The reason Rory McIlroy had to ditch treasured driver that took him to World No 1

Something called the “trampoline effect” has Rory McIlroy on the rebound and grieving his former partner. Boy, he is missing the driver which carried him back to world No 1, but which he felt forced to split with two tournaments ago because of the fears that the club had suddenly become illegal.

An opening 76 at the Players Championship – McIIroy’s worst first round in almost two years – confirms that he has four weeks before the Masters in which to forge the same, or at least a similar, relationship with the new TaylorMade Stealth in his bag.

“I wish I could use my driver from last year, but I can’t because it just wouldn’t pass the test,” he said, before explaining the nature of the complex issue. “The more a club is used the more springy the face becomes. And then it would fail the COR [coefficient of restitution] regulations – the [measurements of the] ‘trampoline effect’ basically.”

McIlroy knew the moment would come when, as one of the best drivers who has ever graced, and consistently found, the fairways, he would have to say goodbye to the wand and that realisation hit home after the first round of the Genesis Invitational on his penultimate start three weeks ago.

At the time he joked the change had been inspired by watching Tiger Woods outdrive him, but the truth was rather more pressing.

“They were testing [the drivers] there at Riviera and I didn’t even want to take the chance,” he said. “I just was not comfortable. It wouldn’t have looked good on me and wouldn’t have looked good on [equipment provider] TaylorMade. So after more than a year I changed it on that Thursday night.”

The result has hardly been disastrous, even though he has fallen to world No 3 in this timeframe. McIlroy finished tied 29th in LA before coming second on Sunday in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Yet for a golfer who has said that the bulk of his competitive mojo depends on his form with the big club – “driving well is where my confidence on the course comes from” – he is desperate to turn up at Augusta for his ninth attempt at completing the career grand slam with his tee-game at its sharpest.

The problem is that you cannot hurry love. Not with a one-wood anyway. “I’m obviously trying my best to get something that’s as close to what I had last year, but these driver heads are so finicky that it’s hard to get one exactly the same,” he said. “This one is actually as close as I’ve come but I’ve still been struggling. And, to be honest, there is quite a lot of user error in there.”

McIlroy was hardly distraught, despite beginning with a six and closing with a six. Granted, the opening double-bogey (he started on the 10th) was a ghastly way to kickstart his attempt to win a second Sawgrass title and so collect this record $4.5 million (£3.77 million) first prize, but over his 16 years as a pro the 33-year-old has learnt the art of patience.

“I just couldn’t really get anything going – I hit it in the middle of the fairway on the ninth [his final hole] and to make bogey is obviously very disappointing,” he said.

“I need to regroup and try to shoot a good one tomorrow and be here for the weekend. And there are plenty of birdie opportunities out there. You’ve got the four par-fives which are very gettable, and then you’ve got a few other gettable holes; the fourth and 12th specifically. If you’re on your game, you should be making birdie on those.”

But finding the cut stuff is an absolute must. “Yeah, you don’t hit it on the fairway here, you’re going to be up against it,” he said. “This rough is as penal as I’ve seen it here for a long time. I think you’d have to go back to when the tournament was played in May, when we were in Bermuda rough, for it to be as penal as this.”

McIlroy played alongside Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler as the PGA Tour put out the world’s top-three ranked in the marquee grouping. McIlroy was outscored by five shots by the former and eight shots by the latter. His deficit with the top of the leaderboard is yet more pronounced. Chad Ramey, the world 225, fired a brilliant eight-under 64, with 2021 Open champion Collin Morikawa a shot further back.

Justin Rose is on three under and after his comeback victory at Pebble Beach last month the 42-year-old is feeling resurgent. “That win [his first title in four years] really has re-energised me, especially in regards to looking at my career in terms of decades,” the Englishman said. “Definitely 30 to 40 was my golden era, when I won the [2013] US Open and Olympic gold [in 2016], and did most of the damage and set up my resume. But that’s done, it’s in the rearview mirror, and now my focus is on what I can achieve in my decade from 40 to 50. That’s the fresh challenge.”