Mizuno Pro 241 Vs Mizuno Pro 221 Irons
The Mizuno Pro 241 irons have been released to replace the Pro 221 irons.
But what are the differences? Read on to find out.
Mizuno Pro 241 Irons Overview
“The Mizuno Pro 241’s feature grain flow forging, increased bounce soles and mass centralized behind the impact zone.”
In terms of looks, the new 241’s have sleeker muscle back blades with rounded edges. They really look stunning behind the ball.
The increased bounce (by 2°) angles are a godsend for chronic diggers like me. Even on fat shots, the 241’s provided solid contact with excellent launch properties. They cost $1400.
Mizuno Pro 221 Irons Overview
“The Pro 221 irons feature graduated tapered blades, sole camber and are grain flow forged.”
The muscle back design is still there; but the edges are sharper and more stark.
However, the 221’s are still remarkably workable. And with identical loft profiles you get the same launch as the 241’s: steep angles with soft landings and proper spin.
The Mizuno Pro 221s retail for around $1200.
“When hit flush, the Mizuno Pro 241’s don’t drop-off in spin – the 221’s do. Plus, the 241’s have better turf interaction so clearly, some improvements have been made.”
Mizuno Pro 241 Irons – First Impressions
“I was struck by the aggressive tapering of these blades.”
They are compact and even with rounder edges than most blades, look like really inviting irons.
And unlike the other new Pro irons which feature multi-material construction, all the irons in the Mizuno Pro 241 set are forged from 1025E carbon steel.
For me, that meant a consistently soft and responsive feel throughout the set. The Mizuno Pro 241’s also feature a soft copper underlayer to enhance the overall feel.
And the feel is one of the first things I really liked about these irons.
Again, even when I bottomed-out a bit too early, I still got a nice solid feel at impact and was able to manage a nice little cut.
I attributed that to the acute feel from the amazing forged, single-piece construction of these irons.
Almost immediately, I was burning the 7-iron for 170 yards of carry, 120 MPH ball speed and spin in the 7,000 RPM range.
I was very satisfied with the overall performance after just a couple of warm-up swings.
As you get down to the scoring irons, you will notice that the blade lengths shrink down quite a bit.
The short irons are super compact and I cannot stress that enough. The offset is about the width of a follicle of hair and the scoring lines pretty much make up the entirety of the blade.
That all being said, the scoring irons are supremely workable. What Mizuna has done with the 241 irons, and since they are geared towards better players, is move more mass behind the hitting zone.
So you get a slightly higher CG throughout the set and amazing distance when you flush these irons.
Even with a shaft setup that clearly wasn’t for me, I was getting really good carry and was able to flight the ball at will thanks to the slightly higher CG.
In the end, I was able to work the ball left and right, up and down which is exactly what you want from blades.
Overall I was really pleased with the workability, surprised by the near-immediate distance I was getting and thrilled with the turf interaction.
As a player who digs much deeper than I like to admit, I was getting very good flight, spin and distance even when I hit the ball fat.
Mizuno Pro 221 Irons – First Impressions
Let’s talk a little bit about the technology first.
This is a single piece Grain Flow Forged, made from 1025E Pure Select mild carbon steel. This is top of the range stuff, it is made in Mizuno’s factory Hiroshima, Japan.
A new piece of technology from Mizuno is the microlayer of copper beneath Nickel Chrome. This will give the irons an incredibly soft feel of the face, enhancing the Mizuno’s reputation for great feeling irons even further.
A blade is going to be the least forgiving iron on the market, but Mizuno have relocated the weight away from the heel area, this makes the club more forgiving.
Mizuno have made the top line smaller and shortened the blade length, this makes the club more compact for improved control and workability.
As blades are specifically made for the better player, Mizuno have taken feedback from the worlds best and dramatically reduced the size of the 8-PW, they have also included a heavily taped upper blade to control trajectory.
After reading up about all this technology, you can be sure we were very excited to try this out. The Pro 221 definitely lives up to the Mizuno name, the small compact head looked mean behind the ball. The feel off the face was incredible, unbelievably soft.
Unfortunately we are not good enough golfers to play these irons, which made the longer irons very hard to hit, when struck well the ball flew great, but we were heavily punished on miss hits. Although not as bad as we thought we would be, you could see the small changes to technology has really helped here.
Like we mentioned before, for a low handicap, going with a combo set in these will be amazing. The longer irons become very intimidating with the small head size.
Overall we loved them and wished we were good enough to play them.
Mizuno Pro 241 Irons Selling Points
- One-piece grain flow forged from 1025E carbon steel
- Increased bounce angle
- Soft copper underlay
- Excellent blade design
- Very compact short irons
- Full satin brush finish
- Aggressive blade tapering
- More mass moved behind the hitting zone
Mizuno Pro 221 Irons Selling Points
- Single piece forged for ultimate performance and feel
- Microlayer of copper enhances feel
- Thinner top line and blade length, makes it even more compact
- 8-PW are more compact giving you more workability
- Lives up to the Mizuno name
Who Are the Mizuno Pro 241 Irons for?
The Mizuno Pro 241 irons are great for low handicappers who want to be able to work the ball while getting excellent feel and response.
And if you’re anything like me and tend to dig, you will absolutely love these irons.
They shrunk my divots and produced more favorable lies for me even when I wasn’t on my A-game.
But make no mistake about it, you have to be able to flush the ball consistently with these irons.
The short irons in this set are very compact so accuracy is a must if you want any kind of control or distance from these irons.
But if you can currently manage blades pretty well, the Mizuno Pro 241 irons will reward you with buttery feel, acute workability and distance you probably wouldn’t expect from blades.
The Mizuno Pro 241s currently retail for around $1400.
The Mizuno Pro Family of Irons
“The new Pro line also features the 243 and 245 irons.”
The 243s and 245s feature multi-material construction. The 243’s are slightly larger than the 241s while the 245 irons are the player’s distance entry into the pro line and are the biggest in terms of profile.
Distance: 97/100
Accuracy: 97/100
Forgiveness: 94/100
Feel & Control: 98/100
Overall Score: 96/100
Who Are the Mizuno 221 Irons For?
Only the best players should consider these irons, at the end of the day they are still complete blades.
Mizuno have made these slightly more forgiving than your traditional blade, but don’t be fooled, if you compare them to mid handicap irons, you will lose distance and forgiveness will be dramatically worse.
Even Though the best players in the world won’t play a full set of blades these days. We highly recommended going for a combo set.
The Mizuno Pro Family of Irons
Mizuno has two other models in the Pro range, the 223 and 225. Both are more forgiving than the Pro 221, but have the same concept in mind.
The Mizuno Pro 223 has ball speed-enhancing technology built inside the construction of the head of a compact player’s cavity. They have included a brand new technology concept from 4-7 iron, it combines Mizuno’s tested Chromoly Forging and Flow Micro-Slot Grain Flow Forged with a soft copper underlay, this cavity back iron has a great feel and sound, plus it is surprisingly forgiving.
The Mizuno Pro 225 is modeled off the famous Hot Metal Blade. It is the easiest to hit and most forgiving iron in the Mizuno Pro series. It is more compact than the original and has a new CORTECH multi-thickness face for faster ball speeds. It has the Grain Flow Forged and soft copper underlay like the other two models in the series. This gives the iron an incredible feel off the face.
Distance: 90/100
Accuracy: 98/100
Forgiveness: 85/100
Feel & Control: 99/100
Overall Score: 93/100
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