Rory McIlroy has made major changes to his bag and is now playing a new set of irons. He explains the reasons behind his switch.
Rory McIlroy surprised the golf world at the start of the year during the TGL as he arrived with a completely new set of irons, marking his first change since 2017. After making some modifications to his bag in autumn 2025, only his putter and 4-iron from his Augusta victory remain. At his season opener in Dubai, he spoke about the reasons and thoughts behind his club change.
‘If There’s Help, I’ll Definitely Take It’
The shots of the Northern Irishman usually land nearly perfectly, and even when Rory McIlroy mishits a ball, for most players those would still be the best shots of their lives. However, at the professional level, centimeters decide 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 it for a while,\” McIlroy said on Thursday after his opening 66 at the Dubai Invitational. \”Even in Dubai late last year, I hit a few 5-irons that I slightly mishit, and instead of coming up maybe five or seven yards short, they were more like 10 to 15 yards short.\”
TaylorMade’s Custom Clubs for Rory McIlroy
TaylorMade made him a custom set of P7CB irons with a similar leading edge as his P760 long irons – in addition to his regular 4-iron, he also has P760 2- and 3-irons in utility format. The 4-, 5-, and 6-irons from this set were used in last month’s opening rounds of the Australian Open, and he liked them so much that over the weekend he also used the 7-, 8-, and 9-irons. \”On the firm turf down there, I felt these irons passed through the turf better than the blades,\” he said. \”And since then, I’ve been practicing with them at home.\”
McIlroy also played with a new, yet unreleased 2026 TaylorMade TP Proto golf ball. He debuted the new setup last week, kept his P760 4-iron, and this week officially played with the irons in Dubai.
The Trend Towards More Forgiving Clubs
The switch to more forgiving P7CB irons follows a trend increasingly seen at the highest level of golf. More and more pros are giving up blades in favor of more forgiving cavity-backs. Thanks to new technologies, these clubs do not lose distance despite their forgiving design and do not lose too much spin on mishits. Although these new clubs may not necessarily add more yards to McIlroy’s shots, they produce better