Srixon ZX5 Vs. Mizuno JPX 921 Hot Metal Irons Comparison Overview

Today we are going to be taking a look at a couple of iron sets that occupy a middle-ground between the player’s performance and game improvement categories. Mizuno is known for their high-end irons but with the JPX 921 Hot Metal irons, they are appealing to lower handicap players.

The same goes with the Srixon ZX5 irons. The ZX line of irons consists of 4 different models and the Srixon ZX5’s are right in the middle between smaller, sleeker irons like the ZX7’s and chunkier distance irons like the ZX4’s. Let’s take a look at both of these irons.

Srixon ZX5 Irons Overview

The Srixon ZX5 irons offer a cool combination of premium features along with added distance and forgiveness.

They sport a nice tandem of SUP10 forged face construction and a forged carbon steel body. At impact, these feel like player’s performance irons. The forged face offers an excellent feel and feedback.

When combined with the forged carbon steel though, the Srixon ZX5’s give the flex of a metal-wood. In the long irons, the Srixon ZX5’s sport a tungsten toe weight. This really helped keep the ball straight when we hit out towards the toe.

At address, the Srixon ZX5 have moderate offset and thicker soles compared to the ZX7 irons. Launch is good and distance is comparable to the JPX 921 hot metal irons.

Mizuno JPX 921 Hot Metal Irons Overview

The JPX 921 Hot Metal irons are the more forgiving entries into the JPX 921 family of irons.

The great thing about them is that even though they were meant for lower handicap players, they still have the chromoly construction that the other JPX 921 irons have. This material adds great consistency – reminiscent of player’s performance irons – to these clubs.

The Hot Metal irons also employ a seamless cup face design that allows for very thin milling. The ball speed on these irons are great. In fact, the 7-iron in this set went longer than the Srixon ZX5 7-iron by an average of 3 yards. However, the Hot Metal irons were much less forgiving.

The added forgiveness in the Srixon ZX5 irons is something we really liked – especially because they were made for mid to high handicappers. The Mizuno JPX 921 Hot Metal irons play long and have a great feel; but they would probably be less helpful in the hands of high handicappers.

Srixon ZX5 Irons – First Impressions

The Srixon ZX5 irons are a major improvement over the Srixon Z585 irons which had a cheaper, more game improvement look about them.

The first thing we noticed about these irons is how nice they look. Srixon got rid of the back insert which made the previous Srixon irons look a bit cheap. The Srixon ZX5’s on the other hand have the look of a premium set of forged irons.

They have a sharp, sleek look even as the cavity back pokes out a little more noticeably in the long irons.

Another reason we think the Srixon ZX5 irons would be good for mid handicappers is the amount of offset you see at point of address. The Srixon ZX5’s have a moderate amount of offset that is enough to inspire confidence but not enough to make these look like a pure set of game improvement irons.

Srixon did a good job of making the Srixon ZX5’s occupy the middle ground between player’s performance and game improvement irons. When compared to the ZX7’s you will notice that the top line is a bit thicker.

The Srixon ZX5’s also have longer blades than the ZX7’s. However, this is to be expected. The ZX7’s are definitely more of a pure set of player’s performance irons and emphasize workability over forgiveness. Still, the Srixon ZX5’s aren’t much bigger than the ZX7’s.

Mizuno JPX921 First Impressions

The JPX921 irons couple incredibly sleek looks at address and with an amazing forged feel.

The Mizuno JPX921 Forged irons have a beveled trailing edge on the sole which smooths out turf interaction.

This coupled with the obvious amazing feel from the grain flow forging process makes these irons so pleasing to swing.

The blades of these muscle back irons are pretty compact and there is a part of the back area that has been milled to increase stability and thin out the back wall a bit.

These irons also feature the notorious chromoly construction which contributes to the soft feel.

Srixon ZX5 Irons Selling Points

Multi-material construction
Tungsten toe weights in the long irons
“V” shaped sole
Narrower, deeper face grooves in the scoring irons
Milled back side

Mizuno JPX921 Selling Points

Good accuracy
Forgiving
Played longer
Great feedback
Toe bias
Milled back

Who Are the Srixon ZX5 Irons for?

Srixon isn’t wrong when they say that the Srixon ZX5’s will have something to offer players of all skill levels. But after testing these irons, it’s clear that the players that stand to gain the most from these irons are mid handicappers.

They offer a moderate degree of workability which will suit the needs of players who are just starting to learn how to work the ball to their advantage on the fairway. Both the long and short irons have enough stopping power for the mid handicapper as well.

While the longer irons sacrifice a bit of spin control in favor of forgiveness and distance, we think most mid handicappers will be able to overlook this minor flaw. And since most mid handicappers will still want a moderate degree of forgiveness, the longer blades and thicker soles of the Srixon ZX5’s will suit them better than the ZX7 irons.

The Srixon ZX Family of Irons

The Srixon like of ZX irons also includes the popular Srixon ZX7 irons. The ZX7 irons have less offset, thinner top lines and thinner soles across the board so at point of address, they may scare some mid and high handicappers away.

However, you do get acute spin control from the scoring irons and excellent workability. Like the Srixon ZX5 irons, the ZX7’s are also fully forged. They also feature tungsten weights in the toes of the longer irons to help keep the blade from turning over.

As you might expect from a set of player’s performance irons, the ZX7’s also have stronger loft characteristics than the ZX5’s. Everything is the same up until the five iron: the Srixon ZX5 5-iron is 24 degrees while the 5-iron of the ZX7 set is 25 degrees.

So you do get slightly higher launch and sharper descent angles from the Srixon ZX7 irons starting with the 5-iron. Again though, this is pretty much to be expected from a set that is geared towards lower handicap players.

Distance: 94/100

Accuracy: 93/100

Forgiveness: 93/100

Feel & Control: 95/100

Overall Score: 93/100

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Who Are The JPX 921 Forged Irons For

For starters, these irons would work great for any player who wants to emphasize precise feedback and feel as a low handicapper and beyond.

We can’t emphasise enough that you’re not going to want to invest in these irons if you’re just starting out with golf. These are performance irons through and through for the better players.

While the JPX921 Forged irons do give impressive distance the compact heads and points of design emphasis will be lost on beginners who will struggle to find the sweet spot consistently, if they don’t find the higher price point off putting enough already.

The JPX921 irons did play more accurate around the pin and were more forgiving than many forged Irons with their toe bias weighting.

Perfect for single digit handicap pin hunters around the world.

The JPX921 Family

The JPX921 Forged irons are joined by the JPX921 Tour and JPX921 Hot Metal irons.

The JPX921 Tour irons produce surprisingly straight shots for tour-grade clubs. They have sleek, compact heads and feature the same grain flow forging construction.

The JPX921 Hot Metal irons are the most forgiving in the family with a Cup Face design that preserves ball speed around the perimeter.