Rory McIlroy has made big changes to his bag, playing a new set of irons. He now explains the reasons behind his switch.
Rory McIlroy surprised the golf world at the start of the year during the TGL when he played a completely new set of irons, marking the first time he has switched since 2017. After making some bag changes already in the fall of 2025, now only his putter and 4-iron remain from his triumph in Augusta. At his season opener in Dubai, he shared the reasons and thoughts behind his switch.
\”If There’s Help to Be Had, I’ll Definitely Take It\”
The almost perfect shots of the Northern Irishman land with precision, and even when Rory McIlroy mishits a ball, it would still be among the best shots of most golfers’ lives. Yet, in professional golf, centimeters decide between birdie or par, victory or defeat, and these fine margins prompted 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. \”Even late last year in Dubai, I hit some 5-irons slightly off-center, and instead of missing by five or seven yards, they were 10 to 15 yards short.\”
TaylorMade Creates Custom Irons for Rory McIlroy
TaylorMade crafted him a custom set of P7CB irons with a similar leading edge as his P760 long irons – besides his regular 4-iron, he also has P760 2- and 3-irons in utility versions. The 4-, 5-, and 6-irons from this set were used during the opening rounds of the Australian Open last month, and they impressed him enough that he also played the 7-, 8-, and 9-irons over the weekend. \”On the firm turf down there, I felt these irons went through the turf better than the blades,\” he said. \”Since then, I’ve been practicing with them at home.\”
McIlroy also used a new, unreleased 2026 TaylorMade TP Proto golf ball. He debuted the new setup last week, kept his P760 4-iron, and officially played the irons in Dubai this week.
The Trend Towards More Forgiving Irons
The switch to the more forgiving P7CB irons continues a trend increasingly observed at the highest level of golf. More and more pros are opting out of blades in favor of more forgiving cavity-backs. Thanks to new technology, these irons retain distance despite their forgiving design and do not lose too much spin even on off-center hits. While these new clubs may not add extra yards to McIlroy’s game, they help produce better misses—an essential difference between winning and losing.