Rory McIlroy has made significant changes to his bag, adopting a new set of irons. Now he shares the reasons behind his switch.
Rory McIlroy surprised the golf world at the start of the year at the TGL when he appeared with a completely new set of irons, switching for the first time since 2017. After making some changes to his bag already in autumn 2025, now only his putter and 4-iron from his Augusta triumph remain. At his season opener in Dubai, he spoke about the reasons and thoughts behind his club change.
\”If There’s Help to Be Had, I’ll Definitely Take It\”
Most of the Northern Irishman’s shots land almost perfectly, and even when Rory McIlroy mishits a ball, for most it would be the best shot of their lifetime. But on the professional level, centimeters decide between birdie or par, victory or defeat, and these small differences have now led McIlroy to change his clubs.
\”If there’s help to be had, I’ll definitely take it. I’ve been thinking about this for a while,\” McIlroy said Thursday after his 66-opening round at the Dubai Invitational. \”Even at the end of last year in Dubai, I hit a few 5-irons slightly off-center, and instead of maybe coming up five to seven yards short, they were more like 10 to 15 yards short.\”
TaylorMade Custom Clubs for Rory McIlroy
TaylorMade crafted him a custom set of P7CB irons featuring a similar leading edge as his P760 long irons – in addition to his standard 4-iron, he also has P760 2- and 3-irons in utility design. The 4-, 5-, and 6-irons from this set were used in the opening rounds of the Australian Open last month, and he liked them so much that he also used the 7-, 8-, and 9-irons over the weekend. \”On the firm turf down there, I felt these irons better cut through the grass than the blades,\” he said. \”And since then, I’ve been practicing with them at home.\”
McIlroy also played with a new, unreleased 2026 TaylorMade TP Proto golf ball. He debuted the new setup last week, keeping his P760 4-iron, and officially played with the irons this week in Dubai.
The Trend Towards More Forgiving Irons
The switch to the more forgiving P7CB irons continues a trend increasingly seen at the highest level of golf. More and more pros are moving away from blades in favor of more forgiving cavity-backs. Thanks to new technologies, these clubs do not sacrifice distance despite their forgiving design and do not lose too much spin even on imperfect strikes. While the new irons may not necessarily add strokes to McIlroy’s game, they