Equipment
Is this a photo of Rory’s new custom Callaway Apex MB irons?
Reports came down recently that Rory McIlroy will be playing a bevy of Callaway clubs in 2017, which has left GolfWRXers hunting for in-hand photos and exact specs of his new clubs.
In a GolfWRX forum titled “Rory McIlroy chose Callaway woods and irons,” it appears user ghost5 obtained a photo of McIlroy’s new Callaway Apex MB custom pitching wedge. While we’re not sure if this is actually McIlroy’s iron, a backup, a prototype he was testing, or just a club stamped “RM” to fool the internet, but it’s certainly a one-off club that cannot be found “off-the-rack.”
So far, this is the equipment we’ve confirmed that McIlroy will have in his bag when he tees it up again in competition:
- Driver: Callaway Epic Sub Zero
- Irons: Callaway Apex MB (custom)
- Wedges: Titleist Vokey
- Putter: Odyssey with prototype insert
- Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
As always, we’ll keep you up to date on any changes and specs we can confirm.
Equipment
Neal Shipley, AKA, the “Big Fridge’s,” custom stamping
Neal Shipley was the first to admit that he enjoyed his food while in college. But since his days at Ohio State, he’s slimmed down and earned a PGA Tour Card.
That hasn’t stopped him from having fun with his wedge stampings, though it’s led to some misunderstandings.
On the 54 (degree), we have ‘Big Fudge,'” Shipley told GolfWRX. “It was supposed to be ‘Big Fridge,’ so this happened a little while ago. ‘Big Fridge’ was a nickname between my college teammates and I, with ‘fridge’ meaning stomach, a big stomach.

“We told the Ping guys to put … ‘Big Fridge’ on it, and I think maybe some bad cell service or something, and they thought I said ‘fudge,’ so they put fudge on it.”
On Shipley’s 50-degree he also continues the food theme, this time with his go-to order at the “Golden Arches,” and his stamping “DONS 7.”
“The number 7 meal, the two cheeseburger meal, that was my McDonald’s order, back when I would have McDonald’s frequently,” Shipley shared.
Equipment
From the GolfWRX Classifieds: L.A.B. Purple DF3 with Masters cover
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @raw10628 has a L.A.B. DF3 putter and Masters putter cover up for grabs.

From the listing: “Some great items here today, time to thin out and make room for next set of gear. All prices include shipping.
LAB DF3 Purple 33.5” 68° lie with TPT – $725. LAB Masters release DF3 cover – $150.”
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules
Whats in the Bag
Maria Torres WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 5-M4

3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4

5-wood: Ping G440 Max (19 degrees @18)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4

Hybrid: Ping G440 (23 degrees)
Shaft: Oban Isawa Red Hybrid Shaft 04 Flex 70 Gms

Irons: Srixon ZXi7 (5-P)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i80

Wedges: Cleveland RTZ (50-MID, 54-FULL, 58-MID)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i105

Putter: L.A.B. Golf OZ.1i
Shaft: ACCRA Putter Shaft

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Dave R
Jan 9, 2017 at 10:07 pm
Those are not machine marks. Look like a weld Job not completly polished . Looks like a snow job to me . Just a muscle back iron from Calloway that’s all.
Count Tyrone Rugan
Jan 9, 2017 at 5:59 pm
Guys,
Look at the pic. the transition from the mid portion has 3D mill marks on them. That head is fully machined.
Carter
Jan 9, 2017 at 4:04 pm
I am really not surprised to much at him switching irons and driver. A player of his caliber can play well with just about anything. The thing that really shocked me was switching putters. He was putting lights out with that Scott Cameron mallet that he switched to prior the Ryder Cup. He obviously didn’t sign a 14 club deal with Callaway as evidence with the Vokey wedges. So why would he ditch the putter that was working so well for him?
Joseph
Jan 8, 2017 at 4:16 pm
Did Rory play the cast made Vokey wedges before? Or did he play the Japanese forged versions?
James
Jan 8, 2017 at 12:42 am
Just a bunch of irons 99.999% of us could not ever use….2% of amateur golfers need custom fit clubs to improve, 98% of amateur can spend money for fittings and clubs till they are blue in the face but if not one dollar of that is on instruction you wasting your time. UNLESS you are buying what you want to play and that is what makes you happy then it is worth it….sometimes the most fun you can have (other then making a tee time) is buying some club or clubs you want.
mike
Jan 8, 2017 at 1:15 pm
Doesnt mean that if you cant hit thoses….the that everybody cant hit them….come on……im a 18 handicapper and i play the taylormade tp mc 2014…..because im a lefty i cabt play the mb because they dont make some for my side…..and i would love to hit those blade kind of iron…….if you hit the center of the club theres no way that you cant play whatever you want…………..dont put everybody in the same boat and those percentage seems really high IMO……..
Scott
Jan 7, 2017 at 7:29 pm
I really don’t get this. Rory was amazing when he played titleist. Amazing. Nike throws millions at him to change, he takes the bait and takes him how many years to make a comeback w Nike clubs. Now nikes out and he’s using Callaway. I don’t get it. Not knocking Callaway but why doesn’t he just go back to tried and true.
John
Jan 11, 2017 at 5:24 pm
Uhhhhh 1. It took one year. Then he won more with Nike than Titleist.
In 2014 he won 5 times worldwide including 2 majors and caused the North Carolina Audubon Society to permanently disband after his avian incineration at Quail Hollow. 6 wins if you roll the December 2013 Aussie Open into 2014.
I’ll also point out he won 9 times 2009-2012, switched, then won 12 times 2013-2016. 2 majors each side.
So yeah, terrible move by him. I’m sure his one-off custom irons and woods/wedges with any quality at all are really gonna hold him down. I bet Callaway REALLY threw the zeroes at him when he told them he had 5 years of Nike balls stockpiled (and was in actuality gonna use the 17 V1x and vokeys)
The dude
Jan 7, 2017 at 5:56 pm
New Miura custom…..confirmed. RM will get x to stamp Callaway…
Scott
Jan 7, 2017 at 2:59 pm
Those are actually titleist mb’s
WolfWRX
Jan 7, 2017 at 1:31 pm
Looks photoshopped.
Mark
Jan 8, 2017 at 6:40 am
That is what I thought (and not very well done either).
TexasSnowman
Jan 7, 2017 at 11:40 am
Rory playing forged muscle backs…. could have any company name stamped on it; wouldn’t matter. Interesting to me that he prefers Vokeys over Cally wedge offerings at this point. Not knocking Vokey, just that the current Cally Wedges are really nice IMO.
Joseph
Jan 8, 2017 at 3:54 pm
When he played Vokeys, did he play the cast version or Japanese forged since his irons are forged blades. I’m sure whatever it was, was custom for him, so likely doesn’t make any difference.
Branson Reynolds
Jan 6, 2017 at 1:49 pm
They look like Taylormade MB’s
mike
Jan 8, 2017 at 1:18 pm
Not really
John
Jan 6, 2017 at 1:04 pm
i would love to see him play with ping clubs
Johnnylongballz
Jan 7, 2017 at 6:53 am
I can’t see that ever happening. Rory is a forged MB kind of guy, and that is not really PING’s style.
Teaj
Jan 6, 2017 at 12:31 pm
it does look perdy though
MT
Jan 6, 2017 at 12:24 pm
Rory has never used a stock PW in the past. If he’s going back to Vokey wedges he likely would be using a 48* Vokey.
Joseph
Jan 6, 2017 at 1:54 pm
He used a 46 Nike Engage the past 2 years I believe.
Kevin
Jan 7, 2017 at 2:14 pm
When he first switched to NIKE, he played a iron PW, but quickly switched back to wedge PW after couple tournaments.
michael
Jan 6, 2017 at 11:42 am
I thought he usually carried a a PW that matched his wedges, not the irons.
Tom
Jan 6, 2017 at 11:27 am
lol this is gonna frost some wrx’er ballz.