Equipment

Callaway X2 Hot and X2 Hot Pro Irons

Published

10 years ago

Nov 12, 2013

The most important new feature of Callaway’s new X2 Hot and X2 Hot Pro irons is something that on first glance, golfers might not even notice: Chevron-shaped silver arches on the back of their cavities.

While they look like part of the badging, the arches are actually cast into the faces of the 17-4 stainless-steel irons and play a key role in stabilizing the upper portion of their face. That improves the sound and feel of the irons, and makes them more consistent.

X2 Hot irons

Photo above: Callaway’s new X2 Hot iron are 40 percent more consistent than the X Hot irons.

The X2 Hot irons don’t have the high-strength 455 carpenter stainless-steel faces of Callaway’s Apex irons, but their stabilizing arches allow the lower portion of their faces to flex more at impact. That moves their sweet spots lower, where most golfers contact their iron shots. It also helps shots hit below the sweet spot retain more ball speed and launch angle, a big part of the X2 Hot’s 40 percent improvement in consistency.

Photo above: The X2 Hot irons have a deeper undercut behind the face, which helps make them about 2.5 yards longer than the X Hot irons.

The position of the mass in the X2 Hot iron heads was also changed to make them look less overtly like game-improvement irons. While the blade lengths, top lines and amount of offset remain very similar, the irons were slimmed substantially from front to back.

Designers were careful to keep the X2 Hot irons as forgiving as last year’s model, and at the same time move the center of gravity slightly lower and more forward. That, along with the deeper undercuts behind the faces of the irons, helps make them about 2.5 yards longer than their predecessors. The sole widths are also about the same size as they were on the X Hot irons, but 2-to-4-degrees more bounce was added to help golfers improve their turf interaction.

callaway x2

Photo above: A Callaway X2 Hot iron, viewed from address. Its toplines are thicker than those on Callaway’s X2 Hot Pro irons.

Like Callaway’s Apex irons, the X2 Hot irons have Callaway’s 30-degree wide-spaced V grooves. They will be available Jan. 17 and cost $799 with True Temper’s Speed Step 85 steel shaft (regular and stiff flexes), $899 with Callaway’s X2 Hot 60-gram graphite shaft in lite, regular and stiff flexes.

X2 Hot Pro irons

The most important feature of Callaway’s X2 Hot Pro irons for many golfers has nothing to do with their performance. It’s their price, $899, which makes them the cheapest players iron in the company’s 2014 lineup.

The main reason the X2 Hot Pro irons are $200 cheaper than Callaway’s other new players iron for 2014, the Apex Pro, is their construction. The X2 Hot irons are cast, a more cost-efficient way to make irons than the forging process used to make the Apex Pro irons. But just because an iron is cast doesn’t mean it can’t offer premium performance.

The new irons lose the undercut cavity that was used on last year’s X Hot Pro irons, giving them a much more compact look. And like the Apex Pro irons, their soles are inspired by the popular soles on Callaway’s 2013 X Forged irons, giving the X2 Hot irons soles that are thicker in the center and thinner in the heel and toe to help better players improve their turf interaction.

The X2 Hot Pro irons also have a stabilizing arch cast into their cavity, which helps give the irons more consistent ball speeds than last year’s model and also removes unwanted flexure of the irons’ toplines, contributing to irons’ better sound and feel.

Included also is Callaway’s CG Height progression, which moves weight lower in the long and mid irons for a higher launch and less spin, and higher in the short irons for a lower launch with more spin. The short irons also have less offset than the X Hot Pro short irons, giving them the cleaner look that many better players like to see from their short irons.

The X2 Hot Pro irons will be available Jan. 17. They have the same 37 wide-spaced V grooves as Callaway’s Apex Pro irons, and come stock with True Temper’s Project X 95 shaft, available in 5.5 (regular) and 6.0 (stiff) flexes.

Click here to see what GolfWRX Members are saying about the X2 Hot and X2 Hot Pro irons, as well as the rest of the company’s X2 Hot lineup.

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34 Comments

steve parlak

Apr 26, 2015 at 12:56 am

where can i get a calloway x 2 hot 3 iron

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Jimbob

Jul 10, 2014 at 12:19 am

Little tip…It does not, repeat does not matter what an iron “looks” like or how low the lofts are. What does matter is how it performs for your swing PERIOD. Get off your high horses and come on out to the course where a 44* X2 Hot Pro PW will go further, and straighter than your super awesome, non-cheap looking, shiny, forever wearing, most workable, forged PGA tour only blades.

Reply Report comment
Jeff

Apr 16, 2014 at 8:51 pm

I tried X Hot irons with graphite last fall and they weren’t enough to change. This Spring I traded my Razr X irons with Uniflex steel for X2 Hot irons with graphite to help with aging elbows. They are super hot, feel great on impact and their control beats my old Raz X irons. That’s hard to do! Over 50 years I have played my brands including Ping, Mizuno, Taylormade and Hogan. These remind me of my Hogan Edge irons I loved. Great club Callaway!

Reply Report comment
Iron2850

Feb 25, 2014 at 6:22 pm

I hit these irons yesterday at a PGA Tour superstore. I hit both X2 Hot and the X2 Hot Pro’s vs. last years X Hot…last years clubs were lighter feeling, due the deep undercut cavity…this years model seems heavier in the head, easier to feel. I know the lofts are much different than what we are used to, but I hit these clubs much higher and longer than my Titleist AP1 712’s. I was hitting the X2 Hot 7 iron 170 and 26 yards high vs. the AP1 6 iron at 160 and 7 iron at 150, 18 yards high. I hit the X2 Hot 6 iron 180, 25 yards high. I am a notoriously low ball hitter which is why I am looking at these. Was hitting regular flex shafts in each club. Color doesn’t bother me much. Whether I hit them consistently (height and distance) are the most important variables to me. I would like to hear from anyone who has played these outdoors. AT $699 they allow Callaway to provide solid clubs at a lower price point than the Apex line. Thanks.

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marko

Nov 16, 2013 at 2:20 am

I dont get it? Forged clubs with a cast face. and clevelands cast clubs with a forged face. What is the difference in performance?

Reply Report comment
Andrew

Nov 13, 2013 at 6:16 pm

This does not seem like Callaway’s best effort… very surprised.

Reply Report comment
- Keith
  
  Mar 12, 2014 at 6:45 am
  
  Andrew I dont know why you would say that? The irons have a distinct look of the old X16-X18 irons from the top. After hitting the Apex Pro irons which I bought, I could not gedt them airborne. A mate of mine – a pro suggested to go back to a more cavity back Iron with a softer shaft. Which I did, the X Hot 2 irons with a regular shaft. And all I can say it was the best thing I ever did. Ball flight is sensational and easier an extra club longer. These things are great to hit, very easy. I am not a wood duck (4 marker) but im getting older so this has help slow my golf swing down, get into better positions at impact and boom.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - phil
    
    Nov 3, 2014 at 4:25 pm
    
    xhot2 regular or x2hot pro?
    
    Reply Report comment
Joe

Nov 13, 2013 at 5:19 pm

I have played Callaway for more than a decade. I cannot believe the looks of the new irons! I wasn’t crazy about the new Apex/Apex Pro…but the new Hot line is terrible looking. Callaway has made such great improvements through the last 4 or 5 years…I am afraid that they have really gone backwards.

Players won’t play ugly clubs…no matter how they perform.

Reply Report comment
jgpl001

Nov 13, 2013 at 4:42 pm

These look cheap and Callaway have taken ten steps backwards

Callaway you are going out of business if you keep this up – REALLY

Reply Report comment
- marko
  
  Nov 16, 2013 at 2:15 am
  
  I have no idea what you guys are looking at? These irons look good and will sell like crazy.It’s all about performance. If they work they start to look good.
  
  Reply Report comment
- Keith
  
  Mar 12, 2014 at 6:49 am
  
  I could not care if they looked like shovels. They perform! They are long and the flight is high – amazing flight. Easily the most friendly set of clubs I have hit. Put them down and look at them. They look like the old Callaway’s which I loved. Once you see the flight, you would not care if they were pink.
  
  Reply Report comment
Jamie

Nov 13, 2013 at 2:20 pm

I hit the apex iron at the golf show in London, I have a set of Diablo forged with ozik had program shafts, they do not compare to the Diablo forged. The apex is just another offering to the market along with the x2 so callaway now mass produce products like taylormade, but if you hit the apex iron and have the chance to compar it to the legacy black, it’s night and day!!!
The legacy black is a rolls Royce to the apex, x hot, x hot pro,
Guess that’s why henrik stenson gamed them on route to the fed ex cup ,
The apex and the x2 hot are just tweaked versions of the previous.

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Hiball

Nov 13, 2013 at 1:05 pm

Like every other club manufacturer, they tweak a iron from 6 months ago and everyone jumps on it. Think about it. Every driver is 5-10 yds longer than the previous model. Realty. I should be driving the ball 420. And the longer strong lofted irons? What a joke. You have such a huge gap from the pw to lw? But consumers buy into it. “I’m hitting my 6 iron 215” really? With a 4-5 length and loft. You all are suckers. And the manufactures thank you every year. What a joke.

Reply Report comment
- KK
  
  Nov 13, 2013 at 11:39 pm
  
  So what irons do you play?? Wilson blades, Lynx Black Cats, Spalding, do your irons have wooden shafts? If by your theory, none of the latest iron offerings are improvements over their predecessors, no one should ever buy a new set of irons. If manufacturers never came out with new products, there wouldn’t be any reason for consumers to buy anything new. If all consumers thought like you, they wouldn’t ever buy anything new no matter how many different models manufacturers made. So who is right, you or the manufacturers?
  
  Reply Report comment
Ryan

Nov 12, 2013 at 7:17 pm

Nothing says “players iron” like a 45 degree pitching wedge.

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Santiago

Nov 12, 2013 at 4:39 pm

The problem with Callaway is Quality, I get why they are more profitable on their iron business, because they are cheap made. I bought the X Hot Pro and I can’t complain about their playability, they work great for me. But, i have owned them for 5 months and they wear so much, they already look worse than my 9 year old Taylormade RAC LT2 (My previous set) that I used a million times. The X-Hot Pro look like I have been hitting rocks every day since I got them. I clean my clubs after every round and I care about the way they look.
I contacted them through Twitter and their answer was that this is perfectly normal. This is the first time I tried a Calaway product and for sure will be the last one, I will never waste my hard earned money on their cheap made products and their customer careless company.

Some pics:
2013 Callaway X-Hot Pro http://pic.twitter.com/rnkVFECQWQ
2004 Taylormade RAC LT2 http://pic.twitter.com/5MdJSWpciM

Reply Report comment
- Joe
  
  Nov 13, 2013 at 10:21 pm
  
  You’re probably a little misguided…basing everything on one experience. I have owned Callaways for years, and overall, have been very pleased, both with the high quality components and also design. I also own Titleist and TM stuff, and think they are all basically the same as far as quality.
  
  Reply Report comment
- Joe
  
  Nov 13, 2013 at 10:25 pm
  
  Also, I have RazrX forged that are 2 years old that don’t look nearly as aged as your XHots… I do understand your aggravation though.
  
  Reply Report comment
- james
  
  May 19, 2014 at 1:54 pm
  
  I have the exact same issue with Callaway XHot Pros series irons with one additional issue. The sole of my PW has cracked after only 6 months of play. No abuse, just golf. I’m 64 years old so I don’t slam my clubs into the ground, I don’t hit rocks etc. So, after very minimal use the PW has cracked and the clubs look 10 years old. I like the performance of the clubs but very poor quality club head material.
  
  Reply Report comment
Shawn

Nov 12, 2013 at 2:53 pm

My personal opinion is they hit it out of the park with the Apex line. I don’t see the reason for them to bring a competing club like the Xhot Pro to market? OEM needs to be careful with the iron lines and having to many products on the market.

Reply Report comment
- Oldplayer
  
  Nov 13, 2013 at 2:34 pm
  
  Very different price point I imagine.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Shawn
    
    Nov 13, 2013 at 5:09 pm
    
    They said $200 dollar difference. I don’t think that substantial enough to buy a cast club over a forged product.
    
    Reply Report comment
- Keith
  
  Mar 12, 2014 at 6:53 am
  
  Shawn I hit both sets. The Apex and the X Hot 2 irons are completely different in feel. My honest opinion, the X Hot is better and a lot cheaper.
  
  Reply Report comment
Jon W

Nov 12, 2013 at 11:57 am

Copied Pings “Chevron”?

Reply Report comment
Rich

Nov 12, 2013 at 10:12 am

Looks like the Wilson Staff M3 irons. Rather have the M3.

Reply Report comment
B

Nov 12, 2013 at 7:54 am

Are Lefty’s going to miss out on the A Wedge again this Year!!!

Reply Report comment
Jack

Nov 12, 2013 at 2:19 am

Interesting that they are not doing the cut cavity. Yet they are able to keep it just as forgiving.

Reply Report comment
Paul

Nov 12, 2013 at 1:17 am

Pros look great, i sold my razr x tours and grabbed some titlesit CBs. Maybe should have waited for these…? Probably not.

Reply Report comment
EM

Nov 12, 2013 at 1:15 am

X2Hot from the top line reminds me of Callaway clubs of old, like the X-series irons (12, 14, 16, etc) starting from more than a decade ago. Which is a good thing, as it will remind a lot of people of what they were using back in the day and bring them back to these clubs.

The X2Hot Pros look awesome! They look really solid.

Reply Report comment
- Keith
  
  Mar 12, 2014 at 6:55 am
  
  I Have a set, and could not agree with you more. Look like the X 16 but with longer and better flight. They are on a winner
  
  Reply Report comment
Soul

Nov 12, 2013 at 1:11 am

whoa the xhot pros are literally a club stronger than most players irons. I’m surprised they would do this with the xhot pros They sure look nice!!

Reply Report comment
- Tyler
  
  Nov 12, 2013 at 11:18 am
  
  I think cuz they lowered the cg s much. Crazy though, 24 degree 5 iron.
  
  Reply Report comment

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Equipment

A shocking Backstryke putter appearance + 7 interesting gear photos from the Zurich Classic

Published

21 mins ago

Apr 25, 2024

Andrew Tursky

Welcome to New Orleans, where TPC Louisiana plays host to the 2024 Zurich Classic. In between breakfast beignets and nightly Creole feasts, PGA Tour players are also competing in the unique two-man format at the Zurich this week.

Although the vibes in Nawlins are a bit lighter-fare than the recent back-to-back competitions the Masters and the RBC Heritage signature event), the gear news was no less serious this week.

We spotted some recent changes from Rory McIlroy, a very rare Odyssey Backstryke putter, dove into the bag of legendary New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, and spotted Patrick Cantlay continuing to test new equipment.

Get your beads out and crack your crawfish, because it’s time for an equipment rundown from The Big Easy (meaning New Orleans, of course, not Ernie Els).

See all of our photos from the Zurich Classic here

Rory’s on-and-off lob wedge

Since the end of 2023, Rory McIlroy has had an on-again, off-again relationship with a Titleist Vokey K-Grind lob wedge. In his last start, it was on, and the wedge is back in the bag again this week. We got a great look at the complicated grind that McIlroy uses.

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A full look into McIlroy’s bag above also shows that he switched out of the TaylorMade BRNR Mini Copper that he used at the RBC Heritage, and he’s back into the Qi10 core 3-wood. As we discussed last week, McIlroy will likely keep the BRNR around as a course-specific club, trading it in and out for the 3-wood.

See Rory McIlroy’s full 2024 WITB from the Zurich here

Turning Back the clock

Unless Tommy Gainey is in the field, it’s unlikely you’ll ever see Odyssey’s Backstryke technology make an appearance on the PGA Tour.

But then, when you least expect it, Russ Cochran shows up.

For more than a decade – since the 2013 Sony Open in Hawai’i – Cochran has been stuck on 599 PGA Tour starts. This week will be his 600th.

Cochran is in the field at the Zurich this week playing alongside Eric Cole, whose regular caddie is Reed Cochran, Russ’s son.

The Backstryke putter was first released back in 2010, and its unique design helps shift the axis point of the putter closer to the CG of the head. And, the putter is getting a nod this week at the Zurich Classic, thanks to Cochran’s 600th career PGA Tour start.

The putter is certainly awesome, but don’t forget to check out Cochran’s full WITB from this week.

Drew Brees with a Super Bowl winning Scotty Cameron putter

Drew Brees, a legendary retired quarterback for the hometown New Orleans Saints, made an appearance at the Zurich’s Wednesday Pro-Am, playing alongside Zach Johnson, Ryan Palmer, and current Saints QB Derek Carr.

Brees’ bag included a TaylorMade Stealth2 Plus driver, a BRNR Mini 13.5-degree, a Stealth 5-wood, a mixed set of P-790 and P-760 irons, Milled Grind Hi-Toe wedges, and a custom Scotty Cameron “New Orleans Saints” putter, which Scotty made for Brees following his Super Bowl MVP-winning performance in 2010.

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It should also be noted that Brees has his Venmo QR code as a bag tag.

If you’re gambling with Brees on the course, just know that not having cash won’t work as an excuse.

Brilliant.

See Drew Brees’ full WITB from the Zurich here

Stricker’s unrecognizable putter

Steve Stricker has made numerous upgrades to his bag recently, including a new TSR3 driver and T100 irons, but his longtime Odyssey White Hot No. 2 putter is still going strong. It’s the most recognizable unrecognizable putter ever.

Here’s a better look at Stricker’s flatstick, which he started using back in 2007.

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Patrick Cantlay has opened the equipment-switching floodgates

Over on the PGA Tour’s Equipment Report this week, we covered Cantlay’s recent switch into Ping Blueprint S irons, and a Titleist TSR2 driver.

Cantlay hadn’t switched irons for about seven years, so the iron switch he made at The 2024 Masters came as a shock to the norm. He simply isn’t one to change gear very often, so anytime Cantlay makes a switch, it’s news.

It seems the floodgates of equipment testing have opened up a bit for Cantlay, who was also spotted testing a custom Scotty Cameron blade putter on Tuesday this week. By Wednesday, Cantlay was back practicing with his familiar Scotty Cameron T5 Proto mallet, but it’s certainly something to keep an eye on going forward.

Daniel Berger’s custom Jailbird site lines

Berger, who’s currently using Odyssey’s Ai-One Mini Jailbird mallet putter, has a unique 3-dot, 2-line alignment on the crown of his navy-white-navy-white mallet putter. Looking down at the putter, it’s easy to see why this alignment system would help; it just seems impossible to set up to the ball off-center, or misaligned to the target.

Also, for anyone worried, you can rest easy. Yes, he’s still playing the 2013 TaylorMade TP MC irons, which we highlighted in our recent “Modern Classics: Old vs. New” video testing series.

FitzMagic teams back up

Brothers Matthew and Alex Fitzpatrick are teaming up once again at the Zurich this year, and Bettinardi Golf hooked them up with some festive “FitzMagic” headcovers to match this week.

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And, with that, we say goodbye to the Zurich Classic in New Orleans. Don’t forget to check out all of our photos from this week, including 30 unique photo galleries full of equipment photos.

We’ll see you next week in Texas for the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson!

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