Rory McIlroy has made major changes to his bag and is now playing a new set of irons. He shares 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, marking his first change since 2017. After making some changes in his bag in autumn 2025, only his putter and 4-iron from his Augusta victory remained. At his season opener in Dubai, he now spoke about the reasons and thoughts behind his switch.
\”If There’s Help, I’ll Definitely Take It\”
The Northern Irishman’s shots usually land almost perfectly, and even if Rory McIlroy misses a shot, for most, these 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 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 opening 66 at the Dubai Invitational. \”And even in Dubai at the end of last year, I hit some 5-irons that I slightly mishit, and rather than coming up five or seven yards short, they came up 10 to 15 yards short.\”
TaylorMade Custom Clubs for Rory McIlroy
TaylorMade made 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 versions. The 4-, 5-, and 6-irons of this set were used in the early rounds of the Australian Open last month, and he liked them so much that he also used the 7-, 8-, and 9-irons on the weekend. \”On the firm turf down there, I felt these irons went better through the grass than the blades,\” he said. \”And since then, I’ve been practicing with them at home.\”
McIlroy also played with a new, not yet released 2026 TaylorMade TP Proto golf ball. He debuted with the new setup last week, kept his P760 4-iron, and officially played these irons in Dubai this week.
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-back irons. Thanks to new technologies, these clubs do not lose distance despite their forgiving design and do not lose much spin even on off-center hits. Although these new clubs might not add more strokes for McIlroy, they will reduce error magnitude