Callaway’s newest better-player cavity back iron blends hollow-bodied distance with control and shot-shaping.
Gear: Callaway X Forged CB irons Price: $200 each with Project X IO steel shafts and Golf Pride Z grips Specs: Forged 1025 carbon steel body with 17-4 stainless steel face and tungsten weights Available: Oct. 29
Many elite golfers are happy to switch irons as long as designers don’t make major changes and the new clubs perform better. It’s a paradox that traps clubmakers and engineers. Pros, college players and potential club champions want their irons to look and sound a certain way, and when designers stray too far from what players have grown accustomed to seeing and hearing, many players won’t even give the new gear a chance.
With the new X Forged CB irons’ release, Callaway has tried to overcome that challenge by designing a better-player’s cavity-back iron differently.
Callaway X Forged CB irons have a classic look at address. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Looking down in the address position, good players should like what they see: a compact blade length, only a touch of offset, some pre-wear on the leading edge and a relatively narrow sole.
The body is made from soft 1025 mild-carbon steel for a soft feel. But instead of creating the X Forged CB as a one-piece forging, Callaway designed the clubs to be hollow. That allowed designers to add a piece of tungsten inside the head in the toe area that offsets the hosel’s weight. As a result, the ideal hitting area is pulled more into the center of the face.
The tungsten weight on the back of the X Forged CB irons lowers the center of gravity and allows for customization of swing weight. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Callaway also gave the X Forged CB a tungsten backplate that is attached by two screws. Golfers will not be able to remove it, but custom fitters can swap in different plates to adjust the swing weight based on a club’s length and player preferences.
The hollow-bodied construction allows the face the flex more efficiently. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
For extra ball speed, Callaway gave the X Forged CB a 17-4 stainless steel faceplate. While the hollow-bodied construction allows it to flex more efficiently, it does not produce a ball flight as high as Callaway’s cup-face designs, so accomplished players should be able to shape their shots more easily.
Titleist’s T100•S Black and T200 Black irons have a non-glare finish and are loaded with technology.
Titleist released the T Series irons, including the game-improvement T200, just over a year ago. Last January, on the eve of the 2020 PGA Merchandise Show, the brand debuted the T100•S, a stronger-lofted version of the better-player’s T100 irons that can be found in the bags of players like Jordan Spieth.
Both of those clubs were designed with a clean look and shiny chrome finish, but Titleist now has good news for players who love the look of dark, non-glare irons. Starting on Aug. 28, the company is making a limited-edition, all-black version of the T200 and T100•S irons available to the public.
PGA Tour veteran Cameron Smith won the Sony Open in Hawaii this year using a black-finished prototype set of T100 irons, and after fellow PGA Tour player Lanto Griffin saw photos of the clubs, he asked Titleist to make him a set too.
Titleist T100•S Black irons (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The clubs were given a dark PVD finish and come standard with black shafts and grips. The T200 gets the True Temper Dynamic Gold Onyx AMT Black shaft, and the T100•S comes with the Project X LZ Onyx shaft. Both clubs come fitted with all-black Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 grips.
Aside from the cosmetic differences, the limited-edition black T200 and T100•S irons are identical to the standard clubs.
Titleist T200 Black irons (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The T200 irons, which replaced the AP3 irons last season, has tungsten weights in the heel and toe for stability and to lower the center of gravity. They provide more distance thanks to the addition of a Max Impact system that can be seen on the back of the head. A screw holds a silicone polymer core in place inside the head, and as the face flexes at impact, the core compresses and then quickly rebounds. That helps the face snap back more efficiently, resulting in more ball speed and distance.
The black T100•S (the S stands for strong) has lofts that are 2 degrees stronger than the standard T100 iron lofts. They are designed for accomplished golfers who want a compact head and short blade length, but also want extra distance.
Both sets of irons will cost $1,599 for a set of eight (4-GW) or $200 per club.
Mizuno JPX Tour irons have been used to win four majors. The newest version offers more maneuverability with classic looks and feel.
Gear: Mizuno JPX 921 Tour irons Price: $1,299 (4-GW)/$175 per club with Nippon N.S. Pro Modus 120 shafts and Golf Pride MCC +4 grips Specs: Grain flow forged 1025E mild carbon steel Available: Sept. 17
While not officially a member of Mizuno’s PGA Tour staff, Brooks Koepka has won four major championships playing Mizuno JPX Tour irons. Last season they were used to win nine professional events around the world, and none of those wins were by golfers who are paid to endorse Mizuno. The appeal of the JPX Tour irons is they provide accomplished players with loads of feel and control with just a touch of forgiveness.
With the release of the JPX 921 Tour, the Japanese company is hoping to make those clubs even more appealing to golfers who have a fast, repeatable swing.
Removing some mass from the toe and repositioning it around the head maintains stability but should allow golfers to shape shots more easily. (Mizuno)
Aesthetically, the JPX 921 Tour irons are designed to appeal to elite golfers. The topline is thin, there is minimal offset and the look is clean.
But while Tour players told Mizuno the JPX 919 Tour was stable on off-center hits for a compact iron, a few said it could be challenging to shape shots and curve them in desired directions. To fix that and add workability, engineers shifted some of the mass from the toe to the head’s perimeter.
The overall moment of inertia is about the same, so the irons retain their stability, but the center of gravity has shifted slightly to the heel side. Mizuno said that should help golfers hit controlled draws and fades more easily.
At address, the JPX 921 Tour looks like Mizuno’s MP muscleback blade irons. (Mizuno)
To make the long irons slightly more playable, Mizuno made the soles a little wider in the 4-iron through 7-iron, while the 9-iron and pitching wedge are somewhat smaller. The sweet spot is also fractionally higher in each iron.
To further enhance feel, Mizuno reinforced the pad designed to be low and behind the hitting area, as well as the perimeter of the toe. That helps create a more substantial, deeper sound at impact.
Mizuno’s JPX 921 Forged irons are designed to look like a better-player’s club, but a unique material helps them deliver more distance.
Gear: Mizuno JPX 921 Forged irons Price: $1,399 (4-GW)/$175 per club with Nippon N.S. Pro Modus 120 shafts and Golf Pride MCC +4 grips Specs: Grain flow forged 4120 Chromoly Available: Sept. 17
Recreational golfers have aspired to hit Mizuno blades for decades because they have a clean, classic look and legendary feel. In reality, even fairly accomplished club players need some forgiveness built into their clubs, and a little extra distance is almost always welcome. With the release of the new JPX 921 Forged irons, Mizuno’s latest offering in the better-player distance category tries to deliver the performance those players need in a club that looks like something a Tour player might use.
The JPX 921 Forged is the first fully forged iron from Mizuno made from Chromoly. Mizuno has used the material in irons before because it is extremely strong, but the Chromoly in the 921 Forged is softer and more forgeable. Still, it is stronger than the boron-infused 1025 carbon steel used in the previous generation of JPX Forged irons. That let Mizuno make the faces thinner and the pocket cavity behind the hitting area slightly wider. The result: The sweetspot is larger even though the new irons are smaller.
The thin topline and classic look at address will appeal to better players. (Mizuno)
Removing more mass from the face and the pocket allowed Mizuno to redistribute weight to the perimeter of the head and boost stability.
At address, golfers will see a thin topline, less offset and a slightly shorter blade length than the previous version of the JPX Forged iron. The sole is modestly narrow, and the flashy blue color that debuted 10 years ago with the first JPX irons is gone, replaced by chrome and black for a more elegant look. Some players may not even notice the pocket cavity in the back of the head.
While the long and mid-irons are each 1 degree stronger lofted in this edition of the JPX Forged, they are still comparable to the lofts found in most better-player irons, with a 5-iron at 24 degrees and a 9-iron at 40 degrees.
Blending foam-filled bodied with thin, fast faces, the newest better-player cavity-back irons from TaylorMade provide distance and feel.
Gear: TaylorMade P-770 irons Price: $1,399 (3-PW) with KBS Tour steel shafts and Golf Pride Z-Grip grips Specs: Foam-filled, hollow-bodied construction with a forged 4140 stainless steel face and 8620 carbon steel body and tungsten weight. Available: Sept. 4
TaylorMade Tour staffers such Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa play muscleback blades. The company has also had success in the red-hot player’s-distance iron category with the P-790 over the last two years. TaylorMade’s P-760 irons were designed to be a combo set that bridged the gap between those two worlds, with forged short irons and hollow-bodied long irons.
However, with the just-released P-7MC now being the logical club for players who want more forgiveness than a bag full of musclebacks can provide, TaylorMade saw an opportunity to bring back an old friend, the P-770.
The original P-770 came out in early 2017 and featured a 70-gram tungsten bar in the back of the 3- to 7-irons top make them more forgiving and create a higher ball flight.
The new P-770 is an entirely different club, and it is packed with more technologies.
Behind the thin face, TaylorMade has added Speed Foam and a tungsten weight. (TaylorMade)
TaylorMade filled the hollow area between the thin, forged 4140 stainless steel face and 8620 carbon steel body with Speed Foam. It is a light material that absorbs vibrations to enhance sound and feel. The foam does not inhibit the face from flexing at impact, so golfers still get the ball-speed benefits of a hollow-bodied club for increased distance.
To improve performance on low-struck shots, TaylorMade gave the P-770 a Speed Pocket slot in the sole. A polymer covers it, so grass and debris stay out, but the slot allows the bottom of the face to flex more efficiently, pulling the sweet spot down.
A large internal tungsten weight is positioned low and toward the toe, which should encourage a higher ball flight and pull the ideal hitting area into the center of the face. That weight also adds stability without making the irons larger.
The Speed Pocket in the sole protects ball speed on low-struck shots. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
To ensure accomplished players like what they see in the address position, the P-770 has a thin topline, minimal offset and relatively narrow sole. It is slightly larger than the P-7MC but smaller than the P-790.
TaylorMade said that the P-770 is longer and higher-launching than the P-760, which it replaces. It also launches higher and creates more spin than the P-790, even though the clubs have the same lofts, and TaylorMade said the P-770 and P-790 have nearly identical carry distances.
TaylorMade’s newest muscleback blade is based on Dustin Johnson’s prototype and delivers maximum feel and control for accomplished golfers.
Gear: TaylorMade P-7MB irons Price: $1,399 (3-PW) with KBS Tour steel shafts and Golf Pride Z-Grip grips Specs: Forged 1025 carbon steel with machined face Available: Sept. 4
For nearly three years, Dustin Johnson has used a prototype version of TaylorMade’s P-730 irons. The clubs are labeled “DJ Proto.” Like the standard P-730, they have a thin topline, virtually no offset and a narrow sole. Johnson, a former world No. 1 and the winner of the 2016 U.S. Open, is an elite ballstriker who wants to shape shots left, right, up and down at will, so that’s precisely what he wants in an iron.
Using those clubs as inspiration, TaylorMade has a new muscleback blade designed for pros, collegiate golfers and elite amateurs: the P-7MB.
While the clubs are forged from 1020 carbon steel, a material that has been used before, TaylorMade is forging the P-7MB in a new way. The process is referred to as Compact Grain Forging, and it involves five steps and a 2,000-ton press. TaylorMade said the resulting grain structure in the steel is tighter, which enhances feel.
The P-7MB irons have a thin topline, short blade length, narrow sole and very little offset. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The P-7MB has a clean look from behind and a classic look at address. The blade length is 1.4 millimeters longer than the P-730, which the P-7MB replaces, but the P-7MB still has the shortest blade length of any TaylorMade iron in the current lineup.
While the extra mass in the lower portion of the head helps to slightly drop the center of gravity and the face of each club has been machined to be perfectly flat, nothing was added to this club to increase forgiveness or provide golfers with added distance. When it comes to the P-7MB, it’s all about feel and control for golfers who have a very repeatable swing.
The world’s No. 1 player is making a significant change to his gear on the eve of Jack Nicklaus’ tournament.
It appears Rory Mcilroy has decided to make an iron change on the eve of the 2020 Memorial Tournament.
The world’s No. 1 player used TaylorMade’s P-730 irons since he signed an endorsement deal with the company in May 2017, often blending in a P-750 3-iron and 4-iron. However, images provided to Golfweek show McIlroy’s bag inside TaylorMade’s PGA Tour van with a set of the company’s prototype P-7MB irons. It appears McIlroy has a P-7MB 3-iron through pitching wedge in the bag.
The P-7MB irons first appeared in the bag of Charley Hull, who put them into play at the Clutch Pro Tour event two weeks ago in England.
While TaylorMade has not released any official word on the new irons or details about when they might be made available to the public, we can tell a few things about them from the photos.
1. They’re forged. This is a no-brainer. The word FORGED is clearly shown on the hosel and nearly all better-player muscleback blades are forged.
2. They have a different sole than Tiger Woods’ irons. It is also hard to tell from the photos whether the clubs are larger or have a longer blade length than McIlroy’s old P-730 irons. The P-730 is currently the most compact iron in the TaylorMade stable. Woods’ P-7TW iron has a longer blade length than the P-730, and the soles of Woods’ irons are milled. There are no milling marks on the bottom of McIlroy’s P-7MB.
3. They look different but probably feel and perform similarly to the P-730. The P-730 irons had a milled line that went across the back of the head, creating an upper and lower section on the back of the club. It was designed to remove weight and lower the center of gravity slightly.
The P-7MB does not have the milled section, but elite ballstrikers such as McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa, all of whom play the P-730 and are among the leaders in strokes gained approach the green on the PGA Tour, would not want to make radical changes to their irons. The fact McIlroy appears willing to make the change indicates that he found switching to be fairly easy.
Winning at Colonial Country Club requires great iron play. See which clubs the 10-best iron players will be using as the PGA Tour restarts.
Colonial Country Club, the site of this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge, historically has been known as a ballstrikers’ paradise. It has small greens and narrow fairways, and the Texas wind can push and shove a player’s shot offline.
Last season Kevin Na won after finishing first in the field in strokes gained approach the green with a four-day total of 8.3. Strokes gained approach the green measures how much of an advantage a golfer has over the field on shots hit from the fairway. Na’s total represents more than an eight-shot edge over the average player through 72 holes.
The 2018 winner at Colonial, Justin Rose, also finished first in strokes gained approach that year with a total of 10.2.
Get the point?
Below is a list of the 10 highest-ranked golfers in strokes gained approach the green (the numbers in parenthesis are the average per round) in this week’s field at the Charles Schwab Challenge, along with the irons they use. It will be the first chance they get to use their tools in competition since the PGA Tour was shut down after the opening round of the Players Championship in March.
Gary Woodland’s Wilson irons (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas and other stars will be in the field next week at Colonial Club. See which irons they’ll use.
After being forced to cancel the Players Championship after the first round due to the coronavirus outbreak in March, the PGA Tour is set to resume the 2019-20 season next week at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Ft. Worth, Texas.
Colonial Country Club, the host venue, is steeped in tradition, with a massive statue of Ben Hogan hitting a shot just outside the clubhouse. The course has historically favored great ballstrikers and golfers who have exception control over their iron shots.
Several of the game’s top players are scheduled to compete at Colonial. The list below reveals all the irons currently being used by the top 10 players on the Official World Golf Ranking.
Tommy Fleetwood’s Srixon and TaylorMade irons. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
10. Tommy Fleetwood
IRONS: Srixon Z 785 (4, 5), TaylorMade P7TW (6-9), with Project X 6.5 shafts.
Relying on feedback from tour pros, Tour Edge has adjustable woods, cavity-back and muscleback blade irons for better-players.
Tour Edge in January launched new woods and irons – the Exotics EXS 220 family – that blend unique materials and innovative designs. Now as golfers return to the links and summer begins, the Chicago-based company has announced it is releasing a complementary line of clubs for accomplished players June 1, the Exotics EXS Pro series.
David Glod, Tour Edge’s founder and president, said his company started tinkering with prototypes for tour players as it developed the EXS 220 line.
“With our previous Exotics launch, the EXS 220, we designed our most forgiving and stable clubs we’ve ever produced,” he said in a release. “The EXS Pro line is designed to bring the level up with the more traditional player with a faster swing speed who is looking for anti-left clubs with extremely low spin and penetrating ball flights.”
Tour Edge Exotics EXS Pro driver (Tour Edge)
Exotics EXS Pro driver ($399.99)
This driver is a slightly smaller edition of the EXS 220 driver and offers golfers the ability to shift the center of gravity to encourage different shot shapes.
The 441-cubic-centimeter head has carbon fiber in the crown and toe section of the sole to save weight. Some of that saved weight was repurposed into a 6-gram weight that can slide in a rail system in the back of the head. Tour Edge calls it a Flight Track, and when the weight is in the heel area it creates a draw bias. Sliding the weight to the toe encourages a fade. A kit (sold separately) is available with 3-gram, 9-gram and 15-gram weights.
Tour Edge designed 33 diamond-shaped areas on the inner side of the titanium face, and the company said they act like miniature trampolines when the club strikes the ball, creating more deflection and ball speed.
The EXS Pro driver will be available in 9.5-degree and 10.5-degree editions with an adjustable hosel that allows golfers and fitters to increase or decrease the stated loft by as many as 2 degrees.
Tour Edge Exotics EXS Pro fairway wood (Tour Edge)
Exotics EXS Pro fairway woods ($299.99)
The standard Exotics EXS 220 fairway woods released in January were made for the masses and feature a cup-face design for enhanced ball speed and forgiveness. They also have a weight in the sole to shift the center of gravity back and away from the face to encourage a higher-launching shot.
The Exotics EXS Pro fairway woods are slightly smaller but have the same SlipStream sole design on the bottom of the club for enhanced turf interaction. The biggest difference is the Pro edition comes with 5-gram and 10-gram weights that can be positioned in the heel and toe to create a draw or fade bias. With the weights closer to the Beta titanium face cup than with the EXS 220, the EXS Pro fairway woods have a center of gravity that is more forward to create more ball speed and less spin, which accomplished players should like.
The Exotics EXS Pro fairway woods will be available with 13.5, 15, 16.5 and 18 degrees of loft.
Tour Edge Exotics EXS Pro hybrid (Tour Edge)
Exotics EXS Pro hybrids ($249.99)
Many accomplished players tend to distrust hybrids because they believe utility woods have a draw bias. To overcome that, Tour Edge designed the EXS Pro hybrids with the same duel-weight system found in the fairway woods.
Each club comes with a 20-gram and a 5-gram weight that can be positioned in the toe or the heel. When the heavier weight is in the toe, the EXS Pro has an extreme fade bias.
To help the clubs produce more ball speed and distance, Tour Edge gave them a Beta titanium cup-face design like the hitting areas designed into the drivers and fairway woods. To maintain speed through the hitting area and improve turf interaction, the stainless steel EXS Pro hybrids also have Tour Edge’s SlipStream sole design.
The EXS Pro hybrids do not have an adjustable hosel, but to ensure ideal gapping, they are offered in 16-, 17-, 18-, 19-, 20- and 22-degree versions.
Tour Edge Exotics EXS Pro Forged Cavity-Back and Blade irons (Tour Edge)
EXS Pro Forged Cavity-Back and Blade irons ($149 per club)
Irons for elite golfers have to look good at address, enhance feel at impact and deliver consistency shot after shot. With the EXS Pro Forged Cavity-Back and EXS Pro Blade, Tour Edge believes it checks those boxes.
EXS Pro Forged Cavity-Back is forged from S25 carbon steel for a soft feel and has a classic angled-toe shape. The topline is thin, there is little offset and the sole is narrow, and to enhance playability the 3-iron through 6-iron have an internal tungsten weight in the toe that pulls the center of gravity down and into the center of the hitting area. Tour Edge also milled the face to ensure it is perfectly flat and made the center part a little thinner. This distributes more weight to the heel and toe and creates more perimeter weighting for enhanced stability.
The EXS Pro Blade is a traditional muscleback iron that also is forged from S25C carbon steel. Like the Pro Forged Cavity-Back, it has a thin topline, just a touch of offset and a narrow sole that is rounded slightly to help the clubs get through the turf more easily.
Both clubs have a highly polished satin chrome finish for a premium look.
Tour Edge Exotics EXS Pro Milled Forged wedges (Tour Edge)
EXS Pro Milled Forged wedges ($149.99 per club)
To complement the better-player irons, Tour Edge is offering the EXS Pro Milled Forged wedges. Each club is forged from S25C carbon steel before its face is CNC-milled flat.
Tour Edge milled out the center section in the back of each wedge to elevate the center of gravity and help golfers flight wedge shots lower for better control. The sole was designed for versatility with plenty of heel and toe relief.
The grooves are milled into the hitting area, allowing Tour Edge to make them to tighter manufacturing tolerances, and the grooves vary in each club based on the loft. The grooves in the 50- and 52-degree wedges are deeper and narrower, as are the grooves typically found in irons, because those clubs are usually hit with a full swing on approach shots. The grooves in the 54- to 60-degree clubs are wider and shallower to help remove water, sand and debris from the hitting surface on chips, pitches and bunker shots.
The EXS Pro Milled Forged wedges are available in even lofts from 50 degrees to 60 degrees.
