Rory McIlroy has made significant changes to his bag, now playing a new set of irons. He discusses the reasons behind this switch.
Rory McIlroy surprised the golf world at the start of the year at the TGL when he appeared with a completely new set of irons, marking his first change in irons since 2017. After making some changes to his bag in the fall of 2025, 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, I’ll Definitely Take It’
The Northern Irishman’s shots usually land near perfectly, and even when Rory McIlroy misses a shot, it would still be the best shot many amateurs ever make. But at the professional level, centimeters decide between birdie or par, victory or defeat, and these small differences have 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 on Thursday after his 66-opening round at the Dubai Invitational. ‘Even in Dubai late last year, I hit a few 5-irons that I slightly mishit, and instead of coming up five or seven yards short, they were 10 to 15 yards too short.’
TaylorMade’s 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 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 moved 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, 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 Towards More Forgiving Clubs
The switch to the 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 backs. Thanks to new technologies that, despite their forgiving designs, do not sacrifice distance and do not lose too much spin even on imperfect strikes. These new clubs may not necessarily add strokes to McIlroy’s game but will lead to better misses, which in the end can be the crucial difference between winning