As we head into the second major of 2024 at the PGA Championship played at Valhalla in Kentucky Rory McIlroy has hit a rich vein of form.

Two wins in a row have set him up  perfectly for another run at breaking his Major trophy drought.

McIlroy puts this fantastic streak partly down to a recent change in golf ball.

PGA Tour players rarely change the most used piece of equipment in their bag unless they have to, but having tested a new golf ball earlier this year in Dubai Rory decided to make the switch. He hasn’t looked back since, winning the Zurich Classic and the Wells Fargo Championship on the last two times out!

So which magic ball is Rory loading into his bag this week in Valhalla?

It’s the new TaylorMade TP5x which is made with a new “Speed Wrapped Core”.

For us “normal” golfers this means the ball should have less spin on long shots giving faster ball speed off the tee, but more control around the greens.

3-4mph Ball Speed Boost – Just By Changing Golf Ball!

McIlroy said the new ball increased his speed by 3-4mph which also gave him some extra distance with his driver and longer approach shots.

“…it’s fast, it’s a really fast golf ball. Definitely, feel like I’ve picked up speed with it, especially off the tee…but it feels a touch softer to me around the greens, so I like the feel of it” McIlroy told GolfWRX.

TaylorMade said in offseason testing the TP5X ball gave Rory additioanl distance with his irons and ball speed with his driver.

Michael Fox, Senior Director of Product Creation for TaylorMade golf balls said the 5 layer construction of the new balls “positions our TP5/TP5x family as having the best feel in the industry with faster constructions.”

A real 5 star Chellenger to the Pro V1

These new golf balls are emerging as a real challenger to the Titleist Pro V1 – the traditional favourite of amateur golfers. Support is growing within the golf industry in this review of the TP5x Golf Monthly gave the ball a 5 star rating.

But that’s not all Rory has also made another change to his golf ball.

With the help of the TaylorMade My Symbol service the four time Major Champion has replaced the traditional number on his golf ball with the word RORS making the ball much easier to identify and off course a real gem for golf ball hunters around the world!!

Image via Golf Magazine