Equipment

Spotted: Prototype OLYSS RSC, TPOC ZW shafts (updated with info from LA Golf Shafts)

Published

7 years ago

Feb 26, 2019

GolfWRX Staff

Update: 2/26: 7:28 p.m.

LA Golf Shafts’ Chief Product Officer, John Oldenburg, told us this

“Unfortunately, counter to your speculation, neither the OLYSS RSC Prototype nor the TPOC ZW are based off of old Matrix shaft platforms. These shafts are brand new designs (new tooling, processes, and materials) from a brand new company.”

“…The new prototypes are both brand new shafts based on flex profile platforms I developed years ago that have proven over many years to be extremely successful with tour caliber players. We have improved and modified these historic platforms based on the needs of today’s stronger, more athletic, faster swinging players, and the performance and mass characteristics of the latest driver heads.”

“The two prototypes are very different in construction, but do share one common characteristic. The modern trend for today’s professional player is higher and higher club head velocity at impact with a resulting increase in ball speed. To maintain stability and control for the modern high ball speed player, tour shaft overall stiffnesses have increased significantly over the past 5 to 10 years. This increase in stiffness certainly helps to provide the needed additional stability but also tends to impart an undesirable harsh feel to the shaft at impact. To counteract this effect, these LA Golf Shaft prototypes, incorporate a unique, high-tech, composite material in the grip end of the shaft, under the players hands.”

“This new, never before used material, is an ultra-lightweight, thin ply composite weave combining high modulus graphite with a unique PBO based fiber. The combination of the stiff, high strength, carbon fibers with an ultra-lightweight, ultra-strong and stiff PBO material that has outstanding vibration damping characteristics provides these shafts with significantly increased stability in the players hands, while maintaining outstanding feel at impact. Additionally, the rearward placement of the new material also aids to counterbalance the shafts, making them perfect for today’s heavier driver heads. Let’s say they are classic designs modernized for today’s player through advancement in design, construction, and materials.”

OLYSS RSC Prototypes (no relationship what-so-ever to Black Tie)

“We currently have a 75 gram and 65 gram OLYSS RSC out on tour for evaluation and validation. OLYSS uses a constant taper physical profile to give it the feel of a smooth, controlled load and release. Low torque (2.8 degrees) and a mid-stiff tip section, allow the OLYSS prototype to provide a low-mid to mid ball flight with low spin for elite golfers with moderate to high ball speeds. LA Golf Shafts new OLYSS RSC 75-TX prototype gives the modern bomber the stiffness and stability they need with tremendous feel, a smooth load and release, and an optimized low-mid/mid launch, low spin launch profile.”

TPOC ZW Prototype (no relationship what-so-ever to TP)

“The Tour Prototype TPOC ZW 75-TX is designed incorporating a long and slightly oversized parallel butt profile. Golf shafts with larger, long, nearly constant diameter physical profiles at the butt end provide the player with a crisper, firmer feel in the hands at impact. This solid feel is preferred by some players over the smoother, more subtle feel of a shaft having a slimmer more tapered profile under the grip. The slightly oversized butt dimension also provides a platform to create the larger grip sizes desired by many modern world class players without the need for the added weight of additional grip tape.

“The digitally optimized bending profile was created using five different types of carbon fiber, along with exotic PBO fibers, blended perfectly to provide low torque (2.5 degrees) and a stiff tip section that will yield a low-mid ball flight with low spin for elite golfers with moderate to high ball speeds. The TPOC ZW 75-TX prototype gives the modern player the stiffness and stability they need with a physical construction engineered to provide a solid, firm, but not harsh feel. The computer optimized bending profile allows the modern player to achieve a much desired low to mid launch angle with low to moderate spin characteristics.”

End update.

The “Florida Swing” is now upon us and we are only weeks away from The Masters — I hope you get used to hear that narrative until April — and we have again spotted some cool new product direct from the range this week at The Honda Classic.

LA Golf Shafts has a couple of new prototypes out for testings, one being a 65g model and the other being a 75g.

We’re not sure if these are related but based on the prototype coding on them it would be a good guess that these are different profiles and not just shafts from the same series.

With a bit of detective work based on the fact that LA has adopted a lot of the previous Matrix naming and color coding philosophies including the TPHDE, Red Tie, etc, the Black paint could be an indication that these prototypes are a line extension of the Black Tie series, which direct from LA Shafts is, “The lowest launch and spin profile in the OFS trio. A low torque tip stiff shaft with exceptional feel.”

Another theory would be the because the second of the two Prototypes has coding that starts with “TPO” it could be either an upgrade to the TPHDE line or an additional profile that maybe aded to the line in the near future. Since this is the first time we have spotted them, I’m sure there will be some more testing and pictures to come in the near future.

Join the discussion here in our forum and see what other GolfWRX members are saying about these new prototypes.

Whats in the Bag

Christiaan Maas WITB 2026 (June)

Published

3 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D LS (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P770 (3), TaylorMade P7CB (4), TaylorMade P7TW (5-PW)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 10 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold X100

Wedges: TaylorMade Prototype (50-SB09), TaylorMade MG5 (56-HB12, 60-LV07)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S400

Putter: TaylorMade TP Juno

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord

Check out more in-hand photos of Christiaan Maas’ clubs here.

Equipment

TaylorMade MySpider Tour and Tour X: More customizable build options now available

Published

3 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Alistair Cameron

TaylorMade Golf’s MySpider program underwent a substantial overhaul over the last month. Firstly, the company launched the option to customize the Spider ZT model, and now the program has returned with the MySpider Tour and MySpider Tour X.

The revamped page now gives golfers complete control over every visual and functional detail of their putter on the popular Tour and Tour X head, with every cosmetic idea thought of. In MySpider Tour, golfers can choose from four head finishes, 16 paint fill colors, nine Surlyn face insert colors, three aluminum insert options, six sightline configurations, and four hosel options — L-neck, small slant, double bend, center shaft. Six sightline options are available in MySpider Tour, including the optically engineered True Path alignment system. MySpider Tour X gives builders the option of four head finishes, four hosel configurations, and five sightline options, also including True Path alignment.

One of the more interesting features of the new MySpider program is the availability of three distinct face insert options. Along with the usual Surlyn Pure Roll insert trusted by Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, which can be customized from nine colors, golfers can now also select firmer options. Two are offered with the black aluminum Pure Roll insert, slightly firmer than the traditional insert, or for the firmest feel, golfers can choose from two colors of milled aluminum inserts.

Another fun addition to the MySpider Tour is the ability to use the “Tommy Sightline.” The custom alignment aid design, which was first drawn onto Tommy Fleetwood’s putter by PGA Tour Rep James Holley, is based on the milled sightline on his Spider ZT head. There are five shorter lines on the left and right of a longer central line serving as the traditional short line alignment aid.

See below for the full specifications sheet for MySpider Tour and Tour X:

MySpider Tour

MySpider Tour X

Equipment

Then and now: Comparing Rory McIlroy’s current setup to his record-breaking 2019 Canadian Open victory

Published

6 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Alistair Cameron

In Rory McIlroy’s first appearance at the 2019 RBC Canadian Open, he crushed the record books to earn his 16th PGA Tour title in dominating fashion, winning by seven shots over Shane Lowry and Webb Simpson.

McIlroy’s score of 22-under-par 258 is the lowest 72-hole score to date at the Canadian Open, and his closing 61 is also the best final-round score in the history of one of golf’s oldest tournaments. Finally, with his win in 2019, McIlroy became only the sixth player to win the career Triple Crown, adding to his victories at the U.S. Open in 2011 and The Open Championship in 2014, joining Tommy Armour, Walter Hagen, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Tiger Woods in a coveted list.

So, with that, why not compare his current setup to the clubs he used to break all the records?

Driver

2019: TaylorMade M5 (9 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees @8), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7X (45 5/8 inches)

McIroy led the Tour in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee in 2019; he’s doing the same in 2026. Between now and then, McIlroy has switched from the Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX (a shaft with slightly more feeling in the tip) to the original Fujikura Ventus Black 7X, having just made the change to the heavier version from playing the 60X.

What’s interesting about McIlroy’s 2019 setup is that the weighting on his driver is actually set in the high-draw setting, using the T-Track weighting system, whereas in the Qi4D, he’s currently using a heavily rear-weighted setup. (Two 13-gram weights in the rear and only two 4-gram front weights.)

The TaylorMade M5 driver he played in during his Canadian Open win was the company’s first head that they claimed to design to initially exceed the USGA’s COR limit, and then injected with tuning resin to bring it back in bounds.

Fairway woods

2019: TaylorMade M6 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 80 TX; TaylorMade M5 5-wood (19 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 90 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8X; TaylorMade Qi4D 5-wood (18 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9X

The TaylorMade M6 fairway wood that McIlroy was using during the 2019 season is still in the bag of some of the best golfers on Tour in 2026. Just check out Justin Rose’s winning setup from the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year. This year, though, McIlroy has still been searching for his top-end-of-the-bag setup, having played both the new Qi4D and the Qi10, which he won the Masters with.

The same shaft swap can be seen in the fairway woods as the driver, along with slightly less loft on the 5-wood.

Irons

2019: TaylorMade P750 (4) Buy here, TaylorMade P730 (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0
2026: TaylorMade P760 (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0

The biggest difference between McIlroy’s custom set and the stock P730s is the groove design. While the P730s were constructed with 14 MX-9 grooves on their milled faces, McIlroy’s proto heads instead use the higher-spinning, 16-groove layout of the TW2 grooves. Other big differences between the sets are that McIlroy’s 7- and 8-irons have thinner toplines, are 1 degree stronger in loft, and are 1/4 inch longer than the original P730 builds.

With McIlroy’s 4-iron, the switch from P750 to P760 sees a transition to a two-piece construction with Speed Foam in it, which allows McIlroy to launch the ball slightly higher, with more workability.

Wedges

2019: TaylorMade Milled Grind (48-09SB), TaylorMade MG Hi-Toe (52-09SB, 56-09SB, 60-LB09), Shafts: Project X Rifle 6.5
2026: TaylorMade MG5 (46-09SB, 50-09SB, 54-11SB, 60-08LB @61), Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46-54), Project X 6.5 Wedge (60)

Between 2019 and 2026, McIlroy’s focus on his short game has been much more apparent. It was the reason why he switched back to the TP5 golf ball, to help with launch, spin and control with his wedges leading up to his career Grand Slam victory in 2025. The most apparent changes to McIlroy’s wedge setup are his lofts and bounce. He’s slowly delofted his pitching to a sand wedge, but has increased the loft on the lob wedge, bending his current 60-degree to 61. With that, adding more loft to his lob wedge also slightly increases the bounce and leading-edge sit point, so, as a result, he plays a lower-bounce lob wedge compared to 2019. The MG5 wedges are also softer than the first Milled Grind option from 2019. McIlroy also no longer plays the full-face grooves found on the Hi-Toe.

Putter

2019: TaylorMade Spider X
2026: TaylorMade Spider Tour X

Notice anything similar. Yes, the copper finish on Rory McIlroy’s Spider X putter in 2019 is a slightly more reflective finish than the recently released torched PVD finish. McIlroy was using the True Path alignment system, but now uses only a single white sightline.

Ball

2019: 2019 TaylorMade TP5 (#22)
2026: 2025 TaylorMade TP5 (RORS)

As mentioned above, McIlroy had transitioned from the TP5 to TP5x golf ball since his victory in Canada in 2019, but now is black with the same style of golf ball as his victory at Hamilton Golf & Country Club.

Grips

2019: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
2026: Golf Pride MCC

Interesting, McIlroy actually used Golf Pride’s Tour Velvet Cord grips during his victory in 2019 (it was during a 2+ year switch to the corded TV) as opposed to his usual MCC grips, which he has played for most of his career.