In 1999, Mizuno was the #1 iron on the PGA Tour for the sixth consecutive year.

With a total of 1,215 sets of irons in play, Mizuno won the iron count at 40 of the 46 PGA Tour events this season. The nearest competitor had a total of 901 sets of irons in play.

Designed with input from PGA Tour Pros and the Mizuno Advisory Staff, the new
    Pro-II™ is the best T-ZOID ever.

Mizuno has taken its expertise in forged golf club design one step further with the development of the new T-ZOID Pro-II, a forged, modified cavity-back iron.

The design of the new Pro-II differs from the original T-ZOID Pro in several ways. The Pro-II features a redesigned T-ZOID Bar that spreads mass more evenly behind the sweet area for better feel and control. The T-ZOID Pro-II was engineered using Mizuno's exclusive Cavity Flow Design, which produces a wider sweet area in the long irons and more control in the mid and short irons. These two enhancements allow the player to better control their shot trajectory.

The Pro-II features a new cambered sole design that helps prevent turf drag, for better ball contact and improved playability in tough lies.

The Pro-II is ideal for golfers who are looking for the traditional look and feel of a muscle back blade with the forgiveness offered by a cavity back design. Mizuno has taken the playability of the T-Zoid Pro and added more feel and control.

For the majority of the golfing population, Mizuno’s T-Zoid Comp EZ Irons are probably one of the best sets available at a reasonable price.

Understanding that the newer investment cast clubs are so much easier to hit for the mid to high handicappers, even if they do not feel nearly as satisfying as forged irons, as is so often the case in life, the ends tend to justify the means.

Now Mizuno proposes that it's possible to marry the benefits of both approaches the expanded sweet spot of cast clubs with the softer feel of forged blades. The result, the best selling T-Zoid Comp EZ irons are on the market to prove their point.

The T-Zoid Comp EZ's are formed by way of Mizuno's "Grain Flow Forging," a process that paradoxically, strengthens the head while enhancing its softness. Mizuno then enlarged the head and redistributed the weight in its distinguishing T-Zoid bar behind the face to expand the effective hitting area -- making it a full 25% larger than competing cast brands.

To complete the package, Mizuno matched these enlarged yet forged heads with True Temper Gold Plus steel shafts with Sensicore vibration dampening. For graphite lovers, the Mizuno Accel-Arc graphite shafts with "Active Kick" technology are available. FYI, the steel shafts do outsell the graphite and our staff of testers used steel shafts. The reason possibly being that a forged head and a graphite shaft is an odd mix. One promotes feel while the other dampens it. Overall testing produced over an 80% satisfaction rate amongst the 25 pros and high handicappers that used the T-Zoid Comp EZ in the test.

The general consensus was that the T-Zoid Comp EZs delivered comparable if not superior accuracy, distance and control versus the cast competition. Another highlight and observation by our testers, especially the high handicapper testers, was the "sweetness" to the response at impact which simply has to be felt to be appreciated. Another observation made were that T-Zoid Comp EZs felt as if there was more weight in their heads than the average iron set, allowing the testers free to swing them more easily. This, no doubt, was of terrific value in and of itself.

These irons deliver all of the goods and virtually no negative aspects especially when clean shots are made and even when shots were slightly off center shots, they produced acceptable results.

The other most outstanding feature and response were to the great aesthetics made possible with the heavier use of chrome resulting in a well received "shiny look" to the set. The lines on these irons are clean, simple and elegant from all angles. The fit, finish and durability are excellent and even the offset angle of the club heads (which makes hitting them EZ-er) is subtler than on many competing clubs. Classic is definitely the word that comes to mind.

The steel sets sell for approximately $599 with graphite about $200 more.

Also tested were the two new Mizuno Drivers and Fairway Woods, which scored extremely well with all of our testers.

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T-Zoid Forged Titanium driver

Mizuno has taken its expertise in forgings to the next level with the introduction of the new T-Zoid Forged Titanium driver. The T-Zoid Forged driver features Mizuno's patent pending CORTECH face design and four-piece forged Titanium construction to provide superior distance and optimum forgiveness for golfers of all skill levels.

The T-Zoid Forged Driver features Mizuno's revolutionary new CORTECH (Coefficient Of Restitution Technology) design. After discovering that thinning the material on the heel side of the clubface had a disproportionately large effect on the overall flex of the face, Mizuno's engineers designed a face of dual thickness that is thinner in a "C" shaped area closest to the heel. The "C" shaped area around the heel is naturally the most rigid part of the clubface, and therefore the most sensitive to increasing spring-like effect. This allowed Mizuno to increase the flex of the entire clubface while maintaining its strength. The increased face rebound creates a spring-like effect that generates greater initial ball velocity and increases driving distance.

The four-pieced forged Titanium construction features a beta Titanium face, alpha-beta Titanium crown, forged pure Titanium body and Titanium.

The all-new forged alpha-beta Titanium crown allows the top portion of the clubhead to be thin, strong and ultra-lightweight (20% of total clubhead weight). By using this lightweight material, Mizuno can redistribute weight to the sole of the club to lower the center of gravity, thus increasing the launch angle and improving overall driving distance. The forged pure Titanium sole provides 50% of total clubhead weight, which lowers the center of gravity while increasing perimeter weighting and sweet area. The forged beta Titanium face creates a thinner, stronger and more reactive face.

With the introduction of the T-Zoid Forged driver, Mizuno has taken its Tour proven forging technology in irons and applied it to woods. By forging the head of the driver, Mizuno is able to create a uniform titanium grain structure and optimum material thickness. This allows each of the four pieces to be made using the ideal Titanium Alloy for each part.

The T-Zoid Forged driver also features Mizuno's proprietary Diamondface punchdot/U-Groove pattern which helps achieve the ideal spin rate of 2800 rpm for maximum distance and roll out on a typical driver swing

Pricing for the Drivers : $350

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THE NEW MIZUNO PRO 300S DRIVER

We were fortunate enough to have the privilege of testing the new 300s. It is indeed an awesome weapon, beautifully designed and sure to be the driver that will both compete with the Ping ISI and cause the USGA grief.

The Mizuno Pro 300S driver features a four-piece clubhead made entirely of Strong Forged Beta Titanium. By using this material, Mizuno was able to create a thinner uniform face thickness (2.8 mm). By thinning the clubface and incorporating Mizuno’s four-piece forged construction, the Mizuno Pro 300S driver enhances a spring-like effect that generates greater initial ball velocity and increases driving distance.

The Mizuno Pro 300S was introduced to Tour players in Japan and Europe last Spring. Due to the outstanding performance of the 300S, Mizuno made the driver available to several players on the U.S. PGA Tour, who have had the 300S driver in their bag for several months. The Mizuno Pro 300S will be available to consumers in the United States this April.

"The Mizuno Pro 300S driver is one of the best kept secrets in golf. A number of top professional players in Japan and Europe who used the 300S last year experienced significant increases in their overall driving distance. The performance of this driver will undoubtedly start turning some heads on the PGA Tour," said Jim Safrit, Director of Marketing, Mizuno USA Golf Division. "This driver is ideal for better players who want to marry the ultimate in technology with a classic look and feel."

Globally, the Mizuno Pro 300S driver is a predecessor to the T-Zoid Forged Titanium driver. Both clubs were designed by manipulating face thickness and shape to enhance the coefficient of restitution. In the case of the 300S, a Strong Forged Beta Titanium material is used to accomplish this task, whereas the

T-Zoid Forged Titanium driver uses the company’s patent pending CORTECHÔ face design to maximize the spring-like effect. The Mizuno Pro 300S has a slightly higher coefficient of restitution than the T-Zoid Forged Titanium driver, leading to greater initial ball velocity and increased driving distance.

"The performance of the Mizuno Pro 300S inspired Mizuno club designers to create a driver with similar benefits that is priced competitively in the marketplace," Safrit continued. "The challenge of taking conventional forged titanium and tuning the face to maximize the spring-like effect is what led to the development of CORTECH and the introduction of the T-Zoid Forged Titanium driver."

The Strong Forged Beta Titanium material used in the Mizuno Pro 300S driver is significantly more expensive than the Beta Titanium used in the new T-Zoid Forged Titanium driver. In order for the product to conform to USGA regulations, Mizuno is required to use strict quality control measures to monitor the face thickness and resulting spring-like effect of each driver. Both of these factors contribute to higher production costs for the 300S.

The 300S driver also features a center of gravity location that has been moved towards the shaft axis or heel of the club. This allows the clubhead to turn with less effort and gives the player a better opportunity to shape their shots and control their trajectory.

Mizuno craftsmen and engineers teamed up to create a driver with a 300cc volume clubhead that does not appear bulky or oversized. The driver was designed by a team of Mizuno craftsmen who are experienced in the art of persimmon wood shaping. The expanded face and back depth create a wide sweet area while maintaining a classic pear shape. This driver combines the performance offered by the 300cc clubhead and the classic shape of a standard size driver.

The Mizuno Pro 300S driver will be available in 9 and 10 degree lofts through Mizuno’s custom club department only. The driver will be offered with Accel-Arc and Accel-Arc Pro graphite shafts and Tour Velvet Cord grips. The suggested retail price of the Mizuno Pro 300S driver is $750.00.

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T-Zoid Forged Utility Woods

Building on its position as the world leader in forging technology, Mizuno has introduced a complete line of forged stainless steel utility woods for golfers of all skill levels. Featuring Mizuno's patent pending CORTECH face design and specially-designed rail system, the forged utility woods offer golfers optimum distance, a large sweet area, and a low center of gravity to help get the ball airborne.

The new T-Zoid Forged utility woods feature Mizuno's revolutionary new CORTECH (Coefficient Of Restitution Technology)

The utility woods feature a specially designed rail system and bounce channels on the sole of the clubhead to provide optimum stability and help reduce turf drag. The rail design also helps to lower the center of gravity. These design features allow the utility woods to be effective from all types of lies.

These clubs are designed to be used for all types of lies, not just shots from the fairway. A semi-low profile design allowed Mizuno to create the ideal balance of sweet area and center of gravity location

The new forged utility woods feature a grain flow forged face and neck and a precision cast body. By forging the face and neck, Mizuno was able to create a thinner, stronger face. The grain flow forging process ensures a more solid, consistent feel on each shot. A precision cast body gives Mizuno the flexibility to redistribute weight to the sole and perimeter of the clubhead for a larger sweet area and lower center of gravity.

The aesthetics of both the driver and fairway wood drew the highest acclaim and response from every tester. "The woods are beautiful –period!"

Prices per wood: Steel Shaft - $170 Graphite Shaft $235