I recently took a trip to the PING Golf Proving Grounds in Phoenix, Arizona to do a bit of testing with their full roundup of 2026 offerings. After our Fully Fit visit in December, I was looking to spend a bit more time with some of their offerings that I haven’t gotten to take more than a handful of swings with. The PING lineup of irons is quite robust, and it’s definitely one of the more ‘complete’ lineups on the market. Let’s break down the lineup and sort out which irons fit for what style of player and who may benefit the most from each design.
PING i240 – A cavity back ‘plus’
The PING i240 is a unique iron, in a category where PING has definitely differentiated themselves. It’s not a true cavity back iron, that would be the PING Blueprint S, but it’s also not a player’s distance iron; like the PING i540. It sits somewhere in the middle. It’s a great option for players who want the shape and size of a more traditional cavity back, with a loft structure that’s a bit more traditional, but still need a little bit of help. The i240 aims to provide precision for players that want a bit more control over their flight, but with an MOI package that mirrors a much more helpful category of irons.
With its more traditional cavity back shape, PING took performance of the i240 one step further over previous generations by giving a significant boost to MOI. On the back of the iron you’ll see the new ABS badge, which helps them save over eight grams in weight, distributed to the perimeter of the iron for an increase in MOI without an increase in size or shape of the platform. They’ve also added an elastomer insert in the cavity which helps to create a softer feeling and sound out of the cast 413 stainless steel body. For the better ballstriker who’s looking for a little bit more help than a traditional cavity back like the Blueprint S, the i240 is the perfect option within the PING lineup. If it’s good enough for a guy like Viktor Hovland, it’s good enough for your bag too.
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PING i540 – Some speed assistance for the better player
The i540 is a special iron. It competes in a really unique marketplace for the better player who wants a good visual but may be losing speed. These are the senior club champions at your local course, or in my case, the guys who take my money every weekend, despite being twice my age. They’re also a really good option for players who need the turf efficiency of something like an i240 but they don’t quite have the ball striking to back it up. The i540 sits here in a really good bucket. It provided almost a club more worth of speed for me compared to the i240, while adding launch and maintaining a similar spin window.
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While testing the lineup, the i540 stood out most. I made the comment while working with PING WRX Master Fitter James Lee that it almost felt too easy. I would have to calibrate my distances a little bit on course, and probably do some gapping work at the bottom end of the bag, but playing the i540 felt… right. It felt like something I could possibly end up doing, just because the data showed us that the iron was really working for me. The only in my own testing is they’re actually a little bit too fast. 130 mph for a 7-iron is quite a bit of speed, and that calibration in speed and distance could make some of the creative shots a little bit more difficult. But this iron wasn’t built for me. It was designed for a crowd that sits in a nice single digit handicap arena but just doesn’t quite swing it as fast as they used to.
When we visited for Fully Fit both Johnny Wunder and Wadeh Maroun agreed. Wadeh was VERY close to putting them in the bag, but since our first day of the trip was at PING, he actually based the rest of his fittings off of the benefits he saw in the i540, and the rest of the week was testing hollow-body irons over cavity backs or forged options. Johnny jumped on board, too. Both guys are low single-digit golfers with very consistent swings and they know what they need out of their equipment. But, in their own admission, they’re losing out on a little bit of speed compared to where they may have been in years past. A hollow-body, high-tech offering like the i540 that maintains a nice visual behind the ball and allows the better player to worry more about making a good swing than if their clubs can keep up with their current game.
PING G440 – In-line game improvement
In-line irons can be tricky. Every company makes a game-improvement style iron that shares the name of their current in-line metal woods, but its a tough category to find balance in. Making sure that the iron performs well for the bulk of the golfing majority while still looking, feeling and sounding good seems to always involve tradeoffs. If there’s one thing that the G440 isn’t going to tradeoff, it’s performance. In the video testing with Lee you can see how much fun we had hitting the G440 irons. For lack of a better word, they’re dummy-proof. The biggest compliment I can give to anything in this realm is that it’s easy. As long as you make half-decent contact, the club is going to work for you.
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I always like to say the G440 is meant for the infrequent player. Somebody who definitely knows what they’re doing and has a repeatable swing, but doesn’t practice much and wants a set of irons that will last a long time and always produce for them. My dad, who’s in the last generation G430 irons, is a perfect example. He doesn’t play a whole lot, usually just on weekends that I can visit, but he knows what he’s doing with his swing and just wants to be out there and have fun without any equipment issues getting in the way. Everything I’ve set up in his bag is about ease of use, and the irons are no different. You can get away with a very off-center strike, they still feel good for the category they fall into, and it helps to make the round go by without any additional stress. Plus, PING continues to make sure that they look good in the bag, behind the ball, and in the hands as you twirl a nice approach.
PING G740 – All the help you want
If the G440 is for the repeatable player looking for stress-free and easy rounds, the G740 is for ANY player who wants every single bit of help PING can offer them. The G740 is a large and in charge iron meant for one thing: forgiveness. This is actually a key difference maker in the lineup. The G740 is not an iron developed with speed gains in mind. For me it was about as fast as the i540 or the G440, which all sat around 130 mph ball speed off the 7-iron. What the G740 offers is forgiveness.
It really does feel like you can hit the ball anywhere on this iron and get away with it. It makes the G440 seem unforgiving, which is saying a lot. With the 740, the goal is high-tech performance and good looks. This is the true “play the game because you enjoy it” type of iron. Older players who just want to keep swinging, juniors looking to get into the sport, or beginners who would like a non-offensive entry point into the sport will all appreciate the forgiving benefits of the PING G740 irons.
