Equipment
Cobra introduces new 2021 King Tour irons with MIM technology
It’s been quite a while (three-plus years) since we have seen any new players irons from Cobra Golf. The Rev33 “Rickie iron” was teased out over the last year, but the focus has mainly stayed on its Forged Tec line, which has done well in the very competitive players distance category.
So why the long wait?
According to Cobra’s VP of R&D Tom “TO” Olsavsky it was for a very specific reason…
“A long time ago we had actually planned it to launch at the end of 2019 as we usually try to launch players irons in the fall. Between COVID-19 delays and the new breakthrough innovation MIM process, it took us a little longer but it’s been worth the extra time, player feedback has been amazing so we are confident it will succeed.”
Introducing new 2021 Cobra King Tour irons
Tech Story
Metal Injection Molding AKA MIM is a term we have heard a few times over the past year. Cobra just recently implemented this process into its MIM wedge line. Essentially, it’s a process that allows OEMs to fine-tune a club heads shape and spec to the nth degree all while dialing in the softest feel possible. Seems awesome for a wedge and even better for an iron. To make it really easy to understand, it’s not cast, it’s not forged, its MIM.
The multi-material 1025 iron head has a tungsten weight inserted into the toe section that dials in the CG directly to the sweet spot. This practice is very popular—and almost essential at this point—Cobra has done this in the past with its previous players irons and it was first introduced as a head weight adjustment for Rickie Fowler years ago.
The final step is a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) insert to ensure impact gives off that “Muscle Back” softness at impact, a good way for traditional players to try new tech and not sacrifice the familiar softness of a forged blade.
Who is it for?
According to Olsavsky
“The King Tour iron is designed for the range of Tour players to single-digit handicaps. It slots in nicely between the pure MB type irons and Players Distance. It’s also a slight merger between Forged Tour and Forged CB shapes, so hoping to cover both players that would have chosen one of these 2 irons.”
2021 Cobra King Tour irons: Optics
The new 2021 Cobra King Tour has a slightly shorter blade from the previous King Forged Tour iron based on comments from staff, the top line has been thinned out (a hair) and offset was increased to satisfy staff feedback.
According to Cobra Director of Tour Operations Ben Schomin
“The initial shape was developed years ago in the AMP Cell Forged iron and then transitioned with a few tweaks into the King Forged Tour. The shape in general was always well liked, but there was a common theme among R&D/marketing employees and players that the long iron blade lengths were a little long from heel to toe. We made some design changes to the MIM Tour iron that addressed blade length along with a few other feel enhancing tweaks. Overall it is a very eye pleasing shape.”
To make it really uncomplicated: the new 2021 Cobra King Tour is a simple, compact player cavity back designed to do its job. Cobra irons have always gone through the turf well, and now has a softer feel thanks to the MIM process. Players will get the MB feel in a CB iron.
The Tour
Cobra doesn’t have the biggest Tour presence in the world, but it does have some VERY unique minds to pick from for R&D.
“Like all of our new gear, we love to get input from our staff. In this case, having players like Jason Dufner, Rickie Fowler and others giving specific feedback is always an integral part of the process. For example, Duf is as knowledgeable about what makes a good club as anyone out there. If he responds well to shape or feel we know we are in a good place.” -Ben Schomin
And we had to ask about BAD…Is this something Bryson would put in play?
“At this time there is no plan to make one length out of this head. But who knows, if he gets fired up to play them we will make it happen. He seems to be doing fine with what he has in the bag now, lol.” -Ben Schomin
2021 Cobra King Tour irons: Overall
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, these days any product that hits the market will be (for the most part) superb. Like its competitors, Cobra is offering a simple yet elegant players CB that will hold water with anything else.
The real question goes back to the players themselves: What are you looking for in your irons? Is it more distance (hopefully not), precision, turf interaction, curb appeal? We all respond to different parts and now more than ever there are options to satisfy your heart and your hands. This new Cobra iron has everything a player would want. So, get fit, and put ’em to the test.
Specs
Per Cobra
The King Tour Irons with MIM Technology are available in a 4-PW set make-up in right hand only.
A 3-iron and gap wedge are available via custom order. Each King Tour iron is equipped with a steel KBS $-Taper 120 shaft in the golfer’s choice of stiff or regular flex. In addition, each iron comes with a Cobra Lamkin Crossline Connect grip in black.
A wide selection of shaft and grip upgrades are also made available through custom order. The stock steel set retails for $1,299 and will be available beginning October 30, 2020, on cobragolf.com and through Cobra’s entire network of off-course retailers/custom club fitters.
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Equipment
Inside Collin Morikawa’s recent golf ball, driver, 3-wood, and “Proto” iron changes
As you probably know by now, Collin Morikawa switched putters after the first round of The Masters, and he ultimately went on to finish T3.
The putter was far from the only change he made last week, however, and his bag is continuing to change this week at the 2024 RBC Heritage.
On the range of The Masters, Morikawa worked closely with Adrian Reitveld, TaylorMade’s Senior Manager of Tour at TaylorMade, to find the perfect driver and 3-wood setups.
Morikawa started off 2024 by switching into TaylorMade’s Qi10 Max driver, but since went back to his faithful TaylorMade SIM – yes, the original SIM from 2020. Somehow, some way, it seems Morikawa always ends up back in that driver, which he used to win the 2020 PGA Championship, and the 2021 Open Championship.
At The Masters, however, Rietveld said the duo found the driver head that allowed “zero compromise” on Morikawa’s preferred fade flight and spin. To match his preferences, they landed on a TaylorMade Qi10 LS 9-degree head, and the lie angle is a touch flatter than his former SIM.
“It’s faster than his gamer, and I think what we found is it fits his desired shot shape, with zero compromise” Rietveld told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the RBC Heritage.
Then, to replace his former SIM rocket 3-wood, Morikawa decided to switch into the TaylorMade Qi10 core model 13.5-degree rocket head, with an adjustable hosel.
“He likes the spin characteristics of that head,” Rietveld said. “Now he’s interesting because with Collin, you can turn up at a tournament, and you look at his 3-wood, and he’s changed the setting. One day there’s more loft on it, one day there’s less loft on it. He’s that type of guy. He’s not scared to use the adjustability of the club.
“And I think he felt our titanium head didn’t spin as low as his original SIM. So we did some work with the other head, just because he liked the feel of it. It was a little high launching, so we fit him into something with less loft. It’s a naughty little piece of equipment.”
In addition to the driver and fairway wood changes, Morikawa also debuted his new “MySymbol” jersey No. 5 TP5x golf ball at The Masters. Morikawa’s choice of symbols is likely tied to his love of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team.
Not enough changes for you? There’s one more.
On Wednesday at the 2024 RBC Heritage, Morikawa was spotted with a new TaylorMade “Proto” 4-iron in the bag. If you recall, it’s the same model that Rory McIlroy debuted at the 2024 Valero Texas Open.
According to Morikawa, the new Proto 4-iron will replace his old P-770 hollow-bodied 4-iron.
“I used to hit my P-770 on a string, but sometimes the distance would be a little unpredictable,” Morikawa told GolfWRX.com. “This one launches a touch higher, and I feel I can predict the distance better. I know Rory replaced his P-760 with it. I’m liking it so far.”
See Morikawa’s full WITB from the 2024 RBC Heritage here.
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Equipment
Why Rory McIlroy will likely use the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper at the RBC Heritage
Although we spotted Rory McIlroy testing the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper last week during practice rounds at the Masters, he ultimately didn’t decide to use the club in competition.
It seems that will change this week at the 2024 RBC Heritage, played at the short-and-tight Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head.
When asked on Wednesday following his morning Pro-Am if he’d be using the new, nostalgic BRNR Copper this week, McIlroy said, “I think so.”
“I like it,” McIlroy told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday regarding the BRNR. “This would be a good week for it.”
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According to Adrian Rietveld, the Senior Manager of Tour at TaylorMade, the BRNR Mini Driver can help McIlroy position himself properly off the tee at the tight layout.
Here’s what Rietveld told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday:
“For someone like Rory, who’s that long at the top end of the bag, and then you put him on a course like Harbour Town, it’s tough off the tee. It’s tight into the greens, and you have to put yourself in position off the tee to have a shot into the green. It kind of reminds me of Valderrama in Spain, where you can be in the fairway and have no shot into the green.
“I’m caddying for Tommy [Fleetwood] this week, so I was walking the course last night and looking at a few things. There’s just such a small margin for error. You can be standing in the fairway at 300 yards and have a shot, but at 320 you don’t. So if you don’t hit a perfect shot, you could be stuck behind a tree. And then if you’re back at 280, it might be a really tough shot into the small greens.
“So for Rory [with the BRNR], it’s a nice course-specific golf club for him. He’s got both shots with it; he can move it right-to-left or left-to-right. And the main thing about this club has been the accuracy and the dispersion with it. I mean, it’s been amazing for Tommy.
“This was the first event Tommy used a BRNR last year, and I remember talking to him about it, and he said he couldn’t wait to play it at Augusta next year. And he just never took it out of the bag because he’s so comfortable with it, and hitting it off the deck.
“So you look at Rory, and you want to have the tools working to your advantage out here, and the driver could hand-cuff him a bit with all of the shots you’d have to manufacture.”
So, although McIlroy might not be making a permanent switch into the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper, he’s likely to switch into it this week.
His version is lofted at 13.5 degrees, and equipped with a Fujikura Ventus Black 7X shaft.
See more photos of Rory testing the BRNR Mini here
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Equipment
Spotted: TaylorMade P-UDI driving iron
It seems like the RBC Heritage is full of new gear to be spotted, and you can add TaylorMade’s P-UDI utility irons to that list.
We spotted a 17-degree P-UDI 2-iron in Nick Dunlap’s bag yesterday, and now have some photos of both the 3- and 4-irons. Nick has his P-UDI 2-iron setup with a Project X HZRDUS Black 4th Gen 105g TX shaft.
From what we can tell, this new P-UDI utility iron looks to have some of the usual TaylorMade technology as we can see the Speed Slot on the sole of the club for additional face flexibility. A toe screw is usually used to close off the hollow body design that will probably be filled with a version of TaylorMade’s Speed Foam that is present in the current iron lineup. This hollow body, foam-filled design should offer additional ball speed, soft feel, and sound, as well as an optimized CG for ball flight.
“Forged” is etched into the hosel, so we can assume that either the face, body, or both are forged for a soft and responsive feel. The club looks good from behind and at address, where we can see just a little offset and a topline that I would consider medium thickness. We don’t have the full details on what is under the hood or how many loft options will be available yet.
TaylorMade P-UDI 3-iron – 20°
TaylorMade P-UDI 4-iron – 22°
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 RBC Heritage
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steve c
Oct 21, 2020 at 11:35 am
Its Rick’s personality that sells his youtube channel. I’d be willing to bet he is no better than a 2-4 HDCP, which is good, but nothing special. As far as his video production skills go, its YOUTUBE, who cares. Seeing new products is what I find to be fun and interesting.
the dude
Oct 20, 2020 at 8:16 pm
AP2..ish??
Delbert
Oct 20, 2020 at 6:42 pm
Looks like Wilson had the right idea.
Mark Crossfield
Oct 20, 2020 at 4:41 pm
I have. Shiels sucks and cant beat me in a fight.
Jason G
Oct 20, 2020 at 2:33 pm
I am such a sucker for Cobra product. Really excited to get the demos in the shop and see what all the fuss is about.
Josh
Oct 20, 2020 at 1:59 pm
I think the irons would have a lot more shelf appeal if the cobra was stamped on the back instead of “KING” in massive block letters.
Peter
Oct 21, 2020 at 3:22 am
Exactly!!! The Cobra is such a good logo and they don’t make the most of it – KING looks silly.
vernon
Oct 20, 2020 at 1:37 pm
I dont you let me try a sets? Free
Cobra R&D
Oct 20, 2020 at 12:32 pm
These clubs will be offered in Left Hand also! Hopefully article will update soon.
Milo
Oct 20, 2020 at 11:00 am
I watched Rick Shiels hit these and I’ll I can say is, meh!
dat
Oct 20, 2020 at 11:06 am
Rick Shiels golf game is meh
not gianni, not rick shiels
Oct 20, 2020 at 11:30 am
so is his youtube/video production skills. seriously, any kid who knows anything about golf and anything about youtube would make better videos. heck i would too if i didn’t have a full time job unlike ol rick!
Peter Pansky
Oct 20, 2020 at 1:47 pm
Sure sure, would’ve, could’ve, should’ve. You haven’t done it, have you? And he, he has over a million people who subscribe to him. With your s$$t attitude, you would probably get about 25.
Milo
Oct 20, 2020 at 12:42 pm
He’s better than me, I like all the data he brings when we reviews certain things.
fofo
Oct 20, 2020 at 8:05 pm
He’s a bottom tier club reviewer. Save yourself some time and watch txg, or almost anyone else.