Rory McIlroy has made significant changes to his bag, now playing a new set of irons. He discusses the reasons behind his switch.
Rory McIlroy surprised the golf world at the TGL at the beginning of the year when he appeared with a completely new set of irons, marking his first change since 2017. After already making some adjustments to his bag in autumn 2025, only his putter and 4-iron from his Augusta triumph remain. At the season opener in Dubai, he now spoke about the reasons and thoughts behind his change.
\”If There’s Help, I’ll Definitely Take It\”
The shots from the Northern Irishman are almost always perfect, and even when Rory McIlroy mishits a ball, those shots would be the best of most players’ lives. But at the professional level, centimeters decide between birdie or par, victory or defeat, and these small differences have now led McIlroy to switch clubs.
\”If there’s help to be had, I’ll definitely take it. I’ve been thinking about it for a while now,\” McIlroy said Thursday after his opening 66 at the Dubai Invitational. \”And even last year in Dubai, I hit a few 5-irons a bit off, and instead of coming up five or seven yards short, they were 10 to 15 yards short.\”
TaylorMade’s Custom Irons for Rory McIlroy
TaylorMade crafted him a custom set of P7CBs with a similar leading edge to his P760 long irons – in addition to his regular 4-iron, he also has P760 2- and 3-irons in utility form. The 4-, 5-, and 6-irons from this set were used during the opening rounds of the Australian Open last month, and he liked them so much he also used the 7-, 8-, and 9-irons over the weekend. \”On the firm turf down there, I felt these irons went better through the turf than the blades,\” he said. \”And I’ve been practicing with them at home since.\”
McIlroy also played with a new, unreleased 2026 TaylorMade TP Proto golf ball. He debuted the new setup last week, kept his P760 4-iron, and officially played with the irons this week in Dubai.
The Trend Towards More Forgiving Clubs
The switch to 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 that, despite