Equipment
‘That experiment’s over’ – Rory McIlroy explains why the cavity back irons didn’t work for him
At the beginning of this year, Rory McIlroy made a significant equipment change, switching out his TaylorMade Rors Proto irons for the brand’s more forgiving P7CB irons.
However, just over a month later, and the Irishman has decided to ditch the cavity back irons and return to his previous clubs.
Ahead of this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, McIlroy stated:
“That experiment’s over, back to the trusty irons that I’ve played basically my whole career.”
Then Rory explained that he felt the cavity backs had a right bias to them, saying:
“I felt like the cavity backs just had a little bit of a right bias in them.
So whatever way the weight of the head was or whether it was the blade length, I would hit shots — I’d make swings that I feel like I’d make with my blades that would be a very neutral ball flight and then with the cavity backs they would just start to tail off to the right.”
McIlroy added:
“I felt like in a way it’s not a bad thing because I don’t like seeing the ball go left.
So it made me feel like I could fully release my iron shots, which is great in theory and great in practice, but then once you get on the course with a card in your hand, for so many years I’m used to feeling that held-off position through impact and then to go from that to trying to release it, it just was a different feel, especially under pressure or in the heat of competition. So it just didn’t feel as familiar as I wanted it to.”
The 36-year-old is looking to win his second title at Pebble Beach this week, having recorded victory at the iconic site last season.
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.
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
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
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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...
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Driver: PXG Lightning Tour Max (9 degrees) Shaft: Project X Titan Yellow 70 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (15 degrees) Shaft:...
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Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (8.5 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X Mini driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Mini...
Wyndham Clark’s winning WITB: 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D (10.5 degrees) Shaft: Project X Titan Yellow 60 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D Tour (15 degrees) Shaft: Project...
BFranklin
Feb 16, 2026 at 4:51 pm
Too flat. His specs were 1 degree flat for the CB. The blades were .5 upright off standard.
Peter
Feb 15, 2026 at 7:04 am
Most predictable news in golf. Pure marketing campaign from the start, no doubt they would have got a boost in sales.
Benny
Feb 15, 2026 at 10:05 pm
So what.. he did the same years ago with Sim hybrids. If you owned TM you would love it.
J Hendrix
Feb 12, 2026 at 11:08 am
Well, so much for that Marketing/Sales Idea!
Next!?
Juicy
Feb 11, 2026 at 3:23 pm
The lie must of been too flat for him.
Juicier
Feb 12, 2026 at 1:39 am
Wrong!
Noonan
Feb 11, 2026 at 12:02 pm
No more tweaking, Rory!
Ed Bardoe
Feb 11, 2026 at 11:46 am
I am sure Taylor Made was hoping that he could play something they actually sell