Equipment lovers are fascinated by Tiger Woods’ gear.
A traditionalist, Tiger has embraced technological advancements in drivers and fairway woods, but he has been very slow to change irons, shafts or grips. In fact, after growing up with a Ping putter, he has used a Ping grip on his Scotty Cameron putter for decades.
At the 2022 Masters, Tiger Woods used a TaylorMade Stealth Plus+ driver, a 15-degree TaylorMade SIM 3-wood and a 19-degree TaylorMade M3 5-wood. That has been Tiger’s standard setup, along with his TaylorMade P·7TW irons (3-PW) since he joined TaylorMade in 2017.
Having played a few practice rounds at Southern Hills in preparation for the PGA Championship, Woods has opted to change that setup, removing two clubs and adding two others.
The first club that Woods removed from his bag this week is the M3 5-wood, and one of the clubs that he added is a TaylorMade P-770 2-iron. In years past, Woods removed his 5-wood and added a 2-iron on fast, firm courses where the wind is a factor, like links venues that host the British Open.
The other change that Woods made is taking out his P-7TW 3-iron and adding a P-770 3-iron in its place. That move, unlike swapping a 2-iron for a 5-wood, is unusual for Tiger.
The P-770 is a compact, hollow-bodied club that is designed to be a better-player’s distance iron. It has a forged 4140 stainless steel face attached to a forged 8620 carbon steel body. The inner chamber is filled with a foam material that TaylorMade refers to as Speed Foam. It absorbs excessive vibrations, to improve sound and feel, but does not inhibit the face from flexing or reduce ball speed. There is also an internal tungsten weight inside the head that lowers the center of gravity location to encourage a higher ball flight. Finally, there is a Speed Pocket slot in the sole that allows the lower portion of the hitting area to bend more efficiently on thin shots.
Time will tell whether the addition of the two P-770 irons is going to be permanent or whether they are course-specific clubs that woods is planning to use only at Southern Hills, but given Tiger’s injuries and reduced ability to practice, it makes sense that he might be looking for more ball speed and distance from his long irons.
