Equipment

Designer Clay Long on TaylorMade’s new Tour Preferred wedges

Published

12 years ago

Jul 10, 2014

Three years ago, Clay Long, who is nothing short of a legend in the club-making industry, began working with TaylorMade on a new wedge project.

If you haven’t heard of Clay Long, here’s what you need to know. He designed and built Jack Nicklaus’ clubs for 16 years. He has also has served as Vice president of Research and Development of Macgregor Golf Co., chief designer to Progroup and The Arnold Palmer Co., Vice President of Research and Development of Cobra Golf Co., Vice President of Golf Club Development for the Acushnet Co. and today, as owner of Plus 2 International, Inc. he is responsible for Nicklaus Golf Equipment and Jack Nicklaus’s golf club designs.

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To design what would become TaylorMade’s 2014 Tour Preferred wedges, Long looked back through wedge history, as well as through his own storied history, to see how the best wedges ever were designed. He also looked into the bags of some of today’s best tour players to learn why they had their wedges ground the way they did.

So what exactly did Long do to create TaylorMade’s new Tour Preferred and Tour Preferred ATV wedges? That’s what I wanted to know and I had the chance to ask him in the Q&A below.

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AT: TaylorMade offers both a Tour Preferred and Tour Preferred ATV sole grind. What are the differences?

CL: The ATV grind offers a little more variation, a little twist out of the box. It has the relieved heel that the Tour Preferred has, but a different sole. The ATV shows more bounce when the club is open and bites better into the turf. If you live in South Florida or somewhere like that, the ATV will be better. If you play courses with fluffy sand the ATV will be better. The standard soles of the TP will please more people. The TP is really a time-proven design.

The Tour Preferred ATV grind is available in lofts of 54, 56, 58 and 60 degrees. The Tour Preferred wedges offers the same lofts with a wider variety of bounce options, and adds 50 and 52-degree models.

AT: The heel and toe relief on the wedges seem to emulate the classic C-Grind shape. Is it a C-Grind?

CL: You know, it’s not really a C-grind shape. It’s more strictly heel relief. We went out on tour and 98 percent of them had the heel on their wedges ground off. When hitting a flop shot or cut shot, the leading edge stays lower to the ground. You can play more shots.

AT: Did Nicklaus grind off the heel on his wedge?

CL: Jack didn’t do that. He had a narrow sole, high bounce — about 17 degrees — and a standard heel. Jack had a standard grind, but it was a perfect standard grind.

AT: The Tour Preferred ATV was said to be developed based on tour feedback, mainly Jason Day’s prototype from the Masters. Why did you settle on this shape?

CL: Everyone is telling us (the Tour Preferred wedges) have the best shapes ever. The first reaction is always “ooh that looks good.” When you combine the shapes, bounce angles, camber and leading edge radius that were meticulously worked on and are time-proven, there’s really not much to argue with.

Historically, Wilson always had the best wedges. In the 60’s and 70’s, Wilson was known as the best. The 1958 Wilson Staff was highly sought after. Tom Watson chipped in with one (at the 1982 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach). All of the good wedges today go back to the old Wilson shape.

AT: The Tour Preferred ATV wedge has a concave sole, but it’s not as concave as TaylorMade’s previous ATV model. What does this do for the wedge?

CL: It helps to have a lot of bounce out of the sand that won’t dig and won’t show bounce. The ATV offers that. It has good action off the ground, won’t show a lot of camber and cuts nicely on a regular shot from the fairway … (It also helps) a golfer that digs from the bunker and has a hard time gliding underneath the ball because he’s steep, but he doesn’t want 16 degrees of bounce because he doesn’t want it to be too bouncy.

TMFace
The Tour Preferred wedges have “micro-textured faces,” which means they’re designed with small bumps that ensure the faces are flat and help create extra bite around the greens.

AT: The Tour Preferred wedges are made from 304 stainless steel. Why did you use that material and what went into the the face design of these wedges?

CL: 304 has strength, but it’s easier to bend. It’s very soft material. It’s very good and solid … 304 also doesn’t rust, so we didn’t have to plate it. The microtexture (on the face) increases spin and the freshly milled grooves are a little sharper and allow for more aggressive performance.

AT: When you’ve built wedges for Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, your name becomes a design feature in itself. What was Clay Long’s most noteworthy influence on designing these TaylorMade wedges?

CL: I left no detail unturned.

Note: TaylorMade is releasing a 10-part YouTube video series on its Tour Preferred wedges. In the videos, Clay Long talks more about the wedge designs and how they will improve a golfer’s short game. Part 1 of the series is included at the top of this story and Part 2 is below.

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Whats in the Bag

Christiaan Maas WITB 2026 (June)

Published

4 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D LS (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P770 (3), TaylorMade P7CB (4), TaylorMade P7TW (5-PW)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 10 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold X100

Wedges: TaylorMade Prototype (50-SB09), TaylorMade MG5 (56-HB12, 60-LV07)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S400

Putter: TaylorMade TP Juno

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord

Check out more in-hand photos of Christiaan Maas’ clubs here.

Equipment

TaylorMade MySpider Tour and Tour X: More customizable build options now available

Published

4 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Alistair Cameron

TaylorMade Golf’s MySpider program underwent a substantial overhaul over the last month. Firstly, the company launched the option to customize the Spider ZT model, and now the program has returned with the MySpider Tour and MySpider Tour X.

The revamped page now gives golfers complete control over every visual and functional detail of their putter on the popular Tour and Tour X head, with every cosmetic idea thought of. In MySpider Tour, golfers can choose from four head finishes, 16 paint fill colors, nine Surlyn face insert colors, three aluminum insert options, six sightline configurations, and four hosel options — L-neck, small slant, double bend, center shaft. Six sightline options are available in MySpider Tour, including the optically engineered True Path alignment system. MySpider Tour X gives builders the option of four head finishes, four hosel configurations, and five sightline options, also including True Path alignment.

One of the more interesting features of the new MySpider program is the availability of three distinct face insert options. Along with the usual Surlyn Pure Roll insert trusted by Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, which can be customized from nine colors, golfers can now also select firmer options. Two are offered with the black aluminum Pure Roll insert, slightly firmer than the traditional insert, or for the firmest feel, golfers can choose from two colors of milled aluminum inserts.

Another fun addition to the MySpider Tour is the ability to use the “Tommy Sightline.” The custom alignment aid design, which was first drawn onto Tommy Fleetwood’s putter by PGA Tour Rep James Holley, is based on the milled sightline on his Spider ZT head. There are five shorter lines on the left and right of a longer central line serving as the traditional short line alignment aid.

See below for the full specifications sheet for MySpider Tour and Tour X:

MySpider Tour

MySpider Tour X

Equipment

Then and now: Comparing Rory McIlroy’s current setup to his record-breaking 2019 Canadian Open victory

Published

7 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Alistair Cameron

In Rory McIlroy’s first appearance at the 2019 RBC Canadian Open, he crushed the record books to earn his 16th PGA Tour title in dominating fashion, winning by seven shots over Shane Lowry and Webb Simpson.

McIlroy’s score of 22-under-par 258 is the lowest 72-hole score to date at the Canadian Open, and his closing 61 is also the best final-round score in the history of one of golf’s oldest tournaments. Finally, with his win in 2019, McIlroy became only the sixth player to win the career Triple Crown, adding to his victories at the U.S. Open in 2011 and The Open Championship in 2014, joining Tommy Armour, Walter Hagen, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Tiger Woods in a coveted list.

So, with that, why not compare his current setup to the clubs he used to break all the records?

Driver

2019: TaylorMade M5 (9 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees @8), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7X (45 5/8 inches)

McIroy led the Tour in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee in 2019; he’s doing the same in 2026. Between now and then, McIlroy has switched from the Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX (a shaft with slightly more feeling in the tip) to the original Fujikura Ventus Black 7X, having just made the change to the heavier version from playing the 60X.

What’s interesting about McIlroy’s 2019 setup is that the weighting on his driver is actually set in the high-draw setting, using the T-Track weighting system, whereas in the Qi4D, he’s currently using a heavily rear-weighted setup. (Two 13-gram weights in the rear and only two 4-gram front weights.)

The TaylorMade M5 driver he played in during his Canadian Open win was the company’s first head that they claimed to design to initially exceed the USGA’s COR limit, and then injected with tuning resin to bring it back in bounds.

Fairway woods

2019: TaylorMade M6 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 80 TX; TaylorMade M5 5-wood (19 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 90 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8X; TaylorMade Qi4D 5-wood (18 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9X

The TaylorMade M6 fairway wood that McIlroy was using during the 2019 season is still in the bag of some of the best golfers on Tour in 2026. Just check out Justin Rose’s winning setup from the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year. This year, though, McIlroy has still been searching for his top-end-of-the-bag setup, having played both the new Qi4D and the Qi10, which he won the Masters with.

The same shaft swap can be seen in the fairway woods as the driver, along with slightly less loft on the 5-wood.

Irons

2019: TaylorMade P750 (4) Buy here, TaylorMade P730 (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0
2026: TaylorMade P760 (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0

The biggest difference between McIlroy’s custom set and the stock P730s is the groove design. While the P730s were constructed with 14 MX-9 grooves on their milled faces, McIlroy’s proto heads instead use the higher-spinning, 16-groove layout of the TW2 grooves. Other big differences between the sets are that McIlroy’s 7- and 8-irons have thinner toplines, are 1 degree stronger in loft, and are 1/4 inch longer than the original P730 builds.

With McIlroy’s 4-iron, the switch from P750 to P760 sees a transition to a two-piece construction with Speed Foam in it, which allows McIlroy to launch the ball slightly higher, with more workability.

Wedges

2019: TaylorMade Milled Grind (48-09SB), TaylorMade MG Hi-Toe (52-09SB, 56-09SB, 60-LB09), Shafts: Project X Rifle 6.5
2026: TaylorMade MG5 (46-09SB, 50-09SB, 54-11SB, 60-08LB @61), Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46-54), Project X 6.5 Wedge (60)

Between 2019 and 2026, McIlroy’s focus on his short game has been much more apparent. It was the reason why he switched back to the TP5 golf ball, to help with launch, spin and control with his wedges leading up to his career Grand Slam victory in 2025. The most apparent changes to McIlroy’s wedge setup are his lofts and bounce. He’s slowly delofted his pitching to a sand wedge, but has increased the loft on the lob wedge, bending his current 60-degree to 61. With that, adding more loft to his lob wedge also slightly increases the bounce and leading-edge sit point, so, as a result, he plays a lower-bounce lob wedge compared to 2019. The MG5 wedges are also softer than the first Milled Grind option from 2019. McIlroy also no longer plays the full-face grooves found on the Hi-Toe.

Putter

2019: TaylorMade Spider X
2026: TaylorMade Spider Tour X

Notice anything similar. Yes, the copper finish on Rory McIlroy’s Spider X putter in 2019 is a slightly more reflective finish than the recently released torched PVD finish. McIlroy was using the True Path alignment system, but now uses only a single white sightline.

Ball

2019: 2019 TaylorMade TP5 (#22)
2026: 2025 TaylorMade TP5 (RORS)

As mentioned above, McIlroy had transitioned from the TP5 to TP5x golf ball since his victory in Canada in 2019, but now is black with the same style of golf ball as his victory at Hamilton Golf & Country Club.

Grips

2019: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
2026: Golf Pride MCC

Interesting, McIlroy actually used Golf Pride’s Tour Velvet Cord grips during his victory in 2019 (it was during a 2+ year switch to the corded TV) as opposed to his usual MCC grips, which he has played for most of his career.