Mizuno just revealed their latest JPX919 Tour, Hot Metal and Forged irons. The JPX 919 Tour irons are the successors of the hugely popular JPX-900 Tour irons, which were famously used by Brooks Koepka to win three major tournaments.

On top of that, we now have the PX919 Forged irons and JPX919 Hot Metal irons, and all of them can be fine tuned via Mizuno Performance Fitting System. Each of the three new irons from Mizuno are aimed at different types of golf players and they’re designed and built with different metals, i.e. the difference between the Tour, Hot Metal and Forged irons is more than skin deep so to speak. Basically, the new JPX919 irons are the latest evolution of the legendary JPX series, a range of golf gear that was “proven in combat” with huge success, both in pro shops and on tour. However, the JPX900 series started to show its age (it’s 2 years old now), hence Mizuno decided to replace them with arguably the best looking irons ever made by the company. And yes, I am talking about the JPX919 irons, which also look awesome, besides being engineered to perfection, in good Japanese tradition. The new JPX919 series consists of the JPX919 Tour, JPX919 Hot Metal and JPX919 Forged, and they’re all designed to deliver top performance, regardless of one’s swing type. The Mizuno JPX919 Tour is built using forged mild carbon steel (1025E Pure Select), while the JPX919 Hot Metal is forged from high strength 4140M chrome-alloy steel; finally, the JPX919 Forged is crafted (Grain Flow Forged actually) from boron infused steel. Besides the variety of materials used in their construction, there are also major design differences between the JPX919 Tour, JPX919 Hot Metal and JPX919 Forged. However, they’re all definitely Mizuno-made irons, and that’s obvious at the first glance, as they all feature Mizuno’s traditional profile, not to mention the familiar feel/sensation through impact. But let’s take a closer look, shall we?

To begin with, we have the “star of the show”, the JPX919 Tour irons respectively, which are the natural evolution of the JPX-900 Tour irons. The latter were designed initially for Brooks Koepka, the guy who won no less than 3 majors with these babies in the bag: the US Open 2017 and 2018, and the 2018 PGA. The JPX919 Tour irons offer the same unforgettable soft feel due to the technological process used by Mizuno, the grain-flow forged technology, and the choice of 1025E Pure Select Mild Carbon Steel. However, the new generation is a little bit smaller and more compact, with the top edges being ten percent narrower than in the previous JPX-900. However, despite their relatively compact shape, the JPX919 Tour irons offer amazing stability, and that’s due to Mizuno’s proprietary “Stability Frame” technology, that improves weight distribution and reinforces the toe/topline areas for vibration/sound dampening. The soles in the JPX919 Tour irons were designed to be a tad wider, but they feature more camber, and that translates into enhanced playability. The latest Tour irons from Mizuno are everything about tour caliber precision,performance and distance control, and they offer the purest and softest Mizuno feel to date. Here’s Mizuno’s PGA Tour Manager Jeff Cook:

“The JPX919 Tour’s compact profile doesn't tell the whole story. There’s a surprising level of stability and distance control built into this geometry. Its predecessor attracted a new wave of younger tour players into Mizuno irons and made a big impact by winning back-to-back US Opens and recording a course record 61 at St Andrews.”

Moving along with the “story”, we have the JPX919 Hot Metal irons, which are built using a completely different material, what Mizuno describes as High Strength Chromoly 4140M. These irons boast seamless one piece face cups and multi thickness faces, for improved ball speeds, and the same “Stability Frame” technology, for enhancing stability at ball impact. On top of that, the JPX919 Hot Metal irons feature another patented technology from Mizuno’s R&D department, the Sound Ribs respectively, which, according to Mizuno, are designed to “hit specific vibration patterns that ensure a satisfying sensation” . All these technologies incorporated into the JPX919 Hot Metal irons deliver amazing feedback and stability. As per Mizuno’s senior engineer Chris Voshall:

“The most impressive thing about the JPX919 Hot Metal is the launch control and flight apex. The extra ball speed and distance doesn’t come from low-flying bullets – we work the design backwards from the correct landing angles. These are irons for the golf course, not just the launch monitor!”

Finally, we have the JPX919 Forged irons, which boast a brand new “reverse milled” engineering process. In layman’s terms, that means they’re CNC milled from the sole up. Why? Well, according to Mizuno, this innovation creates a larger area of minimum face thickness, with the end result being Mizuno’s fastest ever one piece forged irons with regard to measured ball speed. The JPX919 forged irons are engineered using boron infused 1025B mild carbon steel. This technological process makes the steel 30 percent stronger, which allows for a wider milling across the back of the face, as per Mizuno’s press release. The end result is better energy transfer into the ball, i.e. increased ball speed and distance. Keep in mind that Mizuno’s JPX919 Forged irons are the most versatile of the bunch, boasting the company’s trademark workability. Here’s the Director of Golf R&D at Mizuno David Llewellyn:

“A deeper, wider milling across the back of the face allows the JPX919 Forged to transfer more energy to the ball than any previous Grain Flow Forged iron. None of that would have been possible without that small addition of Boron into our steel billets, which gives that additional strength needed to reinforce the face.”