An assembly (10) for positioning a prosthetic acetabular cup assembly (110) in a patient's hip is provided. The assembly (10) includes a bearing component (114) having an inner bearing surface (134) for receiving a femoral ball and an outer surface (132) attachable to a shell component (112) The shell component (112) is attached to an acetabulum to replace a natural hip socket. The shell component (112) includes an inner surface (120) defining a cavity (126) for receiving the outer surface (132) of the bearing component (114) therein. The assembly (10) includes a handle (12) attached to a split head (30). The split head (30) is divided into first and second gripping elements (36, 38) that jointly form a gripping surface to engage the inner bearing surface (134) of the bearing component (114). The assembly (10) holds the bearing component (114) at a selected orientation with relation to the shell component (112), and is used to drive the bearing component/shell component (114/112) into the acetabulum.