The test that made Luke Donald switch to the hollow body Mizuno Pro 245 irons

In October 2023, Mizuno gathered its leading US-based tour players to check over its new Mizuno Pro irons. The intention was to demonstrate how well the new Mizuno Pro 243 and 245 could perform in an elite player’s hands. We didn’t expect long-time muscle back player Luke Donald to switch as quickly as he did to a full set of the 245s..

always the fun part I know you guys have
seen a lot of these during the Prototype
stage but finally these are all the new
new Muno Pro irons the official official
the 241 243 245 take a look I know a lot
of your feedback has come on to some of
these so take a look at him tell me what
you st I’m not a blade guy but I still
go for the
241 I’m getting older so I don’t know
why I just picked up
the where the hybrids I actually I
really do like this the look of the 245
so the 241 is what the blade and then
the 135 is kind of levels of forgiveness
the one is the blade it’s the kind of
most workable the three is a little bit
more forgiving the five is a little more
forgiving from there see the size kind
of little more rounded nose touch yeah
the head shape has been modified a
little bit kind of from some of the
feedback from you guys on the early
prototypes yeah still a nice thin Top
Line though should be even thinner than
the predecessor the two the two five
almost looks like a you know closer to a
blade even though it has the the
Forgiveness of a a muscle back that’s
going to be the one funny to see it
might trick some people actually it’s it
got a lot thinner than the last one I
know yeah from a dress great the the 241
and the 243 do look very similar you
know if you’re someone that looks like
you need a little bit more forgiveness
and some more height you can play the
243 yeah and still get the look of a 241
which you know
the Ben Griffin play and then the 245
obviously has a little bit more um yeah
a little bit more meat on it but it’s
not a crazy amount it’s still it’s still
the same you know I would say is is it
the same size terms of tow heel it’s a
touch longer a touch longer heel on the
245 versus the 241 and the 243 but it’s
not much compared to the last one it’s a
lot smaller than the last one was I
would just say like it’s hard to even
tell by the by the
you know just by the eye that it’s
really that much different the main
stuff you see is just a little bit
thicker on the top line and around the
sole the biggest thing to me is if if
you want to play a blade but to get the
Forgiveness of a of a cavity back and
some you know in the sole width then the
243 looks like you could get Best of
Both Worlds because they almost look
identical looking down between the 241
and 243 you look at the back of the iron
and you’re thinking oh wow this one’s
going to be way bulkier right you know
it it doesn’t look like a blade and you
put it down and they looks they yeah
they all do y’all have done an amazing
job hiding the like you said all the
forgiveness and making the address
position look like a blade and then
everything else look very um you know
look looks like it’s supposed to do on
the back that’s part of the whole thing
with Muno Pro is like yes there’s a lot
of technology in them but they’re super
clean like we want them to be as pure
looking as possible at a Dr yeah you
could fool some people the 245s look
like a set of blades right all right I
got to hit the 245 because I I know what
the 241s feel like I want I want the
there you go I I want the uh let’s see a
210 yard 7on this in the old so on this
one it got a little two two three it got
smaller that’s the biggest thing like
yeah the steps in terms of like the
Topline thickness and blade length and
stuff the 223
it was noticeably bigger than the 221 at
a dress this one’s not that much
different it’s really similar but the
tech actually got a it’s got a little
bit thinner face so a little bit easier
to launch so looks smaller but plays
bigger got a 2 four five is that a five
iron this is a 2457
iron that’s flush well I like the
Forgiveness cuz I thought I hit that
terrible and that’s right where we’re
aim start I mean there’s no need to hit
another one I mean definely good height
I think Keith could put the 245s in
especially on a on a Miss hit that was
incredible so you miss that one what
what’s your typical seven I would say
187 188 good 190 Miss 190 wow
yep two wow
right that was more flush that was much
more 192 do there you go see the only
two yards of difference on a flush
versus a miss and 5 yards farther 6,400
spin protect yourself from the dirt oh
no dirt that’ll be the telling one right
these are made for misses not for
Stripes
right 187 there you go a bad swing and a
miss hit with a 245 is my standard was a
6,000 SP 241 so what do you have in your
hand now this is the 241 okay so we’re
going back to what I would
play good height that’s that’s my that’s
my window it’s a little behind it but
it’s a good one speed came down a little
bit though didn’t 2 four5 is can have
more Pops to thinner face it is a little
bit stronger lofted that seven irons a
really traditional it’s a 34° this one’s
about 4° stronger so so you know there’s
a little bit in there knew that’s how
you play with your bikes yeah look at
about seven iron it’s going farther but
it’s really a six but the but How is the
height though that that’s kind of why
the are the cameras going to know this
right at 100 ft like both of them were
right at 100 feet on a standard on a
standard shot yeah and one went seven
yards farther exactly so I’d be curious
you talk
about you talk about being able to pull
it down see if you can pull that one
down into your window okay 245 yeah it’s
easy to talk about it being stronger
lofted but if you just Del lofted it the
PE Peak height wouldn’t be there spin
rate wouldn’t be there there’s a lot
more going on this one actually has a
hollow design there’s some tungsten low
and deep that’s going to get the ball up
in the air so even though it’s stronger
it actually gets up in the air just as
high yeah I mean that definitely came
down so there’s some workability with it
as well absolutely I think keth ready
for the 245 I’m ready for the 245s maybe
we just throw them in do you have any
what’s what’s your iron setup cuz you’ve
got a two two five in the longest iron
right in in a two iron in a two iron so
we could build one of those from a two
and it be game over absolutely hey let’s
just start with a pigeon wedge what are
we thinking Sand Wedge just gain 10
yards on all my
irons okay let’s do that let’s look at
the N iron I’m curious to look at an
look at that compared to a muscle back
and just talk to me about how different
it
is U you know the look is really not
that much different I agree I I just the
fact that you know you have all this
technology behind the ball but the look
still looks very traditional is
is is a huge
positive sometimes when you change IRS
and you want something more forgiving
but you look down and you’re like H I
don’t know if I can get used to this
this is so different this is this still
looks the part this would take about 3
minutes to get used to it’s really not
much difference how’s that one
158 what’s the spin on that 88 88 okay
mhm how’s the feel um I mean it it it
still feels very compact it doesn’t feel
hollow I hate that Hollow clicky feeling
with an iron this really still
feels solid and that’s one thing with
the Mauna Pros all of them they’re all
grain flow Forge they’re all going to
have that feel we’re building lot of
technology and a lot of speed into them
without giving that clicky Hollow feel
it’s that’s that’s I would say the look
at a dress at a 245 versus a 241 blade
is very similar the feel is very similar
just with a ton of added technology yeah
I would say the only real thing I’d miss
in a 2 four5 is is the workability MH
more of left to right than high to low
because I was able to bring it down but
that all all of it’s made to just bring
a ball flight in this way right
and I mean I would hate for you to hit
straighter it’s I mean it would be
horrible it’s it’s true I mean it’s it’s
an argument that’s really hard to stand
behind something you’re used to yeah
it’s hard it’s an argument that’s hard
to stand behind like oh I like to you
know curve my eight iron right right I
mean I’m so you like to know you could
if you want if you needed to though but
you know I would say we played a lot of
thick rough’s see you somew when you
have some a really big wide soulle and
thick rough it’s sometimes S I feel like
harder to get through when you have a
thinner sharper soul you can really get
through that rough and not lose any y
sort of
momentum um that’s true that’s that’s a
big thing for me is I mean you hope
you’re never in the rough right but if
you had a a stock eight iron in flag in
the middle of the green out of the
Fairway every time I don’t think anybody
wouldn’t use a 241 right no I me excuse
me a 245 the the bigger one so really
for your average golfer that’s not
having PJ tour rough it would almost be
Nob brainer yeah to me right yes and
even how would that be different in a
bunker anyone who picked these up would
be like oh these are a blade right right
I me yeah you know and that’s one of the
big Steps From the last one oh you’re
you’re playing blades now are you I mean
the nine looks like a blade yeah my
would so it’s interesting with the with
the nine iron this one’s Half Hollow so
where the seven iron and the and the
five iron those are fully Hollow when
you work down to the scoring irons to
make sure you still have some work
ability and some ability to control
those Heights this is a little bit Half
Hollow meaning that just this back
portion right here the lower part is
hollow butth didn’t even feel any Hollow
yeah I mean the technology is it makes
sense when it being hollow in the middle
but but you don’t get that click feeling
of a lot of hollow BL and that’s grain
flow forging like that’s why you forge
the face in the neck that’s why you do
the copper underlay on it all those
things make it feel almost
indistinguishable from mus
baby AB absolutely you I know you’ve
actually seen that happen you’ve seen
the forging Factory been to all the
places in Japan yeah it’s it’s
incredible what they do I mean the the
technology that they put into every
single piece is hand handmade absolutely
so yeah the forging house looped in an
awesome tour of that and got to see some
of the tech they put into all the
forgings and just it’s like even though
it’s an old school technique like
forging the the science behind the new
version of forging is so different all
right luk you want to hit a couple if I
have to
what you starting with I got the five
the 2 four five five iron I’m just going
pure
distance so what do you look for in a
five iron do you care about
workability yeah I mean I again I like
to work it both ways so is there a point
in your bag where you stop working it or
not even for you and your game I mean I
wouldn’t
really occasionally I would work sand
wedges I guess you know with certain pin
pin look and certainly the way I
practice at home so I’ll try and hit
some where I’m just starting right and
finishing making sure I’m right at the
hole never getting the other side so
again I’m working it trying to work it a
little bit both ways
yeah yeah right now I’m quite I’m quite
content with just straight
same that’s
flush is that
past I mean
is trending towards
Keith let’s go let’s go you still got
some good height from that too exactly
92 ft be nice to be able to
do Groove low but we’ll we’ll see what
the numbers are dropped off a little bit
spin didn’t fall off too much couple
yards shorter
pretty good though
yeah there it is there it
is nice window that’s nice all right I’m
done 206 206 pretty consistent with that
and we getting right around 5,000 RPM
with the five iron that’s one of the
things a lot of the new modern clubs
like that that are strong they don’t
spin enough and a lot of like amate we
don’t have the swing speed of a Keith
Mitchell they flop fall out of the sky
and we get into the long iron they don’t
Peak height high enough and they come
come in flat and just take off so we’ve
actually tried to add spin across the
board on all of these so all of them
will spin it a little bit more and get
you a little bit more stopping power
especially when you get into the 43 and
the 45 not as much in the 241 but on the
more forgiving ones definitely needed
more spin well let’s get someone who can
really flush it to a 24
one what do you have in your hand the
nine I have the nine I didn’t start with
the five iron purposefully confident
very so confident can’t even get in the
track
window
well this lie looks really good over
here we can get you a t too tight for
you
we Sorry Keith I mean I hit it good
148 1499 149 there you
go I want a 151 please 151 all right
shouldn’t Luke be doing the distance
control
drills I can do it for you though full
number oh he did it uh it might be 53 oh
Wow’s
see 55 strong it well it was going to
spend cuz the forging it creates more
spin for me probably that Groove is a
little spin rate’s low you got got all
that mud in the groove oh that’s I put
chapstick on my
n so you’re a 223 player right now
currently yes so check out the two the
243 tell me your initial thoughts when
you look at that one one 79 yeah
perfect initial thoughts it definitely
has more of a blade look than mine I
think I think mine have a little bit
more the the iron has just a little bit
longer it seems like is that true it is
yeah
um looks good though how about the top
lines it look a little thinner little
thinner little thinner Top Line a lot
players of your level aren’t going for
more distance but this one has a little
bit more speed built into it so I’m
curious with that the feel difference in
your eyes if you feel much difference
let’s see
nice height on
that yeah I felt like it came off maybe
just a tick harder um hotter sorry
hotter
yep
185 what’s your stock seven I’d say
around there okay yeah I mean it feels
like there’s almost no such thing it’s a
traditional set for a tour player now I
mean I look at all three of your bags
and it’s almost like there isn’t a
normal set anymore and yes we’ve made
three different models here and that’s
just because there’s so many different
ways to mix and match them of where you
need that added forgiveness where you
need that added speed and where you just
want control yeah for me it was getting
those right distances between the clubs
and and the right sort of Spin and like
height levels for me so it worked out
for me like comination distance and
height yeah and then you go straight
from the two the muscle back to the 225
right it it’s exactly it’s great that
you can have the option of like Luke
does you go the a one a three and a five
I have a one from n iron all the way up
to four iron and then just for a two
iron I’ll put in a five and the only
reason is because that two iron I’m
hitting mostly off of a t I’m trying to
hit it I’m not trying to work it I’m
trying to hit it you know far and
straight far and straight like there is
no workability in that two iron yeah you
skip a three so you’re not bridging a
gap you’re bridging a gap to to a
fairway wood exactly I’m go if if my two
iron in play it goes three wood two iron
four iron so there’s a big gap that that
thing needs to cover so um I mean I you
know honestly like I really like the
blades in my longer irons for some
reason like I feel like I would be the
opposite and put the bigger ones in my
nine ir and try to bring the spin and
the height down right and then with the
four and I got so much height and spin
that like if I had one of those and it
it would just never come down so be have
a good problem to have right and talking
me about how you put your set together
yeah so I originally was using the the
blades the two two ones but I switch to
the two four two 43s oh no
223s um just for the added forgiveness
um I wanted a a little bit bigger soul
and um a little bit more forgiving head
and that’s pretty much my only reasoning
behind it I thought it looked just as
good as a blade just saw it it was just
a little thicker and um I was I didn’t
mind it personally you you’ve got so
much speed
four brakes I have a two IR that’s in
the
jpx that I’ve used uh in a tournament
too again you know again I could have
used the 225 and strengthen it to a two
on like you have but then I found
something that you know was even hotter
CU again only times I put that in is
when I feel like there’s two or three
opportunities on a course where I might
be hitting that a te and you’re just
trying to you know gain an extra five
eight yards or something than you would
normally but it’s so I feel like you
know I’ll put that in instead of a
rescue just because I feel like the
dispersion is a little bit
better it’s straighter it’s feels easier
to hit it in the fair way and the
distance version is the same too you
don’t ever get the hot right it’s an
iron and I feel like sometimes when you
get a titanium you know head you might
get you one you just flush just right it
might actually go too farward the only
reason you’re hitting a two iron off of
a tea is to go a certain distance right
well now that the technology keeps
getting smaller and smaller in each one
it’s like the brakes keep getting deeper
and deeper into the set so now it’s like
it used to be I’d only want that in my
five iron or my four iron now it could
be that hey maybe the six is in play
because it got so much smaller so we’re
starting to see just putting the sets
together where really a fitter can help
you get dialed into to where yeah you
might actually keep more technology
deeper into the set than you ever
thought you would because if you’re a
guy that’s like I just like to look of a
blade and that’s why I play it well then
now you can actually put some technology
behind it and still like yeah it’s
almost like the we always talked about
play the most forgiving thing you can
stand to look at it was almost it was
almost a decision you had to make
because forgiveness equaled thicker Top
Line more offset kind of uglier Golf
Club it’s not really the case anymore
some I would love for someone to hit
just the seven iron of each one and
we’ll look at the peak Heights and
distances of each I think Luke’s already
got his glove on
wow it’s a good start one hit wonder
right there buddy here’s your 243 let me
clean that for you sir
yep I don’t think you can do better than
that 175 92
height it’s a little longer than your
standard seven iron didn’t you say you
hit your 7
173 um2 coming off a month of not really
hitting a ball yeah
yeah okay getting loose get
loose pure wow to
It Strike was all right that went
through nice
though nice flush divot a little bit
more carry 183 102 height 183 102 a
little longer and a little higher Ang
the b in the land angle was the same
too higher farther but with the same
Spin and the same land angle really
screw up my
caddy that’s actually
crazy makes you wonder why we don’t play
them I know what are we doing I mean
I’ll play
them pure there
too be interesting to see the draw on
the last one and the fade on this one
the difference we’ll see in car pull the
second one yeah SL pull 186
105 High
land angle and still gain more distance
with the same amount so that’s the
interesting conversation is people talk
about yeah are the 24 stronger yes
they’re stronger are the 243 stronger
yes but each one got stronger but it
went higher and it landed steeper and it
and it still had and still the same spin
it’s still the same spin exactly you
created that distance and the
Forgiveness without
compromising spin in the wind exactly if
you’re hitting those all the same spin
right that’s pretty impressive abolutely
was one of the big goals here was to
make sure that we’re not just
strengthening the golf club like it’s
it’s easy just to make it go further
because it’s stronger but you can’t play
golf like that right you know these are
all about scoring and all about
Precision gain 10 yards you literally
just gained 10 yards with the same exact
you gained 10 yards height and a steeper
land angle right all your clubs got a
half inchor all with the same spin Kyle
just made the wrong clubs for
me is he someone
called um what what do you want Captain
uh well make it tough obviously not your
not natural shape that you like let’s
hit a let hit a highy dra with with
which one o um yeah 245 245 five iron
Hydra left to right when left to right
with the left ey win my now we’re
talking so I can unnormalized this he’s
got these guys really are yeah yeah
unnormalized it unnormalized it has to
draw it has to actually draw into the it
has to continue to fall left it has it
can’t fall right wow Keith can do
it oh man that is not one how many how
many shots do you get it it continued to
fall left the height was probably not
quite that M height was 55 55 you’re
halfway
there speaking of getting
tight that’s a tight lie trying to hit
High
there it is oh Baby
that I like that that’s a pass it’s
going be one yeah 20 120ish yeah dude
you can still work the 245s 140 141 yes
I love it do I have to go higher than
that that’s going to be tough to go
higher up six to the right like
it a nice
dra got it
solid it’s pure I just couldn’t get it
high enough you got your I got a hundo
though yeah
absolutely 122 close beautiful we should
we should as this is a club this men get
the B up right I mean let’s let’s go the
other low low fate I like it same Club
the chall let’s say 70 or lower but it’s
got to carry at least 200
wow and it’s got a fade yeah
unnormalized unnormalized oh you’re
unnormalized yeah do
190 195 no keep it keep it 200 keep it
200 that
Advantage
cash it’s not cash it’s cash
cashmere oh baby it’s too high pretty
good you think that’s too high would you
say 7 70 or 75 did I say oh I think he’s
said 70 I think it’s
72 oh 89 God are you kidding plenty of
carry though
216 that was
smoked there we go now we’re
talking got that uh got that grip left
yeah I would love to see the club path
differences on those 59.5 there you go
oh 19 we said 195 you’re good you’re
what was it so I’ve moved my club path
11° in the difference of those two shots
for the draw and the
fade
strike minus 86 there you go yeah yeah I
just can’t get that Keith speed
though what what was your target 190 18
9.9 and the height had to be 69 what was
it 699 round up oh my gosh one off on
everything that’s crazy still I mean
with a club again that’s meant to get
the ball up exactly you know you’re able
to keep this set 70 which is way below
what we usually hit absolutely right
does it feel like it’s popping off the
face or does it feel more feels pure
yeah no I I don’t feel any of that like
obviously the the distance Has Changed
by 10 yards with a seven it didn’t feel
any different yeah it didn’t feel
different that’s the feel felt the same
and you know obviously when you look
down at it it looks pretty similar it
looks very similar just makes comboing
that much easier you uh yeah I’m
impressed options AB I love what you
said just lets the numbers decide all of
a sudden you’ve taken all the Aesthetics
and feel and all the emotional Parts out
of it and now the numbers can dictate
where you break your set makes me
question my
decisions yeah I mean that looks like a
blade 245 nice and from the dress it’s
funny we actually saw some times in
manufacturing where you’d accidentally
pull a wrong one and if you don’t catch
it all of a sudden they’re so close that
you can build the wrong one so can you
make a two four five and a
sandwich have too much of a gap from my
sandwich to my
witch for you absolutely Luke a little
absolutely you heard it here first
getting