As we saw at the Bank of Utah Championship, Jason Day isn't afraid to experiment with new golf equipment but, at this week's Grant Thornton Invitational, it was an old driver that caught the eye.
Being an equipment-free agent, the Australian is able to use any manufacturer or model of club he wants, but it still came as a slight surprise to see Day with a TaylorMade M5 as he played the first round of the mixed-team event.
First seen at the end of 2018 and released to the public in 2019, almost seven years ago, the TaylorMade M5 was used by various TaylorMade staffers throughout that season and was even in the bags of Tiger Woods and Brooks Koepka for their Masters and PGA Championship wins that year.
Possessing the Twist Face Technology that we see in the best TaylorMade drivers of today, there is also an Inverse T-Track System to help with weight positing in the head, providing plenty of playability.
Although not the same model, Aaron Rai still uses the TaylorMade M6 driver and has done for a number of years. That club was released at the same time as the M5, and differs via it being the less adjustable model.
Previously, Day had been using a Ping G440 LST, but also had the Ping G430 LST in the bag. Shaft-wise, he had also been using the Fujikura Ventus VeloCore+ Black 6 X, with it unclear as to whether that model has remained in his set-up or not.
What we do know is that the Avoda Prototype Irons have remained in his bag, with Day remaining with them at Tiburón Golf Club.
They were first spotted at the Bank of Utah Championship, with Day actually using a 13-club set-up at Black Desert Resort, instead of the usual 14.
Spec-wise, Day was influential in the design of them and they feature the same curve-face technology as Bryson DeChambeau's Avoda Irons, with the key difference being that Day's has different soles and head shapes, as well as them being a conventional variable-length.
Paired alongside Lydia Ko at the Grant Thornton Invitational, the 2023 winners fired a 12-under-par first round in the Scramble format to sit five shots back of the leaders.
Speaking prior to the event, Day stated: "I haven't played for a while. I played Utah, which is about a month ago. Had to test some clubs, some new clubs. Then I've had about another month off. So been just trying to get a handle on those clubs.
"It feels pretty good right now so I'm looking forward to a good week, trying to ease my way into the week."
