What are the best shotmaking irons of 2020?

Each one of these irons was designed with a single purpose: to provide the ultimate shotmaking weapon. You don’t have to be a tour player to appreciate the pleasure of hitting a well-struck shot with a club engineered to offer superior feedback. This category is all about control—and that doesn’t mean is “has to be a blade.”

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The bedrock of GolfWRX.com is the community of passionate and knowledgable golfers in our forums, and we put endless trust in the opinions of our GolfWRX members—the most knowledgeable community of golfers on the internet. No other group of golfers in the world tests golf clubs as frequently or as extensively, nor is armed with such in-depth information about the latest technology.

You can see the results for the best irons of 2020 “shotmaking,” as well as quotes we pulled from GolfWRX members about the irons from our forum.

Also, be sure to check out all the other GolfWRX Member’s Choice iron categories below.

• Overall
• Easy to launch
• Enjoyment
• Technology packed

Best irons of 2020: best shotmaking irons (Top 5)

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1. Mizuno MP-20

The MP-20 is “The ultimate tour blade” – Chris Voshall. Mizuno’s Product Manager & Engineer.

It design draws inspiration from historic Mizuno models like the TN-87 and MP-14, but the difference is the MP-20 provides more flow throughout the set from top to bottom, leading to more control over ball flight. This vertical center of gravity flow also increases forgiveness and launch in the longer irons with an increased ability to flight the ball lower in the scoring clubs.

The MP-20 utilizes the same Grain Flow Forged HD process that was first introduced with the MP-18 to tighten grain structure towards the bottom of the club and further enhance the much-discussed “Mizuno Feel.”

Here’s what GolfWRX members are saying

• “First round of 18 holes with my MP20s yesterday. Clubs performed flawlessly” – Member TheInfidel
• “Compared to my old Miura blades, these feel softer and are 100% better on thin contact, which was exactly what I needed” – Z1ggy16
• “It’s unprecedented, Mizuno continues to improve on the look and performance of the MP line” – Launch article comment
• “Butta – Absolutely everything about this irons is PURE” – GolfWRX member survey
• “The whole MP-20 lineup took combo sets to a new level, and the blades are both playable and gorgeous.” – GolfWRX member survey

For more information on the MP20 irons, you can check out our launch piece here.

Read the discussion in the forums here.

2. Mizuno JPX 919 Tour

The JPX 919 Tour irons are the successors to the extremely popular 900 Tour, and like their MP brothers, they’re Grain-Flow Forged from 1025E Pure Select Mild Carbon Steel for a soft feel, and solid feedback.

The irons offer a square compact player-preferred shape but are surprisingly forgiving, thanks to what Mizuno calls its “stability frame” that maximizes weight distribution around the head for off-center hits. This frame also reinforces the top line and toe areas for sound/vibration dampening. The soles are the perfect blend of thick and thin to offer enhanced playability but are more cambered from front to back for varying turf conditions.

Here’s what GolfWRX members are saying

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3. Titleist T100

Built from the ground up with direct input from Titleist’s PGA Tour staff, the mission statement from the design team for the T100 was to simply create the best performing tour iron ever. 

With a shape that is distinctly Titleist but completely redefined as far as offset, top line, sole width, camber, and blade length, the T100 gives players looking for a tour performance iron more playability than ever before. Co-forged with large amounts of tungsten (66 grams on average in the 3-7 irons) in the heel and toe, the T100 looks a lot more like a single-piece forged players cavity back than multi-piece forgiveness monster, but looks can be deceiving. It has the thinnest face they have ever built into a true forged players club, which allows designers to push more mass around the head and create greater ball speed.

Here’s what GolfWRX members are saying

• “I have played the T100 for about a month and had a lot of range time with them… I was concerned about more offset and a larger sole than I had become accustomed to but after a month of use they are exactly what I had hoped they would be. The low amount of offset and the soles are really nice on these. They fly the distance you would expect them to and they help a little bit on slight mishits. I haven’t caught any fliers that I have read were an occasional problem with the AP series. To my eyes, these are the exact size I would like a set of irons to be. Slightly larger in the longer irons that taper down to slightly smaller in the short irons. If you are in the market for a set of irons and are a solid ball striker I would give them a serious look.” – Member Phillipsac18
• “More firm and better/smaller profile compared to 718 AP2. Turf interaction is so good. Came from JPX 919 Tours and 718 AP2s before that and these fit right in the middle of these two sets in terms of forgiveness. Really like the T100s so far and plan to stay in this range until they release a new one in 2 years.” – Member HappyGilmore22
• “Not much not to like… amazing looks, great feel/sound, very little offset, perfect turf interaction, basically a traditional Titleist CBs with some tech assistance. Moved to these from 714 AP2s… touch longer, about the same forgiveness. Only minor gripe would be high on the face, esp towards the toe, can be fairly dead, but if you’re playing these irons you should own that miss. Epic feedback with these can definitely tell exactly where you’re slight misses are, but you still get a very large % of the performance out of it on a slight miss compared to dead flush. Great MB/CB alternative or to mix in with those.” – Member NateDog07v

You can read what other golfers are saying about the Titleist T100 iron in the GolfWRX forums: Titleist T100 Iron discussion. and see our launch piece here.

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4.Callaway Apex Pro 19

The Apex Pro features a forged 1025 carbon steel body combined for the first time with Callaway’s urethane microspheres. The carbon steel body aims to provide players with a softer feel, while the urethane microspheres consist of over one million tiny air pockets which absorb any unwanted vibration at impact, without slowing down the face. It also has Callaway’s 360 Face Cup, which employs a shallow, flexible rim around the perimeter of the face that flexes and releases at impact with the aim of providing faster ball speed for consistent distance on center and off-center hits.

To create extra forgiveness in a smaller package, Callaway infused an average of 50 grams of tungsten into each iron for greater precision in locating each club’s center of gravity, while maintaining the flexibility of the Face Cup, which aims at promoting the optimum launch, ball flight, and pinpoint control throughout the set.

Here’s what GolfWRX members are saying

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5. Mizuno MP-20 MMC

Mizuno has been building multi-material forged irons for close to a decade—but never like this. For the first time in the MMC’d life, the titanium piece of the iron varies in mass depending on the club. It is broken up in the middle of the set to allow better CG placement, and like its blade cousin, improved turf interaction in the shorter irons.

What is also very cool about the MP-20 MMC is all of the multi-material parts (titanium and tungsten) have ZERO chemical bond—no epoxy. They fit snug based on the shrinkage rates of the different materials. The titanium and tungsten shrink less than the steel so as the forged carbon steel cools around the titanium and tungsten pieces it creates a mechanical (solid) bond. This adds up to an iron that looks smaller than the previous version, offers more “flow” in CG like all of the irons in the MP-20 series, and at the end of the day makes it the best-engineered multi-material MP iron ever.

Here’s what GolfWRX members are saying

• “Absolutely love mine with the Modus 120 – great all-rounders. I have the 5 iron HMB but could have easily played the MMC 5 iron as they launch beautifully. Very happy with my purchase.” – Member beluga99
• “Love mine with the black 130 $-taper. I have 3 sets of irons that are all very similar, but the MMCs stay in the bag.” – Member krt22
• “You can’t go wrong with the MMCs! They are great all-rounders! I have played the 18s and now the 20s and really would struggle to tell the difference performance-wise. Looks and feel is a hands-down win for the 20s. I have mine all set at 4 deg gapping from the 22 deg 4 iron to a 46 deg wedge, and it works out perfectly. I also have the $taper blacks in 130X. Smooth as silk!” – Member Jetmech879
• “The MMCs are the best combination of Mizuno feel with acceptable forgiveness for less than perfect strikes.” – GolfWRX member survey

You can also read what other golfers are saying about the Mizuno MP-20 MMC irons in the GolfWRX forums: Official Mizuno MP-20 MMC Iron discussion and check out our launch piece here.

Rounding out the top 15 shotmaking irons

• Ping Blueprint
• Srixon Z-Forged
• TaylorMade P7TW
• PXG 0311 T Gen3
• Ping iBlade
• Titleist T100s
• Titleist 620 MB
• Titleist 620 CB
• Callaway Apex MB
• Callaway Mavrik PRO

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Ongoing Members Choice Polls: Have your say!

We’re still looking for your feedback on the “best” items in several other categories, so head to the GolfWRX forums to have your say!

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