The Evolution Of A Success
Mizuno’s New JPX919 Irons, Does Success Breed Success?
Mizuno has strived to ‘create the best products for consumers’ for 112 years, and the entire JPX919 iron family adheres firmly to that original spirit and desire, while offering the best performance benefits that modern technology can bring.
The JPX919 Tour irons are the successors to the very successful JPX 900 irons, which led a resurgence for Mizuno, with the Tour model residing in the bag of the back-to-back 2017/2018 US Open Champion Brooks Koepka. Now Mizuno has unveiled the next evolution of JPX, the JPX919 Series, a highly engineered family of irons that has evolved alongside Mizuno’s comprehensive customfitting program to deliver exceptional performance. Each model in the JPX919 series, from JPX919 Tour, to the JPX919 Hot Metal and JPX919 Forged, is engineered from different base materials to help enhance performance for each particular swing type.
JPX919 Tour
The JPX919 Tour promises tour-caliber
performance with precision distance control. It is a more compact, streamlined evolution of Mizuno’s standout JPX900 Tour iron which helped to re-establish Mizuno as the iron of choice on tour among both contracted and noncontracted players. Grain Flow Forged in high density from a single billet of 1025E Pure Select Mild Carbon Steel in Hiroshima Japan, the JPX919 Tour offers the softest, purest Mizuno feel yet.
The top edge of JPX919 Tour irons have been narrowed by 10% compared to previously, based on the grinds most commonly requested on tour. Despite being more compact, stability is surprising for such a player’s iron. The JPX919 Tour’s open heel frame enhances stability and launch, with tighter dispersion and less distance loss on off-centre strikes, while still producing a tour-preferred feel and sound at impact.
“The JPX 919 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’s irons and made a big impact by winning back-to-back US Opens and recording a course record 61 at St Andrews.” expressed Jeff Cook, Mizuno’s PGA Tour Manager.
The irons feature a Pearl Brush chrome-plated finish for durability and to soften its precise lines in bright sunlight, and can be custom specified as part of a full, split, or short set.
JPX919 Forged
A new reverse-milled clubface, Cncmilled from the sole up to create a thinner face over a larger area, makes the streamlined JPX919 Forged the fastest ever forged iron for Mizuno in terms of measured ball speed. Weight removed from the face allows for a lower, deeper centre of gravity, making it easier to flight the long and mid-irons. Mizuno’s trademark workability and elevated Grain Flow Forged HD feedback ensure that the JPX919 Forged is also Mizuno’s most versatile iron.
Like the JPX919 siblings, the JPX919 Forged features a durable Pearl Brush Finish and a stability frame. Grain Flow Forged in high density from the same steel, a trace of boron infused into the billet strengthens the steel by 30%, allowing for greater design possibilities in a forged head. The overall package is one of balanced performance with the JPX919 Forged offering the ultimate blend of ball speed, stability and feedback within a more refined playing profile.
“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.” according to David Llewellyn, Mizuno Golf R&D Director
JPX919 Hot Metal
The JPX919 Hot Metal sets a benchmark in iron design, engineered as it is for the perfect blend of ball speed and soft, controlled landing angles. High-strength Chromoly 4140M in the new multithickness face promotes ball speeds like never before, while a seamless one-piece cup face construction ensures increased levels of feedback and stability even at such fast ball speeds.
It shares the JPX919 Tour’s new stability frame, which is open at the heel portion to enhance stability, launch and a loft-appropriate flight apex for controlled, soft-landing approaches. Re-engineered sound ribs have been developed to hit specific vibrational frequencies to ensure a satisfying sensation through impact. The JPX919 Hot Metal features the same Pearl Brush finish as the JPX919 Tour.
“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 worked the design backwards from the correct landing angles. These are irons for the golf course, not just the launch monitor!” said Chris Voshall, Mizuno Golf Club Engineer.
The JPX919 Hot Metal offers a steeper transition into more compact scoring irons and wedges, with set-matching gap and sand wedges engineered from a softer X30 steel. It also boasts precisionmilled grooves and faces for improved spin and control around the greens.