Nelly Korda is dancing on this interesting iron trend

Wwelcome to GOLF’s Fully Equipped’s weekly tournament equipment report. Every Friday of PGA Tour weeks (plus other times, if the news calls for it), GOLF Equipment Editor Jack Hirsh will walk you through some of the biggest news about golf clubs on Tour, including changes, changes and launches.

Nelly Korda may not be dominating the LPGA Tour with a seven-win season like she did a year ago, but she’s still statistically one of the tour’s best hitters.

While No. The World No. 2 is winless this season and has played a little putter roulette this year, ranking fourth on the LPGA in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green and 17th in Approach.

But clearly, Korda felt there was room for improvement, because she made a change this week to Annikaditching the TaylorMade P7MCs she used to dominate the first half of last season for a new set of bigger and more forgiving 6-PW P7CBs.

Korda was apparently looking for a higher launch and spin from her mid and short irons. She kept her 2022 P770 5-iron and her AeroTech SteelFiber i80 cw shafts.

“I was playing MC TaylorMades and now I’m on (P7) CBs,” Korda said before the tournament. “You just have maybe a little more height to them, so the descent angle is a little steeper and it should land a little softer.”

Korda has already played a setup that many amateur players would shy away from, with a player distance option for the 5-iron and a 5-hybrid instead of a 4-iron altogether, but it highlights an interesting trend that is present at all levels of play.

Players are more apologetic and want to hit the ball straight up in the air. Today’s game is played on harder and faster greens than ever before, and the pros seem to be embracing the idea that the only way to keep the ball on those greens is to hit it higher.

With higher launch and more spin irons also comes more forgiveness and ball speed retention due to the larger chassis sizes used to increase that launch. You’re seeing more blade and shallow hollow players switching to full hollow backs because they will typically spin more than hollow body irons.

TaylorMade Custom P7CB Cuff

BEST-IN-CLASS FEEL Using tournament feedback and modal analysis, we’ve strategically designed the mass placement for best-in-class feel. Created using Compact Grain Molding and 2000 tons of pressure to deliver the purest possible feel of 1025 carbon mild steel. PACKAGED CONTROL Precision cut faces and grooves combined with a constant CG, the P•7CB is designed to provide an optimal combination of launch and spin for ultimate control and precision. CONSISTENCY Designed to maximize accuracy and consistency. The P•7CB weighs optimized perimeter and co-forged tungsten, designed to offer a nice blend of stability and workability. COMPACT TOUR SHAPING Every aspect of the shaping in this iron was intended to meet the needs of discerning ball strikers. The compact blade length and slim topline create a confident, clean look in the playing position, while the unique camber and progressive bounce profile provide consistent ground interaction.

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We saw it a few weeks ago when Billy Horschel returned from injury fielding a full set of Titleist T100 irons after playing blades for most of his career. Aldrich Potgieter too made a similar move just before breaking into Rocket Classic.

The change looks set to pay dividends so far for Korda this week. After a 71 on Thursday, she returned with a bogey-free 63 in Round 2, missing just one green all day. She heads into the weekend just three shots off the lead as she looks for her first win of the year.

With companies focused on providing more and more forgiveness benefits in smaller packages, don’t be surprised if this trend continues and we see many players looking for more forgiving cuffs with a focus on peak height and smoothing out errant shots.

Keeping it low key

of 1-iron is back this week on the PGA Tour.

Strong winds are forecast for this week Butterfield Bermuda Championshipa few additional players added utility equipment and long irons to their bags as options available at the 6,828-yard Port Royal Golf Course, which is the shortest on the PGA Tour schedule.

Titleist again led the count with 47 utility irons in play this week (53 percent), with several players choosing their new 2025 U505 and T250U options.

But two that jump off the page are Trey Mullinax and Rico Hoey.

Titleist 2025 U•505 Driving Iron Custom

The U505 plays like an iron, but performs like something more. From getting the pin off the hook to hitting home runs from elusive distances, the U505 gives players the speed and control to hit clutch shots with confidence. Clean muscle look A high-strength steel hollow body concentrates incredible power in a clean package. Long Range Speed ​​A new forged L-Face design increases ball speed and launch to hit distant targets with confidence. Performance-enhanced Max Impact technology helps generate consistent launch, speed, spin and carry to expand your shooting ability. Controlled trajectory split high density tungsten produces optimal CG with high stability for more forgiving shots. The mix of U505 and T250U iron sets feature a player-preferred profile with minimal offset, allowing you to seamlessly blend into the top of a mixed setup.

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Mullinax, a non-titler, added the rare U505 1 iron this week with a Ventus Black HB shaft.

The U505 1-iron hasn’t completely disappeared on the PGA Tour, with Ben A regularly plays instead of a 3-woodand Justin Thomas tested one at the Scott Open, but it’s still a very special club.

But with a short course in Port Royal this week and more strong winds with forecasts calling for gusts over 30 mph this weekend, the 1-iron could see more action this weekend after Mullinax shot a 67 on Friday to make the cut. He will need a solid finish to the year in order to maintain his PGA Tour status as he is currently 158th in the FedEx Cup fall standings.

The other unique serve goes to Rico Hoey — also a non-staffer — who is playing Titleist’s T350 Prototype 3-iron.

There was a prototype T350 3-iron in the last generation of the T-series, and the shape of that club ended up inspiring the shape of the 2025 U505 3-iron and 4-iron lofts.

We don’t know much about the design intent of the current prototype T350 series, but we can assume there is less compensation than the retail T350 game improvement irons to appeal to top players.

Check this out

This section is dedicated to an interesting photo we took recently on Tour, but haven’t had a reason to share yet. For this week, check out Adam Hadwin’s Callaway Apex TCB 2021 irons. Hadwin is alone in the lead heading into the weekend in Bermuda.

Odds and ends

A few more gear changes and notes we’re following this week.

Harrison Endycott became the latest player to add S259 Ping wedges… Charley Hull (8.0), Esther Henseleit (10.5) and Julia Lopez Ramirez (9.0) are all using the new TaylorMade Qi4D LS head this week at Pelican. It’s the second straight week of big conversions for TaylorMade, which saw six DP World Tour players (including Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood) switch to the 2026 driver last week… The title continued a steep decline in terms of count with 77 percent Bermuda ball count (more than 10 times their nearest competitor), 46 percent driver usage and 58 percent hole, sand and wedges in play.

Jack Hirsh welcomes your comments at Jack.Hirsh@golf.com.

Want to overhaul your bag in 2025? Find a convenient club location near you at True Spec Golf.

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