Rory McIlroy was in a real jovial mood when asked by Bernie here at www.golfbytourmiss.com what he thought of the new ‘Auto Flex’ shaft being used by top Aussie Adam Scott during last week’s Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

McIlroy and Scott found themselves paired for the final round of the event won my American Patrick Reed.

Rory McIlroy admits all the talk at the McIlroy Christmas dinner table was the new ‘AutoFlex’ shaft

However, when Rory was asked the question he jumped up in his seat within the Media Centre at this week’s Waste Management Phoenix Open as though he’d been just waiting someone to pop the question to him.

“Don’t get me started about that shaft,” said McIlroy laughing.

“All I heard about at Christmas dinner from my dad (Gerry) was this AutoFlex golf shaft. All I heard at Christmas dinner was my dad saying, ‘Can you get me one of these? Everyone is hitting it 20 yards longer’. I swear, it’s all I heard about.

“So first thing I said to Scotty when I saw him last week, I said, All I heard about at Christmas dinner was about this golf shaft. It was pretty funny that I got to play with him on Sunday.

“Yeah, I think I’ve tried it. It’s different. Like I tried one of the member’s at Seminole, and I didn’t have the stiffest one, like the one that Adam plays, but it just felt so — I felt if I swung hard I was going to break it. I felt like it was going to snap.

“But he definitely gained some speed with it. Adam was hitting it a long way on Sunday”.

For the records – Adam finished T10 at the Farmers Insurance with scores of 67, 69, 72 and 73.