Rory McIlroy has gone back to his old irons – and the story behind the decision says a lot about what it takes to stay at the top.
Only weeks after putting a new iron setup into play, Rory McIlroy has made a swift U-turn. The experiment is over, the old irons are back, and the timing raises an obvious question: Why mess with anything after the best year of your life?
Speaking ahead of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, McIlroy confirmed the latest change and offered a candid insight into what he learned from a rare spell of serious tinkering.
“Sort of messed around with some different iron setups and sort of messed around with like a different ball and a few equipment changes,” he said. “That experiment’s over, back to the trusty irons that I’ve played basically my whole career.”
Ditching the irons that won a Grand Slam
McIlroy is famously loyal to his irons.
Since signing with TaylorMade in 2017, he has relied on a blade-style iron – his Rors Proto model based on the P730 – keeping them in the bag through majors, Ryder Cups and, ultimately, a career Grand Slam.
Even when tweaks were made, they were minor. A slightly more forgiving long iron would occasionally appear at the top end of the set, but the core of the bag stayed the same year after year.
Those irons were there for everything. Which is why his decision to move away from them late in 2025 immediately stood out.
‘If there’s help to be had, I’ll definitely take it’
Despite calling 2025 “the best year of my career” and “the best year of my life”, McIlroy knew one part of his game hadn’t quite been where he wanted it.
Statistically, it was his worst season on record for Strokes Gained: Approach, with McIlroy ranking 68th on the PGA Tour. He gained just 0.157 shots per round with his irons.
His driving and putting were both elite – ranking inside the top 10 for Strokes Gained – but his approach play, by his own standards, wasn’t.
Even more telling was the gap to the very top. The best iron players on tour were gaining more than a shot per round on approach alone – a margin that quickly adds up over four days.
It was that discrepancy that pushed McIlroy to explore whether a little more forgiveness could help smooth out the edges.
“If there’s help to be had, I’ll definitely take it,” he said when explaining why he was open to change his irons after so long.
McIlroy had noticed that slight mishits with his blades – particularly with mid-irons – were being punished more than he liked, often coming up noticeably short. The idea was simple: find a touch more forgiveness without giving up control.
That search led him into unfamiliar territory.
What he switched into – and how far it went
At the Australian Open in late 2025, McIlroy put TaylorMade P7CB cavity-back irons into the bag for his 4-, 5- and 6-irons. By January, the change had expanded into a full set as TGL returned in Florida.
Initially, he liked what he saw.
“I went down to Australia with them and with that firm turf down there I felt like those irons were going through the turf better than the blades,” he said. “I’ve practised with them at home since… and overall, I’ve liked what I’ve seen.”
But liking something on the range is one thing. Trusting it when it matters is another.
The subtle issue he couldn’t ignore
The problem, McIlroy explained this week, was what happened when he made his normal swing under pressure.
“I felt like the cavity backs just had a little bit of a right bias in them,” he said. “I’d make swings that I feel like I’d make with my blades that would be a very neutral ball flight, and then with the cavity backs they would just start to tail off to the right.”
That bias had an upside. “I don’t like seeing the ball go left,” McIlroy admitted. “So it made me feel like I could fully release my iron shots, which is great in theory and great in practice…”
But tournament golf quickly exposed the downside.
“Once you get on the course with a card in your hand… For so many years I’m used to feeling that held-off position through impact, and then to go from that to trying to release it, it just was a different feel – especially under pressure or in the heat of competition.”
With the P7CBs in the bag, McIlroy finished T14 at the Australian Open, T3 at the Dubai Invitational, and T33 at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, but ranked 47th on the DP World Tour in Strokes Gained Approach through those 12 rounds.
His conclusion was simple: “It just didn’t feel as familiar as I wanted it to.”
McIlroy’s main target for 2026
Despite such a fantastic 2025, McIlroy is still searching for ways to improve, and one man is the reason for that.
“If I had a critique of myself last year, it’s that I didn’t bring the consistency that I maybe would have wanted post the Masters,” he said.
It’s a point that inevitably leads to comparison to the standard being set at the top of the game by world number one Scottie Scheffler.
“Scottie just had his 17th top-10 in a row,” McIlroy said. “He shoots two over in the first round and he just pieces it together again, finds a way, has a chance to win on Sunday. He’s relentless.
“I’ve had nice runs like that, but I’ve always been a little more up and down. Anyone that wants to catch Scottie or get anywhere close is going to have to consistently bring that sort of game week in and week out like he does.”
He may be back in his old irons for now, but the fact he was willing to ditch them after so long suggests McIlroy isn’t completely satisfied. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him undertaking further experiments in that area of his bag before major season kicks off in April and the race to catch Scheffler intensifies. Watch this space.