Why the TaylorMade MG5 could be a true breakthrough for the brand's wedges

TaylorMade have grown over the last decade or so to become just about the most dominant club manufacturer on tour in every category. The three greatest players of their generation game a combination of their irons, putters, woods and drivers. The sore spot, however, has always been the pro-level take up of their wedges.

Update: read our full TaylorMade MG5 wedge review here.

There are a few reasons for this, aside from the enduring popularity of Titleist's Vokey range and, to a lesser extent, the aura Callaway's Mack Daddy range had during the heyday of Phil Mickelson. Mostly, it's down to the fact that the MG, or Milled Grind range, simply didn't have the versatility of grinds that many tour pros required. The lack of a forged clubhead, too, was a bit of a sticking point for many pros and reviewers alike.

Which is why TaylorMade's new MG5, revealed this afternoon, might be a bit of a game-changer for the brand's short game credentials.

The MG5 is the result of two years' testing and prototyping, building on feedback given to them by the brand's small roster of players who also game TaylorMade's wedges—Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa among them. The direction they got was pretty simple: make it softer, and make it spinnier.

In order to do so, TaylorMade have finally bitten the bullet and made the MG5 fully forged from a softer carbon steel, immediately making the feedback far more malleable on both approaches and softer shots around the green.

"Inspired by some feedback from Collin Morikawa, we set out to make the best feeling wedge TaylorMade has ever created. The best players will tell you having great feel around the greens is critical to having confidence in your short game… and to have the best feeling wedge, it needs to be forged."

The second major update the MG5 has received, engineered partly to offset the softer material, is a re-engineering of the face, with a more aggressive grooving profile that's saw-milled for the first time in MG history. This, TaylorMade says, allows the company to get closer to the legal limits to groove geometry to get the spin profile of the MG5 up there with the most popular wedges on tour.

The MG5 retains the raw face of the previous generation, which will naturally take on a patina over time not only aiding spin, but allowing the ball to bite on to the club face better in wet conditions. This, combined with the Spin Tread Technology you'll see between the grooves, helps the MG5 provide significantly more spin in the wet, and also provide a more consistent launch angle.

The MG5 range also adds some much-needed versatility in terms of its grind line-up. There are now six different sole options available, the same number as in Callaway's recently released Opus SP line, ranging from the tour-oriented LB (Low Bounce) grind up to the much more forgiving HB (high bounce) model. There's also, of course, the famed TW grind favoured by Tiger Woods himself.

Priced at £179, the TaylorMade MG5 range is available to pre-order below.