Equipment

Callaway Apex Pro, Apex CB, Apex MB combo irons – Club Junkie Reviews

Published

3 years ago

Dec 1, 2023

When Callaway released the new Apex Pro, Apex CB, and Apex MB irons in August, better-skilled golfers were very excited to get them out on the course to try for themselves.

The Apex Pro packs a ton of technology into a small head size with reduced offset and a thinner topline. Callaway updated the new Apex CB with a new sole design for better turf interaction and shot consistency. The Apex MB is the blade for elite players who are looking for precise distance control and shot shaping.

Callaway knows some golfers like to mix and match clubs from different sets to optimize their performance, so I was very intrigued to see how the Apex Pro Series Triple Play iron set combined all three irons.

Callaway Apex Pro Long Irons (4, 5, 6)

When you set the new Apex Pro irons down, you will be pleased with the look of reduced offset and a compact shape. The irons aren’t so small that you get intimidated, I think Callaway picked a good size. Being slightly larger than the CB and MB gives you a little more confidence that you don’t need to strike it dead center in order to get a good shot out of them.

The Pros use multi-material construction to add distance and forgiveness while the forged face and body give you soft feel and distance control. Urethane Microspheres are also used to dampen vibration and give the Pro irons a soft and solid feel. Now the GolfWRXer in me wishes the Pro had a touch less offset, but I like the overall shape and think the more rounded toe gives them a softer look.

Out on the course, the 4, 5, and 6-irons are easy to hit and do offer you a little extra firepower for those longer shots. The feel is soft and muted, even on mishits, and the turf interaction from the Dynamic Sole design resists digging in soft conditions. The 4-iron is a real cannon off the tee on short par 4’s and long par 3’s, giving you the distance as well as added height to stop the ball on the green.

Off the turf, you can easily elevate the 5 and 6-iron shots into greens, but all of the Pro irons offer better forgiveness than you might expect. My miss is generally off the toe and those shots still get up in the air and carry. When you miss, you can still carry that bunker or get the ball to the front of the green.

Apex CB Mid Irons (7, 8, 9)

These might be my favorite looking out of the three iron sets in terms of size and shape. They blend some of the roundness from the Apex Pro with a slightly sharper toe and more compact size. The Apex CB have very little offset, and the transition from hosel to leading edge is done well and without too much curvature.

The soles are more narrow, but you can see more of the angles in the Dynamic Sole. The pre-worn leading edge and trailing-edge relief stand out more and work very well. I play in Michigan, and you rarely come across a firm and fast fairway, so turf interaction is very noticeable in these softer conditions. Much like the Apex Pro, the CB gets into the turf immediately and wants to shallow out and exit quickly.

Solidly struck shots feel so solid and soft with a heavy “thud” at impact. When it comes to feel, these irons will easily hold their own against other popular forged CBs. Shots hit thin or off the toe will bring more vibration to your hands and produce a clickier sound.

Distance control with the Apex CB irons is very, very good. Well-struck shots seem to fly exactly the same distance and height every time. The launch is a little lower than the Apex Pro but you still can elevate them off the turf or tee. These irons also seem to spin a bit more as you notice shots having a little more curvature to them. Into the wind, you can see a touch of rise in the shot. You will notice a little more of a dropoff in carry when you miss the center of the face, but directionally the ball stays online well.

Callaway added MIM weights in the toe, and as much as they perfect the balance of each iron, they seem to add some forgiveness as well. Skilled players will love the shotmaking ability of the CB: You can hit them high, low, left, or right, and in any combination of the aforementioned.

Apex MB Short Irons (10, 11)

First, just having irons with a “10” and an “11” on the sole is flat-out cool. That little difference is fun to see and they always get comments from other golfers. While all of the new Apex irons blend well together, these have the most distinctive look to my eye. They are the edgiest look with a sharper toe and straight leading edge. There is a lack of softness and roundness to the me, but again, they blend in well with the set.

I only have the pitching and gap wedge in the set, but that is about where my skill tops out! The MB will demand your attention as they obviously are the least forgiving in the set. While well-struck shots will reward you with impeccably soft feel and a solid “thud” sound, off-center will be a little more harsh on your hands and ears. My misses tend to be the most dramatic and you will see a big drop off in distance when you hit it out on the toe. Where the Apex Pro will get you on the green, the MB can keep you just off depending on the miss.

For being such high-lofted clubs, they do keep a lower ball flight that carries a lot of spin into the green. You can easily fire at tight pins with confidence that the trajectory and spin will keep the ball close to its landing spot. And since they are MBs, you can flight those shots any way you would like with ease.

Turf interaction is good, but these will dig the most out of the set. But even with the deeper divot, the irons get through the turf very quickly.

Matching the gap wedge to the set is something I have liked in this set. There is just a feeling of consistency on full, or close-to-full shots that you don’t get with a sand wedge-style head. Those full shots kind of feel like you are just hitting a pitching wedge but at a shorter distance. The “11-iron” still works around the green, and you can hit little pitch and chip shots with plenty of spin, even with an open face.

Overall, Callaway’s Triple Play offers a little bit of everything for players who need a little help in the long irons but want consistency in the scoring clubs. Feel, distance, and forgiveness are all added to the mix in good amounts in order to balance out the set. If you are a single-digit handicap who wants a players look from address but needs a little help, Callaway’s Apex Pro Series combo sets are well worth trying out.

More Club Junkie Reviews

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.