Maverick McNealy was once the No. 1 amateur in the world playing for Stanford University, and he signed with Callaway Golf upon turning professional in 2017.

Since then, McNealy has been switching back-and-forth between Callaway Apex MB prototype irons and Nike VR Pro irons. He played Nike irons in college, and he hasn’t yet been able to make a permanent switch into Callaway irons.

Throughout 2022, McNealy has been opting for the Nike irons, and he uses lead tape to get the weighting and CG (center of gravity) right for his swing. McNealy prefers a long heel-to-toe length and a CG that’s farther away from the hosel.

When he showed up to the 2022 Byron Nelson, however, he had a completely new version of Callaway Apex MB prototype irons that he’s never used before, in addition to his old Nike irons.

On Tuesday, we caught up with McNealy to get his take on the new Callaway irons and how they came about.

GolfWRX: So we noticed that you have a new set of Callaway blades in the bag, in addition to the Nike irons. What’s the story behind the new irons, and can you tell me a bit about the process of getting them in the bag?

McNealy: So, this process started just over a year ago. I’ve been working really closely with Tim Reed (Senior Vice President, Global Sports Marketing at Callaway) on this. It’s really trying to fill a gap in the performance blade market. There really isn’t anything with that much length heel-to-toe and a center of gravity far enough from the hosel.

For me, getting that center of gravity out towards the toe, or should I say, getting that center of gravity further away from the hosel, gives me more club head awareness on the way down. It slows down the closure rate and keeps the club face square longer. I found out with other blades, because they’re so short heel to toe, and the center of gravity is so close to the heel, that I was shutting them down too fast for me. So these help keep the club face square on the way back and give me that awareness on the way through.

So, Tim and I are taking a deep dive. We’re hitting them and really trying to dial them in in every way possible so that they’re consistent from iron to iron all the way through.

We’re measuring offsets, impact height, location, lead groove height, there’s just so many little details that change the way you deliver the club, the way you feel it. The next thing we’re looking at is making sure every iron is spinning exactly the way we want through the bag especially with the new golf ball, the prototype golf ball (Chrome Soft X) that I’ve been playing from Callaway, which is awesome.

It’s pretty cool to get to match an iron and a golf ball to hit exactly the flight I want to through the bag.

Are you trying to match up the look with the Nike irons? From address, they look very similar in terms of grooves, offset and topline.

The Nike’s trained me. When I became a one sport athlete, those were the irons I was using. That’s what my eye sees, so there’s a few things that really help me line up the club, especially the PAR area. The lead groove height matters a lot for delivering the club consistently and getting the contact.

Then the 10 and 11 iron is a fun project for us because I almost never chip with a pitching wedge or gap wedge, and if I do it’s a bump and run, so I just want something that’s going to flow straight through from my short irons to my approach irons, or however you want to call them. I’ve seen them launch lower with a little bit more spin, which is great for distance control, and they feel just like my irons, which is a pretty exciting project.

Which of the Callaway irons will you put in play this week? The whole set?

4-7. The 8 iron is a maybe. Honestly, I just want to get some reps under competition and see how they perform. As you can see, I’m slow to change, so it’s a big deal for me to throw a couple of them in, and we’re going to keep iterating until they’re exactly right.

See more photos and join the discussion about McNealy’s new irons here.