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2 veteran blade-iron users shockingly switch to cavity-back irons at the Wyndham Championship

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Remember when the majority of PGA Tour players used a full set of blade irons?

Those were the days.

Unfortunately for fans of blade irons, those are days are quickly fading. Many of the top golfers in the world – even veterans who have played blade irons throughout their career – are switching into more forgiving options either through the set…or, at least, they’re using combo sets featuring blade short irons and cavityback long irons (such as Rory McIlroy).

More now than ever, golf equipment manufacturers are designing smaller, more compact cavityback iron heads that combine blade-style looks with cavity-back forgiveness.

Rickie Fowler, for example, used blade irons in college, and for more than a decade as a PGA Tour player. He even collaborated with Cobra on an ultra-custom set of shockingly small-and-thin Rev33 blade irons.

Now, in 2023, Fowler uses a full set of CB’s by way of the Cobra King Tour irons. And he’s arguably playing the best golf he has in the last five years.

This week at the 2023 Wyndham Championship, two longtime blade users have also switched into full sets of cavityback irons: Webb Simpson and Adam Scott.

Just recently, back in November 2022, Simpson switched into an ultra-custom set of Titleist 682.WS blade irons. And for years he relied on Titleist’s classic 680 models. This week, however, Simpson changed into Titleist’s new 2023 T100 irons, which are made with a dual-cavity construction.

Simpson spoke with GolfWRX.com briefly about the switch on Wednesday at the Wyndham Championship:

“I’ve been practicing with [the new T100’s] at home and I feel like, out of the rough, they’re a little better. Mishits are a little better. Just a little bit. I’m still getting used to them.”

We spotted Simpson on Wednesday with a full set of T100’s in the bag, but since he’s “still getting used to them,” the situation may remain fluid during the transition process. On Thursday during competition, though, Simpson was photographed using at least one T100 long iron.

Like Simpson, Scott used the Titleist 680 blade irons for years. He’s also recently used custom Titleist 681.MB irons, and, most recently, Miura’s custom AS-1 blades.

Ahead of the 2023 Wyndham Championship, however, Scott conducted extensive iron testing that included various head models from different brands. On Thursday, it was confirmed that Scott used a set of Titleist 620 CB irons to grab the first round lead.

Even Adam Scott – who is known to use the bladiest of blade irons – switched into cavitybacks.

That leaves me with just one question for amateur golfers who still use a full set of blade irons: Why?

He played on the Hawaii Pacific University Men's Golf team and earned a Masters degree in Communications. He also played college golf at Rutgers University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

14 Comments

14 Comments

  1. Eimert

    Aug 24, 2023 at 4:09 pm

    Because i play golf for fun. I grew up playing blades. Playing anything else feels like cheating.

    • Mike

      Aug 25, 2023 at 10:17 am

      Still playing persimmon woods? How about those (old) balata balls? If you’re gonna “not cheat”, you might as well go all the way.

  2. Jc

    Aug 6, 2023 at 8:12 pm

    Because I can, and you can’t… and that’s cool.

    • BladesfortheEgo

      Aug 21, 2023 at 3:57 pm

      Doubtful, more like your ego writing checks your swing can’t cash.

  3. Steve

    Aug 6, 2023 at 10:41 am

    New irons are a trivial purchase

  4. R

    Aug 5, 2023 at 9:37 pm

    Getting paid to play, so they’re walking adverts

    • D

      Aug 6, 2023 at 9:43 am

      Adam Scotty is not on staff with any company right now.

  5. Rich

    Aug 5, 2023 at 3:01 pm

    Webb and Adam both major disappointments this year. Just entirely unable to put 4 good rounds together.

  6. Devlin

    Aug 5, 2023 at 12:46 pm

    Because I can still hit the sweet spot and new fancy clubs make my swing worse.

  7. C

    Aug 5, 2023 at 11:46 am

    Must be nice to be walking advertisement billboard with a nice cheque

  8. Ya

    Aug 5, 2023 at 11:45 am

    Getting paid to play. Must be nice to be a walking advertisement billboard lol

  9. Paulo

    Aug 5, 2023 at 1:20 am

    It’s not my fault those hackers on the pga tour need cavities

  10. Rascal

    Aug 4, 2023 at 9:08 pm

    Cause

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Equipment

Slab city on the Korn Ferry Tour — Lead Tape Report

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This week, we have our Tour Photographer, Greg Moore, on the ground at the OccuNet Classic at Tascosa Golf Club in Amarillo, Texas, for the 14th event of the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season. With that, we see some great things in the Lead Tape Report as we roll into Amarillo.

Joel Thelen

Monday Qualifier, Joel Thelen is in the field this week. He has played on the Korn Ferry Tour for a full season in 2023, and he is back in action this week. A couple of clubs caught my eye this week in his bag.

First off: His trusted Titleist 816 H2 hybrid. This club came out in October of 2015, and it still remains strong in the bag. Also, take a look at this Odyssey White Hot OG 7, putting a capital S in the 7S model. This custom neck has some impressive lean for an arm-lock-style putter. The bottom of the putter is covered in tape for optimal weighting.

Mitchell Meissner

Taking a look at Mitchell Meissner’s bag this week, we have some great lead tape coverage. Top to bottom working from fairway metals, irons, and wedges. We can see on the short irons and wedges that there is tape at the base of the grip, adding a little counterbalance. Along with that, some tape on the short irons and wedges as well. Moving to his putter, he rolls the Odyssey 7 Bird putter. Meissner putts left-handed and strikes the ball right-handed. 

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Whats in the Bag

Bud Cauley WITB 2026 (June)

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Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament.

Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: Titleist GTS3 (15 degrees, B1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 70 TX

7-wood: Titleist GTS3 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 80 TX

Irons: Titleist U505 (3), Titleist 620 MB (4-9)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 8 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putters: Scotty Cameron Tour Prototype, Scotty Cameron GOLO 6.3 Prototype

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

See more in-hand photos of Bud Cauley’s clubs here.

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Equipment

Name every set of irons you’ve owned – GolfWRXers discuss

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In our forums, one user has offered up a prompt for the true sickos, inviting fellow forum members to share every set of irons they’ve ever owned. As to be expected, this is a lengthy forum topic.

@Lamosteve began:

Can you name every set of irons you’ve owned? Here’s mine

Spalding Dots
Spalding Eclipse
Ram Lazer FX
Lynx Parallax
Mizuno EZ Comp
Ben Hogans
Cleveland CG Red
Taylor Made R9s
PING i20
PING iE1
Taylor Made M6

Our members in the forum have been offering up their own collections. Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

  • macedan: “Started with a hand-me-down Golden Bear set from my brother when I was in high school, never really played more than once a year or got into the game until about summer of 2017. First purchased a set of Cleveland CG4’s (I actually really miss this set sometimes, soft & not terribly large for a GI iron), moved into Nike Vapor Fly’s by the end of the year. Those lasted until spring of 18 when I decided I wanted new, so I traded them in for TM Rbladez. Honestly, although I liked the Rbladez, poor decision on my part, I think this was really about the only time so far that after a week or two I was kicking myself for not staying with what I had. Rbladez stayed with me until late last summer when I switched to P790’s and (knock on wood) I am hoping this will be my longest lasting set.”
  • JimmyC59: “MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Triple Crown. Palmer The Standard. Still play these.”
  • jgrzask: “Tommy Armour 845u
    Mizuno MP-32
    Mizuno MP-33 (2 sets)
    Bridgestone J33cb – still own
    Srixon i-302 (2 sets) – still own
    Tourstage X-Blades – still own
    Mizuno Hot Metal – still own
    Nike Forged Blades – still own
    Titleist 714 AP1 – still own
    Cobra Forged SS – still own”

Entire Thread: “Name every set of irons you’ve owned.”

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