Hot List
Best Super Game Improvement Irons: Innovation
The best clubs in each category of the Hot List reflect excellence across an array of criteria. In Super Game Improvement irons, the most innovative clubs use hollow-body, hybrid-like clubheads to help get the ball airborne, rails on the soles for improved turf interaction and zippy steel faces to maximize ball speed. Here is how our editors and academic panel evaluated clubs in this category based on the criterion of Innovation, with each achieving a minimum of 4.5 stars.

Cleveland
Halo XL Full-Face
$130 per iron
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Golf Galaxy
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Hot List Gold
$130 per iron
The hollow-body, hybrid-style iron is designed to help golfers get the ball in the air. The irons feature a variable-thickness face and oversize heads.
Grooves that stretch across the face improve launch conditions for shots hit outside the typical groove area by providing more spin consistency.
Also on the face is a blast called “HydraZip” along with a laser-milled-line system designed to create additional roughness to enhance friction. Combined they increase the launch-angle benefit, which this player type needs.
Rails on the bottom of the 4- through 7-iron prevent digging on shots where distance is needed.
Paint fills on the bottom grooves assist golfers with alignment at address.
7-iron: 29 degrees; PW: 43 degrees

Callaway
Elyte X
$143 per iron
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Golf Galaxy
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Hot List Gold
$143 per iron
Callaway used AI analysis of average-golfer impact points to selectively thin areas on the face to maximize ball speed. The face also wraps around the topline, sole and toe to further widen the springlike effect.
A metal-injection-molding process fashions the internal tungsten weighting to better position the center of gravity.
That weight is encased in urethane microspheres that helps deliver a soft feel.
The lofts are super strong, but the oversize construction and wide sole allow them to launch broadly equivalent to irons with more conventional lofts.
Also assisting launch is a shorter hosel, which saves six grams that is relocated low in the club to make getting the ball in the air easier.
The pre-worn leading edge of the sole helps prevent digging at impact.
Top 5 in Performance, high-handicaps.
7-iron: 28 degrees; PW: 41 degrees

Cobra
DS-Adapt Max
$143 per iron
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Golf Galaxy
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Hot List Gold
$143 per iron
Most of the same technical features of the DS-Adapt irons are used here but with a longer blade length, thicker topline, more offset and a wider sole—all things that are highly useful to players in this category.
Feedback from clubfitters that weaker-lofted irons benefit less skilled golfers resulted in lofts here that are about 2 degrees higher than other irons in this category.
Concentrating weight low and back is key to achieving easier launch and more speed. That’s accomplished via a steel weighting system inside the head that gets weight in the proper position while allowing maximum flexing of the face.
This iron takes a step forward in the feel department with a foam filler that improves the sensation at impact.
The lighter-weight design and shallower face (compared to the DS-Adapt) inspire confidence at address and more speed in the swing.
Top 5 in Performance, high-handicaps.
7-iron: 29 degrees; PW: 43.5 degrees

Cobra
T-Rail
$143 per iron
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Golf Galaxy
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Hot List Silver
$143 per iron
An excellent choice for players more concerned with how many good shots they hit during a round than their score.
Designed using AI, the forged face insert uses stainless steel in a variable-thickness pattern that increases the area of the sweet spot.
Fifteen zones range in thickness from 2 to 2.2 millimeters. The result is a face that is slightly larger but doesn’t weigh more.
The hollow, hybrid-iron shape has the company’s famed hollow Baffler split rails on the sole. The rails help move the club more easily through the turf and combine with the wide sole to foster a low, deep center of gravity to help get the ball airborne.
Because the front portion of the rails are hollow, they boost face flex at impact. They also create more effective bounce to prevent the club from digging.
Getting the sound right in a hollow iron can be challenging. Cobra used thicker ribs inside the clubhead on this version of the T-Rail, resulting in a more pleasing audio.
Top 5 in Sound/Feel, high-handicaps.
7-iron: 29 degrees; PW: 44 degrees

Mizuno
JPX925 Hot Metal HL
$150 per iron
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Golf Galaxy
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Hot List Gold
$150 per iron
High-strength chromoly 4140M steel is used for the face. The hitting area is thinned around the perimeter, increasing rebound for maximum ball speed.
The wide sole teams with tungsten weighting low in the head of the 4- through 7-iron to help golfers get the ball up in the air.
Internal ribs are used to provide a softer feel yet explosive sound at impact.
Mizuno used data gathered from its shaft optimizer to determine that golfers with slower swings had difficulty achieving sufficient height on iron shots. Consequently, the lofts on these irons are up to 3 degrees weaker than the standard and Pro models.
Balanced weighting of the iron’s frame improves control while maintaining forgiveness.
Top 5 in Performance, high-handicaps.
7-iron: 31 degrees; PW: 45 degrees

Ping
G730
$185 per iron
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Golf Galaxy
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Hot List Gold
$185 per iron
An enhanced metalwood-style variable-thickness face uses a special heat treatment to allow thinning of the 17-4 stainless-steel.
The large head and wide sole offer increased stability and instill confidence.
The rear badge is a 10-piece construction that uses two plastics and has five bending regions to assist face flex for higher launch and a steeper landing angle.
Shaft lengths are a focus here. The set starts at the 5-iron and uses .75-inch increments for the 5- and 6-iron instead of .625-inches to improve ball speed and height.
Ping offers Power (stronger lofts) and Retro (weaker lofts) specs as fitting options to further match the set to the player’s launch conditions.
Top 5 in Performance, high-handicaps.
7-iron: 28 degrees; PW: 40 degrees

TaylorMade
Qi HL
$143 per iron
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Golf Galaxy
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Hot List Gold
$143 per iron
The multi-material cap back is lighter than the steel it replaces and wraps around the high-toe area. The reduced weight in that area makes it easier to square the club at impact, reducing the chance of hitting a slice.
The center of gravity is lower in the long irons to boost trajectory and progressively rises, allowing for controllable short-iron shots that don’t balloon.
The irons feature extreme heel-toe weighting to provide stability across a wide swath of the clubface.
Slots on the sole allow the face to bend, particularly on shots hit low on the face.
A “hybrar” compression damper helps get rid of those nasty, unwanted vibrations that typically come with shots struck off-center.
Top 5 in Performance, high-handicaps.
7-iron: 30 degrees; PW: 44.5 degrees

Tour Edge
Exotics X725
$130 per iron
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Golf Galaxy
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Hot List Silver
$130 per iron
A new entry in the Exotics family takes the company’s all-time best-selling iron-wood concept and turns it into an ultra-premium Exotics version.
The diamond face with its three shapes and thicknesses boosts speed, particularly on off-center strikes, and uses less weight that allows for a deeper center of gravity.
The shallower clubhead, thicker topline and additional offset all work together to help golfers get the ball in the air while minimizing the tendency to slice.
The use of thermoplastic urethane inside the head helps dampen the sound.
The use of weaker lofts provides more spin to help get the ball in the air.
7-iron: 29 degrees; PW: 43.5 degrees

Wilson
Dynapower Max
$128 per iron
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Golf Galaxy
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Hot List Silver
$128 per iron
This is an all-iron set (as opposed to the hybrid-like Launch Pad model).
Wilson used analytical tools to develop its first ever cupface construction in which the face wraps around the topline and sole to get more distance in a pleasing look.
Mass was added to the topline to improve stability. This delivered better results on strikes caught high on the face while helping to mute the sound.
A supportive frame at the back of the iron allows for maximum stability, easier energy transfer at impact and optimal sound and feel.
A channel in the sole and behind the face allows the face to flex for greater ball speed.
The Dynapower Max features a wider sole and significantly weaker lofts than the Dynapower irons to assist players in hitting the ball higher.
7-iron: 30 degrees; PW: 44 degrees

XXIO
13
$157 per iron
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Golf Galaxy
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Hot List Silver
$157 per iron
These irons use a titanium face plate that is thinner for greater flexing.
An L-shaped internal groove etched deep into the interior of the iron’s stainless-steel body further enhances spring, especially for shots struck low on the face.
In clubs up to the 7-iron, 31 grams of tungsten are used to drive the center of gravity low and back, fostering a high ball flight to optimize carry distance.
The lightweight construction and shafts that feature a weight in the butt end help get the hands in a better position at the top of the swing.
Fun fact: The average hand size in North America is 10 percent larger than in Japan, so XXIO uses larger grips on clubs sent here to be sold at retail.
7-iron: 28 degrees, PW: 42 degrees