• Equipment accurate as of the Genesis Open.

Driver: TaylorMade SIM (8 degrees @ 9.5)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX

3-wood: TaylorMade SIM Titanium (15 degrees @ 13.5)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana White D+ 80 TX

Utility iron: TaylorMade P790 (2)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White Hybrid 100 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P760 (4, 5), TaylorMade P730 (6-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: TaylorMade MG2 (52-09SB), Titleist Vokey Design SM8 (56-14F, 60-08M @ 59)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: TaylorMade TP Soto Prototype

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Grips: Golf Pride Z-Grip Cord

• More photos of Collin Morikawa’s WITB in the forums.

Forged blade irons are generally very similar in design because of their intended purpose is to provide the ultimate ball flight control to golfers looking to execute precision shots. We can go back decades and see familiar shapes represented in clubs that were just recently released because they are a utilitarian in their function.

However, just because all blade irons in some way resemble each other doesn’t mean that some don’t stand out from the crowd the same way all two-door coupes are not created equal—although they have two doors, four tires, and an engine.

This leads us into our list of the greatest Mizuno blade irons—their intended purposes are all the same, but details make the difference, and these five all stand out from the crowd.

Mizuno Pro MS Line – Released mid-1980s

I’ll admit that this is a bit of a cop-out but we could call this entire Mizuno Pro line the grandfathers of all modern Mizuno blade irons. They came in three distinct models meant to tailor to golfers with different swing profiles and blade shape preferences—something you would never see today from an OEM because of the cost associated with producing the tooling (see catalog page below). Eventually, the MS name was dropped in favor of the MP (Mizuno Pro) moniker, and as we say, the rest is history.

Mizuno MP-29 – Released 1992

The MP-29s were available from 1992 all the way up until 2000! A remarkable run for any set of irons and something we’re probably never going to see again from any major golf manufacturer.

The MP-29s are most well known for being part of the combo set used by Tiger Woods when we won his first major championship, the 1997 Masters. The set he used consisted of 2-4 iron MP-29s and 5-PW Mizuno MP-14s, which were chosen because they offered the least amount of offset of the two sets combined.

Mizuno MP-33 – Released 2002

This curved muscle back blade was a favorite to many golfers, including future world No. 1 Luke Donald. From a design and aesthetics perspective, the MP-33 closely resembles the MS-3 blade featured off the top, but with an updated profile and sole grind.

What made the MP-33 so popular amongst better players across the board and not just touring professionals is they had a slightly lower center of gravity compared to other blade models to help get the ball in the air just a bit easier. These are 100 percent still a blade designed for workability and not forgiveness, but at the end of the day, who would say “no” to a little extra help once and a while?

The MP 33 had one of the longest runs in Mizuno iron history and existed in Mizuno’s lineup for more than four years. After its retail life ended, it was still available for custom orders many years after that.

Mizuno MP-32 – Released 2004

Two words: Cut Muscle! The Mizuno MP-32 irons were designed from the ground up to offer not just workability but a little extra forgiveness thanks to an innovative cavity design. The “Cut Muscle” cavity precisely locates the Center of Gravity while also pushing slightly more mass to the perimeter of the club in aid in forgiveness. Speaking of forgiveness, the MP-32 is just a hair bigger than other blade irons, and thanks to the Cut Muscle, also had a lower center of gravity in the mid to long irons to aid in trajectory.

They were one of the last Mizuno irons to have a full four-year life span, and are still considered one of the most innovative MP irons ever.

Check out the video below for a more in-depth explanation of why these irons are so well-loved.

Mizuno TN-87 – Released 1988

The TN-87s were named after Tommy Nakajima, who at one point was the number one player on the Japanese PGA Tour and was also a popular Mizuno staff player. The TN-87 originally came out in 1988 and to this day are still considered one of the best Mizuno irons of all time. It wasn’t just Tommy who made these irons well known, another very famous Mizuno staff player, Nick Faldo, played a set of custom blank TN-87s in 1990 to win both the Masters and Open Championship.

Considering they resemble other blade designs, including (a tip of the hat) to original Hogan models, what has made the TN-87s stand the test of time as such a beloved set of clubs.

Let’s go deeper here.

Shape and sole: For a lot of players, the TN-87 represents the perfectly shaped iron head, from blade length to toe profile, it was just “one of those clubs” that kept people’s attention. This along with the sole shape, which was considered quite modern in this era, meant a lot of people trying then instantly fell in love.

Copper Underley: Raw iron heads are made from carbon steel, but they still need a layer of chrome to help them maintain durability, and prevent rust. There are several thin layers placed on top of the steel during the plating process. The metals involved in the layering process include both nickel and copper to help the chrome stick to the head.  The copper layer became a thing of legend in golf circles for its ability to make a club feel softer. Golfers clamored for irons with copper underlay to help soften the feel and give better feedback.

With modern releases, Mizuno has offered irons with a copper underlay in the Japanese market but the MP20s are the first North American release with the extra layer in well over a decade.

The TN-87s were so revered, that in 2014 Mizuno did something few golf companies ever do: a full re-release (no custom orders) of the TN-87s from 3-PW, AW, SW. The question now is if we will ever see a re-release of any of the other irons on this list.

Have your say, GolfWRXers, what are the greatest Mizuno blades of all time?

• Equipment accurate as of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Driver: TaylorMade SIM (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Speeder Pro 63 XLR8 TX

3-wood: TaylorMade M6 Rocket 3 (14 degrees)
Shaft: Accra Concept Series

5-wood: TaylorMade M6 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Accra Concept Series

Utility iron: Wilson FG Tour V4 (4)
Shaft: Accra Tour ZX Hybrid M5

Irons: Wilson FG Tour V6 Raw (5-PW)
Shafts: KBS Tour-V 125

Wedges: Wilson FG Tour (52-08, 56-14), Wilson HT (60-10, 64-10)
Shafts: KBS Tour-V 120

Putter: TaylorMade White Smoke Big Fontana
Grip: SuperStroke Traxion Tour 5.0

Grips: Grip Master Signature Swinger, Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

• See more photos of Padraig Harrington’s WITB in the GolfWRX forums