Mizuno JPX One Review

Mizuno sells irons and has spent twenty years failing to sell drivers, so the JPX One had to do something other than exist. Nanoalloy is that something. Developed with the materials firm Toray, it disperses microscopic polymer through the face so the titanium changes its elasticity under load rather than flexing the same way at every speed. Laid over a forged face about a tenth thinner than the ST-Max used, it widens the zone that returns full ball speed by better than a seventh, and the low face strikes that cost amateurs the most yardage are where the difference shows.

The rest is sensible rather than clever. The head is 460cc with a longer footprint than Mizuno has used before, the 11 gram rear weight sits neutral for a straight flight, and the hosel moves through four degrees. Forgiveness is the real gain over the ST line, and the carbon crown and forged face give it the soft, low pitched impact Mizuno players expect, which no other driver at this price matches.

Spin is the caution. Testers saw it climb toward 4,000 revolutions with a fast swing and a high delivery, and the ball peaks too high and drops short. Fitted correctly, five hundred and ninety nine dollars buys more driver than the money usually gets.