Rory McIlroy Backs TaylorMade's Move to Two-Year Driver Cycle

Rory McIlroy has endorsed TaylorMade's decision to keep its metalwoods on the market for two years instead of one, saying the extended cycle gives players more time to settle into a driver.

Why is TaylorMade extending its driver cycle?

TaylorMade announced the change in May, starting with the Qi4D family it released last January. That makes TaylorMade the fourth of the sport's six largest equipment manufacturers to move off an annual release schedule, following Ping, Srixon and Titleist. Callaway and Cobra have not announced plans to do the same. TaylorMade will not release a new driver in 2027.

“I think being able to use the same driver for say like an 18-month period I think just gives guys a little bit more of a level of comfort,” McIlroy said Tuesday at the Tour Championship.

A longer product cycle trades a small performance edge for a driver players trust every week.

How has McIlroy performed with the Qi4D?

McIlroy switched into the Qi4D during its first week of availability in November and has since ranked second on Tour in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, averaging a career-high 330 yards with accuracy up more than three points from 2024. Last season he had continued using a 2024 Qi10 model rather than switching to the newer Qi35. Scottie Scheffler followed a similar path, sticking with his Qi10 until switching to the Qi4D roughly two weeks ago during his win at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

McIlroy also noted that a driver head can wear out and fail conformance testing after 18 months of use. He and Scheffler both had their Qi10 drivers fail USGA conformance checks at last season's PGA Championship and had to use backups. With the new two-year cycle, McIlroy said he will begin the fitting process for his next driver right around the time his current one starts to wear down.