“Rory McIlroy’s ‘gamer’ driver was deemed non-conforming by USGA,” this was the post from Jason Sobel, which left the entire golf world in shock. Rory McIlroy, who recently achieved a career high of becoming a grand slam winner, has now been under scrutiny for using an illegal piece. But in reality, the process was different from what the majority knows about.

The Northern Irishman earned praise for his exceptional driving distance, along with the great speed at which he carries while driving the club towards the ball. But the fact that speed might have become his enemy now. In the first round, McIlroy started with a bogey, and against expectations, he recorded just two birdies, while adding three bogeys and a double bogey to close the round at 74. The golfer who was expected to showcase the unbeaten form has now struggled to stay under par. But was it his fault?

Well, with his performance decline, it was the course condition that was being blamed. However, in reality, it was something else. McIlroy’s Qi10 driver failed the USGA’s stringent check. The USGA, along with the R&A, checks all the parameters around the equipment, and in McIlroy’s case, his driver’s head was ‘non-conforming.’

McIlroy could have been using the same driver at the Masters as well, but at that time, it could have been ‘conforming.’ Though the details are not shared but as per the golf insiders, the head that takes the hit might have gotten cracked with the high speed and resulted in a last-minute change for him. Basically, over time, a driver can become ‘non-conforming’ once you hit it more.

In 2019, the Tour announced the policy for testing normal wear and tear, becoming conforming drivers to go over allowable for “spring-like” effect. For the fact, players are not aware of the clubs with such an issue until it is tested. However, for McIlroy’s case, further details will come out if the golfer agrees to share them. But what has been confirmed is his performance taking the tool with all the driver issues.

Rory McIlroy’s driver change performance compared

The World No. 2 has been among the leaders with stats, be it the stroke gained in total, where he is second (2.184), or the stroke gained off the tee, which McIlroy leads with 0.869. But unfortunately, his stats and performance saw a downside after his driver took a toll.

After his first round with 4 bogeys and a double bogey, the golfer switched back to his backup driver. Until the first 9 nine holes, the result was in favor as he recorded three birdies and zero bogeys. But as the last nine holes started, he repeated the same feat as in the first round. McIlroy recorded a birdie on the 10th and then a bogey on the 11th. Even further, bogey count increased with the 12th, 17th, and 18th holes.

With 8 birdies and 7 bogeys in account after two rounds, the great decline in driving can be the reason. Until now, the golfer has recorded a driving accuracy of 35.7%, which is might be the lowest of the season.

But now that he has gotten the hang of his driver and the course conditions, will he be able to recover from barely making the cut to the top spots of the leaderboard? What are your thoughts on it? Share with us in the comments below.