Collin Morikawa won the 2021 British Open at Royal St. George’s Golf Club using a blended set of irons that consisted of TaylorMade P•770 (4), P•7MC (5-9) and P•730 (PW) irons. During the seasons that followed, he kept using blended sets that often included some prototype P•7CM irons (with the CM standing for Collin Morikawa).
After tinkering with some prototype cavity-back irons throughout the spring and summer and adding a prototype 4-iron to his bag starting at the Wells Fargo Championship, Morikawa debuted what appears to be the next generation of better-player, cavity-back irons from TaylorMade last week at the RBC Scottish Open, and they are in the bag this week at Royal Troon.
The yet-to-be-released P•7CB irons are, cosmetically, similar to the P•7MC irons that have been in the TaylorMade lineup for about a year. TaylorMade has not released any specific information about them, so we don’t know if there has been a change in the blade length, the width of the topline or sole geometry, which are all things elite players focus on. However, while Morikawa’s irons appear to have the same general shaping at the muscle-cavity P•7MC irons, and the P•7MC irons had milled faces, the yet-to-be-released P•7CB irons have clearly-visible milling over the entire hitting surface while the P•7MC irons do not.
Is that a big deal, possibly. While high-handicap golfers are usually happy just hitting straight irons shots, low-handicap golfers and elite players want irons that create spin so they can cut, draw and shape the ball around the course. While the milling lines may be cosmetic, it’s possible that TaylorMade is trying to enhance spin, and thereby give good ballstrikers like Morikawa, more control.
Entering this week’s British Open, Morikawa ranks a solid 39th on the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green (0.39), but that is down from his season-ending rank of No. 2 (1.012) in 2023.