TaylorMade P790 Phantom Black Irons – Key Takeaways

Flagship player’s distance iron offered in black PVD finish Blacked-out KBS Tour Lite shaft, Golf Pride Z-Grip 360 standard $1,499.99 for a seven-piece set, available now

The TaylorMade P790 Phantom Black irons cry out for golf to create a new category.

 OEMs offering black versions of their flagship irons during the off-year used to be a fad. Then it became a trend.

I’m not sure what comes after “trend” but this is starting to feel like standard operating procedure.

The short story here is that the TaylorMade P790 Phantom Black irons are exactly the same as the chrome P790 iron set that came out in September of 2021. Except, of course, they’re black PVD. Name any OEM and they’re doing the same thing. The idea, obviously, is to give an iron set a mid-life cycle kick in the trousers and help sales as the new versions are being readied.

Call it a cash grab, a marketing ploy or even a “limited edition.” Whatever you want to call it, mid-life cycle blacked-out irons are officially in the playbook.

TaylorMade P790 Phantom Black Irons

The original P790 irons came out in August 2017. TaylorMade subsequently released a black version a year later. The second-generation P790 was released in August 2019. The black versions were a COVID casualty and didn’t hit the streets until April 2021, a few months before the third-generation P790 was released.

COVID interrupted the release cadence for many OEMs so it’s hard to say whether this release is on time. If TaylorMade is back on a two-year P790 cycle, we should expect the fourth iteration this September.

While the TaylorMade P790 may not have been the first player’s distance irons, it certainly helped define the category and set the standard. “Player’s distance” can fit a wide range of players–anyone from an improving golfer moving out of game-improvement sticks to an aging better player who wants a player’s look but needs distance to keep Father Time at bay.

The recipe is standard across OEMs. Multi-piece hollow-body construction with a super thin face is designed to allow maximum face flex at impact to boost ball speed. The problem with that construction, however, is it tends to sound like a ballpeen hammer hitting an anvil. That sound says “money” if you’re a blacksmith, but to a golfer that sounds (and feels) like crap.

Sound, Feel and SpeedFoam

The original P790 featured TaylorMade’s SpeedFoam which not only launched a series of lawsuits and countersuits with PXG but also mellowed the harsh sound and feel. Foam, TPU or goo by any other name does a great job of improving sound and feel but there’s always a tradeoff. In this case, whatever filling is used not only supports the ultra-thin face to keep it from caving in but also limits face deflection.

And that negatively impacts ball speed.

Since the whole goal of a hollow-body player’s distance iron with an ultra-thin face is for that face to flex a lot, anything that limits that flex represents a dilemma. OEMs will gladly make that tradeoff and it’s a tradeoff they’re working to improve. To varying degrees, they’ve been successful in minimizing the negative (loss of ball speed) while maximizing the positive (sweet, sensuous sound and feel).

Since the TaylorMade P790 Phantom Black irons are the same in every way (except finish) as the standard P790 irons, they use the same SpeeFoam Air filling. TaylorMade says it’s lighter and softer than previous SpeedFoam iterations while still improving sound and feel and minimizing ball-speed loss.

TaylorMade P790 Phantom Black: Specs, Price and Availability

Not to sound like a broken record but the new TaylorMade P790 Phantom Black irons are exactly the same as the existing P790 irons, only in black PVD. There are better, more premium finishes out there so don’t expect the PVD finish to last forever. It’ll scratch but don’t make the mistake of thinking it’ll wear off after a couple of range sessions. PVD has improved over the past few years and is light years away from the black oxide finishes of years past.

That said, TaylorMade is charging you a $200 premium for the Phantom Black irons.

The stock shaft is the blacked-out version of the new KBS Tour Lite. Golf Pride’s Z-Grip 360 is the stock grip.

The set sells for $1,499.99 for a seven-piece set and is available at retail and online now.

For more information, visit the TaylorMade website.

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