Tommy Fleetwood snapped with TaylorMade irons

Equipment rumours are always flying around, some come true and some are simply Chinese whispers, but when there are photos involved, it certainly adds fuel to the fire...

Fleetwood has had a lot of success using his Nike VR Pro Blade irons and he's never been keen on parting with them, but due to the fact that Nike are no longer in the golf club business, the day was always going to come when Fleetwood had to say goodbye to his beloved blades.

Last season, after the WGC Mexico Championship, Tommy was forced down to his last set of Nike VR's and when you play as much golf as these guys do, a set doesn't last too long. Another former Nike staffer, Paul Casey, toyed with Fleetwood over his love for the irons, showing off his own set of Nike VR Pro Blades in mint condition and publically said that he would not sell them to Fleetwood and that the irons were "as rare as rocking horse poo."

With the 2019 season underway, Fleetwood is set to play in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, defending his title as the 2018 winner. During a practice round at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club, Fleetwood was papped with an unreleased set of TaylorMade irons with 'P-7TW' stamped on the head.

It's highly likely that the 'TW' version were specifally designed for TaylorMade staffer Tiger Woods. Looking at the photos of the prototype iron, the structure seams to be nearly identical to the TaylorMade P-730 irons currently in retail.

You may be wondering why on earth Fleetwood would be using irons that were designed for Tiger Woods, but Tommy's Nike VR Pro Blade irons were also initially designed for Woods, leaving us to believe that the pair have similar taste in iron specifications.

So keep your eyes peeled this week as Tommy tees off on Wednesday morning in the first European Tour event of 2019.