Rory McIlroy has made significant changes to his bag and switched to a new set of irons. Now he discusses the reasons behind his change.
Rory McIlroy surprised the golf world at the start of the year during the TGL by playing with a completely new set of irons, marking his first change since 2017. After already making some bag adjustments in fall 2025, only his putter and 4-iron from his Augusta win remain. At his season debut 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 are mostly near perfect, and even when McIlroy mishits a ball, these shots would still be the best for most players. However, in professional golf, centimeters decide birdies or pars, wins or losses, and these tiny differences motivated McIlroy to change clubs.
\”If there’s help, 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 in Dubai late last year, I hit a few 5-irons slightly off; instead of coming up about five or seven yards short, they came 10 to 15 yards short.\”
TaylorMade Provides Custom Clubs for Rory McIlroy
TaylorMade made 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 at the Australian Open opening rounds and impressed him so much that he used the 7-, 8-, and 9-irons over the weekend. \”On the firm turf down there, I felt these irons cut through the grass better than the blades,\” he said. \”Since then, I have 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 the irons this week in Dubai.
The Trend Toward More Forgiving Clubs
Switching to more forgiving P7CB irons continues a trend increasingly seen at golf’s highest level. More pros are moving away from blades in favor of forgiving cavity-backs, aided by new technology that maintains distance and spin control even on imperfect hits. While these new clubs may not grant McIlroy extra yards,