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TaylorMade launches next-generation 2021 P790, P790 UDI irons

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The final piece in the TaylorMade P700 Series has fallen into place. Last August, the Carlsbad company announced P7MB, P7MC, and P770 irons, with the ends of the Series spectrum — P7TW and 2019 P790 irons — staying the same.

We know there are no plans to update the P7TW irons (unless Tiger Woods wants to alter his preferred surgical instruments), but plenty of equipment soothsayers expected a new P790 this summer — and TaylorMade has delivered.

Third-generation 2021 TaylorMade P790 irons continue to occupy the “players distance” seat at the P7TW, P7MB, P7MC, and P770 family table.

2021 TaylorMade P790 irons

We knew the profile would remain larger than the P770, and at first glance, the 2021 P790 shares much more in common cosmetically with P770 irons than the 2019 P790 design (comparison of P770, 2019 P790 below).

(P770 and 2019 P790)

Of course, we also know the real story of the P700 line in general, P790 in particular, is under the hood, so let’s take a look.

SpeedFoam, which was the showpiece of the original (2017) P790 line gets an upgrade in the 2021 edition. Dubbed SpeedFoam Air, the ultralight urethane foam is 69 percent less dense than the 2019 iteration.

2021 TaylorMade P790 7-iron

2021 TaylorMade P790 7-iron

As is the formula in golf club design, saving weight in one area allows engineers to relocate it to another to accomplish specific aims. In this case, it’s to aid launch. And that’s just what the folks at TM have done, moving the CG lower in the heads of P790 irons to the tune of an average of .5 millimeters.

“SpeedFoam Air is the heartbeat of the new P·790 irons. The development of this lightweight urethane material allowed us to strategically reconstruct the iron head to promote optimal launch conditions and a sweet spot that covers the most common strike points on the face.” — Matt Bovee, Product Creation, Irons

With respect to that sweet spot, TaylorMade’s Intelligent Sweet Spot is the product of data from thousands of golf shot to determine the most common impact points on the face. Bovee and company then strategically shaped and positioned the sweet spot (i.e. moved it) so it captures more of these shots.

As you would expect, more shots struck on the sweet spot yields greater ball speed and distance compared to the previous generation P790 — it’s a “performance where you need it” narrative.

2021 TaylorMade P790: Additional details

  • Made from 8620 carbon steel
  • Combination of Rengineered Forged Hollow Body Construction and 1.5mm forged 4140 steel L-Face yields flexibility, fast ball speeds, and distance while maintaining a forged feel.
  • Up to 31 grams of tungsten weighting in an individual iron head is strategically positioned for stability and forgiveness.
  • Thru-Slot Speed Pocket increases face flexibility and preserves ball speed and distance on low-face strikes.

2021 TaylorMade P790 UDI

Featuring the same Thru-Slot Speed Pocket, SpeedFoam Air, and other technology mentioned above, the 2021 P790 UDI is a driving iron built from tour feedback. Shaped and weighted to cater to low-launch, low-spin players, TaylorMade’s latest iteration of the Ultimate Driving Iron is its most technologically advanced yet.

TaylorMade P790: Specifications, pricing, availability

  • Available for pre-order now
  • At retail 9/3

P790

Steel (True Temper Dynamic Gold)

Single iron: $185.71
7-piece set: $1,299.99

Graphite (Mitsubishi Chemical MMT)

Single iron: $214.28
7-piece set: $1,499.99

Golf Pride Z-Grip

2021 TaylorMade P790 irons specs

2021 TaylorMade P790 irons specs

P790 UDI

Single iron: $249.99

2-iron (17 degrees)
Project X HZRDS Black Smoke
Golf Pride Z-Grip

2021 TaylorMade P790 UDI irons specs

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13 Comments

13 Comments

  1. Pingback: Best irons in golf 2023: Most technology packed - Fly Pin High

  2. Pingback: Best irons in golf of 2023: Pure enjoyment - Fly Pin High

  3. Pingback: Best irons in golf of 2022: Top overall performers – GolfWRX

  4. Pingback: Best irons in golf of 2022: Most technology packed – GolfWRX

  5. Pingback: Best irons in golf of 2022: Pure enjoyment – GolfWRX

  6. Bro bro

    Aug 14, 2021 at 7:28 pm

    Will these cave in more than the 2019 790s? Probably.

  7. matt

    Aug 12, 2021 at 11:53 pm

    What’s optimal… should we reduce spin to zero and launch the ball straight up in the air. Is that the goal here… Gimme a break with this nonsense

  8. GaGolfer

    Aug 11, 2021 at 12:40 pm

    “As is the formula in golf club design, saving weight in one area allows engineers to relocate it to another to accomplish specific aims. In this case, it’s to aid launch. And that’s just what the folks at TM have done, moving the CG lower in the heads of P790 irons to the tune of an average of .5 millimeters.”

    I try not to be negative, and the TM irons are really beautiful to me, but touting moving the CG lower by .5mm, or half the size of a sharpened pencil tip, is just typical industry bs they hope will sound impressive to folks who don’t know any better. What would actually be helpful is – were they able to reduce/remove the hot spots in the face so we aren’t hitting 7Is anywhere from 160 – 190? Most of this is just the usual blah blah blah TM and the industry feels they can get away with shoveling at us. I’m pretty tired of it.

  9. Epic Golfer

    Aug 10, 2021 at 11:43 pm

    Nothing pure anymore.

  10. Bob Gambino

    Aug 10, 2021 at 12:56 pm

    And still no left handed P790 UDI

  11. Gunter Eisenberg

    Aug 10, 2021 at 10:22 am

    Same old…same old..

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Whats in the Bag

Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)

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Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX

5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX

Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)

Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4

More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.

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Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?

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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 timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?

Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.

When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.

To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.

Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.

“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.

“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”

Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.

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Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird

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With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.

On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.

Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?

Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’

So that’s why I went back.

 

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OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?

It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.

Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.

It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.

Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.

Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.

So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?

Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.

Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play? 

Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.

There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.

It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.

Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.

And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?

Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’

If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’

My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’

I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”

And you’re going with it this week?

Hundred percent.

Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week. 

Thanks, man.

See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here

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