Mizuno MX-1000 irons

The Mizuno MX-1000s are just one of eight different sets of irons in Mizuno's 2009/2010 launches. While the MP range sits firmly at the 'better player' end of the market, with its forged blades and musclebacks, the MX range - including the MX-1000s - will appeal to the improver golfer looking for forgiveness, high launch and added distance.

Looks

The Mizuno MX-1000s are by far the most player-friendly irons ever produced by Mizuno, which has described them as 'like cheating' in terms of the levels of forgiveness and playability they offer. They look beefy at address, similar to a set of Fli-Hi hybrids and share the same hollow construction. Sole width is 23.5mm and the topline 8.6mm, compared respectively to the 20.1mm and 6.4mm found in the MX200s. However, they're not over-sized spades and are really quite compact for a 'super game improvement' club. Mizuno has made clever use of materials and weight distribution, to make them user-friendly.

Feel/performance

Big distance gains are achieved by plasma wielding the thin, hot maraging steel face to a stainless steel hollow body. It allows weight to be placed deep within the head to deliver a naturally high trajectory and enables the use of stronger lofts for even greater distance.

Trailing edges help provide clean contact with the turf and internal Y-Tune weighting expands the sweet spot to common miss-hit areas of the clubface. There is little loss of distance or height from slight miss-hits and i found it was hard to hit a bad one off the deck. Short irons lacked a little precision, as you might expect, but the head profile inspired confidence throughout the set and will definitely appeal to those players who seek distance and forgiveness in a more compact head shape.

The Mizuno MX-1000s are not cheap - in fact a full set with graphite shafts will cost you almost four figures, but these clubs have all the bells and whistle - and this comes at a price.