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Rory McIlroy is debutng the new Nike Lunar Control 4 golf shoe this week at the European Tour's DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. This time Nike asked Rory McIlroy to play a large role in helping design the shoe.
Despite having a cool name, the shoe wasn't exactly built to do the moonwalk. Instead, McIlroy wanted a shoe that offers even more traction and stability than the previous Lunar Control golf shoes built by Nike.
If there is an ideal candidate to contribute to and test the comfort, traction, and stability of the Lunar Control 4 golf shoe, it might as well be Rory McIlroy. More athletic swings require more stable shoes. Given the amount of speed and torque that Rory's swing produces, having one of the most talked about cork screw effects in professional golf, traction and stability are obviously important factors to consider.
According to Golf Digest's Marty Hackel, Rory McIlroy has been working on the shoe with Nike for the past 18 months with that one focus in mind; Stability! "This shoe is designed to stay tight to the ground through the swing. At just 376 grams (320 grams in the women's shoe), the Lunar Control 4 uses a cabling system—Nike's self-labeled Flywire technology—in the shoe's body to increase control and lateral support," reported Hackel in his article on the upcoming release of the Lunar Control 4.
Outside of the structural enhancements Nike has made to the Lunar Control 4, though, the more talked about change to the golf shoe comes in the form of a new paint job. Forget the subtle graphics of the earlier styles, Nike is going big and bold with this one. The new Lunar Control 4 has the Nike swoosh stamped louly and proudly across the front of the shoe in large print. The shoe will come in 3 different equally flashy colors as well.
Go big, or go home! Nike golf seems to be all about expressing golf fashion in stand out ways these days, and Rory McIlroy undoubtably has the skills to show it off.