Is there any PGA Tour Players that use Cavity Back Irons or Game Improvement Irons?

[tcmae]

Are there any players on the PGA that use Cavity Back Irons or Game Improvement Irons, or does all players on the PGA Tour use Players Irons, or Blades? So just name the player, and what Iron Set that player uses such as the brand and what model.
Also clubs that are forged are players irons or blades, I don't think cavity back irons or game improvement irons are forged.

 

[SolomonGrundy]

The first answer isn't totally correct and your additional details are wrong. The AP2 irons are a better players iron. The AP1 is the game improvement iron. There are forged irons for all levels of play. Forging is just a process to form the club head as is casting. Certainly, there are more forged better player irons than game improvement irons, but forged game improvement irons exist. As far as cavity back irons not being forged, try these:

Titleist AP2
Nike VR Pro Combo CB(combines pocket cavity and split cavity in the same set)
Mizuno JPX 800 Pro
Mizuno MP-63
Ping Anser
Callaway Razr X
Callaway Diablo
Cobra S3 Pro
Bridgestone J40 CB irons
Bridgestone J40 dual pocket cavity irons

There are more, but I think you get by this list that there are forged cb(cavity back) irons. Do PGA Tour players use cavity back irons? Oh yes. Steve Stricker for one. Again, the AP2 is better players forged cavity back iron. Do they use game improvement irons? Perhaps. I remember Lucas Glover played the Nike VR Pro Cavity last year. It's not a forged CB iron, but I believe it's in that low-mid handicap category. Most pros play clubs in this category. Something you need to understand is that your handicap doesn't always determine the type of clubs you play. Check out Mizuno's website. They list the range of handicaps for all their irons. One I mentioned above is the JPX 800 Pro. They say its for players who have a handicap between 4-16. Someone with a 16 handicap isn't a great golfer. It all depends on how well you hit the ball. I make solid contact often. I'm not always accurate. I play the Nike VR Split Cavity Forged irons.

 

[green_lantern66]

You can forge either a blade or a CB. You can cast (Lost Wax Casting, to be exact) a blade and a CB. The more intricate designs, like Nike's Slingshot, are too complex to forge, but simple CB's can. It IS just a process, and it has NO EFFECT on shots. It's the specifications of said club- it's loft, lie angle, amount of offset, sole/topline thickness, blade length, presence/lack of a cavity and how it's built to the individual that determine a specific outcome.

Forgings came first, since it was the only way to make clubs way back when. With that it perpetuated bunches of myths, especially when the first CB's weren't designed very well. As the process has improved, so has the results.

Forgings are more expensive- and therefore, targeted towards "better" players who think money spent equals better results- because of the manufacturing process. It takes a lot of capital to get the tools and dies to make them, the chrome-plating process is costly, reject rates are higher and there are many more hand operations (grinding, weight sorting, etc.) after the club has been forged. That all adds up, but doesn't necessarily mean it's better.

While the AP2's are forged, their cavity could easily make them "game improvement"- especially when compared to the "classic" blade. According to Ralph Maltby, founder of the GolfWorks and developer of the Maltby Playability Factor, more and more pros are gravitating to the "game improvement" side of irons. They can still shape shots (that's dependent on swing path and face angle, anyway) yet have some forgiveness on the rare occasion they miss-hit it. Lee Westwood was gaming the Ping i10's last year; while more "player's" than the G-series, they're still considered "game improvement"- and they're cast! Simon Dyson games the Nike Pro Combo's, with "GI" long irons. Keegan Bradley gamed the Cleveland CG7 Tour's last year, another more GI (and cast) iron model. He also used the CG14 wedges... the ones with the plastic-filled cavity.

Do a little digging and you can find some more.