Rory McIlroy in shock equipment switch as he jumps on a major club trend for 2026

Rory McIlroy is not a player who tinkers with his equipment set-up willy nilly, however in recent weeks a few significant updates have been made in the Northern Irishman's bag.

The world number 2 was the first major name to switch into TaylorMade's new Qi4D driver in the lead-up to the Abu Dhabi championship last month. However while that was to be somewhat expected given his status as arguably the brand's marquee name, a more under-the-radar change he's made for this week's Australian Open has raised serious eyebrows.

The change, which was only picked up by Golf.com's Jack Hirsh, concerns his irons: an area where Rory hasn't made a change in many years. 

Check out McIlroy's full WITB here

McIlroy has his own prototype irons, named the TaylorMade's P7 RORS-Proto, custom-made by the brand to suit his strengths. However with the prevailing trend at the upper levels of golf bringing even the world's best players back in search of more forgiveness, he too has seemingly opted to place a more player-friendly option in the long-end of his bag, switching out his long-used 5 and 6 irons for TaylorMade's more forgiving P7CB model. 

Hirsh also confirmed McIlroy also switched out his old P760 4-iron for a club of the same model.

While still very much a player's iron, the cavity back P7CB is definitively a more user-friendly option than Rory's traditional blades. The move adds Rory to a growing list of players to game something approaching a combo set of irons, with more and more tour players opting for more forgiving models at the longer end of the bag while playing more workable short irons.

McIlroy seems comfortable with his choice, and while he hasn't been at his sparkling best so far in his Australian Open turn, his new irons came up clutch in a big way as he made 3 birdies in the last 4 holes to make the cut and set himself up for weekend golf at Royal Melbourne.