Why Rory McIlroy is so excited about his major 2026 gear switch

Rory McIlroy was busy tinkering with his gear this offseason.

The World No. 2 golfer and reigning Masters champion showed up this week in Dubai starting his 2026 season with just two of the same clubs (his 4-iron and putter) that he used during his triumph at Augusta nine months ago. And he’s got a new golf ball too.

McIlroy switched out his Qi10 driver and fairway woods in November as soon as new Qi4D models hit the conforming list and switched to updated MG5 wedges after the Tour Championship, but it’s his latest change that got the gear world’s attention.

After gaming his personal set of RORS PROTO blades almost exclusively since signing with TaylorMade in 2017, McIlroy is now playing a set of cavity-back irons, the P7CBs, for the first time in his career.

McIlroy said he’s been thinking about the change for “a while” and made it to gain more distance control.

“If there’s help to be had, I’ll definitely take it,” McIlroy said Thursday after an opening round 66 to take the first round lead at the Dubai Invitational. “And even in Dubai at the end of last year, I hit a couple of 5-irons that I mis-struck slightly, and instead of it maybe coming up five or seven yards short, it was coming up more like 10 to 15 yards short.”

TaylorMade built him a customized set of P7CBs with a similar leading edge grind to his P760 long irons — in addition to his regular 4-iron, he also has P760 2- and 3-irons in utility builds. The 4-, 5- and 6-irons of that set went into use during the opening rounds of the Australian Open last month and he liked them so much he put the 7-, 8- and 9-irons in by the weekend.

“With that firm turf down there, I felt like those irons were going through the turf better than the blades,” he said. “And I practiced with them at home since.”

McIlroy was also playing with a new, unreleased 2026 TaylorMade TP Proto golf ball. He debuted the new setup last week, keeping his P760 4-iron, in Boston Common’s opening TGL match of the season and officially put the irons in play this week in Dubai.

The switch to the more forgiving P7CB irons continues a trend we’ve seen a lot at the game’s highest level. More and more pros are ditching blades in favor of more forgiving cavity backs.

They’re able to do this because there are more forgiving club options out there, like the P7CBs, that offer better ball speed retention on misshits, while still spinning enough. That spin is important because the last place any player wants to be is over a green and if spin drops, the ball goes hot and long.

On the flip side, with the CBs, if McIlroy’s miss is five to seven yards short instead of the 10 to 15 he mentioned Thursday, that’s the difference between hitting a green and finding a bunker or worse. That’s a huge gain.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and No. 3 Tommy Fleetwood are among many pros who are still using blades, and there’s advancements that will keep them relevant for years to come.

But the moral of this story is that no player is too good to add forgiveness to the bag.

McIlroy hit 14 greens Thursday (4th in the field), on top of hitting nine fairways (10th), but he regressed in the second round with just 10 GIRs, partially due to poor wedge play and misplayed tee shots, during a 74. He sits just three off the lead heading into the weekend.

Rory McIlroy’s new irons specs:
TaylorMade P760 (4), P7CB (5-9), Project X 7.0
Length: +.25″
Lie: 1˚ Flat
Loft Progression: 23/26/30/34/38/42

TaylorMade P7CB Custom Irons

BEST-IN CLASS FEEL
Using Tour feedback and modal analysis we’ve strategically designed mass placement for best in class feel. Crafted using Compact Grain Forging and 2000 tons of pressure to deliver the purest feeling 1025 soft carbon steel possible.
PRECISE CONTROL
Precise milled face and grooves combined with a constant CG the P•7CB is designed to deliver an optimal launch and spin combination for the ultimate control and precision.
CONSISTENCY
Created to maximize accuracy and consistency. The P•7CB optimized perimeter weighting and co-forged tungsten designed to deliver a beautiful blend of stability and workability.
COMPACT TOUR SHAPING
Every aspect of shaping in this iron was intended to meet the needs of discerning ball strikers. A compact blade length and thin topline create a confident, clean look in the playing position while the sole camber and progressive bounce profile provide consistent turf interaction.

View Product

Tracking 2026 gear in play

With the first full field event of 2026, plenty of new gear is going into play for the first time. Among some of the notables changing drivers this week is Keegan Bradley, who is playing a new Ping G440 K driver.

Bradley, who had played a Ping G430 LST since 2024, started testing the new big stick in December and immediately loved the sound. He was surprised to see an uptick in ball speed despite the K being a high MOI, max forgiveness driver, especially compared to his LST gamer.

Because the CG of the G440 K is so deep, Bradley was having a bit of a tough time getting the driver to fade, so he experimented with a few different heads that had a little extra weight in the toe and once he found that, it was ready to go.

Bradley shot 68 in the first round and picked up nearly 0.7 strokes off the tee. Through his first 20 tee shots for the week, while he was on the course for his second round, he has missed just five fairways and was averaging over 306 yards.

PING G440 K Custom Driver

View Product

Keegan Bradley G440 K driver specs:
G440K
Loft: 10.5 @ 10.25 dot setting
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6-X
Length: 45.75″
Tippping: 1”
Swingweight: D5

A big winner of the week so far is TaylorMade’s new Qi4D drivers. A total of 12 players are in either the Qi4D core or LS drivers, the most of any 2026 driver, including non-staffers Maverick McNealy, Harry Hall (LS), Kensei Hirata and Chandler Phillips.

Collin Morikawa, who added the Qi4D LS and Spider ZT Black putter before his season debut at TGL last week is also gaming new Qi4D Tour 3- and 5-woods.

Morikawa has played a SIM Ti Rocket 3-wood since 2020, including winning his first major title with it at that year’s PGA and said it’s been challenging to find one because he likes 3-woods to not spin, and go as far as possible.

“I want it to knuckle. I play it pretty low spin,” Morikawa said. “I like to test three woods at around 2,900 [RPM] which is rare for a lot of guys, but just knowing the shots I want to hit. If I can have it at 29, I can also hit the spinny cut at 3,400 and take 10 yards off. So, I’ve found that little balance in a 3-wood.”

He also mentioned that the Qi4D Tour still launches even when he hits it high on the face.

Like putters, 3-woods can sometimes be an emotional club, given how hard it is to find the right one. When it’s time to put one to rest like Morikawa’s SIM, which he had for five years, it’s understandable to be a little nostalgic.

“It’s a sad day to not have the SIM in the bag, but I’m really happy with this 3-wood,” he said.

Collin Morikawa Qi4D 3-Wood Spec:
Qi4D Tour 15.0° 3-wood
FCT: Upright 1 twd lower
Weights: 10g/10g front, 5g back
Shaft: Diamana D+ 80 TX

TaylorMade Qi4D Tour Custom Fairway Wood

MATERIAL ADVANTAGE

Advanced Multi-Material Construction combines the most effective engineering techniques with the finest materials to create one of our longest moveable weight fairways.
The Titanium Qi4D Tour fairway is designed for golfers who seek the ultimate weapon to conquer long par 5s and to thread the needle of the narrowest of tee shots.

ADJUSTABLE PERFORMANCE

Utilizing three Trajectory Adjustment System weights (15g x 1 / 4g x 2) provides the golfer the most mass efficient way to adjust shot shape and spin.
4° loft sleeve can be used to adjust loft, lie and face angle for optimized flight.

CG OPTIMIZATION

Engineers were able to improve launch without adding spin due to the use of an ultralightweight titanium body and advanced CAD model simulations. This result is a fairway that is easy to launch with incredible distance from any lie.
A large 60g tungsten mass pad moves the center of gravity extremely low and forward, creating a hot trajectory for more distance.

TOUR-PROVEN TECHNOLOGIES

New and improved cut-through Speed Pocket protects ball speed and reduces spin on low-face strikes.
Advanced CAD modeling creates a design with a clean and powerful sound, a foundation of TaylorMade fairway performance.
Twist Face features corrective face curvature is designed to provide straighter shots on mishits.

View Product

TaylorMade had 76 fairway woods in play this week at Sony, including 13 Qi4Ds, nearly double the next closest OEM at 39.

Elsewhere, at least a half-dozen players gave the go-ahead to Callaway’s new Quantum drivers, including 62-year-old Vijay Singh, who’s playing an 8.5˚ Triple Diamond model with a Fujikura Atmos Black 5-TX shaft.

Callaway also confirmed 12 of the 60-man field in Dubai this week is playing a Quantum driver, including the Hojgaard twins and Tom McKibbin.

Launch season? PROTO SZN

While new 2026 gear abounds in Hawaii and Dubai, we also got our fair share of prototype launches this week from Ping, Scotty Cameron and L.A.B.

The big one was Ping’s Monday morning surprise drop on the USGA conforming list of a prototype mini driver. The company was silent on details on the unmarked head, other than they would be showing it to Tour pros this week.

From photos on the conforming list and shared by Ping and GolfWRX, the prototype 13-degree mini features Ping’s characteristic turbulators on the crown, a carbon fiber composite crown and a movable weight in the rear similar to the company’s drivers.

Previously, Ping offered 12-degree G440 Max heads on a 3-wood shaft in a “Thriver” build for players looking for a mini driver.

What wasn’t included in Titleist’s announcement was any mention of the T3 mid-mallet head Ryan Gerard has been using. Gerard flew to Africa for the Mauritius Open at the end of the year and finished runner-up with the putter, moving him into the OWGR top-50 and qualifying him for the Masters. But we’ll have to wait and see if that putter makes it to retail.

Scotty Cameron usually doesn’t wait long after announcing new putters on Tour to bring them to retail. They announced last year’s Studio Style putters at the PGA Show, which is next week.

Lastly, GolfWRX snapped photos of L.A.B.’s new DF3i, which appears to be the company’s DF3 model, but with the aluminum fly mill insert from the newer OZ.1i. OZ.1i HS protos first showed up months before their eventual release last summer, so not really sure when these might hit retail.

Check this out

This section is dedicated to one cool photo we’ve snapped recently on Tour, but haven’t had a reason to share yet. For this week, check out Rory McIlroy’s new P7CB irons.

Odds and Ends

Some other gear changes and notes we’re tracking this week.

Jordan Spieth moved into a full set of Titleist ’25 T100 irons for the first time on the PGA Tour. He added the 4-iron at the Wyndham Championship in August and the rest of the set at the Hero last month … Tony Finau switched shafts in his G440 LST to a Ventus Black VeloCore+ 7-X … Russell Henley switched into a Vokey WedgeWorks 60K* … Davis Riley debuted a new Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.2R proto off the ’24 Phantom platform … Jake Knapp switched into a Scotty Cameron Phantom 12 Tour prototype putter … 23 players gamed TaylorMade Spider putters … Nick Dunlap is now playing 14 TaylorMade clubs after switching to a new Qi4D driver … Getty Images got a clear shot of Erik van Rooyen’s new Callaway Apex TC prototype irons … Adam Svensson, Chris Kirk and Isaiah Salinda were among Callaway staffers to add Callaway’s new 2026 Chrome Tour X golf ball … Aaron Rai benched his longtime TaylorMade M6 driver for a new Ping G440 LST … In addition, the Qi4D LS, Harry Hall added a set of Titleist 620 CB/MB irons with a T250 3-iron … Matti Schimid (OPTM X) and Gary Woodland (OPTM Max-K) are playing Cobra’s new OPTM drivers … Rickie Fowler and Max Homa debuted new setups at the TGL, including Fowler’s OPTM X driver, King Tour Mini and 3DP RF/KT proto irons. Homa had a personal set of LIMT3D MHMBs in play … Fowler also had a Scotty Cameron center-shafted GoLo instead of his L.A.B. Golf DF2.1.

3 things you should read/watch

A selection of GOLF content from the past week that may interest you.

How good is the TaylorMade Qi4D? We tested it with Charles Howell III – Johnny Wunder runs LIV Golf pro Charles Howell III through the entire TaylorMade Qi4D lineup.

“>

TaylorMade Qi4D Custom Driver

SHAPED FOR SPEED

The re-engineered head profile increases ball speed thanks to improved aerodynamics developed through advanced simulations.

FACE FOR DISTANCE

60x Carbon Twist Face is a technological cornerstone that provides weight savings, incredible ball speed and more consistency vs. a titanium face.

ADJUSTABLE PERFORMANCE

4° loft sleeve can be used to adjust loft, lie and face angle for optimized flight.

TOUR PROVEN TECHNOLOGIES

New and improved cut-through Speed Pocket protects ball speed and reduces spin on low-face strikes.
Advanced CAD modeling creates a design with a clean and powerful sound, a foundation of TaylorMade driver performance.
Multi-Material Construction allows engineers to strategically place mass in areas of the head where it maximizes performance, speed, and stability.

View Product

This PGA Tour rookie is making a big gear change before his debut – Marco Penge is leaving the company he just had his best professional season with to sign with PXG ahead of his PGA Tour debut.

PXG 0311T GEN8 Custom Irons

View Product

NEW 3D PRINTED IRONS FROM COBRA! – What makes them so special? – Jake Morrow talks with Cobra’s Ryan Roach on the new models and future of the 3DP irons lineup.

“>

The author welcomes your comments at Jack.Hirsh@golf.com.

Want to overhaul your bag in 2025? Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.