Equipment

GolfWRX Spotlight: Tour Edge Exotics EXS 220 driver

Published

6 years ago

Jan 30, 2020

Product: Tour Edge Exotics EXS 220 driver

Pitch from Tour Edge: “The Tour Edge Exotics EXS 220 driver is a substantial leap forward in design and innovation. This driver is packed with the latest technology that Tour Edge has to offer like Diamond Face Technology where behind the face there are diamond shapes in different thicknesses to produce a massive sweet spot. This Diamond Face Technology produces a hotter face, faster ball speeds, better performance on off-center hits, as well as spin reduction.”

“The Ultra-Premium 8-1-1 titanium and Triple Carbon tech allow for more weight repositioning to the back of the head. This weight repositioning, along with the elongated shape help create an extremely high MOI, one of the highest in a driver. Finally, the EXS 220 features an adjustable hosel that gives +/- 2 degrees of loft adjustment, combined with the three offered loft heads, to fit any golfer.”

Our take on the Tour Edge Exotics EXS 220 driver

The Tour Edge Exotics line tends to only get a lot of focus on the fairway woods, but those aren’t the only ones that deserve some attention. Last year’s Exotics EXS driver was a lower-launching driver that really performed great and not enough people noticed or gave it a try. So this year, Tour Edge decided to pull out all the stops and really load up the Exotics EXS 220 with all the technology that they currently have!

Open the box, and the Exotics EXS 220 greets you with a white-and-black headcover with a nice leather feel to it. Take that off, and underneath is a driver head with a whole lot of carbon fiber staring back at you. The top of the head is a nice gloss black that fades into the carbon fiber and the sole features a section of the toe and heel with a blue-tinted version of the same carbon. The fit and finish are really high-quality, and you can tell that the folks at Tour Edge took the time to make sure everything went together seamlessly. Fit and finish are what you would expect from a $500-plus driver, and the Exotics EXS 220 costs only $350!

tour edge exotics exs 220 driver crown

Out on the course, the Exotics EXS 220’s elongated shape will turn some of you away, but those of you who stay will be impressed. Setting the driver down gives you a square, if not slightly open, face angle in the neutral setting. Adding loft will close the face, so if face angle is important to you, buy the next loft up.

The first ball impression was really good, the ball jumps off the face and goes straight! That shape and deep weighting really do make the Exotics EXS 220 a straight driving machine. The stability of the head is easily shown off: balls hit off the toe and heel still go left and right, but the amount of movement is greatly reduced. My (main) miss is low heel and those shots still got higher up in the air and held off from going farther right than I usually expect. Same experience on toe contact as well: the ball just didn’t have the same drastic movement and direction as you would expect. Shots hit in the center of the face are going to give you a nice high, low-spinning, shot that bores you the entire time.

Launch is effortless and definitely higher than the previous EXS driver. The Exotics EXS 220 has an internal Sound Diffusion Bar to engineer the sound profile, and the noise it makes is actually pretty good. A nice solid crack is created at impact, but if I allow myself to nitpick, I would prefer the sound to be a few decibels lower.

tour edge exotics exs 220 driver face

Overall, the Tour Edge Exotics EXS 220 driver is a real contender with the more expensive offerings this year. If you are looking for a driver that is going to help you hit it higher and straighter, the Exotics EXS 220 has to be on your list this year.

Equipment

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

Published

3 mins 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.

Equipment

From the GolfWRX Classifieds: Titleist Vokey Proto Wedges 54M, 60T

Published

3 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Will Schube

At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @Putt4Dough is selling some prototype wedges from Vokey Wedgeworks. These include a 54 degree wedge with the M grind and a 60 degree wedge with a T grind.

From the listing:

(1) Titleist Vokey Proto Wedge 54M with a Tour Issue DGS400 shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet (logo down). Standard length, lie, and loft. BB&F ferrule. Raw wedge in good condition. No initials. Price is $200 shipped. Buy both wedges for $380 shipped.

(2) Titleist Vokey Proto Wedge 60T with a KBS Tour 130X shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet. Standard length, lie, and loft. Raw wedge in good condition. No initials. Price is $200 shipped. Buy both wedges for $380 shipped.

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules.