The Loop
Spring Breaker: Mizuno's new forged iron
The big bounce: The JPX-EZ Forged produces a higher springlike effect. Photo courtesy Mizuno
An oversize forged iron was unusual when Mizuno introduced the Comp EZ in 1999. The company's new JPX-EZ Forged shows how far the idea has come. The JPX-EZ Forged's thinner face yields a springlike effect of .800, the highest ever for a one-piece forged Mizuno iron, says David Llewellyn, Mizuno's manager of golf-club research and development. "This would translate to a 2 to 3 percent higher ball speed," Llewellyn says. "Including other factors, it's about a half-to-one-club longer."
The JPX-EZ Forged features a deep undercut cavity on the 4-iron through 7-iron for a lower center of gravity. The reinforced topline and frame around the perimeter of the cavity, selectively thickened and shaped based on Mizuno's use of modal analysis, are designed to control vibrations and enhance feel. The JPX-EZ Forged set ($900, available in September) can be combined with Mizuno's JPX Fli-Hi hybrids, which have the same lofts and lengths as the irons they're designed to replace. -- Mike Stachura