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‘Can’t Beat the Feeling’: Watch Rory McIlroy Flush a Persimmon Driver at Scottish Open

McIlroy tested an old-school permission driver in Scotland and absolutely loved it.

Gabrielle Herzig

‘Can’t Beat the Feeling’: Watch Rory McIlroy Flush a Persimmon Driver at Scottish Open
‘Can’t Beat the Feeling’: Watch Rory McIlroy Flush a Persimmon Driver at Scottish Open /

As one of the few PGA Tour players who has expressed unwavering support for the professional game’s looming golf ball roll-back, it was no surprise that Rory McIlroy thoroughly enjoyed hitting an old-school persimmon driver ahead of this week’s Scottish Open. 

McIlroy was handed the vintage wooden driver on the 15th tee during a practice round at The Renaissance Club, and with no hesitation, he absolutely clobbered it. 

Constructed from a solid block of wood and held together by screws, the club made an unfamiliar, yet striking sound when McIlroy made contact with the ball. 

“The sound of it!” said one spectator. “You don’t even hear it come off the face.”

The shot was flushed, but without the assistance of modern equipment technology, McIlroy’s buttery swing only produced a 255-yard carry with 168 mph ball speed. 

McIlroy then switched to his current Taylormade Driver and seemingly made the same swing. 

That shot carried a full 70 yards farther than the persimmon driver: 316 yards with 181 mph ball speed. 

The Northern Irishman was clearly pleased with his experience hitting the old driver, as he later posted a video of the swing and the club’s minuscule sweet spot on social media. 

“Can’t beat the feeling of hitting out of the screws with a persimmon driver,” McIlroy wrote. 

He also shared some thoughts on golf’s equipment evolution after his opening round of 64 on Thursday, and again, did not hold back. 

“Roll back the clubs. Roll back the ball. Roll back everything,” McIlroy said, speaking to reporters at the Scottish Open. “I see John Huggan nodding his head in agreement. I must say swinging a persimmon wood means you can’t swing as hard as you would with a [modern driver]. You need to hit it out of the middle of the club face. And a persimmon wood look about as big as a golf ball. It’s cool. It’s a throwback. And that’s why we have a few different tee boxes. We can always move forward and play some old equipment. Every now and then it’s fun to do it.” 

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Gabrielle Herzig
GABRIELLE HERZIG

Gabrielle Herzig is a Breaking and Trending News writer for Sports Illustrated Golf. Previously, she worked as a Golf Digest Contributing Editor, an NBC Sports Digital Editorial Intern, and a Production Runner for FOX Sports at the site of the 2018 U.S. Open. Gabrielle graduated as a Politics Major from Pomona College in Claremont, California, where she was a four-year member and senior-year captain of the Pomona-Pitzer women’s golf team. In her junior year, Gabrielle studied abroad in Scotland for three months, where she explored the Home of Golf by joining the Edinburgh University Golf Club.

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