Mizuno MP Fli-hi irons review

A recent spate of random long-range shots hurting good scores big-time towards the end of rounds got me thinking about the clubs occupying all spots between driver and 3-iron in my bag. I’ve been happy with my Callaway Hyper X driver all year, and it would take something special to force my Mizuno MP Fli-Hi 3 and 4-irons out. But in between, each and every club that’s at some stage won a place in my bag has betrayed me in my hour of need, with the resulting doubles leaving me clamouring for a restorative double or two in the bar afterwards.

After speaking to the nice people at Mizuno and Ping about my woes, each came up with potential solutions. Ping felt a different shaft in my G10 3-wood might help, and also offered a Rapture V2 utility with the same shaft to sit between 3-wood and 3-iron, but my Mizuno request was straight to the point – do you make a 2-iron to match my MP Fli-Hi 3 and 4-irons?

The answer, pleasingly, was yes, and a few days later it was sitting in my bag, replacing the Mizuno F-50 4-wood with which I’d been enjoying a love-hate relationship.

Now I know a 2-iron flies directly in the face of all utility club advice offered during my time as equipment editor, but let’s be honest - this is no ordinary 2-iron. Its wide, rounded sole imbues it with distinctly utility-like properties.

Anyway, its on-course debut has been and gone and I can categorically state it’s staying in the bag! I feel confident with it off tee and fairway, and, just as I’d hoped, it’s perfect on holes where I don’t want to hit a wood, but sense 3-iron may be leaving me too far back. Best of all, on normal swings I know it’s going to move gently right to left, and on dodgy ones, the worst I’ll do is block it rather than slice it.

The 2-iron is dead; long live the 2-iron!