Rory McIlroy has made major changes to his bag, playing a new set of irons. Now he explains the reasons behind his switch.
Rory McIlroy surprised the golf world at the start of the year at the TGL by playing a completely new set of irons, switching for the first time since 2017. After having already made some changes to his bag in autumn 2025, now only his putter and 4-iron from his Augusta triumph remain. At his season start in Dubai, he spoke about the reasons and thoughts behind his switch.
\”If There’s Help to Be Had, I’ll Definitely Take It\”
The Northern Irishman’s shots are almost perfect, and even when Rory McIlroy mishits a ball, for most players those would still be the best shots of their lives. But at 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 it for a while,\” McIlroy said Thursday after his 66-opening round at the Dubai Invitational. \”Even in Dubai at the end of last year, I hit some 5-irons slightly off-center, and instead of coming up maybe five or seven yards short, they came up 10 to 15 yards short.\”
TaylorMade’s Custom Irons for Rory McIlroy
TaylorMade made 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 configuration. The 4-, 5-, and 6-irons of 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 went through the grass 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 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 often seen at the highest level of golf. More and more pros are opting to forgo blades in favor of more forgiving cavity backs. Thanks to new technologies, which despite their forgiving design, don’t sacrifice distance and don’t lose too much spin on off-center hits. These new clubs may not necessarily help McIlroy add more yards, but they help produce better misses, which in