The TaylorMade Stealth line-up returns for a second year with a number of upgrades on the original game-changing range. So what are the best irons your money can get you? Let's take a look
TaylorMade have got it just right with the Stealth range of woods, drivers and hybrids, so they’ve decided to make some Stealth irons too. Talk about building on success, right?
But the fun doesn’t stop at Stealth. The end of 2022 saw the release of a bunch of new players’ irons from TaylorMade, so they really do have something for everyone in all aspects of the game.
When shopping for new irons, it can get difficult choosing a new set. Not only is it a crowded market, but there’s the pressure of getting it right, as they’re an expensive investment.
Last month, Hannah Holden got her hands on TaylorMade’s Stealth 2 irons too, and she was pretty impressed with what was on offer.
Below we take a look at the best TaylorMade irons out there, including their best models in a variety of different categories such as the best TaylorMade irons for high handicap golfers, the best TaylorMade irons for mid handicap golfers, best TaylorMade irons for low handicap golfers and the best forgiving TaylorMade irons, where we come to a conclusion of what are the best TaylorMade irons ever!
Best TaylorMade Irons 2023
TaylorMade Stealth HD irons
These look as much like a hybrid as an iron, but I think that oversized design is really comforting and confidence-inspiring for a higher handicap golfer. I really like the design continuity from the original Stealth irons to these.
With the weaker lofts, I was interested to see what the carry distances would be like. Interestingly, a 5-iron averaged 174.6 yards, which is very similar to what I would expect with my current players’ distance irons. To say distance isn’t the most essential part of this club, it still performed really well in this category.
The whole point of this club is to have something easy to launch and just really easy to hit, this was clear throughout the range. These have to be some of the easiest-to-hit products on the market.
Pros:
- Super forgiving irons set on off centre strikes
- Very hard to hit heavy
- Improve consistency
Cons:
- Big looking club head
- RELATED: Read our full TaylorMade Stealth irons review
TaylorMade P770 irons
How good do these look?! I really love the clean, crisp lines on the back of the club head and think everyone will agree these would look great in anybody’s golf bag.
When hitting these, I was impressed with the sound and feel straight away. On a centre strike, these really give you a forged iron-like feel despite the hollow body construction.
These offer enough help in terms of extra distance for players who are abit shorter without being so hot that it ends up affecting your distance control. This is seen in how consistent my front-to-back dispersion was throughout testing.
These are really impressive all-round players’ irons that offer a great blend of forgiveness and distance. They are definitely a contender to make it into my bag for the 2023 season!
Pros:
- Really attractive players irons
- Great overall distance
- Forgiving across the face
Cons:
- Not as much feedback as smaller options
- RELATED: Read our full TaylorMade P770 irons review
TaylorMade P7MC irons
The P7MCs are undoubtedly a player’s iron. Behind the ball, they look very similar to their relatives, the P7MB, with a compact head, narrow sole and thin top line. You do, however, get the feeling with these irons that a mere mortal might have some success hitting them as they do have a small amount of perimeter weighting and slightly more offset.
I took the P7MCs out onto the course to play a few holes with after testing, and my love grew for them further. I really like the turf interaction the narrow sole and the tight leading edge provide, and I was able to hit low and high shots, draws and fades all whilst maintaining solid distance control, which is all you can ask for.
TaylorMade have taken plenty of feedback from Tour players and if they are happy with performance then there shouldn’t be a wholesale change for change sake. With an iron this small, there isn’t really much technology you can add or adjust every couple of years, it’s just small incremental changes slowly increasing performance.
I could quite happily put this set in the bag tomorrow as they give me everything I look for in an iron. I would, however, be very interested in building a split set that includes the P7MCs. I would love to have the P7MBs from PW-8 iron, P7MCs 7-4 iron and then maybe a P770 3 iron. This would satisfy my desire to have some blades in the bag, but provide me with some much-needed forgiveness and performance in the longer clubs. TaylorMade have a handy split set loft chart on the website so that the gapping would be suitable between the sets.
Pros:
- Look beautiful in the bag and behind the ball
- Centred hits feel dreamy with superb ball flight
- Very workable
Cons:
- Not long
- RELATED: Read our full TaylorMade P7MC irons review
TaylorMade P7MB irons
I do not dislike anything about the way the P7MB irons look. The narrow sole and tour inspired shaping mean that these irons will appeal to the ultimate traditionalist. Standing over the ball with the long irons creates feelings of nervous excitement that a poor shot may result in embarrassment, but a pure strike will deliver a feeling that only a true blade can give you.
The best part about these irons is undoubtably how they feel. The 1025 Steel is 5X forged by a 2000lb press, which all you need to know makes the centred strikes feel solid. The P7MBs make you want to keep pounding balls on the range so you can get that feedback over and over again.
These irons could go straight into my bag, but I’d have to be accepting that on my poor ball striking days I would hit less greens in regulation and potentially score worse. These irons will feature in the bags of TaylorMade’s tour players which means they’re designed for the elite, which sadly I am not.
Bladed irons should be what all players aspire to use, and the P7MBs might be the pinnacle of that. I love them and although they might be damaging to my golf, they might appear in my bag on a warm summers day after several weeks of consistent practice.
Pros:
- Heading turning beauty
- Centre strikes feel so soft
- Easy to control shape and trajectory
Cons:
- Expect serious feedback through the hands on poor strikes.
- RELATED: Read our full TaylorMade P7MB irons review
The Best TaylorMade Irons 2023
How do we test irons?
At National Club Golfer we are passionate about producing accurate and thorough reviews and make sure our testing process is rigorous so we get a good understanding of how each club performs.
Each iron is hit with Pro V1 golf balls to allow us to collect launch monitor data with our in-house TrackMan and Flightscope. After this it is time to head out onto the golf course and test the clubs in practice and competition play. We do this across a variety of golf clubs in our base of Yorkshire.
What is important when buying a new iron?
When buying a new set of irons it is important to know what you want from that club to help you improve.
Most people are looking for more distance, each iron model is optimised for different things. Depending on your swing and your impact conditions, you may not actually hit the model that is advertised as the longest, the furthest. So if you want more distance it is always worth giving different models a hit before you make a decision.
For most golfers, especially high handicappers, something that is more forgiving is going to yield the best performance. Most forgiving golf irons have a slightly bigger club head with perimeter weighting for high MOI. They also have a center of gravity that is further back to help players get more height on their shots.
Do you want something that is draw bias? There are so many models out there to help with slice correction, it would be silly not to take a look if you see your ball disappearing into the right trees too often. A closed face and draw bias weighting can get you hitting straighter shots in no time at all.
Don’t forget about the shaft either. Getting the correct shaft can help dial in your spin, launch angle and can also give you some extra distance. Having a club fitting or trying different options with your local pro can really improve the performance of your new driver.
The Best TaylorMade Irons 2023: FAQ’s
What are the latest Cobra irons?
The Stealth HD irons from TaylorMade are their latest model of irons. These irons have proved to be some of the best all-round irons we have tested this year.
What’s different in the latest TaylorMade irons?
TaylorMade are back for 2023 with the replacement to last year’s Stealth range. The line-up includes three drivers, three fairway woods, three hybrids and a set of game improvement irons.
The Stealth 2 models aim to combine the speed of Stealth, but with added forgiveness, there are a number of existing and new technologies that have allowed TaylorMade to do this.
First up, the 60-layer carbon face is back for 2023, but this year features Advanced Inverted Cone Technology.
This means the face is thinner on the edges and thicker in the centre, creating more speed around the perimeter. In layman’s terms, higher ball speeds on those all-too-familiar off-centre strikes.
The face is also 2 grams lighter than the original Stealth, and has an expanded COR area for a larger sweet spot and faster speeds across the face.
Elsewhere, this second generation of Carbonwood features even more carbon. There is a 75% increase from the Stealth Plus to the Stealth 2 Plus, and a 50% rise in the Stealth 2 and Stealth 2 HD compared to their predecessors. It means Stealth 2 is the first driver in TaylorMade’s history to feature more carbon than any other material!
What Cobra irons do the pros use?
Currently there are four tour players among the top players in the world gaming Cobra irons. This list includes Hideki Matsuyama, Bryson DeChambeau and Rickie Fowler.
TaylorMade have a stellar cast of pros gaming their irons. This list includes Tiger Woods, Collin Morikawa, Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Nelly Korda.
