On this week’s episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped, co-hosts Johnny Wunder and Jake Morrow discussed McIlroy’s switch and what it might mean for the brand’s iron line moving forward.
In case you haven’t heard, McIlroy made a months-long switch official when he played a 5-9 iron set of TaylorMade P7CB irons this past week in Dubai to open his season with a T3. The move began in Australia last month, where McIlroy inserted P7CB long irons before adding the rest of the set by the weekend.
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.
“If there’s help to be had, I’ll definitely take it,” McIlroy said last Thursday after an opening round 66 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.”
McIlroy’s set has a pre-worn leading grind similar to that of his P760 long irons, but Wunder said more work is coming.
“And they are working on a set— a very Rory-specific cavity back set,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s a prototype set or whatever, but they are working on a set. It’s ongoing. They’ve been doing it for a few months. It’s not ready, but he wants to play these ones to get used to the idea of playing cavity back irons.”
The P7CB irons came out in the summer of 2024, which means this summer would be two years from their release. Could they be due for a refresh already? And is the “Rory-specific” cavity back what’s going to replace them?.
“My guess is that that’s probably the set that they’re screwing around with right now,” Wunder said of a potential P7CB replacement. “So I think it helps if you are a TaylorMade or Callaway and you’re launching, you have designs on launching a new cavity back or new tour iron, it behooves you to make your premier player that would play that iron, get them in the bag sooner than later. So if I were TaylorMade, I’d be trying to push to get those in the bag for the summer. So by the time that the cavity backs hit the market, he’s already in them, he’s already made them famous, and everybody wants them.”
What’s really interesting, Morrow points out, is that if you consider the P7CB the successor to the P760, which was a slightly larger platform, it took six years for that product cycle.
It also gave a clear player’s option in the cavity-back market that seemed to be getting a little blurry.
“Mizuno is purposely calling their new iron a speed cavity, not a cavity back for that exact reason because it’s caused — The category is just so wide,” Morrow said. “But the Cobra, the TaylorMade specifically, and then the PXG are like true CB irons, and they’re all like, they’re beautiful.
“But the P7CB is so nice because we didn’t have it for the longest time.”
Is a new P7CB on the horizon? We’ll just have to wait and find out.
Jack Hirsh is the Associate Equipment Editor at GOLF. A Pennsylvania native, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State University, earning degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his high school golf team and recently returned to the program to serve as head coach. Jack also still *tries* to remain competitive in local amateurs. Before joining GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a Multimedia Journalist/reporter, but also producing, anchoring and even presenting the weather. He can be reached at jack.hirsh@golf.com.
