Rory McIlroy takes step into the unknown with first tournament since his £78 million Nike deal McIlroy already claims to be sure. "With the driver I've picked up two to three miles an hour more ball speed," he said. That's a big help. And this ball I'm playing I've found it is much more stable in the wind. I spin the ball quite a lot, so I sort of need a ball that doesn't spin that much. Hopefully, you can see the advantages of that this week. McIlroy does concede that he and his caddie, JP Fitzgerald, will be learning on the job in the desert. Distance control is obviously vital for a professional. "You hit balls on the range and you know how far you're hitting each club," he said." But I guess you don't really know in tournament play, because with the adrenaline to hit it a little further. It's something JP and I will gauge on the course. If that's the only problem he counters then the doubters will look absurd. The naysayers bring up the name of David Duval, the former world No 1 who switched to Nike at the turn of the century and was soon watching his career freefall. But according to Paul Ca-sey, another Nike player, much has altered since then. "When I came out on tour 10 or so years ago there wasn't the information we have nowadays to fit golf clubs, and interpret what the clubs and balls are do-ing," said the Englishman. Tools like Trakman and a lot of biomechanics stuff can tell a player he's swinging the same way. The Nike staff do this kind of thing day in, day out. They make it pretty damn easy. Not so easy that Woods has ever dared change everything in one fell swoop - or, as it were "swoosh" - like McIlroy is. There isn't a single piece of equipment left from his ma-jor wins. The putter's gone, everything's gone. By the tone of Woods he is not exactly sure that is wise. "I certainly have changed equipment over the years, but I've done it gradually," he said here. Woods signed with up with the multi-national corporation when he joined the paid ranks in 1996 but didn't employ any of their golf products until 2000 when he began using the ball. Woods added the driver and irons in 2002, the wedges in 2003, the fairway woods in 2005 and then the putter in 2010. "My philosophy has always been that it's not going in the bag unless it's better than what I'm using," Woods said. I remember for me in 2000 it turned out pretty good with that ball change. He's right. He won three majors that year.