At the end of 2024, the time had finally come for Daniel Berger to conduct iron testing.

In the months and years prior, Berger had built a long-standing relationship with his TaylorMade Tour Preferred MC irons from 2011, which have been dubbed “modern classics” by GolfWRX.com. Even when his supply of the older irons ran low, he would – hilariously – find fresh replacements from random sellers online.

But, the time had officially come to make sure the old TaylorMade’s were still the best-performing irons for him. So, at the end of 2024, his coach Jeff Leishman brought Berger some iron options to test, and they hit the range with a launch monitor to experiment.

As it turns out, the old TaylorMades held strong against modern technology when it came to the short irons, but as for the long irons, Berger noticed a big difference with his new Ping Blueprint S iron models.

“I made it a point last year, at the end of the year, that I wanted to test clubs for the first time in a long time,” Berger told GolfWRX.com ahead of The Genesis Invitational. “My coach came down and got sent a bunch of irons, and everything was pretty similar from pitching wedge to 7-iron in the five different sets that I tried. And then once I got to 6, 5, 4, the Pings tested the best [in the categories of] peak height, consistent spin. And so I put ‘em in the bag and tried to keep them in the bag for at least a month to really give them a chance because sometimes you put a set in, you hit a couple of bad shots and you want to go back to your old set. So I just made it a point to really stick with them, and I love ‘em, so they’ll be in the bag for a while.”

Berger debuted the new Ping Blueprint S irons at the 2025 Sony Open in Hawaii, and just four events into the year, the switch is starting to pay dividends. After a T21 at The American Express, Berger went on to finish T2 at the 2025 WM Phoenix Open, earning a spot in The Genesis Invitational via the Aon Swing 5. He’s currently ranked 43rd in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green on the PGA TOUR in 2025, improving upon his 62nd-place ranking in the same category in 2024.

After spending so many years using the old TaylorMade irons, was it difficult parting ways?

“It wasn’t that tough to let the other ones go once I saw how much better the Ping irons were, you know?” Berger said. “It was like, the peak height on a 4-iron with my TaylorMade irons was like 90 feet, which is nothing. No stopping power into a par 5 or a long par 3. And then when I tested the Pings it was like 125 feet, so just a massive difference in ability to stop a ball on par 4 or a par 5 that’s long, so really it was a pretty easy decision.”

Ping’s Blueprint S models, which launched in 2024, have become a popular choice for both pros and amateurs alike due to their forged cavity-back constructions, with thin toplines and minimal offset from address. Now, they’re a popular choice for Berger, too.

When Berger says he’ll be playing them for “a long time,” it’s scary to think about how long that might really mean for him. Last time with the TaylorMade Tour Preferred MCs, it was about 13 years. How long will it be with the new Ping Blueprint S irons, we wonder?