Why Daniel Berger is using 13-year-old irons at Farmers Insurance Open

Daniel Berger was on an injury-induced, 19-month hiatus from PGA TOUR competition but officially made his 2024 comeback at The American Express, where he finished a respectable T39 in his first start. This week, Berger is back competing in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course, and GolfWRX.com caught up with him to see what’s in the bag.

Prior to his leave, Berger was using some of the most storied irons on the PGA TOUR: a set of TaylorMade Tour Preferred MC irons that were released to retail way back in 2011.

As previously highlighted by GolfWRX.com, Berger buys his irons from random sellers on third-party websites because TaylorMade no longer manufactures the irons.

Yes, they’re that old.

The benefit of Berger’s Tour Preferred MC irons is that they have cavity-back-like forgiveness, but with the look of a blade iron, and they’re forged from 1025 carbon steel. They also have a unique, visible weight in the back cavity to help place the center of gravity (CG) exactly where it needs to be throughout the set.

In Berger’s words, they’re the “perfect set.”

“I’ve got a couple different sets, and they’ve come from all over the place,” Berger told GolfWRX at Torrey Pines in 2022. “I bought one set online … just from some guy on the internet. He messaged me online on social media. It’s a perfect set.”

Not all of the clubs in Berger’s bag are old, though. On Tuesday at Torrey Pines, he was using a new Ping G430 LST driver, two TaylorMade Qi10 Tour fairway woods (a 4-wood at 16.5 degrees, and a 6-wood at 21 degrees), as well as a set of new Titleist Vokey SM10 wedges (56 and 62 degrees), and a new Scotty Cameron Phantom prototype putter.

Although Berger didn’t switch out of his trustworthy irons, he’s staying mostly up-to-date on his equipment despite the long break from competition.

Check out Berger’s full-bag specifications below at the Farmers Insurance Open.

Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6X

4-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 Tour (16.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X

6-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 Tour (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X

Irons: TaylorMade Tour Preferred MC 2011 (4-PW)
Shafts: Project X 6.5

Wedges: Titleist SM9 (50 degrees), Titleist SM10 (56 and 62 degrees)
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (50 degrees), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (56 and 62 degrees)

Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom prototype