, but it turned out that he was serious about the change. 

Not only did McIlroy change the loft on his driver, but he switched to an entirely different model for Friday’s round. According to Barstool Sports’s Dan Rapaport, McIlroy used TaylorMade’s Stealth 2 Plus driver at 9.0 degrees, rather than the original TaylorMade Stealth driver that he put into play during the first round of the Genesis. 

The transition made a noticeable impact for McIlroy. On the 3rd hole—McIlroy’s 12th of the day—the four-time major champion launched a drive 385 yards, far past Woods. 

McIlroy finished the second round at 6-under for the event, while Woods battled a cold putter, finishing 1-over through 36 holes. McIlroy currently sits three strokes behind leader Keith Mitchell, while Woods is teetering on the cut line.