Golfers at every level of the game can’t resist tinkering but it was certainly strange to hear that Rory McIlroy had turned to a set of cavity backs to try and gain a further edge.
McIlroy put new TaylorMade P7CB irons (5-9) in for the last two rounds of the Australian Open last December. He finished tied 14th.
The cavity experiment continued for the opening two events of this year’s DP World Tour schedule.
McIlroy finished tied third at the Dubai Invitational and then, disappointingly, only managed tied 33rd at the Dubai Desert Classic, an event where he’d made the top 10 in his previous 12 visits, winning it four times.
But would the Masters champion continue with the new cavity back irons on his return to the PGA Tour?
We got the answer in his press conference ahead of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am where he entered the week as defending champion.
“The experiment is over,” declared McIlroy as he announced that he was swapping back to his Rors Proto blades.
Explaining the switch to what he knows best, the five-time major champion said: “I felt like the cavity backs just had a little bit of a right bias in them.
“So, whatever way the weight of the head was, or whether it was the blade length, 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 like start to tail off to the right.
“I felt like, in a way, it’s not a bad thing because I don’t like seeing the ball go left, so it made me feel like I could fully release like my iron shots, which is great in theory and great in practice.
“But then once you get on the course with a card in your hand, for so many years I’m used to feeling that like 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.
“Just didn’t feel as familiar as I wanted it to.”
McIlroy had to settle for 14th at Pebble Beach so did the switch back to blades work out?
Speaking to Sky Sports during the Genesis Invitational at Riviera, Rory revealed: “I’m glad that I did the experiment but I’m definitely happy that I’m back with my old trusty blades.
“You know, I’ve played those irons for, geez, since 2017 really, so coming up on nine years and, you know, you just have clubs that feel really comfortable in your hand and you have a lot of trust in them and you know what they’re going to do.
“I thought my iron play was pretty good last week at Pebble and thankfully I’m continuing that into this week, so nice to have those blades back in the bag.”
McIlroy went on to finish runner-up at Riviera so, in theory, it looked like his decision paid off.
But what do the numbers say?
Strokes Gained: Approach is the best way to measure iron quality and this is how he ranked during and after the change of clubs.
Cavity backs v Blades
Dubai Invitational – Cavity backs – SG: Approach rank: 30th
Dubai Desert Classic – Cavity backs – SG: Approach rank: 31st
Pebble Beach Pro-Am – Blades – SG: Approach rank: 4th
Genesis Invitational – Blades – SG: Approach rank: 3rd
The evidence is pretty conclusive.
As well as what McIlroy actually felt, the stats show that he had far better SG: Approach numbers after switching back to blades.
His iron play returned to elite levels and, in fact, those are his highest positions in the SG: Approach category since he ranked 1st for SGA in his Masters win at Augusta last April.
As McIlroy gears up for March’s big Florida events – The Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship (defending champ) – and April’s Masters, it looks like he’s definitely on the right path again.
And while it’s easy to think of his experiment as a failure, perhaps the little buzz of returning to something familiar after going away from it has actually sharpened his iron play up.