Are Blades Really Dying Out On Tour? Not If The Start Of 2026 Is Anything To Go By...

Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Reed, Chris Gotterup and Nacho Elvira hold their respective trophies

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Following Rory McIlroy's swap from his TaylorMade Rors Proto blades to the more forgiving TaylorMade P7CB irons, many have wondered are blades dying out on the professional circuits in 2026?

The question is justifiable. Even the world's best players are searching for ways to make the game easier and, given that blades are the hardest form of golf irons to hit properly, it does warrant an investigation.

Rory McIlroy plays an iron shot during a practice round ahead of the 2026 Dubai Desert Classic — McIlroy started using the P7CBs at the Crown Australian Open, before fully swapping into them at the Dubai Desert Classic

To begin with, golf blades, or muscleback irons, are designed to provide players with the most amount of workability, feedback and feel, with their compact nature helping players hone in on their focus.

There's nothing better than striking a blade out of the center of the face but, if you were to miss that sweet spot, then they will provide a very low level of forgiveness, especially when compared to cavity back or distance irons.

At the start of 2026, McIlroy changed from a set of blades to a cavity back iron, with the Career Grand Slam winner stating at the Dubai Invitational "if there's help to be had I'll definitely take it.

"I've been thinking about it for a while and even in Dubai at the end of last year I hit a couple of 5 irons that I mis-struck slightly and instead of it maybe coming up five or seven yards short it was coming up 10 to 15 yards short."

A close-up of Rory McIlroy's golf bag — McIlroy previously used a set of TaylorMade Rors Protos, which were based around the P730

That mis-hit aspect is one of the primary, if not the key, reason as to why players would change out of their blade set-ups, and a key reason why many are claiming the blade iron is dying out on Tour.

However, is that really the case? Well, during the month of January both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour have staged two tournaments each and, if you were to look at the irons used by the winners, you would find a theme.

That's correct, all four players - Scottie Scheffler, Chris Gotterup, Patrick Reed and Nacho Elvira - possessed a set-up that primarily featured a bag of blade irons.

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Scottie Scheffler hits an iron — (Image credit: Getty Images)

On the PGA Tour, Scheffler (The American Express) used his ever-reliable TaylorMade P7TW irons from 5-iron to pitching wedge, while Gotterup (Sony Open in Hawaii) had a set of Bridgestone Tour B 220 MBs in 4-iron to 9-iron.

Reed, who claimed the Dubai Desert Classic, had his custom-made set of Grindworks PR-101A irons in-play from 5-iron to pitching wedge, as equipment-free agent, Nacho Elvira, used Callaway Apex MBs in 6-iron to 9-iron.

Essentially, the first four winners of the 2026 season have all used blade irons to win their respective tournaments and, although some have a more forgiving top order of the bag, blade irons are the main stand-out in the mid-section.

Justin Rose hits a shot at the Farmers Insurance Open — Rose used a set of Miura musclebacks from 7-iron to pitching wedge to claim the Farmers Insurance Open

Even Justin Rose had blade Miura MC-502 irons in-play from 7-iron to pitching wedge as he won the Farmers Insurance Open, showing that the blade irons aren't dying out as much as you think.

Used by the world's best, they don't appear to be going anywhere anytime soon and, with the upcoming generation of golfers swinging the club harder and faster, it might be the case they're in more bags for years to come.

What Golf Irons Do The World's Top 10 Use?

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Player	Iron	Shaft
Scottie Scheffler	Srixon ZU85 (4) TaylorMade P7TW (5-PW)	True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Rory McIlroy	TaylorMade P760 (4) TaylorMade P7CB (5-9)	True Temper Project X 7.0
Justin Rose	Miura TC-502 (4-5) Miura MC-502 (6-PW)	KBS C-Taper 125 S+
Tommy Fleetwood	TaylorMade P7TW (4-PW)	True Temper Project X 6.5
Russell Henley	Titleist T200 (4) Titleist T100 (5-9)	True Temper Dynamic Gold AMT (4-6) True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (7-9)
Robert MacIntyre	Titleist 620 CB (4-9)	True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
JJ Spaun	Srixon ZXi5 (4) Srixon ZXi7 (5-PW)	True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Xander Schauffele	Callaway Apex TCB ’24 (4-PW)	True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Ben Griffin	Mizuno Pro S3 (4-PW)	True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Justin Thomas	Titleist T200 (4) Titleist T100 (5) Titleist 621.JT (6-9)	True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Matt joined Golf Monthly in February 2021 covering weekend news, before also transitioning to equipment and testing. After freelancing for Golf Monthly and The PGA for 18 months, he was offered a full-time position at the company in October 2022 and continues to cover news and social media.

Taking up the game when he was just seven years of age, Matt made it into his county squad just a year later and continues to play the game at a high standard, with a handicap of around 2-4. To date, his best round is a six-under-par 66 having been seven-under through nine.

Matt’s current What’s In The Bag?

Driver: Honma TW747, 8.75°

Fairway Wood: Ping G430 LST 15°, 19°

Irons: TaylorMade P7CB

Wedges: Cleveland 588 RTX 2.0 Tour Satin, 50°, 56°, 60°

Putter: Cleveland TFI 2135 Satin Cero

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

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