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TaylorMade P790 Irons
It’s hard to talk about a new TaylorMade P790 without talking about the market change traceable to its influence. With P790 as the leader, the player’s distance category has exploded to become the second-largest within the iron market.
There are reasonable arguments to be made about which player’s distance iron came first but there’s little doubt the P790 set the category-defining standard.
While there are several things you could point to ,like performance or design, the ultimate key to P790’s success is simply the breadth of golfers who have them in the bag.
You’ll find them on the PGA TOUR’s senior circuit, in Brooke Henderson’s bag on the LPGA and, while you won’t find full sets, several PGA TOUR players carry P790 long irons as well.
Among the crowd of average golfers, P790 is played by everyone from plus handicaps to 20-something index golfers who want the look of a player’s iron that offers something closer to the forgiveness they need.
TaylorMade calls the P790 Iconic and while that word is grossly overused, with the category it defines, I’ll begrudgingly concede it fits.
The more things change …
As is typical for most new releases, a good bit of the core technologies from the third generation of P790 carry over to the new model.
Sound and vibration dampening SpeedFoam Air (which I’m all but obligated to remind you is 69-percent lighter than original SpeedFoam) carries on. So, too, do the thinner walls of the prior generation. There’s also a fair amount of tungsten (up to 38 grams) throughout the set. And, yes, you can read a little about it on the outside of the iron.
Also included is TaylorMade’s Thru-Slot speed which works to maintain ball speed on low-face strikes.
TaylorMade P790 – Same Size with Updated Soles
The general dimensions of irons haven’t changed either. Blade length and offset are consistent with the previous model with the only notable change being some enhanced sole shaping in the gap and pitching wedges.
Taking cues from its MG lineup, TaylorMade added a bit of trailing-edge relief along with heel relief specific to the gap wedge.
Ultimately, it’s about making the P790 set wedges a bit more wedge-like overall while providing better flow into the higher-lofted MG wedges.
TaylorMade P790 – What’s New
As AI continues to infiltrate the world of golf equipment, we’re seeing it leveraged to improve the sound and feel of irons.
You may recall we told you about some of that last week.
With the P790, it is being leveraged to create what TaylorMade calls “an individual mass optimization package.”
The manifestation includes a new thick-thin back wall design. That amounts to honeycomb geometry on the back wall of the iron. We’ve seen similar in driver crowns, for example. The idea is to strategically thin out areas of the club to save mass without compromising structural integrity.
As is invariably the case, with the new P790, TaylorMade was able to take that extra mass and push it low and wide to create more favorable launch conditions and higher MOI (forgiveness).
Sound Stabilization Bars
TaylorMade leaned on its AI tools to help design the internal cavity structure of each iron, including what it calls the soundbar stabilization bars found in the 3- 7-irons of the new P790.
The sound stabilization bars are finger-like bits of structure hidden behind the P790 faces. The geometry of the stabilization bars is unique to each iron in the set. Looking at the cutaways, you’ll notice a significant and anything but intuitive difference as you move through the various irons. The gallery below shows 3i-PW.
If it’s not immediately obvious from the name, the sound stabilization bars work to tune impact vibration and deliver better feel throughout the set.
The new P790 represents TaylorMade’s most extensive use of AI for any in-market product. That last bit suggests something with even more AI-driven influence is in the short-term pipeline.
TaylorMade P790 Performance
Taking sound and feel out of the equation to look strictly at performance, the biggest change to P790 is found in the center-of-gravity progression of the set.
TaylorMade calls the updated design FLTD CG because, apparently, vowels are so 2017, but also because the center of gravity is now lowest in the long irons (almost one millimeter lower) and gets progressively higher as you move into the mid and short irons.
Cards on the table: this isn’t exactly a radical design concept but it does address a problem area with the previous P790. For most golfers, long irons are the most difficult to hit and the comparatively higher center of gravity in past models certainly wasn’t making it any easier.
With the new P790, long irons launch higher and are more forgiving than in previous generations.
The FLTD CG approach not only eliminates the long iron problem but it also has additional benefits throughout the bag.
In past iterations of P790, the CG was lowest in the 7-iron. Again, not ideal. By raising CG to fall in line with the FLTD progression, TaylorMade added roughly 150 rpm more spin into the 7-iron while keeping carry distance the same as the previous generation.
TaylorMade’s FLTD CG progression charts suggest you might see a bit more spin from the pitching wedge as well.
We’re not talking about revolutionary advances here but that shouldn’t suggest there won’t be real benefit for golfers.
P790 Aesthetics
When we consider what defines the player’s distance category, we land on high performance (that’s a euphemism for distance), some of the forgiveness of game-improvement irons and a good bit of the look of a true player’s irons. More often than not, it means something that kinda, sorta, looks like a blade.
I don’t think anyone with so much as single semi-discerning eyeball is going to confuse P790 with Tiger’s MB. The idea is to keep lines clean without adding anything ornate or unnecessary (except maybe the word tungsten)
TaylorMade’s Matt Bovee describes P790 as the clash of art and engineering.
To that end, the updated P790 features a satin scratch finish. For my money, it makes for the cleanest, best-looking P790 to date.
Past iterations feature some mirrored areas. This time around, the mirroring has been replaced in the middle section with tour satin. It blends seamlessly with satin scratch and makes the P790 irons a bit more visually interesting.
All in all, it’s a solid, though not revolutionary, upgrade over the third-generation P790.
TaylorMade P7990 Specs, Pricing, and Availability
TaylorMade P790 iron lie and loft specs are unchanged from the previous version.
They’re offered in 3-PW, AW (RH/LH) with True Temper DG 105 (S) and DG 95 (R) as the stock steel shafts. The stock graphite option is the Mitsubishi MMT in 75S, 65R and 55A.
The stock Grip is TaylorMade Custom Golf Pride Z Grip +2
Retail price for a seven-piece is $1,399 (steel) and $1,499 (graphite). Pre-order begins today. Retail availability starts Sept. 1.
For more information, visit TaylorMadeGolf.com.
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