Equipment
Spotted: Tiger Woods testing a TaylorMade Ardmore 3 putter (updated w/ in-hand pics)
Using the Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS, which he’s won 13-of-14 majors with in his career, Tiger Woods is 89th in Strokes Gained: Putting in 2018. He’s also T37 (28.59) in putts per round and 118th in Total Putting. Not good.
With putting stats that poor midway through the season, it’s no wonder why Tiger was spotted on Tuesday at the 2018 Quicken Loans National testing out a new putter; it’s a TaylorMade TP Black Copper Ardmore 3. This is also one of the few times throughout his career that Tiger is testing a mallet putter, or a putter with an insert. From the photos, it appears Tiger has 2.5 gram weights on the toe and heel sole ports.
Check out photos below of the Ardmore 3 putter, and click here for more photos and discussion.
Click here for more photos and discussion.
Listen below for further speculation on Tiger’s testing.
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.
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
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.
What’s the story behind Webb Simpson’s custom-stamped irons?
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Peter Boz
Jul 21, 2018 at 11:15 pm
Does not matter which putter he uses. His career is over. I heard he may join the Navy Seals after all.
sandy1966
Aug 5, 2018 at 8:29 pm
I agree new putter will never help, maybe he should try Web.com tour…
Ryan Michael
Jun 28, 2018 at 10:32 pm
Only Tiger knows what is best for Tiger but if anybody here has 15 plus majors I’m sure he’ll be glad to take your advice!
faq
Jun 28, 2018 at 3:40 pm
HALLELUJAH !!!! Tiger been resurrected!!!! Praise be to TM Ardmore 3 !!!!
orangeology
Jun 28, 2018 at 1:28 pm
as of 120pm Thu, TT just confirmed that the Scotty is in the bag. it was a TM marketing gesture after all. #scottyorbust
orangeology
Jun 28, 2018 at 1:33 pm
never mind, my bad misleading. TT meant Don Cameron himself. not the putter. he seems with the mallet.
Kevin Arnold
Jun 27, 2018 at 9:14 pm
It’s the Twin Pod Cloud Car…..Empire Strikes Back….Taylor Made R&D is up to date on their Star Wars knockoffs.
Dennis Clark
Jun 27, 2018 at 7:58 pm
If the stroke has changed and the new putter fits the new stroke, great idea. If lack of confidence is the problem, not sure it will help. I hope it does. He’s the best pressure putter Ive ever seen…
ben jones
Jun 27, 2018 at 6:22 pm
#7 kicked my Scotty out of the bag. Much easier to putt with and with more confidence. Also, I didn’t have to bend over to pick up the ball. Saving my back.
A. Nal
Jun 27, 2018 at 4:40 pm
Would drive me crazy to look at a banged up putter head. Surprised he doesn’t take better care of the putter.
ogo
Jun 27, 2018 at 3:48 pm
Perusing the top view of the putter, I bet that fanged flange has been sized to easily scoop up the ball…. without Tiger having to bend over and strain his wonky back… to pick up the ball on the green when conceding the hole.
f3h
Jun 27, 2018 at 2:09 pm
Looking at the amount of wear on that putter, this testing has been going on for quite some time
ogo
Jun 27, 2018 at 3:44 pm
If Tiger rejects the TaylorMade TP Black Copper Ardmore 3 and reverts back to his old trusty Scotty, that will destroy the marketability of the TM putter. Seems he will have to play the Ardmore to support his sponsor – TM.
The Dude
Jun 27, 2018 at 7:44 pm
haha…..stupid
dlygrisse
Jun 27, 2018 at 1:52 pm
Surprised that he went with a site line on the flange as opposed to a dot on the top rail. That is a huge difference visually! Then again maybe that is what he is going for, drastic change in order to reboot.
Chuck Barkley
Jun 27, 2018 at 4:47 am
Ooooooooooh!!! Now who’s nutty for suggesting Eldrick consider game improvement equipment?! Wasn’t it moi that got bashed around here for suggesting that the former and never again great one make a move towards GI gear? Irons are NEXT!! Put the blades away dude, you do not have the precision to manage those either! I saw this coming 20 minutes ago! Soon to be 43 dawg, the game is moving down the tracks with or without your blades, or the GI putter.
Matty
Jun 27, 2018 at 12:24 pm
obviously you have not been watching him play lately, not to many people striking the ball better than he is with blades…………… however, a new putter and some confidence with it, not a bad idea….
Chuck Barkley
Jun 27, 2018 at 2:26 pm
Oh jeez, here we go with the “You obviously have not been watching him play lately……bla bla bla,” nonsense! Did you add your Joe Buck, Mr. Radio Deep Voice when you wrote that? Next you’ll be making excuses when he dons the latest GI irons from TM. You guys crack me up with your Die Hard love of the former great one!
Dude is trying to WIN, not be leader in greens in regulation! WAKE UP ELDRICK fans!!
Chuck Barkley
Jun 27, 2018 at 2:30 pm
My radio voice to Matty; Uhhhhh…….he’s really a leader in ball striking with blades?! Lol! To use your intro; “obviously you missed the US Open and his missed cut!!
The Truth
Jun 27, 2018 at 12:35 pm
You Sir are an Idiot
Alex
Jun 26, 2018 at 6:12 pm
Whoever had the idea of showing Tiger putters at Taylormade needs to be fired immediately.
Travis
Jun 26, 2018 at 4:35 pm
He needs to change something on the greens. Do you want to be remembered by the iconic Scotty of the past, or how many Majors you win by the end of it?
His ball striking has been so phenomenal in his return, but his putting has arguably cost him two wins this season already. Something HAS to change for him, good move!
dat
Jun 26, 2018 at 2:56 pm
Change was desperately needed. He hung up the rest of that lifestyle (afaik) and needed to hang the ol’ Scotty up as well.
roger
Jun 26, 2018 at 2:36 pm
Tiger Testing 1-2-3 …. Tiger Testing 1-2-3 …. Tiger Testing 1-2-3
PJ
Jun 26, 2018 at 1:58 pm
Good move!
Dr Troy
Jun 26, 2018 at 1:52 pm
Hell hath frozen over
Chuck Barkley
Jun 27, 2018 at 4:48 am
And the pigs are flyin’