Why Rory McIlroy Added Loft to His Milled Grind 5 60° Wedge
It may not seem like a big deal to us mere mortals, but to a PGA TOUR pro one degree can be the difference between a win and a loss. If you don’t believe me, just ask Rory McIlroy.
With his focus directly on Augusta, Rory switched to a 60° low bounce lob wedge bent to 61° ahead of his first start of the season at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. That one degree paid off immediately as he won at Pebble Beach and then went on to capture his second title at THE PLAYERS and secure the career Grand Slam in Augusta.
Then, Rory's remarkable 2025 continued on his home soil winning the Amgen Irish Open in his first start with the all-new Milled Grind 5 wedges.
The conversation of making this now crucial adjustment was centered around two areas of Rory’s game: turf interaction, specifically on tighter grass, and the 40-to-70-yard wedge shot. Rory simply wanted to explore how to make those shots easier.
“That distance is the hardest shot to hit with a wedge, even for a tour pro. Tour players are really comfortable on half shots, three-quarter shots and full shots. A half shot with a 60° wedge probably goes around 75-yards, so the 60-yard or less shot is a lot harder. By bending Rory's lob wedge to 61°, the shorter shots from 40-to-70 yards are much easier for him. He can utilize more speed, which means more control to this those awkward numbers."Keith Sbarbaro, VP of Tour Operations
Adding more loft to his lob wedge also slightly increases the bounce and leading edge sit point, which is where the leading edge sits at address in relation to the ground. This helps Rory’s short game by preventing the low bounce wedge from catching in the grain to perform well on tighter grass like at Augusta.
Before winning the Amgen Irish Open, Rory switched into a new Milled Grind 5 60° LB lob wedge still bent to 61°, as well as MG5 46°, 50° and 54° wedges. MG5 checked the three main boxes of what Rory looks for in a wedge: the visual of how it sets up, ground interaction specifically with his lob wedge and feel.
Spin Tread Technology and the new saw milled grooves of MG5 also enhanced performance in damp/wet conditions creating more friction resulting in higher and more consistent spin, as well as slightly lower launch.
- HEAD: MG5 60° LB
- FINISHED LOFT: 61°
- LIE: 63.5°
- LENGTH: 35 1/8’’ CUT
- SWINGWEIGHT: D5
- SHAFT: Project X 6.5 Wedge
Photo Courtesy of SMS On Tour
- HEAD: MG5 54° SB
- FINISHED LOFT: 54°
- LIE: 63°
- LENGTH: 35 1/2’’ CUT
- SWINGWEIGHT: D4.5
- SHAFT: Project X 6.5
Photo Courtesy of SMS On Tour
- HEAD: MG5 50° SB
- FINISHED LOFT: 50°
- LIE: 62.5°
- LENGTH: 35 3/4’’ CUT
- SWINGWEIGHT: D4.5
- SHAFT: Project X 6.5
Photo Courtesy of SMS On Tour
- HEAD: MG5 46° SB
- FINISHED LOFT: 46°
- LIE: 62°
- LENGTH: 36’’ CUT
- SWINGWEIGHT: D4
- SHAFT: Project X 6.5
Photo Courtesy of SMS On Tour
Rory plays Golf Pride’s Multi-Compound 60 Rib grip with one layer of double side tape and one layer of single sided tape.
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