TaylorMade’s 2026 TP5, TP5x golf balls show why paint matters

TaylorMade wants you to know that the reason your golf ball flew offline may not be entirely your fault.

Okay, that’s probably true, but we’ve all had a wave that went up into the air and then did something unexpected. Maybe it cuts when you thought it would draw. Or maybe it flutters a bit and comes up short. TaylorMade believes this is due to inconsistent paint, meaning each golf ball you use may be slightly different from the last.

That’s why TaylorMade has revamped the painting process for the new TP5 and TP5x golf balls with a new technique called “Microcoating,” which applies an even layer of paint to the golf ball, eliminating the dripping and clogging of traditional methods.

“Golf balls are the only piece of equipment we hit on every shot, but they are also the only piece of equipment we change in a round,” said Mike Fox, TaylorMade’s Senior Category Director, Golf Ball, in a press release. “Ensuring we produce the most consistent product, from ball to ball and shot to shot, is as important as anything we do. Until now, applying paint to a golf ball to protect its appearance carried the potential to negatively impact ball flight. Now, with microcoating, we have a process that solves a once invisible problem and allows golfers to experience greater consistency in how their shots perform from tee to green.”

Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa have already switched to the new TP5, which features a new, larger core and dimple pattern to increase ball speed and produce a more penetrating flight. The TP5x has new jacket layers to further increase ball speed while keeping spin low.

Keep reading below to learn more about the 2026 TaylorMade TP5 and TP5x golf balls, including my thoughts on the release.

What’s actually new with TaylorMade TP5 and TP5X golf balls – and why should you worry about it?

Even (micro) coat, even flight

So I know what you’re thinking… “Does the paint really matter that much?” I would never have considered it either. But it’s also not hard to imagine how painting a golf ball could lead to inconsistency with dripping or pooling in the dimples, leaving some parts thicker than others.

TaylorMade was only able to spot the variations in flight thanks to the Kingdom’s state-of-the-art ranging technology, where they can track golf balls within two inches of their flight. The company has invested $100 million in golf ball manufacturing and R&D over the past five years.

They saw golf balls with the exact same construction fly very differently when launched with a robot under the same conditions.

“These golf balls look absolutely identical to the naked eye, but they can fly 20 yards differently,” Fox told GOLF. “Even three yards is too much when you’re trying to make a golf ball for the best players in the world.

“Injection molding is a precision process. Urethane casting is a precision process. Milling is a precision process. Painting was not a precision process.”

It doesn’t just matter for Tour players either. Amateurs will lose confidence if they hit what they thought was a good shot, only to see it go off into the unknown.

To solve this, TaylorMade invested in its painting process to develop microcoating, which meant replacing the paint application guns, how the paint flowed into those guns, the curing temperature, and even the paint itself. Fox said TaylorMade even controls the atomization of the paint as it dries.

“We’re controlling paint at a level that no one has ever controlled before,” Fox said.

Unlock more speed

Some of TaylorMade’s massive investments in golf balls also led to a breakthrough. The company now has the data and software to digitally prototype various golf ball structures and simulate how they will perform.

Rather than producing a few hundred prototype iterations in the past, TaylorMade created more than 100,000 prototypes for the new TP5 and TP5x to find the best combination of materials for each ball.

“This is not AI,” Fox said. “This is three years of proven data being fed into the finite element analysis, and it tells us what we have already proven as fact.”

For the TP5, this meant increasing the core size, which reduces the time the ball spends on the face, increases energy retention and maintains the soft feel the ball is known for. Basically, TaylorMade tightens the spring so it can be faster.

Fox said they’ve seen a ball speed gain of about 1 mph during testing.

The TP5’s dimple pattern has also been optimized for a lower, more penetrating trajectory.

With the TP5x, TaylorMade engineers focused on refining the shell layers around a sturdier core to increase ball speed beyond the 2024 model.

The TaylorMade 2026 TP5 and TP5x series

Both TP5 and TP5x will be available in white, yellow, pix, 360˚ stripes and officially licensed NFL and collegiate designs. The TP5 and TP5x stripe have been redesigned this year with tighter feedback lines and a new sight point for players to focus on during the stroke.

TaylorMade is also bringing back the TRKR launch monitor compatible balls for increased accuracy on indoor, radar-based launch monitors.

TP5

What is it: The softer and higher spinning ball with a new, larger core for speed gains. A new dimpled pattern also optimizes the lift-to-drag ratio for lower flight and minimizes turbulence.

Who is it for: Players looking for lower flight, higher spin and a softer feel.

TP5x

What is it: The lowest spinning and fastest TaylorMade ball.

Who is it for: Players looking for the most speed and want to remove excess spin.

My opinion: solving an unknown problem

It’s not really hard to fathom just how much difference a drop of paint can make when it comes to the flight of a golf ball.

Golf balls are a very complex aerodynamic creation, and if there’s a subtle variation with the outer layer – the one that interacts with the air – it stands to reason that that would be enough to send it offline.

If I gave you a choice between a ball that varied in distance by twenty yards and a ball that did the same thing every time, you would take the consistent one without seeing any evidence. The huge confidence boost alone should be enough to impact your performance.

What’s disguised here is the speed gain with the TP5, a ball I’ve played with before due to its soft feel and one that I need to test more with as I saw a fairly immediate increase in ball speed when I tried it for the first time in the Kingdom.

I always sacrifice a little speed to play softer golf balls, but with the new TP5 I may not have that problem anymore.

Price, specifications and availability

TaylorMade’s new TP5 and TP5x golf balls are now available for pre-order February 2 and will arrive at retail locations at February 12.

White, striped, yellow and pix balls cost $57.99 per dozen. TP5 and TP5x TRKR, officially licensed NFL and collegiate tens, will be sold for $64.99while the MySymbol customization program returns, with each dozen costing a fee $62.99.

Do you want to find the best golf ball for your game in 2026? Find a club fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

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