Inside Patrick Cantlay’s surprising switch into new irons

For the first time this decade, Patrick Cantlay has switched irons.

Cantlay is the type of player to stick with he knows when it comes to his gear, but recently, ahead of the Masters, Cantlay finally upgraded from his Titleist 718 AP2 irons, which were first released to the public back in 2017, into a fine-tuned set of PING Blueprint S irons, released in January 2024.

Starting with his victory at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday 2019, Cantlay logged seven total PGA TOUR wins with his previous irons in his bag. At the end of 2023, however, with fresh backup sets dwindling and a growing desire to upgrade, Cantlay began testing other irons.

After months of testing, Cantlay officially switched into PING’s Blueprint S irons at the 2024 Masters.

According to PING Tour rep Spencer Rothluebber, PING first began sending Cantlay sets to test around December 2023.

At first, PING sent Cantlay a number of different iron sets with various lie angles and lengths, and then at The American Express 2024, they were able to measure the specifications of his old 718 AP2 irons in order to match up the specs in a new set of Blueprint S irons.

During the testing process, and even at the 2024 RBC Heritage following the Masters, PING and Cantlay worked on dialing in the particulars, including bounce, grinds, lie angles and lofts, to make sure no stone was left unturned.

“He’s very particular visually,” Rothluebber told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday at the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. “We worked a lot on lie angles, and making sure the lofts on his irons were right. But it’s also everything from top rail to leading edge. The numbers have to be there [spin and distance] for him, but it has to look right, too.”

Additionally, although Cantlay is still sticking with his longtime Titleist 915F 3-wood and TS2 21-degree fairway wood, he’s also upgraded into a new Titleist TSR2 9-degree driver in 2024.

Typically, throughout his career, Cantlay hasn’t been the type of player to make many upgrades, but it appears that 2024 is the year of change for the eight-time PGA TOUR winner.

Cantlay will tee it up this week at the Zurich Classic team event alongside partner Xander Schauffele; the Cantlay-Schauffele duo won the 2022 Zurich Classic, and they finished T4 last year.