Gear: Mizuno Pro Fli-Hi driving iron
Price: $225 each with Project X U or Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 6.0 graphite shaft and Golf Pride New Decade MultiCompound grip
Specs: Cast MAS1C maraging stainless steel with internal tungsten weights and 431 stainless steel body. Right-hand only
Available: Feb. 3
Many golfers who use Mizuno irons mix and match clubs to create a blended set. While they want the feel and control of the company’s muscleback blades in the scoring irons, hitting a muscleback 4-iron or 5-iron can be challenging. Clubs with a shallow cavity-back design or a hollow-bodied design can increase forgiveness and make it easier to hit high-flying, soft-landing shots.
And while using a traditional game-improvement club as a driving iron is possible, the new Mizuno Pro Fli-Hi was made specifically to be a driving iron for better players who want hybrid-style ball speed but iron-style control.
There will not be a complete set of Mizuno Pro Fli-Hi irons – the model is available only as a 2-iron (16.5 degrees), 3-iron (19 degrees) or 4-iron (21.5 degrees).
Internal tungsten weights and a managing steel face help increase ball speed and promote higher-flying shots with the Mizuno Pro Fli-Hi driving irons. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
From a construction standpoint, the Mizuno Pro Fli-Hi has a face designed using the same MAS1C maraging stainless steel that Mizuno uses in its fairway woods and hybrids. Its strength allowed designers to make the hitting area extremely thin, so the face flexes more easily and generates more ball speed.
The body is made from 431 stainless steel, and inside the head’s hollow chamber, Mizuno added a 21-gram tungsten piece that drives the center of gravity down and back, away from the face. This should encourage a higher launch, more spin and a steeper angle of descent to help shots stop more quickly on the greens.
The dark finish of the Mizuno Pro Fli-Hi makes it appear smaller and thinner at address. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Unlike the rest of the Mizuno Pro line, the Mizuno Pro Fli-Hi is slightly larger than the club is replaces. The sole is slightly wider, the topline is a touch thicker and there is a bit more offset. At the same loft as a Mizuno Pro 225, it comes 0.25 inches longer and with a graphite shaft, because it is a driving iron. Those qualities will be reassuring on the tee box and should help the club hit tee shots more effectively. To make it appear slightly smaller, Mizuno gave the Mizuno Pro Fli-Hi a dark finish.