After completing the Grand Slam earlier this year, Rory McIlroy upgraded his scoring clubs just weeks before the Ryder Cup. At last month’s Amgen Irish Open at the K Club, McIlroy swapped in TaylorMade’s new MG5 for all four of his wedges, and he got off to a winning start by taking home the title.
McIlroy has gamed his same RORS Proto irons since joining TaylorMade in 2017, and isn’t one to make gear switches often, so a reasonably quick upgrade to new wedges is noteworthy. The process started earlier this summer, when TaylorMade’s team, led by Master Wedge Craftsman Greg Cesario, first showed McIlroy MG5’s predecessor, MG Proto, at the Travellers Championship.
The prototype, which was the same as MG5 aside from cosmetics, was released a few weeks earlier at the Memorial, but Cesario’s team didn’t have the chance to show them to McIlroy until after the U.S. Open.
Cesario didn’t have much time, about 30 minutes, to work with McIlroy as he prepped for the year’s final Signature Event on Wednesday of tournament week. But he was helping him lay the foundation for what McIlroy would put in play this week.
“That was the first time he got to lay his eyes on [MG5], and his feedback is so critical because, so to speak, just copy exactly his shapes from MG4, which he’s in love with,” Cesario told GOLF last month. “He has a very unique 60-degree. That’s a shape, that’s an offset, that is appealing to his eyes, that really doesn’t represent what MG4 was or anything. It was kind of a club fully designed and blessed by him with what his eyes wanted to see.”
On the range at TPC River Highlands, as McIlroy was putting MG Proto through its paces for the first time, Cesario was taking a protractor to McIlroy’s MG4s and measuring the offset, sole width and bounce. Getting the measurements was just one piece of the puzzle. Cesario already had McIlroy’s specs in a CAD (computer-aided design) file but with MG5 being a forged construction rather than a cast construction like MG4, he said there were “still some human elements to that conversion.”
Cesario said the process is a little more complicated than with forged irons because the shape tolerances are even tighter with wedges. Rory’s new lob wedge remains bent to 61 degrees, a change he made before the start of the season. The higher loft, and thus higher bounce, gave him an easier time getting through the turf on half- and three-quarter wedge shots.
“That distance is the hardest shot to hit with a wedge, even for a tour pro,” said Keith Sbarbarro, TaylorMade’s VP of Tour Operations and McIlroy’s fitter. “Tour players are really comfortable on half shots, three-quarter shots and full shots. A half shot with a 60° wedge probably goes around 75 yards, so the 60-yard or less shot is a lot harder for them.”
At the K Club and then in Bethpage, McIlroy found that the new spin tread technology and saw milled grooves on the MG5 helped increase spin and lower launch, especially in poor conditions. In true Rory fashion, he won both events and his wedge game was the difference.
McIlroy’s MG5 wedge specs
Lofts: (46/09SB, 50/09SB, 54/11SB, 60/08LB @ 61˚)
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46-54), Project X 6.5 Wedge (60)
Length: 36″, 35.75″, 35.5″, 35.125″ CUT
Lie: 62/62.5/63/63.5
Swingweight: D4-D5
If you are in the market for a new wedge, below is all you need to know about the new MG5s.
The Milled Grind 5 (MG5) wedges are TaylorMade’s first fully forged MG wedge and introduce new groove and sole technologies for added spin, feel, and consistency, especially in damp conditions.
The TaylorMade Milled Grind (MG) wedge was initially released in 2017, and at that time, the brand’s primary point of emphasis was the milled sole, which could be perfectly replicated thanks to the milling process, and how that sole made the clubs slide through the turf more easily. Two years later, with the MG2, TaylorMade added laser etching to the raw steel faces of its flagship wedges. Then, in 2021, with the MG3, TaylorMade engineers refined the shaping and added raised micro-ribs instead of laser-etched micro-grooves to enhance spin. Finally, in 2023, TaylorMade debuted the MG4, featuring Spin Tread, a surface-roughening treatment that helps clubs generate more spin in wet conditions.
The point of that look back is to show that TaylorMade has been refining and improving the Milled Grind wedges for eight years, adding sole grinds, refining the hitting surface and working to help golfers get more spin and more control around the greens. Now, the brand is releasing the MG5, which features clubs created to provide a premium feel and more short-game versatility.
For the first time, TaylorMade has forged the Milled Grind wedges from a single billet of soft carbon steel, aiming to meet the ever-increasing demands of tour players who want exceptional feel and feedback—especially around the greens. Between the main grooves of the MG5 wedges, TaylorMade has laser-etched Spin Tread grooves that help to boost spin in wet conditions.
The Spin Tread treatment adds laser-etched microgrooves set at a 45-degree angle to the main grooves. If you rub your thumb back and forth over the hitting area, you can feel how scratchy it is compared to the smooth steel on the back of the head. Spin Tread helps to push moisture away at impact, and according to TaylorMade, it allows the MG5 to retain 13% more spin in wet conditions compared to its predecessor.
The MG5 wedges come in six different sole grinds to help golfers find short game tools that match their style and the conditions they face on the course:
• SB Grind (Standard Bounce): Offered in lofts from 46 to 60 degrees, this versatile sole design features gentle four-way camber and trailing edge relief to promote clean turf interaction across a range of lies and swing styles.
• SC Grind (Standard Camber): A mid-bounce option (9 or 10 degrees) with added curvature through the middle of the sole, with heel-toe relief for enhanced face manipulation.
• SX Grind (Standard Extreme): The widest sole in the lineup, SX uses 11 degrees of bounce, increased curvature and a “Reverse-C” trailing edge to maintain consistent bounce no matter how the face is opened or closed. It’s built to handle bunkers and soft turf.
• LB Grind (Low Bounce): Designed for players with shallow swings or who play in firm conditions, the LB Grind’s 8 degrees of bounce keep the leading edge low to the ground, especially when the face is open, while bevelled edges and added camber help prevent digging.
• HB Grind (High Bounce): A versatile, high-bounce shape (12 to 14 degrees) with a wide sole, heel relief, and added forward bounce. Ideal for steeper swings or soft conditions, it’s designed to help the club exit the turf smoothly.
• TW Grind (Tiger Woods): Updated to reflect Tiger’s current wedge preferences, this grind features a new leading-edge shape and increased effective bounce in the heel. The 56-degree version has 12 degrees of bounce and the 60-degree model has 11 degrees of bounce.
MG5 debuts a new Charcoal finish alongside the traditional Satin Chrome. Both are designed to reduce glare and provide a clean look. MG5 are available now for an RRP of €209 at McGuirks Golf
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