Srixon’s newest cavity-back irons blend distance and feel-enhancing technologies with classic looks
Gear: Srixon ZX5, ZX7 irons Price: $1,299.99 with Nippon N.S. PRO Modus3 Tour shafts and Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 grips; $1,399.99 with UST Mamiya Recoil 95 graphite shafts (ZX5) Specs: Forged 1025 carbon-steel bodies with tungsten weights Available: Jan. 15, 2021
Over the past several seasons, Srixon has developed a reputation for making popular muscleback blades for elite golfers such as Hideki Matsuyama and 2019 British Open champion Shane Lowry.
The company also makes forged cavity-back irons for accomplished golfers and mid-handicap players, too.
With the release of the new ZX family of irons, the Japanese company brings multimaterial designs and other technologies to low- and mid-handicap golfers who want enhanced ball speed and performance while maintaining a classic look.
To celebrate Tiger Woods’ fifth Masters win and 81st PGA Tour victory, TaylorMade has created 81 commemorative sets of his irons.
Before the 2019 Masters, TaylorMade released a set of irons designed and used by Tiger Woods, the P-7TW. As every golf lover and sports fan knows, Tiger won his fifth Masters and 15th career major championship that week. It also was Woods’ 81st PGA Tour victory.
The special P-7TW irons come in a themed box. (TaylorMade)
Now a week before the 2020 Masters, TaylorMade has created 81 sets of P-7TW irons to celebrate Woods’ Masters win, and the company is giving you a chance to win one of these replica sets or have an opportunity to buy one of them.
The clubs come in a green box with the number 15 on the outside and colorful images of flowers on the inside. The flowers represent the plants for which the holes at Augusta National are named, such as magnolia, azalea and firethorn. A yellow badge inside the box tells which of the 81 sets of irons are included. There is also an autographed image and a note from Woods explaining how the clubs were designed and forged.
Each iron is numbered on the hosel. (TaylorMade)
The irons themselves are identical to the clubs in Woods’ bag except for a few commemorative details. First, each iron has a number on the hosel that shows it is a club from one of the 81 limited-edition sets. Second, while the True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts and Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord grips are the same components Tiger uses, the True Temper stickers are trimmed in a Masters-themed green and yellow.
The shafts and grips are the same as Tiger Woods’, but the colors on the shaft stickers are Masters-themed. (TaylorMade)
If you are thinking about putting the set into your bag and hitting shots with these clubs, you will need a powerful, consistent swing. The P-7TW irons have a thin topline, virtually no offset and a narrow sole that has been milled to create the precise amount of bounce and camber that Woods prefers. The P-7TW irons have tungsten behind the center of the hitting area to amplify feel. Make no mistake, they are a very traditional muscleback blade designed to give players more control and feedback, not to be more forgiving.
You can register your email address at taylormadegolf.com for a chance to win one of the sets of irons or win an opportunity to purchase a set for $2,500.
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.
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.
Whether you prefer the look of an iron or a hybrid, the Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company has a forgiving long-iron alternative for you.
One of the most famous golf photos ever taken shows Ben Hogan hitting a 1-iron to the 18th green at Merion Golf Club during the 1950 U.S. Open. Hy Peskin took the shot, and Hogan’s pose as the ball rocketed toward the green was iconic.
But chances are that you not only don’t carry a 1-iron, you also have not hit too many long-iron shots as well as Hogan did. For that reason, the Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company has just released two new long-iron alternatives, the UiHi utility irons and VKTR+ hybrids.
For golfers who prefer the look of irons, the UiHi utility irons are available as 3-, 4- and 5-irons (18, 22 and 26 degrees) for $110 each. They have a slightly thicker topline, a longer blade length and more offset than many Hogan irons for a reassuring look and more forgiveness. They also are slightly oversized to make them appear to have more loft, but it is what you don’t see that really delivers the punch.
Ben Hogan UiHi utility iron (Ben Hogan)
The UiHi irons are hollow, which gave designers more room to lower the center of gravity and pull it away from the face, resulting in a higher launch. The hollow-bodied construction also allows the face to flex more easily at impact for increased ball speed and distance.
For golfers who prefer hybrids, Ben Hogan now offers the VKTR+. They are available in 18-, 22- and 26-degree versions for $140 each.
Ben Hogan VKTR+ hybrid (Ben Hogan)
The face of the VKTR+ hybrid is forged from 455 maraging steel, an extremely hard material. Using this material allowed engineers to make the face thinner and lighter without sacrificing durability. The VKTR+ has a weight plug in the back of the sole that pulls the center of gravity down and back to make it easier for golfers to hit higher-flying shots.
A Ben Hogan Players Combo set (Ben Hogan)
With the release of the UiHi utility irons and VKTR+ hybrids, the Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company is making it easier for golfers to blend different models of clubs to create personalized hybrid sets.
The company is offering a few, such as the Player’s Combo Set with a UiHi 4-iron matched alongside PTx Pro irons (5-7) and Icon blades (8-PW) for $785. There is also a Player’s Combo Set with a VKTR+ 22-degree hybrid, PTx Pro irons (5-7) and Icon blades (8-PW) for $815.
Golfers also can create their own hybrid sets, ensuring they get the ideal amount of forgiveness and control to match their game.
For whatever your game needs, equipment designers have been busy tweaking existing lines for better performance and often introducing entirely new clubs.
Modern irons have gotten in on the chase for even more distance and forgiveness, frequently utilizing hollow designs that boost ball speeds. And for players who value control more than distance, there are better-player irons that offer fine-tuned precision, especially in the shorter clubs.
Check out some of the irons that have been introduced for this season.
Callaway Mavrik
Price: $799 for the standard and Max versions on steel shafts or $899 on graphite shafts; $899 for the Pro model on steel
Each Mavrik iron’s face was created using artificial intelligence in an attempt to maximize distance and forgiveness.The Mavrik irons also have an internal tungsten bar that lowers the center of gravity and encourages a higher ball flight.
See the irons and shafts currently being used by the most consistent iron players on the PGA Tour.
Distance and power off the tee get a lot of attention, but there has always been an aura surrounding the players who are great at hitting iron shots. Ben Hogan had it, and so did Lee Trevino, Tom Kite and Jack Nicklaus. Tiger Woods has it too.
The sound of the ball compressing against the metal face, the hollow thump made as the club works through the turf and then hissing of the ball as it zips through the air can be mesmerizing. The golfers listed below all demonstrate fantastic consistency from the fairway and lead the PGA Tour in greens in regulation. See who they are and what irons they play.
