![\"TaylorMade](\"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/gear\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786343172_649_coredriver1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nListen, if you\u2019ve spent any time around a Tour truck, you know that the distance between a \u201cgood\u201d driver fitting and a \u201clegendary\u201d one is measured in fractions of a millimeter\u2026 and a whole lot of sweat. I recently sat down with TaylorMade\u2019s Senior Tour Manager, Adrian Rietveld, for an episode of\u00a0Tour Validated, and what he broke down regarding Rory McIlroy\u2019s transition into the\u00a0Qi4D\u00a0is the kind of gear-head gold that keeps me up at night.<\/p>\n
Rietveld, a.k.a. AD, has been a close buddy since my days back at WRX, and watching his evolution from a new U.S. hire coming over from the DP World Tour to the Alpha fitter on the TaylorMade truck has been one of my proudest things to witness in this industry. There\u2019s nothing better than getting those texts early in the season when he\u2019s had a breakthrough with a player or a new piece of tech. The passion and dedication is inspiring; honestly, much of what I know about this game comes from this guy and Callaway\u2019s Kellen Watson. Podcasts like this make me really grateful all over again.<\/p>\n
“><\/p>\n
Precision at 190 MPH: The \u2018Rory Robot\u2019<\/p>\n
Adrian started peeling back the curtain on the R&D process at The Kingdom. Imagine a robot calibrated specifically to Rory\u2019s delivery: 5 degrees up, high 180s to 190 mph ball speed. That isn\u2019t just a machine; it\u2019s a simulation of a freak of nature.<\/p>\n
The stress in the room was palpable. Adrian noted that at those speeds, a face angle discrepancy of just\u00a00.2 degrees, a literal hair\u2019s breadth, would send the ball off the range. It gives you a chilling appreciation for how precise Rory has to be with his own hands. When the robot finally started spitting out that signature Rory flight, Adrian knew they were close. But \u201cclose\u201d doesn\u2019t win green jackets.<\/p>\n
The 2400 RPM Sweet Spot<\/p>\n
For years, the \u201cRory Number\u201d has been 2200 to 2400 RPM of spin. That\u2019s where he owns the air. The challenge with the new\u00a0Qi4D\u00a0architecture was tightening the standard deviation without losing the integrity of the flight.<\/p>\n
Adrian described a session at The Bears Club where the data was almost unbelievable. We\u2019re talking about 190 mph ball speeds with a spin deviation of maybe 150 RPM over dozens of shots. That is pure, unadulterated consistency. It\u2019s the kind of performance that makes a guy like Rory put down his old gamer and never look back. In fact, Adrian mentioned that once Rory hit the final Qi4D build, he didn\u2019t even pick up his previous driver again.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
TaylorMade Qi4D Custom Driver<\/p>\n
SHAPED FOR SPEED The re-engineered head profile increases ball speed thanks to improved\u00a0aerodynamics developed through advanced simulations. FACE FOR DISTANCE 60x Carbon Twist Face\u2122 is a technological cornerstone that provides weight savings, incredible\u00a0ball speed and more consistency vs. a titanium face. ADJUSTABLE PERFORMANCE 4\u00b0 loft sleeve can be used to adjust loft, lie and face angle for optimized flight. TOUR PROVEN TECHNOLOGIES New and improved cut-through Speed Pocket\u2122 protects ball speed and reduces spin\u00a0on low-face strikes. Advanced CAD modeling creates a design with a clean and powerful sound, a foundation\u00a0of TaylorMade driver performance. Multi-Material Construction allows engineers to strategically place mass in areas of the\u00a0head where it maximizes performance, speed, and stability.<\/p>\n
View Product
\nThe \u2018Harry Diamond\u2019 Effect<\/p>\n
One of the coolest nuggets Adrian dropped was about the visual evolution of the club. When they were looking at finished parts at Wentworth, Rory\u2019s caddy, Harry Diamond, made a crucial observation. Harry pointed out that while the earlier prototype was clean, the retail-leaning Qi10 had a distinct top line on the crown.<\/p>\n
Rory was looking at both, and Harry, who knows Rory\u2019s eye better than anyone, helped bridge that gap. Adrian realized it was easy to just bring both versions to The Bears Club for the final showdown. Having Harry involved isn\u2019t just about carrying the bag; it\u2019s about that second set of eyes that ensures the player isn\u2019t just seeing good numbers, but seeing a look that inspires total confidence.<\/p>\n
Rory McIlroy\u2019s Qi4D driver specs<\/p>\n
![\"Rory](\"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/gear\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/RoryQi4D.jpg\")
\n Rorys Qi4D<\/p>\n
Johnny Wunder <\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t an off-the-rack build. Every gram and every quarter-inch was debated. Here is the full breakdown of the big stick Rory used to conquer Augusta:<\/p>\n
Driver Head:\u00a0TaylorMade\u00a0Qi4D<\/p>\n
FCT Sleeve:\u00a0Two clicks lower (1.5\u00b0 sleeve)<\/p>\n
Actual Loft:\u00a08\u00b0<\/p>\n
Face:\u00a0Grey with fiducials and\u00a0top line<\/p>\n
Front Weights:\u00a04g toe, 4g heel<\/p>\n
Back Weights:\u00a011g toe, 11g heel<\/p>\n
Shaft:\u00a0Fujikura Ventus Black OG 6-X<\/p>\n
Length:\u00a045.75\u2033 EOG<\/p>\n
Tipping:\u00a01\u2033<\/p>\n
Swingweight:\u00a0D5<\/p>\n
The Architect of the Top of the Pyramid<\/p>\n
Beyond the nuts and bolts of one driver, you have to look at the run Rietveld has been on with TaylorMade. It\u2019s unprecedented. We\u2019re talking about a guy who has managed the bags of the top three players in the world simultaneously, a \u201cFitter\u2019s Triple Crown\u201d that most in the industry can only dream of.<\/p>\n
His track record isn\u2019t just about longevity; it\u2019s about stability. Adrian has overseen a period where TaylorMade athletes have captured seven of the last nine Masters titles. Whether it\u2019s Scottie Scheffler\u2019s unmatched ball-striking, Tommy Fleetwood\u2019s unique iron requirements, or Rory\u2019s pursuit of the career Grand Slam, Adrian is the common denominator. He has transitioned from a \u201cdriver specialist\u201d into a master of the entire bag, proving that the secret sauce at TaylorMade isn\u2019t just the carbon, it\u2019s also the people who know how to tune it.<\/p>\n
The Emotional Connection<\/p>\n
What I love about Adrian is that he isn\u2019t just a \u201cnumbers guy.\u201d He takes this personally. He talked about the stress of the \u201cMasters pursuit\u201d and the 10 years of work leading up to Rory\u2019s recent success.<\/p>\n
You can have all the robots and Trackman data in the world, but at the end of the day, it\u2019s about a player looking down at a piece of carbon and feeling like he was \u201cborn with a driver in his hand.\u201d Rory\u2019s specific Qi4D setup, with that grey face and the top line Harry helped dial in, was a collaborative build that started as a shell at East Lake and ended with a green jacket.<\/p>\n
Want to overhaul your bag in 2026?\u00a0Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen, if you\u2019ve spent any time around a Tour truck, you know that the distance between a \u201cgood\u201d…","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6509,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"csco_display_header_overlay":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_volume":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[33],"class_list":["post-6508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-taylormade","tag-taylormade","cs-entry","cs-video-wrap"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@fogolf\/117145715588414921","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/gear\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/gear\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/gear\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/gear\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/gear\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/gear\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6508\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/gear\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/gear\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/gear\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/gear\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}