Equipment
Spotted: New Callaway Apex MB Irons
GolfWRX spotted a new set of Callaway Apex MB irons at the CareerBuilder Challenge on Tuesday, where they were being tested by Callaway Staffer Patrick Reed.
Callaway currently sells a set of Apex MB (muscleback) irons, released in late 2014, but the new irons are noticeably different. They have a chrome finish and a streamlined muscle pad, which gives them a more traditional look than the original Apex MB irons.
Old vs. New
Callaway’s new Apex MB irons (left).
According to our boots on the ground, Reed tested the new irons only briefly, hitting the 6 iron and pitching wedge on the range. It’s not clear if he plans further testing of the irons.
See Photos from the Tour of the Apex MB in raw finish
At Address
In last week’s BMW South Africa Open Championship on the European Tour, Rory McIlroy used a set of Callaway Apex MB irons that looked similar to the new irons.
Rory’s Callaway Apex MB irons
It’s unclear if Rory’s irons are an initial prototype of the new model, or customized to his specific needs.
See MORE PHOTOS and what GolfWRX Members are saying about the new irons in our forum.
See Photos from the Tour of the Apex MB in raw finish
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- Daniel Berger what’s in the bag accurate as of the Farmers Insurance Open. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X
6-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 Tour (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X
Irons: TaylorMade P770 (3), TaylorMade Tour Preferred MC 2011 (4-PW)
Shafts: Project X Denali Blue 105 TX (3), Project X 6.5 (4-PW)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (50-12F), Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (56-14F), Callaway Jaws Raw (60-08C)
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (50), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (56, 60)
Putter: Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Mini DB
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy PistolLock 1.0
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Wrap
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Check out more in-hand photos of Daniel Berger’s clubs in the forums.
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What are the driver and shaft combinations of the best golfers in the world? For gearheads, it’s an endlessly interesting question — even if we can only ever aspire to play LS heads and 7 TX shafts.
At this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, GolfWRX got in-hand looks at the driver setups of a wealth of players.
Check out some of the most interesting combos below, then head to the GolfWRX forums for the rest, as well as the rest of our galleries from New Orleans.
Rory McIlroy
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees @8.25)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride MCC
Alex Fitzpatrick
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride MCC
Daniel Berger
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees @9)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Wrap
Rasmus Hojgaard
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Blue 60 TX
Grip: Golf Pride MCC
Alejandro Tosti
Driver: Srixon ZX5 Mk II LS (9.5 degrees @10.5)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS T1100 75 6.5
Grip: Golf Pride MCC Plus4
James Nicholas
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (8 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Kevin Streelman
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Sang-moon Bae
Driver: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond (9+ @8)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Russ Cochran
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke (9 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD TP 6 X
Grip: Golf pride MCC Align 
MJ Daffue
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max (10.5 degrees @9.5)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green RDX 65 TX
Grip: Golf Pride ZGrip Cord Align
Check our more photos from the Zurich Classic here.
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- Rasmus Højgaard what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic.
Driver: Callaway Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Blue 60 TX
3-wood: Callaway Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Prototype (16.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX
Utility: Callaway Apex UW (21 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw White 85 TX
Irons: Callaway Apex Pro (3), Callaway X Forged (4-PW)
Shafts: KBS $-Taper 130
Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (52-10S, 56-10S, 60-06C)
Shafts: KBS Tour 130 X
Putter: Odyssey Ai One Milled Eight T DB
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Check out more in-hand photos of Hojgaard in the forums.
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Dave Portnoy places monstrous outright bet for the 2024 Masters
John Daly stuns fans into silence with brutal opening tee shot on PGA Tour Champions
Things got heated at the Houston Open between Tony Finau and Alejandro Tosti. Here’s why
Justin Thomas on the equipment choice of Scottie Scheffler that he thinks is ‘weird’
Tiger Woods arrives at 2024 Masters equipped with a putter that may surprise you
‘Absolutely crazy’ – Major champ lays into Patrick Cantlay over his decision on final hole of RBC Heritage
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Daniel Berger WITB 2024 (April)
Daniel Berger what’s in the bag accurate as of the Farmers Insurance Open. More photos from the event here. Driver:...
Rasmus Højgaard WITB 2024 (April)
Rasmus Højgaard what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic. Driver: Callaway Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees)...
Rory McIlroy WITB 2024 (April)
Rory McIlroy what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic. Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus...
Sam Burns WITB 2024 (April)
Sam Burns’ what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage. Driver: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond S (9 degrees...
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19th Hole2 weeks agoDave Portnoy places monstrous outright bet for the 2024 Masters
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19th Hole3 days agoJustin Thomas on the equipment choice of Scottie Scheffler that he thinks is ‘weird’
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19th Hole2 weeks agoTiger Woods arrives at 2024 Masters equipped with a putter that may surprise you
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19th Hole2 days ago‘Absolutely crazy’ – Major champ lays into Patrick Cantlay over his decision on final hole of RBC Heritage
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19th Hole3 weeks agoReport: Tiger Woods has ‘eliminated sex’ in preparation for the 2024 Masters
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19th Hole1 week agoTwo star names reportedly blanked Jon Rahm all week at the Masters
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19th Hole1 week agoReport: LIV Golf identifies latest star name they hope to sign to breakaway tour
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19th Hole1 week agoNeal Shipley presser ends in awkward fashion after reporter claims Tiger handed him note on 8th fairway
Chuckle Barkley
Mar 23, 2019 at 6:52 pm
*Travis…….Dude, that observation is priceless. On the floor crackin’ up!! Great stuff!!
Sheen
Mar 24, 2018 at 11:14 am
It is exactly same look of MP 69 except 4D concept.
Travis
Jun 13, 2017 at 3:24 pm
HEY!!! That’s a design ripoff of that one company who ripped off that other company who took their design from that one company who copied that other person who’s club looked really similar to that other one!! Unbelievable Callaway…
BWild
Mar 21, 2017 at 2:08 pm
They are the same design as the titelist 660’s take look…
Barry
Jan 23, 2017 at 10:01 am
Agreed. Does the groove spacing have any impact on spin rate?
Mr Poopoo
Jan 21, 2017 at 1:25 pm
The Mizuno MP-14/29 muscle design never gets old…
Joey
Feb 4, 2017 at 10:56 am
As if they’re the first ones to have that design.
Henny Bogan
Feb 16, 2017 at 12:24 pm
I believe the Hogan Precision (1953 or 1955) were the first to have the “Mizuno MP 14 or 29” muscle design.
CarlLIKESitintheASS
May 15, 2017 at 4:24 am
It’s all about the Ping Eye 2.
westphi
Jan 19, 2017 at 12:11 pm
Simple and clean is always sexy. If they have good turf interaction and a soft buttery feel, I would game them!
Mark
Jan 19, 2017 at 2:52 am
It’s a blade. T
MP-4
Jan 18, 2017 at 11:21 pm
The satin finish looks much better.
MP-29
Jan 19, 2017 at 2:33 am
No, it does not.
Bob Pegram
Jan 21, 2017 at 2:34 pm
It does when you put your club down behind the ball and the angle causes you to get a face full of reflected sunlight. The satin finish doesn’t do that.
Satin is Better
Jan 25, 2017 at 1:50 pm
Yes, it does.
golfraven
Jan 18, 2017 at 4:20 pm
What Rory played in SA was likely a proto set of MBs he got as a farewell present from Titleist before jumping to Nike. They probably said he can stamp it with whatever he likes even their compeitors name. Three years later here we are. Why else are Callys new Epic woods so similar in looks to Titleist’s 915 line – probably also protos from them.
Progolfer
Jan 18, 2017 at 8:28 pm
Sounds like you have it all figured out…
mhendon
Jan 18, 2017 at 11:48 pm
You don’t seriously believe that?
Ryan
Jan 19, 2017 at 5:55 am
And titlest would do this because….
Scott
Jan 18, 2017 at 4:02 pm
I would try them compared to titleist mb which they now look exactly alike. That was one of the nice things about the “old” apex mb. The look. These do. Itching for me but I’ll wait, see, compare numbers
Max
Jan 19, 2017 at 12:17 pm
They are blades buddy, your strike will be the only thing changing the numbers by a noticeable amount.
Mr. Callaway..
Jan 18, 2017 at 2:13 pm
we have Titleist 916 MB on line 1 for you
Brian
Jan 18, 2017 at 7:17 pm
And the Mizuno MP 69 on line 2.
tlmck
Jan 19, 2017 at 5:23 am
And 80’s Wilson Staff
chinchbugs
Jan 18, 2017 at 2:00 pm
dems purty