Equipment
Members Choice: The Best Irons of 2017
To help golfers find the best irons for them in 2017, we enlisted the services of GolfWRX Members, the most knowledgeable golfers on the internet. They not only understand the technology used in the latest golf equipment, but they also test new clubs extensively. Following their detailed experiences and words of wisdom about the latest products is the perfect starting point for anyone interested in purchasing new golf clubs.
To gather their votes and feedback, we as a company first needed to properly sort the irons into categories. We aimed to keep the categories as simple as possible with 2017’s crop of irons, and we broke them down into three general categories:
- Players Irons: Basically, small-sized irons. These irons have sleek top lines and soles. They place workability and control over distance, and for that reason they’re irons you can expect to see in the bag of a professional golfer.
- Game-Improvement Irons: Basically, medium-sized irons. This category includes a wide-range of clubs that blend distance, forgiveness, good looks and workability.
- Super Game-Improvement Irons: Basically, large-sized irons. These irons are juiced with hot faces, wide soles, thick top lines, big offset and a low center of gravity, among other engineering feats, that are often unique to each company.
Note: Because of the abundance of Players Irons currently available, we divided that category into two categories: Players Irons and Exotics Players Irons. The Exotic Players Irons list included players irons from companies such as Epon, Fourteen, Miura, PXG, and Honma, which are not as widely available for testing in the U.S.
Below you can access the full results of our Members Choice 2017: Best Irons lists, as well as feedback about each iron from the GolfWRX Community. We’d like to sincerely thank all the GolfWRX Members who participated in the voting and provided feedback on the irons. We also want to thank those of you who provided feedback on the voting process itself. We assure you that we read and consider everything, and we’re going to continue to improve our process in order to provide the best and most useful information about the latest golf equipment.
Members Choice: The Best Players Irons
Vote Leader: Mizuno JPX-900 Tour
“WOW! Great mix of buttery feel and forgiveness.”
Overall, the Mizuno JPX-900 Tour irons earned nearly 15 percent of votes on the Players iron category, giving them top billing for players irons. One GolfWRX member said he was “weak in the knees from first look at the satin finish and compact size,” and that the “feel is excellent, and there’s just enough forgiveness.” Another said the JPX-900 Tour irons are the “best irons out there right now in terms of blending feel, forgiveness, and the ability to shape shots.”
Full List: The Best Players Irons of 2017
Members Choice: The Best Exotic Players Irons
Vote Leader: PXG 0311T
“I can’t say I have ever hit anything that feels as good as the PXG.”
With more 21 percent of votes for the Best Exotics Players Irons of 2017, PXG’s 0311T irons were described by GolfWRX members as “a great looking club,” and that they “felt unbelievable.” When comparing the irons to Titleist’s 716 MB irons, one member said, “The fact that you can barely tell if it has or doesn’t have more offset than the MB 7 iron just shows how little it has.”
Full List: The Best Exotic Players Irons of 2017
Members Choice: Best Game-Improvement Irons
Vote Leader: Callaway Apex CF ’16
“Apex CF is simply the most explosive, best feeling iron I’ve ever hit in this category.”
Acquiring nearly 20 percent of votes of all models in the Best Game-Improvement Iron category, GolfWRX Members described the Callaway Apex CF ’16 irons as “simply the most explosive,” and that they “perform very well on center hits and almost as good on mishits.”
Full List: The Best Game-Improvement Irons of 2017
The Best Super Game-Improvement Irons
Vote Leader: Ping G
“The Ping G takes what Ping has done for years and added in increased ball speed, improved feel and much better looks.”
An iron that “will appeal even to Ping haters.” GolfWRX Members described the Ping G as “stupid easy to hit,” providing a “high and straight ball flight,” and “an eye opener.” The irons also accumulated more than 22 percent of the total votes in the category.
Full List: The Best Super Game-Improvement irons of 2017
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Equipment
Rickie Fowler’s new putter: Standard-length Odyssey Jailbird 380 in custom orange
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.
…The Jailbird craze hasn’t really slowed down in 2024, either. According to Odyssey rep Joe Toulon, there are about 18-20 Jailbird putter users on the PGA TOUR.
Most recently, Akshay Bhatia won the 2024 Valero Texas Open using a broomstick-style Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter and Webb Simpson is switching into a replica of that putter at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Now, Fowler, who essentially started the whole Jailbird craze, is making a significant change to his putter setup.
Fowler, who has had a couple weeks off since the 2024 RBC Heritage, started experimenting with a new, custom-orange Jailbird 380 head that’s equipped with a standard 35-inch putter build, rather than his previous 38-inch counter-balanced setup.
According to Fowler, while he still likes the look and forgiveness of his Jailbird putter head, he’s looking to re-incorporate more feel into his hands during the putting stroke.
He told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Championship that the 38-inch counterbalanced setup “served its purpose” by helping him to neutralize his hands during the stroke, but now it’s time to try the standard-length putter with a standard-size SuperStroke Pistol Tour grip to help with his feel and speed control.
Although Fowler was also spotted testing standard-length mallets from L.A.B. Golf and Axis1 on Tuesday, he confirmed that the custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 is the putter he’ll use this week at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Head over to PGATour.com for the full article.
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Whats in the Bag
Akshay Bhatia WITB 2024 (May)
- Akshay Bhatia what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. Bhatia is deciding between drivers. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Callaway Rogue ST Max LS (9 degrees @7.2, 2 grams lead tape heel, 4 grams toe)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X (44 7/8 inches, tipped 1 inch)
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max D (9 degrees @7)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max (15 degrees @13.9)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X (43 inches, tipped 1.5)
Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW Prototype (19 degrees @17.8)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 10 X
Irons: Callaway X Forged UT (21 degrees) Buy here, Callaway Apex TCB Raw (5-PW)
Shafts: KBS $-Taper 125 S+
Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (50-10S @49, 54-10S, 60-08C @61)
Shafts: KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 135 X
Putter: Odyssey Versa Jailbird 380
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Split
Grips: Iomic
Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour
More photos of Akshay Bhatia’s WITB in the forums.
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Whats in the Bag
Emiliano Grillo WITB 2024 (May)
- Emiliano Grillo what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (9 degrees @10)
Shaft: Project X Denali Blue 60 TX
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (15 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Blue RDX 70 TX
5-wood: Cobra LTDx Prototype (18.5 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Blue RDX 70 TX
Irons: Callaway Apex TCB (4-9)
Shafts: Project X 6.5
Wedges: Callaway MD3 Milled (46-08S), Callaway Jaws Raw (50-10S, 54-10S, 60-08T)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Flatso 1.0
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Check out more in-hand photos of Emiliano Grillo’s clubs here.
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Todd
Aug 2, 2017 at 6:32 pm
Agree on the Mizuno 900s, was not impressed. Testing the V6, coming from FG62s.
TONEY P
Jul 24, 2017 at 12:17 pm
Why are you making up categories for PXG. OH I FORGOT ,THEY PAY YOUR BILLS.
Dick
Jun 28, 2017 at 10:39 pm
Steelheads with Recoil shafts are, in my opinion, unmatched for consistency regardless of how you want to categorize these clubs. The categories are too broadly defined to have any teal meaning. Try them all and see what works for you.
Shortside
Jun 28, 2017 at 5:43 pm
I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to getting a case of the “I wants” every year as some new irons are sure to give me an itch in need of a scratch.
That said I just want to be able to control a shot and know how far it’s going to go consistently. Yes I also need to like it at address and looking good in the bag gets points too.
Robert Parsons
Jun 28, 2017 at 2:26 pm
This had nothing to do with testing or quantifiable variables.
It was nothing more than a popularity contest with votes coming from those who hadn’t even hit all the possible entries.
It’s more a flavor of the month club. Brands with multiple entries had no chance compared to a brand with a single model entered in a category.
Sebastian
Jun 28, 2017 at 7:15 am
IMO, I really like the Wilson V6. Very underappreciated and underplayed. They feel and perform really well. I know they are not really bent as strong as most, having a more “traditional” loft on them, so you are not getting the distance, but feel and forgiveness are there.
I think they are amazing. I still love mizuno, not saying they aren’t great. I hit the PXG, they do feel amazing, but not 3x cost amazing.
I am surprised that iBlades aren’t doing better. Those feel really nice as well.
Francois Mathieu
Jun 27, 2017 at 7:24 pm
Les fers APEX: un excellent bâton tout dépendant de la tige.
Les PING G: bâton intermédiaire et non de débutant.
ooffa
Jun 27, 2017 at 2:49 pm
What are you talking about? These are standard terms. You should embrace them.
Jim
Jun 27, 2017 at 9:47 am
Not sure why the Ping G is listed under SGI irons as it’s only a GI iron. Ping has another iron, the G Max, that is in the SGI category. And the Apex is borderline a players club as well. The categories seem to be a little mixed up.