Rory McIlroy has made significant changes to his golf bag, now playing with a new iron set. He reveals the reasons behind his switch.
Rory McIlroy surprised the golf world at the start of the year at the TGL when he played with a completely new set of irons, marking the first time since 2017 that he has changed irons. After making some changes to his bag in autumn 2025, 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, I’ll Definitely Take It\”
The Northern Irishman’s shots are usually near perfect, and even when Rory McIlroy mishits a ball, for most people those would still be their best shots ever. But in professional golf, centimeters decide birdie or par, victory or defeat, and those small differences are what prompted McIlroy’s club change.
\”If there’s help to be had, I’ll definitely take it. I’ve been thinking about it for a while,\” McIlroy said Thursday after his opening 66 at the Dubai Invitational. \”Even in Dubai at the end of last year, I hit some 5-irons slightly off, and instead of coming up maybe five or seven yards short, they were more like 10 to 15 yards short.\”
TaylorMade Creates Custom Clubs for Rory McIlroy
TaylorMade crafted him a custom set of P7CB irons 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 last month’s opening rounds of the Australian Open, and he liked them so much that he also used the 7-, 8-, and 9-irons on the weekend. \”On the firm grass down there, I felt these irons moved better through the turf than the blades,\” he said. \”And I have 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 Toward More Forgiving Clubs
The switch to the more forgiving P7CB irons continues a trend increasingly observed 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 maintain distance despite their forgiving design and retain spin even on imperfect hits. While these new clubs may not add extra yards for McIlroy, they help produce better misses, which can ultimately