Equipment

Why White Worked for TaylorMade

Published

15 years ago

Dec 3, 2011

Zak Kozuchowski

By Zak Kozuchowski

GolfWRX Staff Writer

What company has the best new driver? Ask the three players in your foursome, and you’ll probably get three different answers. But if you ask them which company has the most recognizable new driver, they’ll all probably say TaylorMade.

The arrival of TaylorMade’s new line of drivers last January created more buzz than any other line of drivers for one reason – they were painted white. Six players debuted white TaylorMade drivers in the PGA Tour’s first event, the Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua. And it wasn’t players hoping that a change of scenery over the ball would spark their games, either. It was some of the best players in the world: Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose and Camilo Villegas.

Then players started winning with white drivers. World No. 1 Luke Donald won the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship in February with an R11. Rory Sabbatini won with an R11 the next week at The Honda Classic. In all, 10 players won on the PGA Tour using a white TaylorMade driver, including Darren Clarke at the British Open, giving a white driver its first major championship win. The TaylorMade R11 became the No. 1 driver on the PGA Tour, and the No. 1 selling driver in the United States with a peak market share of 21.68 percent in February.

<<<< Click here to see the discussion in the forums >>>>

Like most successful products, development of a non-traditional colored driver began years ago. Sean Toulon, executive vice president of TaylorMade product creation, played rounds of golf with a fluorescent yellow driver as early as 2004, shortly after TaylorMade introduced another revolutionary driver, the R7. The R7 was the first driver that allowed golfers to quickly and easily make changes to the weighting of the club head. Golfers could move the weight forward, back, and toward the heel and toe to optimize their launch angle, spin rate and directional bias. Within weeks of its release, Sergio Garcia won twice with it. The R7 became the No. 1 driver on Tour and the number one selling driver in the United States with a 10 percent market share. It also became the first driver to be featured the cover of Golf Digest. Lead tape sales have suffered ever since.

As early as 2006, TaylorMade staff players were testing drivers with colors much different than the standard black and greys. There was red, orange, fluorescent yellow, and of course, white. But at that time, a color change was still not a priority at TaylorMade, according to Toulon. In 2009, TaylorMade released another No. 1 driver on Tour, the R9, which gave a golfer the ability to quickly change a club’s shaft, face angle, loft and lie. But this technology presented a new challenge for TaylorMade club designers.

With the R9, and many of the adjustable drivers that followed, changing one variable meant changing several others as well. For example, if a golfer changed the face angle of an R9 to the closed position, he or she would also add loft to the club. If a golfer changed the face angle to open, he or she would also decrease loft on the club.

“We had to solve the riddle,” Toulon said. “If we change one variable, we don’t want to have all these other variables change. We had to decouple these technologies.”

While the R9 became another top-selling driver for TaylorMade, Toulon and many others at TaylorMade felt that it underachieved. Despite the new technology, the sales of the R9 were essentially unchanged from those of the R7. By 2010, Toulon knew the R11 would be the best driver TaylorMade had ever produced. But it had to be different – it had to be anything but black.

Inspiration for the R11’s white color came from an unlikely source, a putter. Bill Price, senior director of Rossa, TaylorMade’s putter division, was working on a line of putters that would help golfers aim better. With the help of an eye doctor, Price figured out that putters with a matte white finish not only reduced glare, but because of the contrast between white paint and black alignment lines, they helped golfers aim better.

“There was real benefit on a putter for white, what an eye looks at and what the eye focuses on,” Toulon said.

The idea made even more sense for a driver. In putting, poor alignment might move a putt two to three inches off line. Because of the increased speed with a driver, poor alignment can send a ball 20 to 30 yards off line or more.

There’s quite a bit of science behind the white paint that goes on TaylorMade drivers, but with white Toulon also saw an opportunity for the company to differentiate itself from its competitors. TaylorMade wasn’t the first company to unveil a white driver (Ian Poulter used a white Cobra Limited Edition ZL driver in November 2010, two months before the release of TaylorMade’s white drivers), but it was the first company to build an entire marketing campaign around a white driver.

TaylorMade’s sales rely heavily in the pyramid of influence, the idea that golfers will follow the lead of the best players in the world when purchasing equipment. The company’s staff players told Toulon how much they loved the white drivers, so he knew white drivers would be in nearly all their bags when they were released. He also knew that for players like Justin Rose, the R11 offered adjustability that had never been possible before.

Rose told TaylorMade club fitters that he wanted a driver that had an opened face angle, but offered a left directional bias. Just a few years ago, the request would have boggled a club fitter. But with the R11, Rose’s request became a possibility. The R11 features an adjustable sole plate that allows golfers to change the face angle by two degrees. By rotating the sole plate to the open position, club fitters were able to give Rose the look he wanted. They could then adjust the face angle and head weighting until they got the left bias Rose wanted.

What to expect in 2012

White is here to stay for TaylorMade, and the company’s 2012 product line will prove that. TaylorMade will release new drivers, fairway woods and rescues in February that will only be available in white. Look for the new line to be used by PGA Tour players before that time. Toulon called the performance of the new line dramatically better, saying it “absolutely obliterates” the 2011 line.

At a TaylorMade photo shoot at Reynolds Plantation in Greensboro, Ga., Toulon said that Dustin Johnson hit the company’s new three wood 317 yards off the ground. Sean O’Hair was averaging 300 yards with the club, and Natalie Gulbis picked up 20-22 yards. According to Toulon, the average distance added by TaylorMade staff players was more than 25 yards.

TaylorMade’s Ghost putters will also see an update, with more belly putters, more long putters and more mallet designs. Toulon said the company has fixed a problem that caused last year’s line of Ghost putters to appear slightly larger than the company intended. The white paint used for the Ghost line is relatively thick, which caused some of the shapes and lines of the putters to be hidden.According to Toulon, the 2012 models will look much more crisp and precise. TaylorMade will also cease production of its EST 1979 putter series, meaning that TaylorMade’s 2012 lineup will include only white putters.

<<<< Click here to see the discussion in the forums >>>

Whats in the Bag

Christiaan Maas WITB 2026 (June)

Published

2 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

5 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.