Hero World Challenge R1: Scottie Scheffler makes equipment switch en route to sharing lead

Scottie Scheffler debuted the brand-new TaylorMade Qi4D Driver in competitive play for the first time on Thursday — and it immediately paid off as he opened with a 6-under 66 to join a five-way tie for the lead after round one of the Hero World Challenge at Albany in The Bahamas.

Like Rory McIlroy, Scheffler had previously been gaming the TaylorMade Qi10 Driver, which launched in 2024. Neither star ultimately stuck with the Qi35, but the landscape looks very different heading into 2026.

Just weeks after both McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood switched to the unreleased Qi4D, the World No.1 decided to follow suit at his final competitive outing of 2025. Scheffler had spent the early part of the week testing the club at Albany before committing to putting it straight in the bag at Tiger Woods’ annual 20-man event.

The move delivered instant returns. Scheffler, a six-time PGA Tour winner this season including two major championships, is chasing history this week as he attempts to become the first player to win the Hero World Challenge three years on the spin.

He looked fully in control on day one — despite a closing bogey that cost him the outright lead — matching the early 6-under mark set by Sepp Straka, Akshay Bhatia, Wyndham Clark and JJ Spaun.

The numbers behind Scheffler’s opening round underline the strong start with the new big stick. He averaged a massive 321 yards off the tee, ranking fourth in the field, and hit 84% of fairways, also fourth best. Scheffler appeared to be using an 8-degree Qi4D, a model expected to reach retail in early 2026.

While details on the Qi4D remain tightly under wraps, early impressions inside the ropes seem glowing — at least according to the man swinging it.

“Pretty good,” Scheffler said when asked to summarise the Qi4D’s first-round performance.

“I didn't see anything off the face that I didn't feel in my hands, so that's typically a pretty good thing for me with the driver. 

“When I feel something, when I look up, I want to be able to -- I want it to match so today I didn't see anything out of the ordinary, so that's a pretty good spot to be in.

“You don't have to make anything up, I mean, if you've got nothing good. This better be good.” 

Scheffler had hinted earlier in the week that this was a proving-ground moment for the new driver. 

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, he said: “Testing things out in competition is a good way of kind of seeing where you’re at. 

“You can simulate competition at home, but coming out here and playing strokeplay is always a bit different over the course of four days. I find this week to be pretty valuable.” 

Scheffler added: “For me so far this driver's been a really good fit for my eye and that's always the first test for me. 

“So far the performance has been good, my spin numbers have been really consistent, ball flight's been consistent and looking forward to getting it in competition.”

As for any rust after having taken more than a month off since the Ryder Cup, Scheffler admitted: “I felt pretty good. 

“I think there's always going to be some rust in there, but I don't really think about that when I'm out there playing, I'm just trying to shoot a score.” 

Scheffler then went further by revealing he never gelled with TaylorMade's Qi35 Driver that was released in January 2025 because it did not quite match up to his numbers with the former Qi10 of January 2024. 

“So last year I had a little bit of trouble getting into the Qi35 and I feel like we learned a lot throughout that process of what I like to see in a driver, the way it needs to perform for me specifically," Scheffler told reporters.

“Going into this year I feel like Adrian and the whole team at TaylorMade had a really good kind of idea of what my eyes needed to see in order for the driver to be able to work.

“We went through a lot of different kind of options for what the face needed to be specifically for me and felt like we're in a good spot, and then the testing was a lot simpler this time around for sure.”

GolfMagic cannot yet reveal further technical details on the brand new Qi4D Driver, but early testing suggests TaylorMade could have something very special lined up for 2026. 

More information will be available on GolfMagic and our YouTube channel in the New Year, courtesy of our new scratch Equipment Editor Georgina Black. 

Just one shot back at 5-under sit Corey Conners and Keegan Bradley, the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup captain and winner of last week’s Skins Game.