Rory McIlroy to use a new driver at US Open after concerns at Canadian Open

Rory McIlroy struggled with his drivers for two events straight. After his TaylorMade Qi10 failed a random test just before the 2025 PGA Championship, the Northern Irishman was left concerned again as he missed the cut at the RBC Canadian Open last week. Following this, the Northern Irishman confirmed his decision to move on from the TaylorMade Qi35 as well.

Ahead of the US Open 2025, McIlroy has revealed settling on a brand-new driver. However, the golfer didn’t reveal the model he intends to use in the major championship at Oakmont.

The latest career Grand Slam winner, who used a backup driver in his tied-47th finish at the PGA Championship, said he was “testing quite a few drivers over the weekend.” Interestingly, the 36-year-old was seen using a Qi10 driver during a practice round at Oakmont.

The ace golfer, who was T47 at the last major, teased his plans to use the familiar model during this week's major despite it being found ‘non-conforming’ after a routine inspection two weeks earlier.

Here is how Rory McIlroy’s driver conversation with the media went on Tuesday, June 10, as quoted by ASAP Sports:

“Q. Have you settled on a driver that you want to use this week, first of all?

Rory McIlroy: Yeah.

Q. What is it?

McIlroy: A TaylorMade. (Laughter.)

Q. What model?

McIlroy: I mean, come out and watch me hit balls, and you'll see.”

Interestingly, McIlroy further dismissed claims of a short-notice driver model switch affecting his performance at the PGA Championship. The TGL co-founder said a similar switch didn’t affect champion Scottie Scheffler at Quail Hollow.

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Rory McIlroy returns to Masters winning driver?

Rory McIlroy’s driver will be under high scrutiny at the upcoming major weekend. For the unversed, the last two winners of the US Open at Oakmont - Angel Cabrera in 2007 and Dustin Johnson in 2016 - both led the field in driving distance. McIlroy’s chance to extend his major trophy count at Oakmont will be highly affected by his driver performance.

Now, the Northern Irishman is expected to return to the Qi10 this weekend despite having troubles with it at Quail Hollow. It is pertinent to note that McIlroy won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier this year with this driver. However, he ditched it for the Qi35 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. After struggling with it at Bay Hill Club, the golfer had his Qi10 delivered for the final round via Uber.

He stuck with it for The Players Championship and the Masters, both of which he won. However, he switched it again as the 'gamer' driver failed a routine inspection at the PGA Championship. Now, the ace golfer is expected to return to the Qi10 eyeing his sixth career major title.

Ahead of the US Open outing, PGA Tour star Justin Thomas and LIV rival Dustin Johnson both came out to laud McIlroy’s driver skills. Johnson, who won the major at Oakmont in 2016, suggested his PGA Tour rival should ‘send it as often as he could’ this weekend.