Equipment
Danny Lee’s Mizuno MP-32 irons: The real inside scoop!
Hipsters are known for loving “old” stuff — you know the classics, the vintage, the retro. From vinyl, to thrift store sweaters, what’s old is new again. In the case of Danny Lee, he’s leading the charge as the PGA Tour’s iron hipster.
It should also be noted that “old” is a relative term, especially with golf equipment. Now when it comes to “classics,” Mizuno has produced some of the most recognizable irons of all time, including the Cut Muscle MP-32 released in 2004.
We recently spotted Danny Lee at the Genesis Open and it started a LOT of discussion about classic designs, as well as whether these are new old stock (NOS) or new forgings, using the original tooling.
I reached out to Mizuno’s Senior Club Engineer Chris Voshall to get to the bottom of this interesting iron development. (Plus the idea that Mizuno has sets of 10-plus year-old irons kicking around ready for custom builds — I have a huge smile thinking about what that storage room might look like — is a pretty fun thought).
Heres the inside scoop on Danny’s irons from Chris Voshall
“The MP-32s being played by Danny Lee are a new old stock set that came from Luke Donald’s personal stash inside the tour van. The ones Danny is playing are the very last set of custom grind 32s that were made for Luke.”
(HERES WHERE THE STORY GETS VERY INTERESTING)
“Here’s the part that makes the Danny’s set unique – During final development of the 32s, Luke was feeling that the soles for him were not getting through the turf the same as his previous MP-33s, but he loved the profile and extra forgiveness offered by the cut muscle design.
“By working with the Craftsman on the Mizuno team they created a unique sole profile for Luke that modernized that of the MP-33 for his new MP-32s. They rounded off and beveled the trailing edge of the 32s and had multiple sets made that he used during their entire run in the line.
“The tell tale of the Luke soled irons vs. the retail and standard version is how close the trailing edge of the sole is to the “Mizuno” on the back. What’s even more interesting about the development of that sole and grind is that every MP iron moving forward in the line starting with the MP-62 in 2008 utilized the exact sole profile of the one developed with Luke for the 32s and then 62s he used to become Number 1 player in the world.”
Below are comparison pics of Danny’s irons vs retail MP-32s and MP-62s
Danny Lee’s LD Grind 32s
Standard MP-32 7-iron – notice the amount of space above the “Mizuno” text
Right – MP-62 vs Standard MP-32
Danny Lees LD Grind 9-iron
Retail MP-32 9-iron
MP-62 9-iron vs retail MP-32
WOW! How cool is that insider information? True 14-year-old prototypes back in play on Tour! Now we know 100 percent the real story behind this very cool set and how it lead to historical Mizuno design changes that we still see in the MP line today!
NOTE: All Mizuno forged irons pre-2010 meet the 2010 USGA Conforming Groove rule; they were conforming before and are still conforming now. This is also part of the reason you don’t see many other classic irons on tour, except for maybe some from Ping which did do a few older models with new grooves –most notably D.A Points’ i5s irons.
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Driver: TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus (10.5 degrees)
Mini driver: TaylorMade BRNR Mini Copper (13.5 degrees)
5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth Plus (19 degrees)
Irons: TaylorMade P790 (4-8, PW), TaylorMade P760 (9)
Wedges: TaylorMade MG Hi-Toe (52-09, 56-10, 60)
Putter: Scotty Cameron Select Newport 2 Prototype
Check out more in-hand photos of Drew Brees’ clubs here.
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We always get some great photos of some phenomenal putters at tour events and love to share them. Here are a few from the 2024 Zurich Classic that caught our eye and seemed interesting. (And as a reminder, you can check out all our photos from New Orleans here)
MJ Daffue’s Scotty Cameron T-11 Prototype
MJ is going with the new Scotty Cameron T-11 Prototype this week. The putter is a multi-piece mallet that puts an emphasis on stability with the wings on the back. Daffue’s putter does have a design that differs from retail with a monotone finish, which eliminates the black paint on the aluminum parts that we see at retail. He also has a half siteline milled into the top and an L-neck welded on for some additional toe hang. The face features a deeper milling that should offer a softer feel and slightly quieter sound.
Scotty Cameron T-7.5 Prototype
We spotted a few different Scotty Cameron Phantom models with modified rear flanges. It looks like the straight black flange was cut into a half circle for a little softer look at address. On this T-7.5, you can still see the raw aluminum from the back view, so this might have been a last-minute job to get them out on tour. The semi-circle also has a white line on it, maybe to frame the ball differently.
Alex Fitzpatrick’s Bettinardi SS16 DASS
Alex’s SS16 is made from Bettinardi’s famous D.A.S.S., or double-aged stainless steel, for a softer and more responsive feel. The face has a unique diamond pattern milling and features a logo that I feel like I have seen before, but can’t put a name to. The putter is a classic mid-mallet style with a simple, single white siteline on the top. The sole is clean with just the SS16, DASS, and a green triangle logo on it.
Steve Stricker’s Odyssey White Hot No. 2
This putter has made some amazing putts in its long career! Stricker’s White Hot No. 2 might be in the top 10 of most famous putters in golf. When you see all the dents and lead tape, you know the heel will be up and it will be sinking putts! The soft White Hot insert looks to be in good shape and has less wear on it than the rest of the putter. We don’t know how much lead tape is on the sole, but it has to be multiple layers compacted down over the years.
Doug Ghim’s Scotty Cameron T-7 Prototype
This T-7 should win the award for “best color finish” in this list with its deep chromatic bronze. It looks like Scotty added a cherry bomb dot to the heel of the deep-milled face and filled it with a very dark blue paint. The rest of the putter looks pretty stock with its single site line on the topline and twin site lines down the “fangs” of the putter. Twin 5-gram weights are installed in the sole and the putter is finished off with a gloss black double bend shaft with a fill shaft offset.
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Zurich Classic
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Project X’s Denali wood shafts have been seen in more and more golf bags this year as we start off the season. As a refresher, Denali Blue is the mid-launch and mid-spin model while Denali Black is for players seeking lower launch and spin.
Denali combines great feel with stability and increased ball speed. Currently, Project X only offers Denali Blue and Black in wood shafts, but we spotted a hybrid shaft in Daniel Berger’s bag at the 2024 Zurich Classic.
The shaft looks to be a Denali Blue 105G – HY in TX flex. No word on details from Project X yet but we can assume that this is a mid-launching shaft that weighs around 105 grams in Tour X-Stiff flex.
Berger has this shaft in his TaylorMade P770 3-iron, likely for some added launch and spin to hold the green from longer distances.
Hopefully, this means we will see some more shafts coming under the Denali name in the future, as I think many of us would like to try one in a hybrid or utility iron!
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Zurich Classic
- Check out in-hand photos of Daniel Berger’s full WITB here.
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Drew Brees WITB 2024 (April)
View this post on Instagram A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx) Driver: TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus (10.5 degrees)...
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Larry Hesselrode
Nov 30, 2021 at 9:23 am
Bought MP32 then blew my knee out put them in storage for 17 years. Just tried them out. What a Club! I wouldn’t sell them now they’re priceless and still looks brand new even the grips are still good.
Matt
Jul 29, 2019 at 2:10 am
MP-32’s are still in my bag after all these years – Perfect irons
Simms
Mar 20, 2019 at 3:44 pm
I think the only problems these companies have re-introducing older models is it only works for a very small amount of the club buyer’s (no Profit) plus it does detect from some of the power of being able to advertise all the improvements in the newer clubs. There are some older clubs out there that have held up to the best the R&D’s have come up with lately…one would be the Callaway steelhead fairway woods they brought back.
Jim Hayes
Mar 11, 2019 at 3:36 pm
Love my MP-32’s. Best irons I’ve ever played. Truly incredible distance control. High flight stops quickly on most greens. If they would ever bring out he MP-32’s again i’d Buy several sets. They are simply the BEST.
Bill
Mar 10, 2019 at 12:51 pm
I am STILL playing my MP32 irons (left handed set!) They soft and very workable!! BUT, I did lose 1 club length on them. they are worn and I am ready for a new set ( Francisco Molinari’s set up is just about what I want).
I was playing the HOGAN APEX FTX set! I really loved playing both sets,but, if you gave me only a choice of one of them, it would be the FTX set. They were soft, workable AND had a thin top line, a PERFECT muscle back with a true players iron look, not too much offset and the 8 to wedge were Blades!! A real combo set designed as one set. The best part — They were LONG!!
To anyone who would really like a great players iron set, If you could find a set, used but very good condition, these would be great, at a very reasonable price.
Note: these are square grooved, old PGA rules(they may not be legal on high level tourney)
and I did replace to shafts with Dynamic gold x100.
MBU
Mar 29, 2019 at 4:03 am
I lusted after Hogans before they made them left handed, and i bought the FTX’s when they came out. I didnt appreciate them at first, it was after a 6 year lay off. But now, having bought other irons, nothing feft softer or better when struck properly. I still have them, and use them occasionally.
I may just put the 8,9,pw back in my bag…
CJ
Mar 4, 2019 at 7:27 pm
Those irons are gorgeous oh my. That grind would be a hot commodity if they came to retail I think
Jeff Spain
Mar 4, 2019 at 10:06 am
I’m 67 years young have played Mizuno MP 33 for years . I bought a custom set of Titliest AP-1 thinking I needed more forgiveness “old man clubs”, they felt like Nothing, no feedback at all. I reshafted my 33’s with Nippon pro 850gh for lighter slower swing. It’s like hookling up with your high school sweetheart, Love Them Again
Jake
Feb 22, 2019 at 1:36 pm
I might be just reminiscing, but the MP-32 sure looks a lot like the Wilson Staff ‘Tour Blade’ irons I bought in th mid-1970’s and played through the 80’s. Those irons had a really sweet feel.
Mario
Feb 22, 2019 at 1:22 pm
Best looking irons ever. Easier to hit, shape the ball like a MB, beautiful to look at
jgpl001
Feb 21, 2019 at 3:38 pm
I absolutely loved mine many years ago and could still bag them now
They had enough forgiveness to be really playable and they felt brilliant
One of the best irons of the past 20 years
Anthony Parham
Feb 21, 2019 at 1:03 pm
I have a set of MP 32s and I love them, I did the same thing they did for Luke on my short irons and they play great.
Scott
Feb 21, 2019 at 10:29 am
What about the grove change since 2004? Are the old groves grandfathered (i.e. Ping clubs)?
Roger
Feb 21, 2019 at 10:01 am
Did Chris Voshall make any comment if remaking the MP32’s (or updated version) could be produced in the future?
Michael Buell
Feb 21, 2019 at 7:39 am
I recently went back to the T zoid after trying newer Mizunos and Taylormades. I first regriped my old set then found a mint, almost unhit set on eBay. My game has improved.
Rory O Donnell
Feb 21, 2019 at 2:20 am
What’s with Mizuno releasing ‘blades’ with thick top lines – bring back the MP33 iron. It has been their best iron ever.
James
Feb 21, 2019 at 1:20 am
What does the writer mean about pre 2010 clubs conforming to post 2010 rules? Is he saying that some pre 2010 club don’t conform today?
MW
Feb 20, 2019 at 11:42 pm
I have 6 sets of MP-32s. The look, the feel, the performance in my opinion has never been matched.
Sean Fennessy
Feb 20, 2019 at 10:27 pm
Are the MP-54s any good ?
John Hennessey
Feb 23, 2019 at 12:06 am
I still play with the mp-54s, recently saw 4-people for sale at A$500 in Sydney. They are not long, but oh so accurate. I play of 12, so good for mid handicappers. Grab a set if you get the chance, just be prepared to hit an 8 iron when others might smash a wedge.
Liongolfer
Feb 20, 2019 at 10:02 pm
Interesting. Never donned on me that heel relief will help that much with turf interaction. I’ve always focussed on leading edge, toe and heel relief. The tour mp32s look much nicer than the already nice retail MP32s… don’t reintroduce these…let the cult classic status grow.