Mizuno irons 2024: Which is right for your game?

With the release of the Mizuno ST-Max 230 driver this spring, along with the ST-Z 230, ST-X 230, and ST-X PLTNM 230 drivers last season, the Japanese equipment maker has shown it is serious about making technologically advanced woods that can blend distance, forgiveness and classic looks. However, when most golfers think about Mizuno, they still think about irons and, more specifically, muscleback blades that look like they should be hanging in an art museum.

Mizuno understands this and does not shy away from its reputation as a maker of great irons, but it offers more than just clubs for the game's best players. Between the Mizuno Pro and JPX families, which are updated in alternating seasons, the company also makes better-player distance irons and game-improvement clubs.

The best advice on which irons are suitable for you will come from a custom fitter who has access to a launch monitor. The list of irons below can provide you with information about each of Mizuno's current offerings and act as a starting point to help you discover which iron might be ideal for your needs and your game.

Mizuno JPX 925 Hot Metal

Price: $150 per club with Nippon N.S. Pro 950 NEO steel shafts and Lamkin UT+ grips (Hot Metal)Specs: Cast stainless steel body with Nickel Chromoly 4335 cup face and internal tungsten weight.Available: Sept. 5 (pre-sale), Sept. 19 (in stores)

Who It’s For: Golfers who want more ball speed and forgiveness.

What you should know: The latest JPX Hot Metal irons feature thinner faces that offer a larger sweet spot and more ball speed on mishits, while also delivering the feel and sound that golfers expect from a Mizuno iron.

Excerpt: "In the JPX 923 4-iron through 8-iron, the hitting area was 2.05 millimeters thick in the center and thinned to as little as 1.75 millimeters to allow a larger portion of the face to flex at the moment of impact. Now, in the JPX 925 irons, a tiny area in the center of the face is thick (2.4 millimeters), but a larger area around it is thinned to just 1.2 millimeters. Mizuno refers to this new multi-thickness design as a CORTECH face. This cup face is complemented by a thinner leading-edge area that flexes more efficiently and allows the whole face to bend more at impact." Read the full review.

Mizuno JPX 925 Hot Metal Pro

Price: $150 per club with Nippon N.S. Pro 950 NEO steel shafts and Lamkin UT+ grips (Hot Metal)Specs: Cast stainless steel body with Nickel Chromoly 4335 cup face and internal tungsten weight.Available: Sept. 5 (pre-sale), Sept. 19 (in stores)

Who It’s For: Golfers with a handicap between five and 12 who want a better-player’s distance iron.

What you should know: The JPX 925 Hot Metal Pro irons have all the technologies found in the standard model, but feature a thinner topline, narrower sole and less offset to make them appeal to better players.

Excerpt: "The 4-iron through 7-iron in the JPX 925 series have been given 11-gram internal tungsten weights. By positioning the weights low and forward, but not allowing them to touch the back of the face, it should be easier to start shots on a higher launch angle and bring them down on a steeper angle of descent for increased stopping power and distance control." Read the full review.

Mizuno JPX 925 Hot Metal HL

Price: $150 per club with Nippon N.S. Pro 950 NEO steel shafts and Lamkin UT+ grips (Hot Metal)Specs: Cast stainless steel body with Nickel Chromoly 4335 cup face and internal tungsten weight.Available: Sept. 5 (pre-sale), Sept. 19 (in stores)

Who It’s For: Moderate and slower-swinging golfers who want more forgiveness and height to enhance carry distance and stopping power.

What you should know: The JPX 925 Hot Metal Pro irons have all the technologies found in the standard model, but feature a thinner topline, narrower sole and less offset to make them appeal to better players.

Excerpt: "The 4-iron through 7-iron in the JPX 925 series have been given 11-gram internal tungsten weights. By positioning the weights low and forward, but not allowing them to touch the back of the face, it should be easier to start shots on a higher launch angle and bring them down on a steeper angle of descent for increased stopping power and distance control." Read the full review.

Mizuno Pro 241

Price: $200 each with KBS Tour steel shafts and Golf Pride MCC gripsSpecs: Forged 1025E mild carbon steel. Available in 3-iron through pitching wedge (right-hand) and 4-iron through pitching wedge (right- and left-hand)Who It’s For: Elite ballstrikers who want the most compact iron available to maximize control and feel.

What you should know: The Mizuno Pro 241 is a small, forged muscleback blade with a classic look in the address position that rewards players who have a repeatable swing and want the ultimate in control and feel.

Excerpt: "Each head is grain flow forged using 1025E mild carbon steel to elongate the metal and amplify the feel of impact. Compared to the Mizuno Prio 221, the 241 has a slightly thinner topline, and each club’s blade length from the 6-iron through the pitching wedge has been shortened. Removing that metal and reducing the size created discretionary weight that designers shifted to the area directly behind the ideal hitting area, which, again, amplifies feel." Read the full review.

Mizuno Pro 243

Price: $200 each with Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 steel shafts and Golf Pride MCC gripsSpecs: Forged 4120 Chromoly (4-7 irons) and forged 1025E mild carbon steel (8-iron through gap wedge) with copper underlayer. Available in 4-iron through gap wedge (right-hand only).

Who It’s For: Low-handicap golfers and solid ballstrikers who want the control and feel of a better-player’s irons combined with a touch of forgiveness.

What you should know: The Mizuno Pro 243 has the compact size and classic look accomplished players like, but with a cavity-back design and invisible slot in the sole, it has more forgiveness than the muscleback blades it resembles.

Excerpt: "The 4-iron through 7-iron in the Mizuno Pro 243 have been designed with a micro slot in the sole that allows the lower portion of the face to flex more efficiently on low-struck shots. You can’t see it because Mizuno covered it with chrome plating to keep water and debris from getting inside the heads. Now, however, the slot in the 4- and 5-irons is wider and deeper, which helps to create a higher launch angle and allows the clubs to generate more spin." Read the full review.

Mizuno Pro 245

Price: $200 each with Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 steel shafts and Golf Pride MCC gripsSpecs: Grainflow forged 4135 Chromoly with internal tungsten weight (2-8 irons), and forged 1025E mild carbon steel (9-iron through gap wedge) with copper underlayer. Available in 4-iron through gap wedge.

Who It’s For: Made to look like a better-player’s iron but perform like a game-improvement club, the Mizuno Pro 245 blends different materials and a unique construction to deliver more ball speed and distance without sacrificing feel.

What you should know: This game-improvement iron’s hollow-body design helps it produce more ball speed and distance. At the same time, an internal tungsten weight encourages a higher flight and more stability.

Excerpt: "To lower the center of gravity (CG) location and encourage higher-flying shots, the 2-iron through 7-iron have an internal tungsten bar that extends from toe to heel. In the Mizuno Pro 225, a 30-gram tungsten weight was internally embedded into the back of each head, but the new Mizuno Pro 245 has a 47-gram weight positioned in the same area." Read the full review.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Mizuno irons 2024: Which is right for your game?