Mizuno JPX923 Forged Iron Review
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At a glance
- TG Rating
- Owner Rating
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Pros
- A beautifully made players' distance iron.
- There's an excellent selection of shaft options available with no upcharge.
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Cons
- The model is not available until February 2023.
- Some purists won't love the slightly stronger lofts from 7-iron - GW.
What we say...
The Mizuno JPX923 Forged is a full-body forged Chromoly steel iron. Here we explore what type of golfer should have them in their bag.
The players’ distance iron market only really took off back in 2014. Back then it was Callaway who revealed the first strong lofted forged Apex iron that whets the appetite of reasonable golfers looking to combine speed/distance and a forged feel within a single iron model.
With sales soaring Callaway were quickly followed to market by the TaylorMade P790 and PXG’s hollow body offerings. But for a traditional forged iron company like Mizuno, where the landscape had changed so quickly, for a couple of years at least they struggled to keep up and compete.
It wasn’t until the back end of 2020 when Mizuno introduced the JPX921 Forged, the first iron to be forged from springy chromoly steel (with the intention of boosting ball speeds and distance within a one-piece forged iron), that the brand started pinging the radar of reasonable golfers wanting to chase distance within the compact chassis of a players’ iron.
The new JPX923 Forged is the brand’s 2nd generation full-body chromoly steel iron, here’s what you need to know about them and why we rate them among the best golf irons.
Details: Mizuno JPX923 Forged iron
RRP: £185 per club
Availability: 4 – GW
7-iron loft: 30°
Category/Forgiveness rating: Players’ Distance Iron / 2.5
A mid-sized grain flow forged cavity back that delivers a brilliant blend of ball speed, stability and feel to a wide audience of players. The 4 – 7 iron are forged from a single billet of Mizuno’s 3rd generation (the 2nd generation appeared in the Mizuno Pro 223 and Pro 225 irons) springy 4120 Chromoly steel, and Mizuno reckon thanks to craftily thinning the face (from 2.6mm to 2.2mm) golfers can expect extreme ball speeds from its compact profile.
To maximise feel, consistency and precision in the scoring irons the 8 – GW are forged from 1025E mild carbon steel (just like the JPX923 Tour), each head’s also more compact with a shorter blade length than its predecessor.
Director of Product at Mizuno, Chris Voshall says “the JPX923 Forged pulls off two impressive achievements. First, it feels more solid even though it’s faster from the face. Second, it looks sleeker with a thinner topline and narrower sole even though it’s more forgiving.”
We rate the Mizuno JPX923 Forged among the best players’ distance irons.
Video: How does the Mizuno JPX923 Forged compare to other leading 2024 Players’ Distance irons?
What you need to know about the Mizuno JPX923 Forged iron
Reinforced chassis
Mizuno say thanks to building extra reinforcement and rigidity into the irons cavity golfers can expect a more solid feel and feedback from this fast-face model.
Mizuno’s highest COR (coefficient of restitution) one-piece iron
Forged irons and thin, fast faces don’t typically go hand-in-hand. The stamping process of forging makes it difficult to control production tolerances in the way that the precision of CNC Milling can. Mizuno’s solution is to first forge the head, then they cleverly CNC Mill in through the sole to create the back of the face. And in this generation, there’s a 5mm wider pocket behind the face.
The idea increases the size of the rebound area, making a more efficient iron on off-centre hits. Mizuno say the new model is their fastest one-piece forging to date.
Thinner face
Thanks to being constructed from Chromoly 4120 steel the JPX923 Forged is Mizuno’s strongest one-piece iron ever. The makeup means the company’s engineers have thinned crucial areas of the face by up to 0.4mm, which does no harm at all when it comes to boosting ball speed.
You little tinker
Every new iron launch from Mizuno comes with a slightly refined head shape. Often club golfers will struggle to spot the tiny differences, but Mizuno say that compared to the previous JPX921 Forged this new model has a thinner topline throughout the set, and the 7-PW are slightly more compact in blade length.
Verdict: Mizuno JPX923 Forged iron
Cast an eye over the data chart below and you’ll see how even though the Forged is nearly two years old it’s still very much a top performer for distance (180 yards carry distance – 4th longest), which obviously is a prerequisite within this category.
Thanks to some serious primping and preening over the last few generations the Forged has become quite a low offset, narrow sole, cavity back offering so be warned this profile is bordering on falling into the Players’ Iron category.
As much as our test pro loved the feel and feedback, and how the Forged produced the smallest carry distance drop-off of the category, and squeezed shots into a 36.6% smaller dispersion area than our test average, with the model fast approaching its 2nd birthday the Forged is just a bit hard to hand on heart fully recommend in 2024.
If I were spending my own money I’d really want to know that it’s highly likely before the years out that there will be a replacement for this desirable model on the scene.
Data comparison: How does the Mizuno JPX923 Forged compare to leading competitor players’ distance irons?
| Iron | 7-Iron Loft | Ball Speed | Launch Angle | Backspin | Height | Descent Angle | Carry Distance | Carry Distance Drop Off | Shot Area |
| Mizuno JPX923 Hot Metal Pro | 28.5° | 124.1 MPH (1) | 14.6° | 4881 RPM | 28 YDS | 41.8° | 186 YDS (1) | 22 YDS | 741.4 SQ YDS |
| Srixon ZX5 MK II | 31° | 122.8 MPH (3) | 15.8° | 5292 RPM | 30 YDS | 44° | 181 YDS (T2) | 18 YDS | 392.4 SQ YDS |
| Callaway Paradym | 29° | 123 MPH (2) | 14.2° | 5120 RPM | 27 YDS | 41.5° | 181 YDS (T2) | 15 YDS | 360 SQ YDS |
| Mizuno JPX923 Forged | 30° | 122.4 MPH | 14.5° | 5117 RPM | 27 YDS | 41.8° | 180 YDS | 7 YDS (1) | 210 SQ YDS |
| PXG 0311 P GEN 6 | 30° | 122.2 MPH | 14.6° | 5520 RPM | 28 YDS | 42.6° | 178 YDS | 10 YDS | 199 SQ YDS |
| Vega Mizar Tour | 30° | 122.3 MPH | 13.5° | 5381 RPM | 26 YDS | 40.8° | 178 YDS | 13 YDS | 360.1 SQ YDS |
| Sub 70 699 Pro | 30° | 121.8 MPH | 14.9° | 5349 RPM | 28 YDS | 42.6° | 178 YDS | 10 YDS | 166 SQ YDS (1) |
| Yonex Ezone CB702 | 31° | 122.6 MPH | 15.6° | 5820 RPM | 30 YDS | 44.4° | 177 YDS | 23 YDS | 533.6 SQ YDS |
| TaylorMade P790 | 30.5° | 121.6 MPH | 15.1° | 5932 RPM | 29 YDS | 43.7° | 175 YDS | 8 YDS (T2) | 180.8 SQ YDS (2) |
| Wilson Dynapower Forged | 30.5° | 120.8 MPH | 13.9° | 5482 RPM | 26 YDS | 41.1° | 175 YDS | 9 YDS | 188.1 SQ YDS (3) |
| Ping i525 | 30.5° | 120 MPH | 15° | 5666 RPM | 28 YDS | 42.7° | 173 YDS | 11 YDS | 217.8 SQ YDS |
| Titleist T200 | 30.5° | 119.7 MPH | 15.4° | 5760 RPM | 28 YDS | 43.3° | 173 YDS | 13 YDS | 331.5 SQ YDS |
| Cobra Forged Tec | 29.5° | 119.4 MPH | 14.7° | 5558 RPM | 27 YDS | 41.9° | 173 YDS | 20 YDS | 612 SQ YDS |
| Mizuno Pro 245 | 30° | 119.3 MPH | 16.1° | 5481 RPM | 29 YDS | 43.6° | 173 YDS | 14 YDS | 271.6 SQ YDS |
| Takomo 101 T | 32° | 116.7 MPH | 16° | 6383 RPM | 28 YDS | 43.9° | 165 YDS | 8 YDS (T2) | 203.2 SQ YDS |
| Average | 121.2 MPH | 14.9° | 5516.1 RPM | 27.9 YDS | 42.6° | 176.4 YDS | 13.4 YDS | 331.2 SQ YDS |
Specs: Mizuno JPX923 Iron family
READ NEXT: Which Mizuno iron is best for you?
Product Information
Mizuno JPX923 Forged iron
RRP: £185 per club
Availability: 4 - GW
Stock shaft: KBS S-Taper Lite
Stock grip: Golf Pride MCC Plus4
7-iron loft: 30°
Category/Forgiveness rating: Players’ Distance Iron / 2.5
Visit the Mizuno website here
