Equipment

VERY FIRST LOOK AT THE PING i20 IRONS

Published

14 years ago

Jan 1, 2012

GolfWRX

GolfWRX Exclusive! An In-Depth, First-Hand Look at the New Lineup

By GolfWRX editor beruo

ust a few short days after PING announced the G20 irons, interest immediately shifted over to what the i20s might hold. With nothing more than a low-quality TiVo’d screen capture of a wedge on a desk and lots of hearsay, WRXers speculated on what PING had up their sleeves. Last month PING had a few of us come down to put the rumors to rest and let us know exactly what we had to look forward to. And I gotta tell you, the buzz was warranted. Now, because of the interest generated on this site, PING is letting GolfWRX showcase the i20 lineup!

Click here to see more photos and read discussion in the forums… http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/561705-very-first-look-at-the-ping-i20-irons/

IRONS

At first glance, the i20 irons are an obvious departure from the i-lines of the past. The most obvious of these changes are the use of the vertical custom tuning port (CTP) and stabilization bars in the cavity; carryovers from PING’s S56s. The stabilization bars help improve feel along with a thicker face in the impact area, while the vertical CTP construction allows for a lower center of gravity and different options for weight positioning.

Another key feature to the design of the i20s is PING’s blended set concept. As was the case with the i15s, the i20s are noticeably longer heel to toe in the long irons, gradually decreasing in size to the wedges. This time around, PING made the top rail thicker in the long irons transitioning toward a thinner topline in the wedges, dramatically increasing the MOI where golfers need it most.

Along with the tungsten weighting in the toe, these three features increase the MOI across the horizontal axis by about 3% throughout the set, and between 4% (PW) and 12% (3iron) more vertical axis forgiveness over the i15 irons. Given the greater headweight and smaller size that irons have compared to drivers, that increase is substantial. Basically, the i20 irons provide golfers a pitching wedge that has almost the same workability as the S56s with a 3 iron that’s even easier to hit than the i15 counterpart.

New to the i20s is the variable cavity pull construction. Here, PING moved the center of gravity down and toward the front in the wedges to give players a more piercing trajectory, progressively pulling the COG back to elevate ball flight in the long irons. This feature makes the clubs more user friendly while maintaining workable distance control throughout the set, prioritizing accuracy in the short irons and forgiveness in the long irons.

The last key design change in the latest i-iron, is the decreased moment of inertia around the shaft axis. In keeping with the varying nature of the blended set design and the cavity pull construction, PING decreased the axis MOI in the i20s by 14% in the 3 iron and 22% in the pitching wedge over the i15 irons (with the middling 7 iron coming in with a 20% decrease). This makes it easier for golfers to manipulate the club through rotation, working the ball left or right as needed, while not losing forgiveness off mishits.

To accommodate all these new features, the differences in how they’ll cause the ball to react, and the adjustments that golfers may make, PING adjusted the sole design so that turf interaction wouldn’t detract from the clubs’ utility. Changes include more material in the heel to decrease digging, more bounce, a slightly blunted leading edge, and a little trailing edge relief. These changes were needed because when the lower the center of gravity is placed, the more the clubhead wants to deflect down into the ground when impacting the ball (which is why you don’t take divots on practice swings).

In standard PING fashion, the i20 irons will be available both lefty and righty in 3-9, PW, UW, SW, and LW configurations. The standard shaft offering will be PING’s proprietary CFS shaft.

For those new to this shaft, it’s based on the ZZ65, but has been expanded from the original hard stiff flex. One of the characteristics that made the ZZ65 unique was the thicker tip section, which reduced tip action at impact and flutter immediately after. In the Stiff flexed CFS, PING extended the tip by an inch to bring the stiffness to the current industry standard. Short irons get slightly less tip reinforcement to help with feel. The X-flex CFS shafts have a tip that is 1″ shorter and 5 grams heavier, while Regular and Soft Regular CFS shafts have no tip reinforcement to help activate the tip.

I am REALLY looking forward to these irons. My impressions were…very favorable.

The on-sale date is February 9th but golfers can pre-order through their local PING retailers starting January 1st

Per Ping press Release:

PING today unveiled the i20™ driver, fairway woods, hybrids, and irons, relying on innovation and custom engineering to ensure that every design attribute helps to optimize performance, right down to the color of the clubs’ finish.

“In the i20 series, we’ve combined workability, distance and forgiveness with the goal to make any golfer a more versatile and complete player,” said John A. Solheim, PING Chairman & CEO. “We’ve engineered the i20s with a solid feel and generous forgiveness but also a degree of workability for the player who wants full command of the clubface for controlling trajectory and shot shape. Anyone who is passionate about their game is going to be very confident and capable with this game-improvement technology.”

In the multi-metal irons, a progressive set design features long irons that are slightly larger, high launching and more forgiving. The smaller short irons feature less offset and provide exceptional control. Distance control, a key to consistent iron play, was a priority in the irons’ design, Solheim said. “The stabilizing bars and the thicker face offer great feel and ensure that golfers can hit to precise yardages. Distance control is an absolute must for better players, but precision is going to help anyone lower their scores.”

i20™ Irons
Multi-metal technology in a progressive set design. The long irons are slightly larger, high launching, and more forgiving. The smaller short irons feature less offset and provide exceptional control. Stabilizing bars and a thicker face ensure precise distance control and a solid feel. Tungsten toe weights in the 17-4 stainless steel heads elevate forgiveness. An innovative design gives golfers full command of the clubface for controlling trajectory and shot shape. A low-glare satin chrome finish and ferrule offer a clean, high-performance look. Combined with PING’s new CFS (Control, Feel, Stability) steel shaft, the i20 optimizes feel and trajectories.

-Available 3-9, PW, UW, SW, LW
-Stock steel shaft: PING® CFS® (Soft R, R, S and X flexes)
-Stock graphite shaft: TFC 169i (L, Soft R, R and S flexes)
-U.S. MSRP: $110 per club w/steel shaft; $137.50 per club w/graphite shaft.

Click here to see more photos and read discussion in the forums… http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/561705-very-first-look-at-the-ping-i20-irons/

Equipment

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

Published

2 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.

Equipment

From the GolfWRX Classifieds: Titleist Vokey Proto Wedges 54M, 60T

Published

5 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Will Schube

At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @Putt4Dough is selling some prototype wedges from Vokey Wedgeworks. These include a 54 degree wedge with the M grind and a 60 degree wedge with a T grind.

From the listing:

(1) Titleist Vokey Proto Wedge 54M with a Tour Issue DGS400 shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet (logo down). Standard length, lie, and loft. BB&F ferrule. Raw wedge in good condition. No initials. Price is $200 shipped. Buy both wedges for $380 shipped.

(2) Titleist Vokey Proto Wedge 60T with a KBS Tour 130X shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet. Standard length, lie, and loft. Raw wedge in good condition. No initials. Price is $200 shipped. Buy both wedges for $380 shipped.

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules.