Rory McIlroy has made major changes to his bag with a new set of irons. Now he reveals the reasons behind his switch.
Rory McIlroy surprised the golf world at the start of the year at the TGL when he introduced a completely new set of irons, marking his first change since 2017. After making some changes to his bag in autumn 2025, only his putter and 4-iron remain from his Augusta win. At his season opener in Dubai, he spoke about the reasons and thoughts behind this change.
\”If There’s Help to Be Had, I’ll Definitely Take It\”
The Northern Irishman’s shots are usually nearly perfect, and even when Rory McIlroy mishits a ball, for most players those would be the best shots of their lives. But in professional golf, centimeters decide birdie or par, victory or defeat, and these small differences have driven 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 after his opening 66 at the Dubai Invitational on Thursday. \”Even in Dubai late last year, I hit some 5-irons slightly off-center, and instead of coming up maybe five or seven yards short, they came up about 10 to 15 yards short.\”
TaylorMade Custom Clubs 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 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 played the 7-, 8-, and 9-irons during the weekend. \”On the firm turf down there, I felt these irons moved through the grass better than the blades,\” he said. \”And since then, I’ve trained with them at home.\”
McIlroy also played with a new, not yet released 2026 TaylorMade TP Proto golf ball. He debuted the new setup last week, kept his P760 4-iron, and officially played these irons this week in Dubai.
The Trend Towards More Forgiving Irons
The switch to more forgiving P7CB irons continues a trend increasingly seen at the highest levels of golf. More pros are moving away from blades toward more forgiving cavity-back irons. Thanks to new technologies, these clubs maintain length and do not lose much spin even on imperfect shots despite their forgiving design. While the new irons might not necessarily gain McIlroy more strokes, they will produce better misses, which can be the decisive difference between winning and losing.