Rory McIlroy's Green Jacket defense couldn't have got off to a better start on Thursday, as a five-under 67 has him sharing the lead with Sam Burns.
Carding five birdies over his final 11 holes, the 36-year-old looked in control of his game at Augusta National, with an old club making its way back into McIlroy's Masters WITB.
First reported by Inside Tour Golf, McIlroy has changed his TaylorMade Qi4D 3-wood for the TaylorMade Qi10, a model he used to complete the Career Grand Slam last year.
Currently, the reason for the change is unknown, but McIlroy did use the club well over his first round, highlighted by his approach into the par 5 eighth hole, where he put his second to 25-foot from over 265-yards.
It appears he may have used it for his tee shot at the fifth and 10th, with it seemingly featuring the same shaft as his former gamer, the Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X.
Previously, McIlroy had been using the TaylorMade Qi4D, putting the driver, 3-wood and 5-wood in-play back at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in November 2025.
At The Masters, the driver and 5-wood have remained, with McIlroy hitting just 36% of his fairways during round one, averaging 341-yards, 32-yards more than the field average.
Seemingly, the rest of his bag is unchanged and, going into Friday of The Masters, the Career Grand Slam winner will hope the clubs keep performing as he looks to make history.
Looking to become the fourth player in Masters history to win back-to-back, McIlroy tees off off at 1.44pm (ET) in the penultimate group for the second round.
He will once again be alongside Cameron Young and Mason Howell, who carded a one-over 73 and five-over 78, respectively.
