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We didn’t have to wait long for this redo in the desert. Less than two months ago Collin Morikawa edged out Rory McIlroy to become the first American winner of the DP World Tour’s Race Dubai - while doubling up with a win at the DP World Championship.
This week at Yas Links Abu Dhabi, an hour away from the scene of the last showdown, these two Team TaylorMade athletes again headline a field at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. A lot has changed in a short time, including what’s in the bag for both players.
The introduction of Stealth Carbonwood™ drivers turned heads at the first two PGA TOUR tournaments of 2022. A red face made from carbon tends to do that. But when visible technology matches visible performance, that’s when the world’s best truly take notice. Including McIlroy and Morikawa, Team TaylorMade has a total of 8 Stealth drivers in play this week at the first DP World Tour Event of 2022.
After debuting Stealth Plus at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, Collin Morikawa will again play the Stealth Plus at 8° set two notches lower, using the FCT loft sleeve to his advantage. Morikawa gained +3.656 strokes Off The Tee at Sentry, ranking second amongst the field, marking his best finish (field rank) in SG: OTT at a tournament in his career.
“I’ve actually seen some increases in ball speed. This is the first time I’ve…seen that jump, which is great. Anytime you can get a little more ball speed, get a little more distance, it’s going to be helpful. The carbon creates a feel that you normally wouldn’t get off a titanium face, and it’s unbelievable. Obviously (you notice) the red face. Took me five hits, and I don’t even think about it anymore…it looks so clean.” Collin Morikawa at Sentry Tournament of Champions
The two-time major winner and reigning Race to Dubai Champion also made a familiar strategical change upon arriving at the firmer links turf of Yas Links. Just as he had prior to winning the open Championship, Morikawa has put P7MC 8 and 9 irons in the bag after noticing better turf interaction with P·7MC vs P·730 short irons.
Morikawa has shown his confidence and strategy with both the P·7MC and P·730 irons consistently in his career when turf conditions have changed across various tournament sites.
Rory McIlroy features the full line of Stealth Plus Carbonwood, including a driver set at 9 degrees in his usual spec and has seen the benefit of controlling the shape of his drives with 60x Carbon Twist Face. He will also have Stealth Plus fairway woods in his 2022 debut with both the titanium 3-wood and 5-wood in the bag. During testing, McIlroy grew comfortable with the re-engineered 80g V Steel™ sole while seeing consistent ball flight and spin leading up to competition in Abu Dhabi.
McIlroy teed off the first round with a fresh set of P·7MB irons (4-PW) while trading his trusted SIM Max Rescue for a P·770 3-iron for both optimal distance and added control.
Five-time winner on the DP World Tour Tommy Fleetwood is also making his 2022 debut in Abu Dhabi. Fleetwood has had his Stealth Plus 9° Carbonwood in the bag during practice sessions since November. He landed on setting the driver two notches lower to dial in the start line, launch and spin. Fleetwood got off to a strong start with an opening round 68.
“When we worked with Tommy before Thanksgiving, we landed on setting his 9° Stealth Plus at two notches lower and he has been comfortable with it since. This set up allows Tommy to dial in his start line, launch and spin and he has noticed a common theme of tighter spin on mis-hits and overall consistency of ball speed, like many of our athletes have over the last few months of testing.” Sam Day, TaylorMade Tour Representative
Coming off his first career DP World Tour win at the DS Automobiles Italian Open just four months ago, Nicolai Hojgaard had immediate ball speed gains with the Stealth Plus 9° Carbonwood. In testing, Hojgaard saw consistent gains of over 3 MPH ball speed exceeding 190 MPH with better dispersion compared to his SIM2 driver.
Nicolai Hojgaard WITB
While practicing during on-course testing with his twin brother Nicolai, Rasmus Hojgaard worked with the TaylorMade tour team to tweak weights and loft on his Stealth Plus driver, eventually landing with a 10.5° head set at one notch lower. The three-time DP World Tour winner and reigning Omega European Masters champion also switched into the TP5 golf ball for 2022.
Rasmus Hojgaard WITB
Scottish lefty Robert MacInytre matched the spec of his SIM2 fairway woods and switched into the Stealth Plus Titanium 3-wood and 5-woods finding improvements in spin rate and land angle. During testing, McIntyre added a silver paint pen to the grooves of both fairway woods to help see the loft and face angle better at address, leaving with supreme confidence in both Stealth Plus fairways. After an extended holiday break, he’s continuing to test the Stealth Carbonwood driver and expects to dial in its performance in the coming week.
Robert MacIntyre WITB
Additional Team TaylorMade athletes in the field include Romain Langasue (Stealth Plus 8° driver), Frenchmen Victor Dubuisson (Stealth 9° driver) and Haoton Li (Stealth Plus 9°), who a had a strong performance at the Sony Open finishing T12 at 15-under-par in his first event returning to Team TaylorMade.