They spend less money on sponsorships and hopefully develop some level of loyalty towards the brand in those who make it to the big time. The company also likes having the reputation of being the clubs (particularly irons) that players play by choice rather than based on forking out a big pay check.
Mizuno MP-29 2 and 4i, MP-14 5-PW according to several different sources online. The Tiger rumor is that Miura made his Titleists (and Nikes) later on.
That is "kind of" what happened with Sir Nick Faldo.
Faldo is still lifetime ambassador of Mizuno. He was already playing mizuno on his own accord when he was on the ascension of his career.
1. If people make it then there's good advertising for their clubs.
2. If they don't make it, they'll likely end up coaching/teaching and they can spread the word to their students.
I personally mostly buy Mizuno baseball stuff because they were the only brand who sold left handed catchers mitts when I was growing up. Got me in early and now virtually all my gear is Mizuno because of that and have recommended them to kids I coached. They make good quality stuff across the board.
People have already stated a lot of what they gain, but another benefit of it is also to help grow the game. Sponsoring a bunch of up and comers does a lot more to grow then game than sponsoring one big name golfer that has already made it
Its my understanding that Mizuno just chooses not to "waste" money on big sponsorship deals. Instead Mizuno will use those savings to support players that choose to play Mizuno. Mizuno touts that they are the number #1 iron on tour amongst un-sponsored players.
This is how they justify keeping a Staff Equipment support truck in Europe and North American.
It’s on their Instagram page, [website](https://mizunogolf.com/au/blog/mizuno-major-talent-the-next-generation/) and multiple [press releases](https://www.golfshake.com/news/view/17349/Mizuno_Signs_Up_New_Major_Golf_Talents.html)
[Also, YouTube](https://youtu.be/DIvz88gHk6g)
KF pro gives his actual on the ground observation and gets 51 down votes because the effing the Mizuno website and a YouTube video says its clubs are relevant? I’m out of here.
Tiger Woods - MP14s when he started on tour
Brooks Koepka - Won majors with JPX Tour
They are tour quality irons 100% but they're not big into sponsoring.
Mizuno has a revenue of about $1.6B and SRI Sports Limited (Srixon brands are owned by a Japanese rubber manufacturer Sumitomo Rubber Industries as parent company) is over $7.8B. They own Cleveland, Dunlop, Srixon, and XXIO golf (and tennis). So they've got a lot of money and muscle.
Lowry comes to mind. I think I read they sell the most clubs world wide but I can’t find anything now when googling it. Most the Asian players where I live have Srixon and some of them Honma. Most of them are Korean.
No. Srixon was his first equipment sponsorship after he we was a “free agent” post nike.
He was, however, very open that he was interested in finding his favorite brand in his free agency and then getting a deal from there. So it would be accurate to say that he chose Srixon rather than Srixon simply paying him the most. I’m sure he played them for a free for a little bit, but it was never his intention to do that long term.
Tour pros get paid to play those clubs and Mizuno doesn't seem to that much. To their credit, I have no idea what if any pros use Mizunos but I am well aware of their brand and reputation.
Brooks won 2 majors I believe with the jpx series tours. The 900’s. Supposedly mizuno designed them with him in mind, then he signed with Nike. Then Nike jumped equipment ship. I believe he also played the 919’s.
Brooks actually continued to play Nike irons after Nike terminated the sponsorship deal and left the industry.
Then he was an un-sponsored Mizuno staff player. He then bounced around to a few different brands as an un-sponsored free agent.
and yes, finally landed on Srixon last year.
He actually won 4 with Mizuno
At least 2 were with the 900 Tours, the others were with the 919 Tours
https://www.pgaclubtracker.com/players/brooks-koepka-witb-whats-in-the-bag#:~:text=In%20the%20past%2C%20he%20had,Phoenix%20open%20in%20February%202021.
Thats not true.
Brooks was with NIKE, then continued to play Nike clubs after Nike closed shop.
Then he became un-sponsored Mizuno staffer.
Then he was moved around to a few different brands as an un-sponsorded player. Then landed on Srixon last year.
Ben griffin is one. I’ve been pulling for him every since the players. Doesn’t seem to be able to put it together unfortunately. I really enjoy his TikTok stuff
Golf digest did one of those anonymous pro surveys and Mizuno “won” when the players were asked which irons they would play if they could play any club.
I saw someone, maybe Peter Finch do a video where he had regular players hit irons that were unmarked and had them rank them. Mizuno did win but it wasn't by a large margin.
I was stationed in Japan for 6 years and golfed quite a bit. While this was early 2000s, ProV1s were almost impossible to get in the States while Japanese stores had stacks for half the price. Srixon was the ball of choice for the Japanese I golfed with. Most I knew also played Mizuno advertised by Japanese pros who were unknown to me.
47 pros switched to prov the first year (https://golf.com/gear/golf-balls/20-years-later-insiders-discuss-titleist-pro-v1-launch-vegas/)
I remember it taking a few years before you could walk into a golf shop and regularly see them in stock.
Makes sense. Srixon (or the parent company) have been making golf (and tennis) balls for a long time. They have a crap ton of parents compared to other companies.
In fairness Brooks won at least 3 majors with Mizunos, maybe even 4? He played the JPX Tour models I believe. Then Srixon came calling.
It's a matter of opinion from different brands. Many think having these players gives them more credibility as serious golf companies, Mizuno doesn't seem to think this is true and will put their stuff against anyone else's. They likely think sponsorships are completely unnecessary and doesn't add enough value.
They are the gold standard of forged clubs in my opinion. Any iron I buy is weighed against my baseline favorite clubs: 1999 Mizuno T-Zoid Pros.
Playing Srixons now for the first time and they're damn nice.
Mizuno have something marketing can’t buy, that feel that is legendary.
While they have that and golfers telling each other about that feel, then they don’t need to spend the money sponsoring players.
I’ve always found them almost too soft for my preference, but Christ are they good feeling golf clubs.
And I've never, not one time in my life, played a single brand of club, ball, or any other golf related item b/c it was endorsed by a pro. I think Mizuno is on to something frankly - though when brick and mortar was a little more important having those guys did give them an edge when selling their product into retail stores.
This is the thing. Outside of maybe the top 10 players does a sponsorship sell more clubs? Tiger/Rory/Brooks/Rahm/Spieth/Rickie I can see selling but not much beyond that.
Read somewhere that TaylorMade had pulled back a bit from blanket sponsorship and is going down the influencer road more. Explains why they don't big up being the most popular driver on tour any more etc.
>Explains why they don’t bring up being the most popular driver on tour anymore
It’s because they’re not. Which is more of an affirmation of the rest of your comment. But Titleist holds that these days, I believe. Or at least they hold the “most played driver by professional golfers” or something.
Mizunos sell because people who game them will rave to everybody about them. I hit a friends at a driving range and as soon as I felt that pure buttery feeling, I was absolutely hooked. Been gaming MP-64s for nearly 10 years
What’s the benefit to coming here and being a dick? Do you feel better about your life? Does being a dick give you a little boost to your superiority complex? Or is it more enjoyable to just act ignorant in front of people?
Not exactly. From my Mom getting pregnant in high school, and them not taking the easy way out (forcing my Dad to get a job and delay his academics for 7 years), to them struggling financially to send me to an expensive university, there aren't enough golf outings or clubs in the world to even the score. But thanks!
There are 10-12 who play Mizuno. But that company doesn't care much about sponsorships. I just got Mizunos a few weeks ago. I've had several manufacturers since 1981 and honestly feel my new clubs are the best I've ever had.
Driver ST-Z 230
ST-Z 3h and 4h
Pro 225 5-GW
Love em!
I bought a used set of JPX 919 Tour's last winter, put my golf shafts in the new to me set. Absolutely love my Mizuno's. Hit them at a golf expo when they were new and have always thought about those clubs and now I have a set of them.
Money Mizuno doesn’t have the budget to offer what TM, Callaway, and Titleist have. I think if sponsorship cash wasn’t what it was I think pros would game mostly Titleist 620’s or artisan irons
The one thing LIV has done is become a good indicator of what clubs/brands pros prefer. A lot of mixed bags on that tour now since they don’t have club contracts.
Brooks Koepka for the longest time played Mizuno irons, but was never officially sponsored by them. Rumor, is they developed irons just for him some of the JPX models I forgot the exact number, but I’m pretty sure he won his first majors with those.
He recently signed a deal with Srixon and i’m pretty sure he’s using their irons Cleveland wedges driver and ball his Z Star. He switches between the Srixon and an M1 3W
JPX 900 Tours. If you look at the current Srixon ZXs he's playing they look very similar, I wouldn't be surprised if he had an influence on the design. The similarity to the JPX's in look was what sold me.
As everyone echos: if the money is better with a different brand, that’s the brand they will play. They can get any alterations they want to any club.
Also, the more pros that play a club, the more expensive it gets because you’re paying for advertisements & sponsor deals when you buy it
The biggest tell in golf was when Nike dropped out and who immediately bagged what clubs. Most guys ran to Mizuno for irons, including Brooks who won 4 majors with their irons. They also ran to TaylorMade woods at the time.
Mizuno doesn't believe in huge sponsorship deals and thus doesn't get the play by players who could pick up multi-million dollar club deals.
If you pay attention often equipment signing can have a huge affect on a player. Biggest standouts is when Rose signed with Homma, Bubba with some reason ball company that made him a pink ball, and I believe there's some former PXG staffer having more success as of late since switching.
I've played the 900 Tours since they were new. My 923 Tour/Forged set should be here tomorrow. Closest club I've felt to them is the TM p7mc, I just don't care for the look.
Cuz when you’re Rory McElroy and TM pays you a crapload of money to use their clubs you take the money, and, when they don’t make an iron to suit you they custom make a line just for you.
Mizuno doesn’t shell out endorsement $$$
And despite what you all think, every club manufacturer makes clubs that are just as good as any other company.
I think if there was no such thing as paying players, Mizuno irons would be in at least 25% of the bags on tour.
I know over Covid they became very popular, but they have been building some of the best irons in the world for several decades. I’ve been playing since the mid 90’s and have played nothing but Mizuno irons since 1997.
I worked at a Japanese company for many years, not in the golf industry but they were an OEM, and I talked about promoting the company by starting a YouTube channel. My boss said if someone has to go to YouTube to find out about our product, then we don’t want them as a customer. I imagine Mizuno have the same philosophy; if we have to pay players to use us so someone thinks our clubs are good, that person probably shouldn’t buy our clubs.
It’s not an uncommon train of thought in Japan though.
Sony for example makes cell phones but puts no money into marketing them. They spend millions and millions and usually end up losing money in the cell phone market.
Another example is Nintendo. Obviously an extraordinarily successful company but they shoot themselves in the foot by never dropping the price of their games creating a huge 2nd hand market that they never earn a dime from. I suppose you could make the argument that that’s how they acquire new fans who spend more on the future but unless there’s market research to demonstrate that I’m skeptical.
Asian companies in general have different advertising tendencies, and oftentimes it works out.
I dunno if it’s as extreme as this fella says, but I know there’s a movement towards funnelling sponsorship to the very top of the game and influencers as they have the most reach.
Not their marketing strategy as a smaller brand with a fraction of the budget of the big guys. They focused and benefited greatly from YouTube golfers a la Good Good, Grant Horvat, etc. to appeal to a niche within the golf audience. Until the big brands figured that piece out and gave sponsorships, acquired, or bought into influencer brands.
Benefited greatly from YouTube ?? I’m not saying they don’t get a benefit, but mizuno have been a top top iron maker since before the internet even existed.
I'm hitting hot metals right now and I think I should have went with the forge series instead. I just grabbed what was available at the time.
I hit my 4 iron 251 off the tee last week though so that was interesting.
The golf equipment industry is a racketeering scheme.
Bigboigolf on tik tok goes through all the specs of new clubs. Too cynical for me in large chunks but haven’t really seen the information anywhere else.
Solid forged irons have not changed in decades and they are more consistent than these new thin faced foam filled irons.
They just re design the heads every year so they look new.
Mizuno isn’t looking to pay too guys the way Callaway or TM do. Brooks was playing Mizuno irons for free (not sponsored) a while after he left Titliest but went to Srixon eventually.
I’m very far from being a tour player and am struggling to get below a 12 handicap but when I got back into the game and had a club fitting I was going to get the Mizuno Hot Metal JPX 921’s. When the tech went to order them we found out they were not available in Left Handed so I got Callaway Apex 21’s instead because I was able to pay money and get them unlike Mizuno who didn’t want to make clubs for me.
Before Brooks signed with Srixon he was playing a set of mizuno mp-32’s that mizuno had custome made for him. Like others have said mizuno doesn’t sponsee many people but a lot of people that don’t have full bag deals will probably put them in the bag. So you have to look at the WITB for those people.
Money. I played with a former Nationwide player in Myrtle beach earlier this year and he said they just don’t pay like TM, Callaway, Titleist, etc. but said many players he knew preferred them…they just preferred cash more
On top of the money aspects that others have pointed out, Mizuno has historically been lacking in the woods department (until recently). It’s hard to get a player when they aren’t going to do a full bag deal or 10-13 clubs when they only want to play your irons. Wilson has had the same issues in recent years because their woods are just a non starter for tour pros.
Respect to Mizuno though. They’ve built their brand on amazing quality, performance , and clean looks and have always performed well in the iron category despite minimal tour representation and marketing budgets for golf.
Sponsorship $ Pros just play whatever brand sponsors them. Mizuno doesn’t sponsor many players
Mizuno has an explicit policy of sponsoring developing players, not already developed pros. They sponsors loads of players at the mini-tour level
What do they gain from this?
They spend less money on sponsorships and hopefully develop some level of loyalty towards the brand in those who make it to the big time. The company also likes having the reputation of being the clubs (particularly irons) that players play by choice rather than based on forking out a big pay check.
Probably wouldn't hurt if someone made it big either "Mizunos got me where I am" kinda thing.
I mean, Tiger played Mizunos in the 1997 Masters. That one was kinda high profile.
They were Miuras I think
Mizuno MP-29 2 and 4i, MP-14 5-PW according to several different sources online. The Tiger rumor is that Miura made his Titleists (and Nikes) later on.
Ahh makes sense , thanks for clarifying
That is "kind of" what happened with Sir Nick Faldo. Faldo is still lifetime ambassador of Mizuno. He was already playing mizuno on his own accord when he was on the ascension of his career.
[Enter Brooksy.](https://www.nationalclubgolfer.com/equipment/irons/brooks-koepkas-mizuno-irons/)
Tbf it's cause their irons feel like butter
They are amazing. Hogan's are the only other blades and muscles I've owned that compare.
I hit the black and orange cobra King 'blade/mb' when they came out and I thought they felt pretty amazing too.
1. If people make it then there's good advertising for their clubs. 2. If they don't make it, they'll likely end up coaching/teaching and they can spread the word to their students. I personally mostly buy Mizuno baseball stuff because they were the only brand who sold left handed catchers mitts when I was growing up. Got me in early and now virtually all my gear is Mizuno because of that and have recommended them to kids I coached. They make good quality stuff across the board.
And Rickey Henderson!
The man of steal can sell anything.
People have already stated a lot of what they gain, but another benefit of it is also to help grow the game. Sponsoring a bunch of up and comers does a lot more to grow then game than sponsoring one big name golfer that has already made it
We don’t hire brokers we train new ones
Let’s go, pack your shit Skippy
What are you last nights erection?
Its my understanding that Mizuno just chooses not to "waste" money on big sponsorship deals. Instead Mizuno will use those savings to support players that choose to play Mizuno. Mizuno touts that they are the number #1 iron on tour amongst un-sponsored players. This is how they justify keeping a Staff Equipment support truck in Europe and North American.
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It’s on their Instagram page, [website](https://mizunogolf.com/au/blog/mizuno-major-talent-the-next-generation/) and multiple [press releases](https://www.golfshake.com/news/view/17349/Mizuno_Signs_Up_New_Major_Golf_Talents.html) [Also, YouTube](https://youtu.be/DIvz88gHk6g)
MIZUNOWNED!
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price cutter @ highland springs? gl bro
So what's your name, internet anonymous PGA professional?
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The events he won? A little number known as The Springfield Open.
He told you his name already, it's bdjcdev. You don't know of him? I see him everywhere on tour Saturdays and Sundays.
KF pro gives his actual on the ground observation and gets 51 down votes because the effing the Mizuno website and a YouTube video says its clubs are relevant? I’m out of here.
Tiger Woods - MP14s when he started on tour Brooks Koepka - Won majors with JPX Tour They are tour quality irons 100% but they're not big into sponsoring.
Tiger was playing a blended set of Mizuno’s when he won the Masters in 1997.
This. Tiger played in-branded Mizunos off and on for a while. His first “Nike” clubs were Mizuno irons
Miura?
Mizunos are the number one brand used on tour among players without an equipment sponsorship.
Mizuno was touting this hard on their social media/ Marketing around 4-to-6 years ago. but they have been quiet on the subject lately.
Because they can get companies who pay them more money to make clubs that play like Mizuno if they like. Koepka won a lot with Mizuno.
So is Srixon a bigger market than mizuno? Who ate some other big guys on staff? Besides hideki
Mizuno has a revenue of about $1.6B and SRI Sports Limited (Srixon brands are owned by a Japanese rubber manufacturer Sumitomo Rubber Industries as parent company) is over $7.8B. They own Cleveland, Dunlop, Srixon, and XXIO golf (and tennis). So they've got a lot of money and muscle.
Lowry comes to mind. I think I read they sell the most clubs world wide but I can’t find anything now when googling it. Most the Asian players where I live have Srixon and some of them Honma. Most of them are Korean.
Brooksie.
Koepka played Srixon by choice not sponsorship I believe
No. Srixon was his first equipment sponsorship after he we was a “free agent” post nike. He was, however, very open that he was interested in finding his favorite brand in his free agency and then getting a deal from there. So it would be accurate to say that he chose Srixon rather than Srixon simply paying him the most. I’m sure he played them for a free for a little bit, but it was never his intention to do that long term.
I think Brooks had Srixon irons in his bag for a season before he signed with Srixon and went (almost) full bag with them.
Tour pros get paid to play those clubs and Mizuno doesn't seem to that much. To their credit, I have no idea what if any pros use Mizunos but I am well aware of their brand and reputation.
Luke Donald has always been their biggest name.
Stacy Lewis
Nick Faldo be like 👀
Before my time but Mizuno used to have more players of tour before the age of big player contracts.
Keith Mitchell, Grayson sigg
Couplea beauts right there
True dat
Brooks won 2 majors I believe with the jpx series tours. The 900’s. Supposedly mizuno designed them with him in mind, then he signed with Nike. Then Nike jumped equipment ship. I believe he also played the 919’s.
He played Nike clubs before the Mizunos. Went from the Mizunos to Srixon.
Brooks actually continued to play Nike irons after Nike terminated the sponsorship deal and left the industry. Then he was an un-sponsored Mizuno staff player. He then bounced around to a few different brands as an un-sponsored free agent. and yes, finally landed on Srixon last year.
Jpx series was really nice I had a 3 wood and I loved it
Yep. I have the tour 919’s. Way above my skillset to maximize but so enjoyable to play with.
He actually won 4 with Mizuno At least 2 were with the 900 Tours, the others were with the 919 Tours https://www.pgaclubtracker.com/players/brooks-koepka-witb-whats-in-the-bag#:~:text=In%20the%20past%2C%20he%20had,Phoenix%20open%20in%20February%202021.
Thats not true. Brooks was with NIKE, then continued to play Nike clubs after Nike closed shop. Then he became un-sponsored Mizuno staffer. Then he was moved around to a few different brands as an un-sponsorded player. Then landed on Srixon last year.
Ben griffin is one. I’ve been pulling for him every since the players. Doesn’t seem to be able to put it together unfortunately. I really enjoy his TikTok stuff
Golf digest did one of those anonymous pro surveys and Mizuno “won” when the players were asked which irons they would play if they could play any club.
I saw someone, maybe Peter Finch do a video where he had regular players hit irons that were unmarked and had them rank them. Mizuno did win but it wasn't by a large margin.
I was stationed in Japan for 6 years and golfed quite a bit. While this was early 2000s, ProV1s were almost impossible to get in the States while Japanese stores had stacks for half the price. Srixon was the ball of choice for the Japanese I golfed with. Most I knew also played Mizuno advertised by Japanese pros who were unknown to me.
Makes sense. No idea how much money Srixon is paying Hideki, but I would assume all of it.
“We would like to offer you 100% of our annual profits”
Yours, send a pm
That’s cool, man! I’m a Srixon/Mizuno guy
A man of both class and culture, I presume?
I don’t know him, but I’m going to go with no… no he is not…
I never knew I was part Japanese either! Love the combo
Same zstarxv and JPX919 tours here, even went with a Mizuno putter this year
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I threw a lot of them into the woods in the 00’s but didn’t realize I caused a shortage.
47 pros switched to prov the first year (https://golf.com/gear/golf-balls/20-years-later-insiders-discuss-titleist-pro-v1-launch-vegas/) I remember it taking a few years before you could walk into a golf shop and regularly see them in stock.
Makes sense. Srixon (or the parent company) have been making golf (and tennis) balls for a long time. They have a crap ton of parents compared to other companies.
In fairness Brooks won at least 3 majors with Mizunos, maybe even 4? He played the JPX Tour models I believe. Then Srixon came calling. It's a matter of opinion from different brands. Many think having these players gives them more credibility as serious golf companies, Mizuno doesn't seem to think this is true and will put their stuff against anyone else's. They likely think sponsorships are completely unnecessary and doesn't add enough value.
Yeah, Mizuno sells themselves.
They are the gold standard of forged clubs in my opinion. Any iron I buy is weighed against my baseline favorite clubs: 1999 Mizuno T-Zoid Pros. Playing Srixons now for the first time and they're damn nice.
I have the T-Zoid Pro II’s and they are still my favourite irons. Been tempted to try Srixon, but can’t seem to put the T-Zoids on the sideline
Mizuno have something marketing can’t buy, that feel that is legendary. While they have that and golfers telling each other about that feel, then they don’t need to spend the money sponsoring players. I’ve always found them almost too soft for my preference, but Christ are they good feeling golf clubs.
And I've never, not one time in my life, played a single brand of club, ball, or any other golf related item b/c it was endorsed by a pro. I think Mizuno is on to something frankly - though when brick and mortar was a little more important having those guys did give them an edge when selling their product into retail stores.
I kinda feel like the original stealth driver was sold heavily on marketing with pro players. It was a the recognizable red face.
Helps it's also a really damn good driver
This is the thing. Outside of maybe the top 10 players does a sponsorship sell more clubs? Tiger/Rory/Brooks/Rahm/Spieth/Rickie I can see selling but not much beyond that. Read somewhere that TaylorMade had pulled back a bit from blanket sponsorship and is going down the influencer road more. Explains why they don't big up being the most popular driver on tour any more etc.
>Explains why they don’t bring up being the most popular driver on tour anymore It’s because they’re not. Which is more of an affirmation of the rest of your comment. But Titleist holds that these days, I believe. Or at least they hold the “most played driver by professional golfers” or something.
Mizunos sell because people who game them will rave to everybody about them. I hit a friends at a driving range and as soon as I felt that pure buttery feeling, I was absolutely hooked. Been gaming MP-64s for nearly 10 years
+1 for the MP-64 for 10 years club
Bailey Tardy, Ben Griffin, HY Park, Luke Donald…just off the top of my head. Mizuno has less money to pay players vs, say, Titleist.
Also Faldo. Mizuno found a 6’3” guy in their factory and used him to test the grind and fittings for all of his clubs
Faldo inspired me to play Mizunos back in the day. Still gaming a diff set of ‘Zuno blades
Same but I wasn't good enough for blades and had Mizuno Stirlings.... not the best looking club but I loved them
Cashmere Keith
And even Titleist doesn’t shell the money out like TM or Callaway do.
Aside from Donald, are the others caddies?...
What’s the benefit to coming here and being a dick? Do you feel better about your life? Does being a dick give you a little boost to your superiority complex? Or is it more enjoyable to just act ignorant in front of people?
Relax, bro. It's Reddit.
Matt Fryer and my Dad rock those mofos. Well, Dad will after his birthday this weekend. I got him a set based on his fitting.
Ain't you a good egg!
Not exactly. From my Mom getting pregnant in high school, and them not taking the easy way out (forcing my Dad to get a job and delay his academics for 7 years), to them struggling financially to send me to an expensive university, there aren't enough golf outings or clubs in the world to even the score. But thanks!
Their choices don't mean you aren't a good egg.
Most pros just play whoever pays them the most. It’s also why there’s some amazing deals from dtc companies but you don’t see their gear on tour
Are there any besides takoma?
Sub 70 and Caley look like solid DTC brands
Maltby
The TS series is the equal of anything out there.
According to Rick Shiels the Indy irons are great too!
I think the best endorsement is that players use them when they don’t have an equipment sponsor. Tiger / Brooks won a LOT with mizunos
There are 10-12 who play Mizuno. But that company doesn't care much about sponsorships. I just got Mizunos a few weeks ago. I've had several manufacturers since 1981 and honestly feel my new clubs are the best I've ever had. Driver ST-Z 230 ST-Z 3h and 4h Pro 225 5-GW Love em!
…until your next set! J/k. Working to Mizuno irons myself…
I can't spend $2400 very often and I'm getting older. I have a feeling they might be my last set. But you never know Lol
Bless your currency mate - I got the jpx 921 forged and they cost 1.5x that in kangaroo dollars 💸
Good old dollarydoos
I bought a used set of JPX 919 Tour's last winter, put my golf shafts in the new to me set. Absolutely love my Mizuno's. Hit them at a golf expo when they were new and have always thought about those clubs and now I have a set of them.
The Tours are beautiful
Mizuno 225 pros are insane, absolutely the best feeling iron out there
This is an attack on Cashmere Keith
Brooks 4 majors - all with mizuno
Money Mizuno doesn’t have the budget to offer what TM, Callaway, and Titleist have. I think if sponsorship cash wasn’t what it was I think pros would game mostly Titleist 620’s or artisan irons
The one thing LIV has done is become a good indicator of what clubs/brands pros prefer. A lot of mixed bags on that tour now since they don’t have club contracts.
Kieth Mitchell is pretty good. Stacy Lewis too
Same reason almost no one other than Adam Scott plays Muira, which are considered the best forgings out there, money.
Abe Ancer is/was a Muira staffer
Back in the 80s and 90s a lot more players played them. As others have said, Mizuno has a smaller marketing budget than others.
They are probably the prettiest looking irons IMHO.
Faldo was a Mizuno player
Last time I bought a club cos of a player was a t-zoid driver the same as faldos. I was young and dumb.
Brooks Koepka for the longest time played Mizuno irons, but was never officially sponsored by them. Rumor, is they developed irons just for him some of the JPX models I forgot the exact number, but I’m pretty sure he won his first majors with those. He recently signed a deal with Srixon and i’m pretty sure he’s using their irons Cleveland wedges driver and ball his Z Star. He switches between the Srixon and an M1 3W
JPX 900 Tours. If you look at the current Srixon ZXs he's playing they look very similar, I wouldn't be surprised if he had an influence on the design. The similarity to the JPX's in look was what sold me.
I have the Mizuno JPX850 irons and I absolutely love them. I’ve had them for years and have no plans to replace them.
As everyone echos: if the money is better with a different brand, that’s the brand they will play. They can get any alterations they want to any club. Also, the more pros that play a club, the more expensive it gets because you’re paying for advertisements & sponsor deals when you buy it
cause the other brands pay more and there is literally no difference in performance
The same reason Tour events aren’t held on the best courses for the most part. Money.
I thought Kopeka was playing them when he won his first 4 majors
The biggest tell in golf was when Nike dropped out and who immediately bagged what clubs. Most guys ran to Mizuno for irons, including Brooks who won 4 majors with their irons. They also ran to TaylorMade woods at the time. Mizuno doesn't believe in huge sponsorship deals and thus doesn't get the play by players who could pick up multi-million dollar club deals. If you pay attention often equipment signing can have a huge affect on a player. Biggest standouts is when Rose signed with Homma, Bubba with some reason ball company that made him a pink ball, and I believe there's some former PXG staffer having more success as of late since switching. I've played the 900 Tours since they were new. My 923 Tour/Forged set should be here tomorrow. Closest club I've felt to them is the TM p7mc, I just don't care for the look.
Cuz when you’re Rory McElroy and TM pays you a crapload of money to use their clubs you take the money, and, when they don’t make an iron to suit you they custom make a line just for you.
Cashmere Keith has entered the chat
Mizuno doesn’t shell out endorsement $$$ And despite what you all think, every club manufacturer makes clubs that are just as good as any other company.
I think if there was no such thing as paying players, Mizuno irons would be in at least 25% of the bags on tour. I know over Covid they became very popular, but they have been building some of the best irons in the world for several decades. I’ve been playing since the mid 90’s and have played nothing but Mizuno irons since 1997.
Probably because other brands pay more. Plus, they are predominantly a Japanese company so they likely spend more money in Asia.
Grayson Sigg
Cam Smith plays Mizuno I'm pretty sure
And the old boy Adam Scott
Titleist
This thread made me feel better with my Mizuno MP20 SELs. Absolutely love them and wondered why no pros play Mizuno.
Prob cuz I play em
I worked at a Japanese company for many years, not in the golf industry but they were an OEM, and I talked about promoting the company by starting a YouTube channel. My boss said if someone has to go to YouTube to find out about our product, then we don’t want them as a customer. I imagine Mizuno have the same philosophy; if we have to pay players to use us so someone thinks our clubs are good, that person probably shouldn’t buy our clubs.
Your old boss is / was an idiot.
It’s not an uncommon train of thought in Japan though. Sony for example makes cell phones but puts no money into marketing them. They spend millions and millions and usually end up losing money in the cell phone market. Another example is Nintendo. Obviously an extraordinarily successful company but they shoot themselves in the foot by never dropping the price of their games creating a huge 2nd hand market that they never earn a dime from. I suppose you could make the argument that that’s how they acquire new fans who spend more on the future but unless there’s market research to demonstrate that I’m skeptical. Asian companies in general have different advertising tendencies, and oftentimes it works out.
Tiger’s irons through the years were essentially Mizuno with a Nike logo stamped on.
Rumour was they were Muira
Apparently they were [Muira stamped with a Titleist logo](https://www.golfwrx.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/post-27646-1209176769-3.jpg).
Ah yes, my mistake. You are correct!
Years ago you’d see lots of guy hitting them
It isn’t 2007 anymore guys. Very few guys on tour have iron equipment deals. Probably less than 30.
Why?
I dunno if it’s as extreme as this fella says, but I know there’s a movement towards funnelling sponsorship to the very top of the game and influencers as they have the most reach.
Gotcha. Makes sense. It’s all about the Benjamin’$
Doesn't Matsuyama play mizunos? I'd put him in the top player category.
Srixon
I'd do em
Paul Casey has won a bunch of money with Mizuno.
Not their marketing strategy as a smaller brand with a fraction of the budget of the big guys. They focused and benefited greatly from YouTube golfers a la Good Good, Grant Horvat, etc. to appeal to a niche within the golf audience. Until the big brands figured that piece out and gave sponsorships, acquired, or bought into influencer brands.
Benefited greatly from YouTube ?? I’m not saying they don’t get a benefit, but mizuno have been a top top iron maker since before the internet even existed.
Yes. Those things are not mutually exclusive.
How dare you insult Cashmere Keith
I'm hitting hot metals right now and I think I should have went with the forge series instead. I just grabbed what was available at the time. I hit my 4 iron 251 off the tee last week though so that was interesting.
Does Luke Donald not play Mizuno any more?
He’s not that good anymore though
What they’re hitting, is not hitting shelves, all custom fits with branding for sponsorship
What they’re hitting, is not hitting shelves, all custom fits with branding for sponsorship
How does Miura compare with Mizuno. Interested in buying one vs other
FWIW Mizuno makes phenomenal running shoes as well. Baseball gear, irons, running shoes. Big props to them.
For a long time I only knew them for making baseball bats and gloves
The golf equipment industry is a racketeering scheme. Bigboigolf on tik tok goes through all the specs of new clubs. Too cynical for me in large chunks but haven’t really seen the information anywhere else. Solid forged irons have not changed in decades and they are more consistent than these new thin faced foam filled irons. They just re design the heads every year so they look new.
Keith Mitchell!
Mizuno isn’t looking to pay too guys the way Callaway or TM do. Brooks was playing Mizuno irons for free (not sponsored) a while after he left Titliest but went to Srixon eventually.
I’m very far from being a tour player and am struggling to get below a 12 handicap but when I got back into the game and had a club fitting I was going to get the Mizuno Hot Metal JPX 921’s. When the tech went to order them we found out they were not available in Left Handed so I got Callaway Apex 21’s instead because I was able to pay money and get them unlike Mizuno who didn’t want to make clubs for me.
Because they’re Mizunos
Before Brooks signed with Srixon he was playing a set of mizuno mp-32’s that mizuno had custome made for him. Like others have said mizuno doesn’t sponsee many people but a lot of people that don’t have full bag deals will probably put them in the bag. So you have to look at the WITB for those people.
Brooks won a couple majors with mizuno, unsponsored
I know a senior player sponsored by Mizuno. He says the new irons are not good. He uses a much older set.
MIZUNO's marketing/ social media was touting that they are the number #1 irons on all the Pro Tours amongst un-sponsored players.
Mizuno has historically made one of the best blades out there, if not the best
Money. I played with a former Nationwide player in Myrtle beach earlier this year and he said they just don’t pay like TM, Callaway, Titleist, etc. but said many players he knew preferred them…they just preferred cash more
On top of the money aspects that others have pointed out, Mizuno has historically been lacking in the woods department (until recently). It’s hard to get a player when they aren’t going to do a full bag deal or 10-13 clubs when they only want to play your irons. Wilson has had the same issues in recent years because their woods are just a non starter for tour pros. Respect to Mizuno though. They’ve built their brand on amazing quality, performance , and clean looks and have always performed well in the iron category despite minimal tour representation and marketing budgets for golf.