Starting in early December, there were whisperings on social media that TaylorMade was going to release something very different in 2022. There were blurry photos here and there, but then the company submitted the Stealth driver to the USGA and R&A, who tested them and added them to the Conforming Driver lists, making the Stealth drivers legal for play in official competitions.
Shortly after that, Tiger Woods used a Stealth driver and 3-wood at the PNC Championship, and equipment junkies took notice. The face of the driver was red and the sole plate on the 3-wood looked different.
On Monday, TaylorMade released three Stealth drivers, two Stealth fairway woods, two Stealth Rescue clubs and the Stealth irons.
TaylorMade’s Stealth irons create more ball speed thanks to a hollow-body design, and they feature improved sound and feel.
Gear: TaylorMade Stealth irons Price: $999 with KBS Max MT steel shafts and Lamkin Crossline 360 grips. $1,099 with Fujikura Ventus Red or Aldila Ascent Ultralight graphite shafts Specs: 450 stainless steel face with hollow-body design and polymer vibration-dampening peice. Available: April 4
TaylorMade has a full selection of irons for accomplished golfers who have repeatable swings in its P Series, including the P•7MB (from $1,399 at PGA Superstore). P•7MC (from $1,224.99 at PGA Superstore), P•770 (from $1,244.99 at PGA Superstore) and the P•7790. For golfers such as Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa and Dustin Johnson, they are designed to deliver feel, precision and workability.
For mid- and higher-handicap players, TaylorMade has game-improvement clubs such as last season’s SIM2 Max (from $799.99 at PGA Superstore), which feature wider soles, distance-enhancing construction and feel-improving technologies. While better-player irons often see performance enhancements made slowly, club players tend to be more open to trying new things if they can deliver improved performance, distance and consistency.
With the release of the new Stealth irons, TaylorMade believes it has a game-improvement club that can do all that, even while wrapped in a cleaner, more-sophisticated package.
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Four years ago TaylorMade released the first version of the P790, a better-player’s distance iron designed to also appeal to mid-handicap golfers who want a compact shape and more ball speed. It became one of the most popular irons in TaylorMade’s history and was updated in 2019. Now TaylorMade is releasing the third iteration of the P790, and the company said the use of new materials and enhancements in the P790’s design should make it even more popular.
TaylorMade’s SIM2 Max and SIM2 Max OS irons feature a new Back Cap design to enhance sound and feel along with a distance-enhancing face.
Gear: TaylorMade SIM2 Max, SIM2 Max OS irons Price: $799 (4-PW) with KBS Max MT shafts and Lamkin Crossline 360 grips; $899 with Fujikura Ventus Blue graphite shafts Specs: Hollow-bodied design with 450 stainless steel face and polymer back piece Available: Feb. 19
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For golfers who struggle to get the ball high in the air and who want more distance with their irons, TaylorMade designed the M5 and M6 irons two years ago with a bar in the back of the head called a Speed Bridge. By connecting the topline to the back of the club behind a massive undercut cavity, designers made the head stiffer while also letting the face flex more for increased ball speed.
Last season’s SIM Max and SIM Max OS irons advanced the technologies for mid- and higher-handicap golfers, and now TaylorMade is releasing the SIM2 Max and SIM2 OS to deliver even better sound and feel without sacrificing ball speed.
Every SIM2 Max iron has a 450 stainless steel face that is thin and flexible and also has a unique inverted cone design. It has a slightly thicker area in the center and gets progressively thinner toward the outside. A slot cut into the sole, which TaylorMade refers to as a Speed Pocket, allows the lower portion of the face to flex more efficiently, especially on low-struck shots.
The Back Cap design stiffens the topline and saves weight. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Instead of merely having a Speed Bridge on the back of the head to support the topline, the new SIM2 Max irons have a Cap Back design. It’s a multi-material piece that stretches from the heel to the toe, made by layering lightweight polymer over an adhesive layer. It supports the entire topline, unlike the Speed Bridge, which supported it in the center, and helps absorb excessive vibrations to improve sound and feel.
TaylorMade said the critical advantage of its Cap Back design is that unlike vibration-dampening badges that are bonded to the back of the face, where they can reduce face flex, it fits on the seam created by the back cavity and topline. The face is freer to flex in a hollow chamber inside the head.
The SIM2 Max irons have a moderately-thick topline and offset. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
An additional benefit of the Cap Back piece is the polymer used to make it is seven times lighter than steel, which made it easier for designers to keep the center of gravity down for players who want a higher ball flight.
One technology that carries over from last year’s SIM Max irons is the Echo Dampening system. It is an extremely soft polymer that stretches from the heel to the toe inside the head, touching the lower portion of the face inside the head to enhance sound and feel.
Looking down at the SIM2 Max irons, golfers will see a reassuringly thick topline and plenty of offset to help players square the face more easily through impact.
The TaylorMade SIM2 Max OS irons. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
For golfers who want even more forgiveness, TaylorMade is offering the SIM2 Max OS. It has been made using the same technologies, including the progressive Inverted Cone face, Cap Back and Echo Dampening systems and Speed Pocket, but the SIM2 Max OS is larger.
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.
A week after using a new TaylorMade SIM driver at the Honda Classic, it appears that Justin Rose is making more equipment changes.
ORLANDO – A week after using a new TaylorMade SIM driver at the Honda Classic, Justin Rose is making more equipment changes at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Rose, the winner of the 2018 FedEx Cup, had used a prototype set of Honma TR20 irons earlier this season, but there was a new set of TaylorMade P730 irons in his bag Wednesday for the pro-am at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge and again in Thursday’s first round of the tournament. He also had wedges from TaylorMade, Titleist and Wilson in the bag Wednesday.
Justin Rose’s TaylorMade P730 irons Wednesday at Bay Hill (David Dusek/Golfweek)
In January 2019, Rose signed an endorsement deal with Honma, becoming the Japanese company’s first PGA Tour staff player. Honma did not return Golfweek’s requests for information on Rose’s current status with the company. Rose had used TaylorMade equipment before joining Honma last year.
Rose is a 10-time winner on the PGA Tour, with his most-recent victory at the 2019 Farmers Insurance Open. He also has seven European Tour wins, has competed in five Ryder Cups and reached No. 1 on the Official World Golf Ranking in 2018.
Rose hasn’t had a great start to 2020. In three events, he missed two cuts and had a best finish of T-56 at the Genesis Invitational.
TaylorMade’s newest game-improvement irons feature a Speed Bridge, a new vibration-dampening system and a slot cut into the sole.
Gear: TaylorMade SIM Max, SIM Max OS irons Price: $999.99 SIM Max (4-AW), with KBS Max 85 shafts and Lamkin Crossline 360 grips; $1,099.99 with Fujikura Ventus Blue graphite shafts; $899.99 SIM Max OS (4-AW) on steel, $999.99 on graphite Specs: Cast 450 stainless steel and 431 stainless steel heads with polymer vibration dampener Available: Feb. 7
The goal for every game-improvement and maximum game-improvement iron is to deliver more distance and forgiveness to players who tend to struggle with consistency. Golfers who rarely break 90 don’t think about controlling little draws and fades too much, but they do think about hitting the ball farther and getting it higher into the air.
Last season, TaylorMade’s M5 and M6 irons featured Speed Bridge technology, a bar designed into the back of the club to provide more distance and better feel. For 2020, TaylorMade is using that technology again as the foundation of the new SIM Max and SIM Max OS irons.
The Speed Bridge bar connects the bottom of the SIM Max iron to the topline. (TaylorMade)
The Speed Bridge bar connects the lower portion of the head to the topline, stiffening both of those areas, and that allowed TaylorMade’s engineers to make the face thinner (1.5 millimeters) and faster. It also allowed them to add a slot in the sole, which TaylorMade calls a Speed Pocket, and it goes all the way into the club in long and mid-irons (4-8). The company said the combination of a thinner face and the Speed Pocket allows the hitting area to flex more efficiently at impact, especially on low-struck shots, to give players more distance.
From a looks perspective, the SIM Max has the same blade length and offset as the M6, which it replaces, but a slightly thinner topline. However, to enhance the feel at impact, TaylorMade replaced the polymer block that was inside the M6 iron with a piece that runs the length of the blade. The company calls it an Echo Damping System, and it rests directly behind the face, visible from the outside.
The Echo Damping System absorbs vibrations to enhance sound and feel. (TaylorMade)
The Echo Damping System’s ribbed design makes contact in more places to soak up more vibrations, but it does not inhibit the face from flexing at impact, so it will not cause a reduction in distance.
An added benefit of connecting the sole to the topline and then positioning a polymer piece in the cavity is it pulls more mass down and away from the face. This lowers the center of gravity and encourages higher shots.
TaylorMade SIM Max OS irons (TaylorMade)
For golfers looking for even more stability and ball speed, TaylorMade is offering the SIM Max OS. It has the Speed Bridge and Echo Damping System found in the SIM Max, but the blade length is slightly longer and the heads are larger. The oversized clubs also have a wider sole to make them more forgiving on fat shots.
