Do you question if you are good enough to play Mizuno irons? Not anymore, thanks to their Hot Metal Blade option.
Mizuno irons were played by Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods, among many others, in the 1990s. They made the best blade on the market and if you didn't have a middle mark on your club face, they weren't worth looking at.
Things have changed these days, with the Mizuno Pro range now offering a little more help in an elite players looking head, the 225 Hot Metal Blade.
The Tech
The Pro 225 iron replaces the MP20 HMB. It's a hot hollow back iron which looks like a blade on the shelf, but when set behind the ball you can see the help on offer and it gives you a little more zip off the face.
Moving into its second generation, the head is more compact than the original with a revised Cortech multi-thickness face for even quicker ball speeds.
There is a gradual change in the makeup of the heads to suit the needs of each iron, from precision in the short irons to ball speed in the long irons.
The 2-8 iron heads are made of Grain Flow Forged 4135 Chromoly in the face and neck. This combines with a COR Forged Hollow Body and 28.5g tungsten weight in the mid to long irons, which produces a higher flight and faster ball speed.
In the 9-PW there is 1025E Pure Select Mild Carbon Steel with a back weight for greater precision and a more penetrating flight.
The 225 is more compact throughout the set than the MP20 HMB, and this is more noticeable in the mid and short irons.
Mizuno Pro 225 Irons Review
Looks and Feel
As you'd imagine from a Mizuno iron the shelf appeal is very high. Like the TaylorMade P770, this is a blade-looking head with a forged hollow cavity and a spring in the face.
It has a brushed satin finish with a retro Mizuno Pro logo written on the back of the head.
In line with the other models in the range, Mizuno has shrunk the head size a little compared to MP20 and it has been bevelled to make it softer around the edges.
I'm ok with that, as bigger irons don't mean you are going to hit the middle more often. Sometimes it can make me complacent when I've got a bigger head, and better players' misses will not be so big that they'll worry about missing the face anyway!
It has a wide sole and is a tad more offset than the other two models in the Mizuno Pro range. Imagine that this is their big brother and therefore it'll be an excellent option for a combo set.
The feel is totally different to the 221 and 223 irons but is still nothing like you'd get from a game improvement iron. It's a happy medium as the irons feel hot and incredibly stable, but don't have any loud high-pitched 'ting' sounds at impact.
This is a hollow body iron which Mizuno are doing their upmost to make sound and feel like a blade, and the forged element and copper underlay really do help in this department.
You'd only really notice the difference if you are good enough to hit a blade well, and that's probably less than 5% of the golfing world. 95% of golfers will think that this iron feels good, and I am one of them.
To the mere mortals, these feel as good as it gets.
Data and Performance
6 iron from a mat -
The ball launched higher than the 221 and 223 models, even though the lofts are a couple of degrees longer - with a 6 iron at 27 degrees (compared to 30 degrees for the 221 and 28 degrees for the 223).
The increase in ball speed allowed the ball to fly at 142 yards, and what was pleasant to see was that the spin rate averaged around 5000 rpm, which is right where I'd want it to be.
The consistency of all my shots was very good, I was delighted.
4 iron from the grass -
I had one bad strike from my 4 iron testing but the rest were all nice, and I felt a huge difference in confidence, strikes and results compared to the other long irons in the Mizuno Pro range.
You can start to see the bulk behind the head in the long irons and to be honest, I rather liked it. As someone who isn't a great long iron player, it's nice to know that the club is helping you out.
The launch wasn't as good as I had hoped, which took the yardage down to just below 150 yards carry which isn't too bad considering it was December in Manchester.
The lofts of these irons put them at about a club weaker than a game improvement iron, but similar to a TaylorMade P790 and Titleist T300. They were as easy to strike as those irons, but didn't go quite as far and in terms of looks and feel, reminded me more of a P770 than a P790.
Mizuno Pro 225 Irons Verdict
If you are planning to try out the TaylorMade P770, P790 or Titleist T200 irons then make sure you give these irons a go too. They're a very similar style in terms of looks and performance, but provide a bit better feel in my opinion.
This Hot Metal Blade-style is becoming a very significant area in the market for invested golfers who know what they want a shot to feel like, but perhaps need a bit of help with generating more pop from the club head.
They are the irons that I would look to be playing, as that bit of feel that you sacrifice in not hitting a blade is insignificant compared to what you gain in performance.
Mizuno are conscious of this also, hence why they tailor the short irons to provide more feel and the long irons to produce extra distance.
It's the best looking players iron on the market and it doesn't scare you with distances and low spin like a P790 does, it's more comparable to a P770.
Feel-wise I'd put it in the same category as the Callaway Apex due to its forged metals, and that is reflected in the priced. £200 per iron is very expensive, but that's the price you pay for the technology combined with the forged metals used.
If you can get over the price another positive to these 225 irons is that they have a gap wedge, which is important when stepping down from your irons to specialist wedges. Lots of golfers have too big a gap by going from a hot iron all the way down to a bladed wedge.
I'd encourage you to buy a gap wedge, and if you don't want to chip with it then use a specialist wedge around the green. You'll gain far more than you'll lose if you stick with that big hole in your yardages at the bottom end of your bag.
Would I Use Them?
Absolutely. These are ideal for me, the slightly bigger profile but the fact that they still look a blade will massage the tour pro ego that I am still disparately trying to hold on to.
Who Are They Aimed At?
Buy these if you want to stand out from the crowd of TaylorMade golfers at your club. They are ideal for comboing as the lofts are only slightly stronger than the 223 irons for the better player.
They are suitable from single figure all the way up to 18 handicap golfers, especially those who are new to the game but have a bit of speed and some hand-eye. These will last you for a long time on your golfing journey.
High-level female golfers can also play these, but I suggest you need above-average speed and a low handicap to do so.
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Mizuno Pro 221 Irons Review
Mizuno Pro 223 Irons Review