Rory’s Equipment Watch at US Open

With the year’s second major championship looming, McIlroy took some time to chat with PGATOUR.COM about a number of equipment topics, from potential changes he’ll be making for Pinehurst

[Q] PGATOUR: Are you going to make any changes to your bag setup after playing a practice round at Pinehurst? [/Q]

[A] RORY: I’ll be putting a [Nike VR Pro Blade] 3-iron back in the bag. For most of this year, I’ve started with a 4-iron and had four wedges, but at Pinehurst I’m going to put the 3-iron back in and go with a three-wedge system. There’s going to be a few holes where I’m going to need 3-iron off the tee, and there’s going to be a par-3 where I’m likely going to be hitting the iron a couple of days. [/A]

[Q] PGATOUR: What wedge are you going to drop, and what was the reasoning behind going with another long-iron over your usual four wedge setup? [/Q]

[A] RORY: There’s not really a lot of wedges at Pinehurst, especially into the greens. You’re going to be hitting at least mid- to long-irons into a lot of those par 4’s, so the need for the extra wedge wasn’t really there.

As for the wedge I’ll be taking out, I typically go pitching wedge, 52, 56, 59 [degrees], but for the U.S. Open, I’ll be going pitching wedge, 54 and 59 [degrees]. So the 52 and 56 are out, and the 54 is in for the week.

[Q] You added Nike’s VR X3X Toe Sweep wedge (59 degrees) to the bag the week you won the BMW PGA Championship. What was it about that wedge that appealed to you, and what was the testing process like? [/Q]

[A] When I was introduced to the Toe Sweep wedge, it obviously looks a little different than what you’re used to in a wedge. I was just messing around with the wedge at home the week before [the BMW PGA Championship] and just wanted to see what it was like. I started hitting some shots out of the rough with it and found that the ball was so much easier to control out of the rough with that wedge than anything else that I had tried.

That was why I decided to put it in play at Wentworth where I knew if you miss the green, you’re going to likely be in rough. My short game on the last day obviously helped me win, so I think it’s been a great addition to the bag.

Are you going to keep the 59-degree Toe Sweep wedge in the bag at Pinehurst?

I’m not sure sure I’ll put it in play at Pinehurst because there’s no rough around the greens. There’s a lot of runoffs and tight shots where you might not need a wedge like that. I’ll probably just go back to my 59-degree [Nike VR Forged] wedge I was using before. [/A]

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