Titleist T250 Irons vs TaylorMade P790 Irons: Read Our Head-To-Head Verdict

The Player’s Distance Iron category is a relatively new one but its popularity has grown exponentially. Today it’s a hotly contested arena, with club manufacturers looking to win favor with golfers looking for distance and forgiveness but delivered with a player’s iron aesthetic. These irons have broad appeal, fitting in as some of the best irons for low handicappers as well as being suitable for those looking for a set of the best distance irons. Thanks to this extra distance on offer, you may think of them as a superhero dressed as a Hollywood matinee idol and you can quickly understand their allure.

TaylorMade helped usher in the player’s distance category with the release of its P790 back in 2017, and it’s the latest iteration that we’re looking at here. It’s pitted against a new model in Titleist’s T-Series line-up, the T250.

These are high-profile clubs, vying to be recognised as among the best golf irons and ones that will surely find their way into many a golf bag. But how do they fare head-to-head? And vitally, which one is best suited to your game?

Technology

The essence of a player’s distance iron is that all the tech is neatly hidden in a package that’s as clean and pristine as an Augusta National bunker during Masters week. But it’s still there. And in the case of the new T250, there’s plenty of it.

The face and body are made from high-strength steel, behind which lie a few key developments. The forged L-face has what Titleist calls a V-taper design, which is there to create more ball speed across the entire face as well as increasing launch on low-face strikes, which is music to the ears of many golfers who’ll likely be eyeing up these irons.

The same is true of the use of split high-density tungsten, which has allowed Titleist to optimise the center of gravity with the aim of delivering both a high flight and plenty of stability at impact, without having to resort to a larger profile you’d typically expect to see in the best game improvement irons.

The newest version of the P790 was released in 2025 and sticks to the script. Again you get a hollow body filled with TaylorMade’s SpeedFoam Air as well as the now familiar Speed Slot found in the sole of the longer irons. But there are some differences, too. The face material has been updated, with the forged material claiming to be 20% stronger than its predecessor, the 2023 P790 iron. By gaining strength it’s allowed the designers to thin out the face, which is designed to translate to more flex and speed.

Elsewhere, TaylorMade has positioned the CG lower still across the long irons to improve launch, while placing it higher in the short irons to deliver better control and spin with these scoring clubs.

Looks

The look of a player’s distance iron is a significant part of its appeal. They need to cut an elegant figure both on the shelf and sitting behind the ball and Titleist has delivered this in spades with the T250. It’s clean and minimal in its design and while looks are subjective we’d suggest this might just be the best in this category when it comes to appearance, especially from an ‘in the bag’ angle.

Cleverly though, Titleist has still produced an iron that will inspire confidence at address; the profile is larger than both its T100 and T150 irons and the top line is a tad thicker, with some more offset too in comparison. But all this has been done subtly so as not to spoil the overall aesthetic. For both Titleist fans and those new to the brand’s irons it should be a welcome sight.

The updated P790 is more refined than previous models. The topline is a little thinner and the transition to the hosel is cleaner, too. Overall it’s a neater, more compact look that will likely appeal to better players who perhaps have been used to playing with traditional blades but are moving to a player’s distance iron to negate a loss of swing speed.

However the P790’s new visuals might be to the detriment of those higher handicappers who still want a confidence-inspiring look at address. If we were to position it between the best irons for low handicappers and the best distance irons, then it’s certainly closer to the former in terms of size.

Feel

Titleist has struck a nice balance with the T250. While they are more lively at impact than the T100 and T150 models, we still received plenty of feedback, allowing us to easily feel whether the strike was in the middle of the face or more towards the heel or toe.

In comparison the P790 is a little softer, while still providing a sense of power, delivering an impressive sensation at impact that’s right up there with any of the best compact mid-handicap irons.

Performance

When it comes to the tale of the tape, this is the measurement that matters most. And the T250s didn’t disappoint. Titleist promised greater speed and consistency and that’s just what we saw during our testing. The strong lofts - a 7-iron is 30.5˚ - combine with all that tech to produce some really impressive and consistent numbers, with regard to both ball speed and carry. And it’s that consistency that’s really the headline here, allowing us to be confident that we’d hit our number without fearing that dreaded ‘jumper’ that flies a few yards further and catches us by surprise.

The T250s are offered in two variants, the regular model that we tested, and the ‘Launch Spec’ edition. These are designed for golfers with lower swing speeds or any golfer wanting to increase their ball flight a tad. It’s a nice addition and should broaden the T250's appeal yet further and thus making them one of the best titleist irons money can buy.

Despite our concerns that the look of the P790 might trouble the high handicap players, once they start to hit them, any fears should be alleviated. We found them to be just as forgiving as their larger predecessors, with ball speeds remaining high even on less-than-perfect strikes. That it does this without compromising the superb feel is a real feather in the cap of the P790.

We also loved the new sole design. It’s been upgraded to feature more radius, which makes them a little more versatile; we tested them on tight and firm links turf and they responded to the challenge with aplomb.

Which clubs should you choose?

Choose the Titleist T250 irons if....

- You appreciate refined looks
- You crave a consistent trajectory
- You want immediate feedback on strike

Choose the TaylorMade P790 irons if...

- You want a softer feel at impact
- You require a versatile sole
- You appreciate a compact iron shape