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 when he appeared with a completely new set of irons, marking his first change since 2017. After making some adjustments to his bag in fall 2025, now only his putter and 4-iron from his Augusta win remain. At his season start in Dubai, he talked about the reasons and thoughts behind his change.
\”If There’s Help, I’ll Definitely Take It\”
The Northern Irishman’s shots are nearly perfect, and even when Rory McIlroy mishits a ball, for most golfers those would be the best shots of their lives. However, at the professional level, centimeters decide between birdie or par, victory or defeat, and these small differences 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 late last year in Dubai, I hit a few 5-irons slightly off, and instead of coming up maybe five or seven yards short, they were more like 10 to 15 yards short.\”
TaylorMade Creates Custom Clubs for Rory McIlroy
TaylorMade crafted him a custom set of P7CB irons with a similar leading edge as his P760 long irons – in addition to his regular 4-iron, he also has P760 2- and 3-irons in utility form. The 4-, 5-, and 6-irons from this set were used last month in the opening rounds of the Australian Open, 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 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, yet unreleased 2026 TaylorMade TP Proto golf ball. He debuted the new setup last week, kept his P760 4-iron, and played officially with the irons this week in Dubai.
The Trend Toward More Forgiving Irons
The switch to more forgiving P7CB irons continues a trend increasingly seen at the highest level of golf. More and more pros are abandoning blades in favor of more forgiving cavity-backs. Thanks to new technologies, which despite their forgiving design, do not lose distance and maintain spin even on imperfect strikes. These new clubs may not necessarily add strokes to McIlroy’s game, but they offer better misses, which can