Which Ball Will Teams Use in Zurich? Defending Champs Find a Loophole

Alright, so here we are, diving into the vortex that is the Zurich Classic. Imagine this: Rory McIlroy, fresh off donning the legendary green jacket at the Masters, rides the high into New Orleans. I mean, what a whirlwind, right? The man has probably forgotten what sleep is! Anyway, he’s here with Shane Lowry, trying to defend their title in the only team event the PGA Tour’s got.

Now, Rory’s week has been crazy. After basking in his Masters glory, he zipped over to London and Northern Ireland to flash his green jacket to the folks back home. Somewhere in all that madness, he hit the States on Sunday, and guess what? He woke up with a freaking cold on Monday. It’s like, dude, when do you even breathe?

These fellas, Rory and Shane, had a flight delayed thanks to some Louisiana storms and ended up rolling into town late Tuesday. But hey, Rory had already promised Shane – right after the Masters win, mind you – that they would play at Zurich no matter what. Because, you know, friendship or something. I guess the uniqueness of the event pulls them in.

On a side note, Rory said something interesting: playing with Shane is a blast because he doesn’t have to stress every shot. Shane’s got his back. Or maybe a ton of weight on his own shoulders, depending on how you look at it.

Okay, let’s pivot to golf balls — yes, golf balls. McIlroy and Lowry have this cheeky tactic going with them. They’re exploiting a loophole that the Zurich Classic, unlike others, doesn’t enforce the one-ball rule. This basically means? They can switch ball types mid-round! Rory’s with his new love, the TaylorMade TP5, and Shane is chummy with the Srixon Z-Star XV. So… they juggle. Shane hits Rory’s off the tee if it’s a long shot deal, and vice versa for finesse plays. Genius? Maybe just cunning.

Turns out, the idea of swapping out balls isn’t new. The Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup tossed out the one-ball rule ages ago. Shane, being the cool cat he is, shrugs like it’s no biggie. “We kinda tested this back home,” he says, like it’s as normal as Sunday brunch.

Now, everyone at the Zurich isn’t as sly. Some are just sticking with one ball type through thick and thin. Like Jake Knapp and Frankie Capan III. They’ve got this man-crush on the Titleist Pro V1 Left Dot. Another duo, Max Greyserman and Nico Echavarria, are rocking with Chrome Tour Dot everywhere too.

Anyway, it’s like every team’s got their mojo. Some switch it up, others are like “nah, we’ll keep it simple”. Maybe it’s luck, skill, or pure madness at play. I don’t ‘freakin’ know. But hey, that’s the charm of golf, isn’t it? Unpredictable, like the wind — or Rory’s schedule these days.