Don't Write Off Blades Just Yet

The beginning of 2026 was filled with eulogies for blade irons after Rory McIlroy made some big changes to his bag for the first time in over a decade by moving into a set of TaylorMade P7-MCs from his RORS Proto blade irons.

However, it appears that 2026 has other ideas, as so far on the PGA TOUR, four of the four events have been won by players either using full sets of blades or mixed combo sets featuring blade short irons. I guess we can't write them off just yet.

RELATED: The WM Has Been a Hotspot For Gear Changes

Gotterup Takes It Home Again

After winning in Hawaii at the Sony Open, it didn't take long for Chris Gotterup to snag his second win of the season at the WM Phoenix Open in a playoff against Hideki Matsuyama (who we should note also plays a sweet set of Srixon blades - pictured below). Chris plays a set of Bridgestone 220MBs (title image), which at his speed, are a perfect set to help with ball speed and distance control.

Can't Forget Scottie

In other news (in case you forgot already) Scottie Scheffler won the Amex, and also finished T3 at the WM. Even with some tweaks to the top end of his bag, one thing that has stayed the same for each and every one of his PGA Tour wins are his TaylorMade P7TW irons.

I also don't imagine these going anywhere soon!

RELATED: The Best Player in the World Uses a 7-Wood. End of Debate.

Rose Continues To Be A Force

Last but not least, the oldest winner on Tour so far this year (still holding out hope that Vijay Singh can snag one), Justin Rose won with a mixed set of Miura irons featuring TC-502 longer irons (4-5) and MC-502 in his 6-PW.

RELATED: At 45, Justin Rose Is Still Winning and Still Learning

Now you could make the argument that the MC-502s are not a "real" blade and that distinction in the Miura line belongs to the Miura MB-101s, but to be fair, in a side by side comparison there isn't much of a difference—and they are both pure forged irons. The biggest variance in design beyond the back muscle is the sole design of the MC-502 has more leading edge bluntness.

With Pebble Beach on the horizon this week, the real question is now will this trend of blade wins continue, or are cavity back irons ready to take a win? I guess we'll find out come Sunday.