CHARLOTTE – Rory McIlroy’s driver was reportedly ruled non-conforming on Tuesday at the PGA Championship, and he was forced to play a backup, which could explain his struggles off the tee at Quail Hollow Club.
The U.S. Golf Association administers the driver testing for this championship, and the results are confidential, but SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio reported McIlroy’s TaylorMade Qi10 driver exceeded the limits for spring-like effect.
In a statement Saturday from PGA of America chief championships officer Kerry Haigh, the association confirmed that the USGA was “invited” to test drivers this week and that it’s consistent with similar programs on the PGA Tour and at other majors.
“The standard process is for about a third of the field to be randomly tested under the program. That was the case at Quail Hollow this week,” Haigh said. “Finding driver heads that have crept over the line of conformance is not an unusual occurrence, especially for clubs that are hit thousands of times over a long period of time. The results are kept confidential to protect players, who are unaware the club has fallen out of conformance and not responsible for it falling out of conformance other than hitting the club thousands of times.
“Players are simply asked to change heads if necessary, and all do without issue. To publicly identify players whose club did not conform can lead to that player being questioned unnecessarily. Neither the USGA nor the PGA of America have any concerns about player intent.”
The PGA Tour began testing drivers in 2019 to combat normal wear and tear, which pushes drivers passed the limit for spring-like effect. A player who uses a non-conforming driver in tournament play would be disqualified.
McIlroy has struggled off the tee this week, hitting just 10 of 28 fairways and ranking 35th in strokes gained off the tee. He made the cut on the number at 1 over following a second-round 69.
It’s unclear if the driver that was deemed non-conforming was the same McIlroy used to win last month’s Masters. He declined to speak with the media following his round.
Article updated with PGA of America statement May 17 at 2:39 p.m. EDT.
