2021 TaylorMade P790 Iron Review

2021 TaylorMade P790 Iron Review

Watch Joel Tadman test out the TaylorMade P790 iron 

One of the best TaylorMade irons right now, the P790 has been an incredibly successful franchise for the brand, appealing to a very wide spectrum of abilities. For 2021, the new version is undoubtedly a step up in aesthetics - it looks cleaner, more blade like from the back and has a lighter finish, especially on the hitting area, which frames the ball even better than the 2019 version. The face on the new P790 looks taller than the old version and the topline looks thicker, a change not all golfers will necessarily enjoy, especially the lower handicaps.

The construction of the head is very different but the make up of the club remains the same - the 7-iron loft is still 30.5° so it was interesting to test both models in the same shaft on the Full Swing Golf simulator to capture some performance data. It told us the the new P790 offers up across the board improvements. With a very similar club speed, the new P790 was nearly 2mph faster off the face and launched just over a degree higher. It also produced a touch less spin and a higher peak height, resulting in two yards longer carries on average but with seemingly no sacrifice in stopping power.

The dispersion in all directions also stood out. The 7-iron we tested was incredibly consistent. In fact, the shortest shot we hit flew 172 yards and the longest 176 yards, demonstrating how uniform the performance was given we weren’t striking the sweet spot every time. This is testament to the forgiveness built into the club, especially low on the face, but also the resistance to twist on those slight heel and toe hits that can cause the ball to curve significantly off line, but didn’t seem to here.

The feel was another stand out attribute. The new P790 manages to feel faster but with a slightly softer, quieter sound. Balls seem to melt onto the face when struck centrally and then spring off, but in a consistent manner to maintain similar carry distances. In fact, it was one of the most enjoyable ball striking experiences we’ve had for a long time because of how large the sweetspot seemed to be.

The old P790 iron was no slouch, and the gains with the new model might seem fairly minor, but combined together they make for a much more playable and fun iron to use on the course. The target market is certainly broad, centering around the high single figures up to high teens, and there is scope to mix the P790 with other models in the P-Series, with P770 short irons perhaps, although some tweaking of the lofts may be required to create an even gap at the split point.

If you’ve got the original model from 2017 or an iron set from a similar era, an upgrade could or should be on the cards given what we've outlined in this 2021 TaylorMade P790 iron review. Or if not the P790, why not one of the other best compact mid-handicap irons on the market instead?

If you opt to add the 2021 TaylorMade P790 iron to your bag, take a look at our TaylorMade voucher codes.