Before everyone starts falling all over themselves in regards to the new sticks there in Tiger Woods golf bag, keep in mind one thing that has been tried and true throughout his career. His irons, whatever the back might say, have always mimicked the old Mizuno blades he used as an amateur.
So now Woods finally has a set of TaylorMade irons in his bag. The stamp on the back reads: TW Phase 1. They are prototypes.
It took quite a while for them to replace a set of Nike VR Pro blanks that he had in his bag previous to these. He started testing in December of 2016 when he announced TaylorMade as his new club sponsor. The development of irons for Woods was set back by his physical problems, his surgeries and his inability to hit many golf balls until recently.
TaylorMade also had to make some big adjustments. “I prefer a different metal than TaylorMade was using and a different groove configuration than TaylorMade was using,” Woods said on Wednesday after his pro-am round at Quail Hollow.
Woods says he doesn’t care what the back of the club looks like. “They basically can look the same as long as it (the ball) flies through the windows I want.”
As for TaylorMade, the company had this to say about Woods’ new tools:
As we continue to develop future iterations of Tiger’s prototype irons, “TW·Phase1” marks Tiger’s initial transition into a TaylorMade set. This set was built to his meticulous specifications. Based on the positive feedback and excitement expressed by Tiger regarding upcoming prototypes, we are encouraged by the ongoing creation process and look forward to what’s in store for the next phase of Tiger’s irons.
As we work toward finalizing Tiger’s new irons, there will be more information to come, including a release date for golfers everywhere.
