New muscleback blades for elite golfers, cavity-back irons that blend forgiveness and feel, they’re all here.
In the weeks leading up to the holiday season and throughout January, equipment makers released several new sets of irons designed for players at every game level. New muscleback blades for elite golfers, cavity-back irons that blend forgiveness and feel and offerings made for inexperienced players and slower swingers, they’re all here.
The trouble is finding the new set of irons that will complement your game. The best way to do that is to work with a custom fitter and hit lots of different options under the watchful eye of a launch monitor, but the list of irons below will give you a great place to start your research and narrow down your search.
Callaway, TaylorMade, Titleist, Mizuno and Ping are all featured … but which driver was No. 1?
The PGA Tour’s final wrap-around season recently concluded and the fall schedule has just two more full-field events remaining before the Tour takes a break for the holidays.
Last season, the PGA Tour’s driving distance average was 299.8 yards per measured tee shot, a season-ending record and up 3.6 yards from 2021’s average of 296.2. Cameron Champ led the PGA Tour in driving distance average at 321.4 yards, edging out Rory McIlroy by 0.1 yards. In all, 99 golfers finished the season with a driving distance average of over 300 yards.
Distance is a major component of effectiveness off the tee, but accuracy and how far you leave yourself from the flag also play a role. For that reason, Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, which factors all those things and reveals how much of an advantage (measured in strokes) a player has over the field, is the best measure of effectiveness. The players listed below ended the PGA Tour’s 2021-22 season ranked as the top 10 in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, along with the drivers they were using at the end of the season.
In addition to your favorite golfers, plenty of your favorite gear is in PGA Tour 2K23.
After teeing up a Titleist Pro V1, I addressed the ball on the second hole at TPC Boston, soled my TaylorMade Stealth Plus driver behind it and gave the shot a 100-percent effort. The ball rocketed down the fairway with a tight draw, cleared the fairway bunker on the right and came to rest 313 yards away in the center of the fairway. Sporting a pair of white Nike Air Max shoes, a red Nike tee shirt and gray pants, I strolled down the fairway beside my rival, Bubba Watson, and waved at the fans on the other side of the ropes.
As someone who grew up playing Atari and now writes about golf equipment and attends PGA Tour events on a regular basis, I can promise you this: If I turned 22 last Sunday instead of 52, I would starve to death after buying this game. I’d never leave the sofa. I wouldn’t eat. I wouldn’t leave the house. I would become an insomniac with twitchy thumbs, an unbelievable short game and encyclopedic knowledge of places such as TPC Summerlin, Riviera Country Club and The Renaissance Club in Scotland.
I would also have all of the latest gear because, in addition to incredibly detailed recreations of 20 well-known golf courses and the presence of virtual versions of stars such as Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa and Lydia Ko, 2K included all of today’s hottest clubs, balls, footwear, apparel and accessories. The video below will give you a few peeks.
Your eyes were not deceiving you, that was a Puma logo on Lexi Thompson’s dress, an Adidas triangle on Xander Schauffele’s shirt and a Bridgestone logo on Woods’ golf ball.
The more you play the game, the more virtual currency you can earn and use to buy gear. You can earn virtual currency by achieving things in the game, too, such as hitting a par 5 in two shots and defeating your rival in a match. Of course, the virtual currency also can be bought, using real money, through your video game system.
For companies such as Ping, TaylorMade, Callaway and Titleist, having digital representations of the clubs available now in pro shops is massive.
“To be part of such a popular game and have your products be represented in it and have gamers choose your products is a powerful thing,” said Pete Samuels, Ping’s director of marketing communications. “Naturally we want to be in that space. It reaches a younger demographic, as well.”
A Titleist TSi driver, FootJoy shoes and Titleist Pro V1 ball in PGA Tour 2K23 (2K)
People who play golf already know the companies that make clubs, balls and clothes. but through video games such as PGA Tour 2K23, people who would not know a driver from a divot tool can be introduced to brands and learn what clubs the stars use, what clothes they wear and what shoes they like.
“You get more credibility with a younger, newer audience by being in the game,” said Ethan Ganot, Callaway Golf’s director of marketing. Callaway is not only in PGA Tour 2K23 but also in WGT by Topgolf, another highly detailed golf video game that includes digital versions of real equipment.
Ganot noted that Callaway signed an endorsement deal with Jon Rahm around the time the last version of the game was released, so having Rahm and other Callaway staff players represented authentically in the game is another appeal.
“Step one of getting a return on an investment in a player like Rahm is awareness,” Ganot said. “So making sure that people know that he’s a Callaway guy, a Topgolf guy, a TravisMathew guy, that’s critical for us. It’s brand building to a different audience. After all, it’s very possible that a majority of the people playing these games don’t watch golf on Saturday and Sunday.”
For 2K, adding real clubs and adorning players’ avatars with the logos they wear in real life brings another layer of authenticity to the game. To do it, companies send computer-aided design (CAD) files of their products to 2K along with samples of actual clubs. 2K inputs that information into its systems, sends different versions back to the companies for approval and presto: Gear that is on pro shop walls is also being swung by a virtual Justin Thomas and a digital version of someone sitting on his sofa in Portland, Oregon.
As for me, I beat Bubba Watson on Saturday morning but lost the tournament, then bounced back to win at TPC Deere Run and TPC Summerlin that night after the kids went to sleep. Hoarding my earnings, I’ll be heading to the virtual pro shop again soon.
The JPX 923 Forged irons bring some distance, forgiveness and playability to a better-player’s club.
Gear: Mizuno JPX 923 Forged irons Price: $137.50 each Specs: Grain-flow-forged 4120 Chromoly (4-7 irons) and 1025E mild carbon steel (8-GW) with milled micro-slot. Available in left- and right-hand versions. 4-iron through lob wedge
Available: Jan. 19, 2023 (pre-sale), Feb. 9, 2023 (in stores)
Who it’s for: Accomplished golfers looking for a compact cavity-back iron that emphasizes feeling and control with some forgiveness.
The Skinny: Made for players who may have played muscleback blades in the recent past and golfers who demand control and feel, the JPX 923 Forged irons bring some distance, forgiveness and playability to a better-player’s club.
The Deep Dive: Between game-improvement irons and muscleback blades, there is a region for golfers who are improving and looking for their first set of control-oriented clubs, as well as players who may have contended for the club championship a few years ago. Clubs in this category need to look like something that a real stick would carry but with hidden technologies and benefits.
For Mizuno, the JPX Forged has filled this gap for several years, and with the release of the 923 Forged, the Japanese company tipped this club closer to the better-player’s irons that have made Mizuno so respected. Designers worked to make this version longer and more forgiving than the JPX 921 Forged it replaces, but it appears smaller in the playing position.
To do that, Mizuno starts with a single billet of grain-flow-forged 4120 Chromoly for the 4-iron through 7-iron. By forging the metal under extreme pressure three times into the shape engineers want, the grains and strands of material elongate, which Mizuno said makes forged clubs feel better at impact. There is no vibration dampener designed into this club because golfers who will consider playing it want all the feedback – good and bad – that the clubs can deliver.
The face of the JPX 923 Forged is thinner in every area than the JPX 921 Forged, which should allow the hitting area to flex more efficiently at impact for increased ball speed on well-struck shots and mis-hits too. There is also a milled micro-slot in the sole that is covered by a very thin plating. The slot allows the lower portion of the face to flex more easily, which should deliver better performance on thin shots. The JPX 921 Forged had a micro-slot, but the slot in this updated version is wider.
Mizuno JPX923 Forged 4-7 irons are forged 4120 Chromoly, while the 8-PW are forged 1025E mild carbon steel. (Mizuno)
The 8-iron through gap wedge are also grain-flow-forged, but instead of Chromoly, Mizuno uses the same 1025E mild carbon steel found in the company’s muscleback blades. These scoring clubs have not been given a micro-slot.
To make its irons sound good at impact, Mizuno has studied harmonics for years and reinforced the topline of its clubs to create the type of vibrations that many golfers find pleasing. In some cases, that has forced designers to make the topline thicker, which accomplished players rarely like. In the JPX 923 Forged, the topline has more curvature, so it appears thinner in the address position while still reinforcing the hitting area.
The lofts of the JPX 923 Forged irons are stronger than those found in muscleback blades – the 5-iron is 24 degrees and the pitching wedge is 44 degrees – but by modern standards they are typical for a better-player’s distance iron.
With minimal offset, an extremely-thin topline and a narrow sole, the JPX 923 Tour is all about feel and control for shot-shaping golfers.
Gear: Mizuno JPX 923 Tour irons Price: $137.50 each Specs: Grain-flow-forged 1025E mild carbon steel. 4-iron through lob wedge
Available: Jan. 19, 2023 (pre-sale), Feb. 9, 2023 (in stores)
Who it’s for: Is your name on your bag? Are you a college golfer, a club pro or someone who has a legitimate shot at winning the A Flight at your club championship? If so, the JPX 923 Tour could be a control- and feel-oriented option for you.
The Skinny: These irons are forged and shaped to appeal to the game’s best golfers, with minimal offset, an extremely thin topline and a narrow sole. While they have some perimeter weighting, the JPX 923 Tour is all about feel and control for shot-shaping golfers.
The Deep Dive: Last year, Mizuno brought back the Mizuno Pro muscleback blades, and while the majority of golfers do not have the repeatable, powerful swing required to get the most out of them, many golfers ogled them on social media and in pro shops.
The JPX Tour irons have been one-click more playable for most golfers than the muscleback blades produced by Mizuno, and with the release of the new JPX 923 Tour, the company is keeping the focus on feel and control.
The JPX 923 Tour is forged from a single piece of 1025E mild carbon steel for a soft feel, but for the first time that steel is covered by a thin layer of copper before the final chrome plating is applied. The copper layer has been added to Mizuno Pro irons to enhance the soft feel at impact, and its addition to the JPX 923 Tour is a sign this club belongs in the Mizuno Pro and JPX families.
The JPX 923 Tour is forged from a single piece of 1025E mild carbon steel. (Mizuno)
The JPX 923 Tour has the shortest blade length, most narrow sole and thinnest topline of the five new JPX 923 irons. Mizuno designers even gave the topline extra curvature to make it look even thinner.
In addition to extra trailing-edge relief, Mizuno added more bounce to the sole of the JPX 923 Tour to help the clubs work through the turf more efficiently. The added bounce should also help fitters if they want to strengthen the loft of any of the clubs. Delofting clubs often lowers the leading edge, which can cause digging; adding extra bounce can strengthen the JPX 923 Tour irons without making them dig too easily.
Specs: Cast nickel chromoly heads. Hot Metal, 4-LW; Hot Metal Pro, 4-LW; Hot Metal HL, 5-SW.
Who it’s for: Golfers who want the looks and feel of better-player’s irons but need distance enhancement, forgiveness and spin.
The Skinny: The three JPX 923 Hot Metal irons were designed to cosmetically mix and match seamlessly so golfers and fitters can blend clubs to make a set. The offset and sizes vary, but all three have thin, fast faces for more ball speed and sound-enhancing features to go with sleek, modern looks.
The Deep Dive: For decades, Mizuno was known as a company that specialized in some of the finest muscleback blades for accomplished players and professionals. They were aspirational. Golfers with single-digit handicaps and powerful, repeatable swings loved the soft feel and control, while players who typically shoot in the mid-80s and higher yearned to be good enough to play them someday.
With the release of several JPX models of irons, most of which offered perimeter-weighted game-improvement clubs alongside a pro version for low-handicappers, Mizuno found a larger audience. The Japanese company started using different materials, such as Chromoly, stainless steel and tungsten, to get better performance and more forgiveness out of the JPX lineup without making the clubs so big that they no longer looked like the Mizunos golfers wished they were good enough to use.
Mizuno JPX Hot Metal irons (David Dusek/Golfweek)
With the release of the newest JPX Hot Metal family – the JPX 923 Metal, 923 Hot Metal Pro and 923 Metal HL – Mizuno is trying to expand its footprint across an even larger segment of the market, all while making clubs that look and feel (as much as possible) like the musclebacks used by Keith Mitchell, Luke Donald and other tour pros.
The 923 Hot Metal irons are all cast using a new material called nickel chromoly. Mizuno has used chromoly for several years, but adding nickel, according to Mizuno, makes the chromoly alloy 35 percent stronger. It is so strong that it is used in airplane landing gear assemblies and gears in automobile transmissions.
The Mizuno JPX 223 Hot Metal irons have thin, nickel chromoly faces. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Nickel chromoly allowed Mizuno to make the faces thinner and lighter without worrying about durability, so the center of the JPX 923 Hot Metal’s cup-face hitting area is just 2.05 millimeters thick, with the perimeter being 1.75 millimeters. That allows the hitting area to flex more efficiently at impact across a larger area for more ball speed while also reducing weight.
To ensure the feel at impact matches what golfers expect from a Mizuno iron, even though the face is thinner, engineers reinforced the cavity area in the back of each head, especially in the toe area and under the topline, using a series of small tooth-like pieces. They help reduce vibrations that cause low-pitched tones that sound like cracking.
The standard Mizuno JPX 223 Hot Metal irons have moderate offset and soles designed to keep the head moving quickly through the impact area. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Around the Mizuno offices outside Atlanta, Mizuno designers refer to the JPX 923 Hot Metal as the fastest-stopping fast iron. That means that in addition to creating more ball speed, the JPX 923 Hot Metal produces slightly more spin, giving shots more lift and a steeper descent so shots repeatedly stop quicker for better control and consistency.
All three JPX 923 Hot Metal irons were designed to have a premium look that appeals to better players, making it very easy to mix and match the clubs with the help of a custom fitter to create a personalized, blended set.
Mizuno JPX 223 Hot Metal Pro (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The JPX 923 Hot Metal Pro has a shorter blade length than the standard model, along with a thinner topline and slightly less offset, but the Hot Metal and Hot Metal Pro have the same lofts (5-iron, 22 degrees; 9-iron, 37.5 degrees).
Mizuno JPX 223 Hot Metal HL (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The JPX 923 Hot Metal HL (which stands for high launch) is a super-game-improvement club designed to maximize forgiveness and deliver more ball speed and height. It has a thicker topline, wider sole and the lowest center of gravity, but the most interesting thing Mizuno did with the JPX 923 Hot Metal Hot HL was to make the lofts 2 degrees weaker than the standard JPX 923 Hot Metal.
The Mizuno JPX 223 Hot Metal HL is the most forgiving Mizuno iron. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Many brands make the lofts stronger in max-game-improvement irons. Still, Mizuno discovered that with lower-lofted clubs like a 5-iron, slow and moderate-swinging golfers (below 75 mph with a 7-iron) who typically buy max-game-improvement irons have trouble getting the ball up in the air with the stronger-lofted clubs. So, carry distance is reduced and overall distance is not maximized. For these players – who research showed Mizuno was about one out of every four players – adding loft created more carry distance, and for players in this category, that means more overall distance. Fitters have used the same logic for years when they recommend that slow and moderate-swinging players use higher-lofted drivers to maximize distance.
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Iron out the kinks in your game and save some money while you do it.
This month, Golfweek is helping you find the most affordable equipment on the market.
Whether you’re young and new to the game, seasoned and looking for an upgrade or just want some new equipment without breaking the bank, we have you covered.
We’ve already found some of the most affordable drivers on the market right now. Look out for affordable wedges, putters and other equipment coming out later this month.
Today, it’s all about the irons!
To classify as affordable, each iron set we selected had to come in under $1,000 for a set or under $150 per iron for a seven club average. Without cutting quality, we’ve done the digging to find the best deals out there at the moment. Many of the items below are currently on sale, so act fast!
[afflinkbutton text=”Cam Smith’s golf ball – $49.99 per dozen” link=”https://globalgolf.pxf.io/b3gnrk”]
GRIPS: Golf Pride Tour Velvet SuperTack
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Blue blades? Yes, but only if you’re good enough to hit these new Mizuno irons.
Last December, Mizuno released the Mizuno Pro 221 muscleback blade irons. Golfers who want forgiveness and are looking for more distance from the fairway can look someplace else, because the Mizuno Pro 221 is for accomplished golfers with powerful, repeatable swings.
Now, on the eve of the 150th British Open at St. Andrews, Mizuno has released a special limited-edition version of the Mizuno Pro 221. Your eyes are not deceiving you: They’re blue.
Only 1,221 sets will be produced, and they will be sold for $2,210 (3-iron through pitching wedge) with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts.
The blue plating is extremely soft, so if anyone buys a set of these irons and decides to play them, it will wear with use.
The limited-edition Mizuno Pro 221 Blue has a layer of copper over the forged steel and under the blue plating that softens feel. (Mizuno)
As with the standard Mizuno Pro 221, the clubs are forged from 1025E mild carbon steel with a layer of copper applied over the steel that softens the feel of impact. They have a narrow sole, thin topline and virtually no offset, so control-oriented players should be able to shape shots up, down, right or left.
The clubs will be available for purchase in the fall.
Driving irons provide control and the ideal trajectory to stay below the wind on links courses. See which could be in play at St. Andrews.
Most weeks on the PGA Tour, golfers can be rewarded for playing bomb-and-gouge-style golf, hitting tee shots as far as possible to set up short irons and wedges into the greens. With holes often cut just a few feet from the edges of greens or tucked behind bunkers, in the United States the pros play an aerial game.
For this week’s British Open, however, all eyes are on the Home of Golf, the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland. On that course and other seaside links courses, the game is different. The sandy soil drains amazingly fast and the wind typically howls, serving as the course’s primary defense. Tee shots hit high into the air with drivers and fairway woods can be pushed and pulled offline, then bounce and roll as far as 100 yards, bringing pot bunkers, knee-high fescue and gorse bushes into play. Distance is still rewarded, but control is critical and judging how far shots will roll is important.
And with very little rain in the forecast for the 150th Open Championship, conditions likely will be firm and fast, so many players may add a low-lofted driving iron to their bag.
Back in Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus’s days, 1-irons and 2-irons were muscleback blades, and being able to hit one solidly was a badge of honor. Today’s driving irons, however, are often hollow and in many cases have multimaterial constructions that help them deliver more ball speed. They are also more forgiving than anything the Hawk or the Golden Bear ever played.
While some players may opt for a game-improvement long iron or a long iron from a distance-enhancing, better-player’s set (Tiger Woods had two TaylorMade P•770 irons in the bag at the PGA Championship), there are several other driving irons and utility irons that could find their way into players’ bags this week at the Open Championship.
We occasionally recommend interesting products, services, and gaming opportunities. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. Golfweek operates independently, though, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
