Equipment
Spotted: Mizuno MP-18 Fli-Hi driving iron
Mizuno’s new line of MP-18 irons — the company says they’re coming out in September, according to a recent Facebook post — have been popping up all over the place in the last few months. We’ve seen Jhonattan Vegas bring the MP-18 muscle-back models to several tournaments (including the Masters), we’ve seen an “SC,” or split-cavity MP-18 model pop up on the USGA conforming list, and we’ve seen the Mizuno itself tease the irons.
On Wednesday, we spotted a Mizuno MP-18 “MMC Fli Hi” 2-iron in the bag of Shawn Stefani at the 2017 RBC Canadian Open.
Could this year be the return of Mizuno’s Fli-Hi driving irons to the market, or is this simply a one-off or Tour prototype made for players such as Stefani? With the “MP-18” stamping on the club, it’s more likely to be the former, but we’ll find out soon enough.
Based on the photos from the RBC Canadian Open, it appears that Mizuno has put some sort of plug (tungsten?) in the toe. We’ve seen this design in driving irons from other companies, and it’s typically used to help properly position center of gravity in the club to optimize spin rate and forgiveness.
Related
Cameron Young’s WITB from his win at the 2025 Wyndham Championship. Cameron is a Titleist staff player but his bag is definitely filled with some unique clubs. Here are the clubs he used to secure his first PGA Tour win!
Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX
Hybrid: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus HB Black VeloCore+ 10 X
Irons: Titleist T200 (4), Titleist T100 (5), Titleist 631.CY Prototype (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X7 (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F @57), WedgeWorks (60-K* @62)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X7
Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5 Tour Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Prototype
- Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Titleist GT3 (10 degrees, C2 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Project X Denali Blue 60 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 X
7-wood: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 X
Irons: Titleist T150 (4, 5), Titleist T100 (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper AMT Tour White X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F, 56-08M @57, 60-04T @62)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Style Fastback 1.5 Tour Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Yellow
We’re proud to once again partner with 2nd Swing Golf to bring you GolfWRX Members Choice 2025! 2nd Swing has more than 150,000 new and pre-swung golf clubs available in six store locations and online. Check them out here.
What is the best driver in 2025? At GolfWRX, we take great pride in our online community and the cumulative knowledge and experience of our members. When it comes to the best driver of 2025, we want to know what our forum faithful think.
Since our founding in 2005, the bedrock of GolfWRX.com has been the community of passionate and knowledgeable 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.
Below are the results of GolfWRX member voting for the 2025 best driver, along with the vote percentage for each club.
Best driver of 2025: The top 5
5. Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond: 6.02%
Callaway’s pitch: “For golfers looking for a fast, forgiving, yet workable driver, the Elyte Triple Diamond features a tour-inspired shape and is the preferred model by most Callaway tour players.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond here.
4. Ping G440 Max: 6.86%
Ping’s pitch: “The most forgiving G440 model, MAX has a hotter face to generate speed and distance, and a lighter overall system weight with a longer shaft (46″) for faster clubhead speed, higher launch and longer carries. The Free Hosel and Carbonfly Wrap crown save weight to create our lowest CG ever and increase forgiveness while contributing to a more muted, pleasing sound.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Ping G440 Max here.
3. Ping G440 LST: 9.53%
Ping’s pitch: “LST is an especially good fit for faster swings, offering less spin and more control with a penetrating trajectory. A hotter face, lighter overall system weight and longer shaft (46″) deliver more speed and distance while maintaining tight dispersion.”
@phizzy30: “Not a fan of Ping drivers in general, but 440 LST takes the cake. It’s super forgiving across the face for a low spin head, looks and sounds good and the ability to make it play neutral or slightly fade biased through the hosel settings is very appealing.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Ping G440 LST here.
2. Titleist GT3: 16.55%
Titleist’s pitch: “The GT3 Driver offers Titleist’s boldest combination of power and personalization through adjustable performance. Dial in the CG Track to your frequent contact location to make your biggest drives even bigger while taking total control over flight and shaping.”
@mrmikeac: “I’ve been Anti-Titleist for years and years and years (outside of Vokey, of course). With that being said, HOLY BEGEEZUS the GT3 driver is an absolute NUCLEAR MONSTER! This thing blew my G430 10K Max out of the water in every single category. Forgiveness is the biggest thing that stands out of me, the 3 model has always been one of the less forgiving models in the past but this GT3 can take bad shot after bad shot and still end up in the fairway, I think a ton of that has to do with the adjustability, it’s actually effective. Feel and sound is perfect, that solid crack is so addicting to hear and when you hit it out the screws this thing can absolutely bomb it. Titleist, I’m sorry for doubting you. You have converted me.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Titleist GT3 here.
1. Titleist GT2: 22.91%
Titleist’s pitch: “Delivering impressive distance from any impact point, the Titleist GT2 Driver extracts maximum performance through a forgiving design. Get the stability and added confidence of a high-MOI driver without sacrificing speed.”
@DTorres: “The Titleist GT2 has proven to be the best driver of the year. Packaged in a classic profile, GT2 perfectly balances performance and forgiveness while consistently being a high performer across all categories.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Titleist GT2 here.
Other drivers receiving >2% of the vote
| Driver | Vote percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| Cobra DS Adapt Max K | 4.85% |
| Ping G430 Max 10K | 3.85% |
| Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond | 3.68% |
| TaylorMade Qi35 | 3.51% |
| Callaway Elyte | 3.18% |
| Cobra DS Adapt X | 2.34% |
| Cobra DS Adapt LS | 2.17% |
| TaylorMade Qi35 LS | 2.17% |
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waterfallmagazine.com
Oct 29, 2020 at 5:52 am
https://waterfallmagazine.com
I do accept as true with all the ideas you’ve presented for your post.
They are really convincing and will certainly work. Nonetheless, the posts are too quick for starters.
May just you please lengthen them a bit from subsequent time?
Thanks for the post.
eric
Aug 1, 2017 at 10:27 pm
I was going to get a set of the sc18’s, but after seeing the mp fli hi is only available in RH I have to continue the mizuno boycott. I wish they would just stop making left handed clubs altogether, mizuno should be dead to all lefties.
Joe Perez
Jul 28, 2017 at 9:53 am
I still have my 2, 3 & 4 from the previous iteration of this club. I wish Mizuno would go down as far as a 5 iron replacement with them.
Tom
Jul 28, 2017 at 9:31 am
Not necessarily. If the center of mass favors the heel side of the face, then a tungsten plug would be a way to bring that more toward physical center while also increasing the MOI of the toe side. You may see faster ball speeds across the face as a result. A plug in that spot may have the added benefit of “offsetting the offset” so to speak. This may help remedy a draw bias while increasing forgiveness. Its placement also makes me wonder if they were trying to bring the center of gravity up from the bottom. The MP-25 is designed differently because it sports completely different playing characteristics, i.e. less bottom-side mass, a taller face, a different blade length, etc. I imagine too much weight in the toe on something with less mass would introduce the kind of consistency issues of which you speak. I think what you’re getting at is the issue of OEM’s talking about “advances” in the placement of the center of gravity when it’s merely a byproduct of what kind of output a certain shape or design calls for. Ball flight too low? Move weight low and back. Too much draw bias? Move weight to the toe. The point is that different designs call for different weighting to different portions of the clubbed.
Chopper
Jul 27, 2017 at 3:28 pm
I bet you are a lot of fun at parties.
JGOLF
Jul 28, 2017 at 6:05 pm
I love it! Great response!
Ben Rudy
Jul 27, 2017 at 10:08 am
Please let this be released, I’ve been looking for an updated version of my old Fli Hi
Beefhouse
Jul 27, 2017 at 11:52 am
On sale here – https://www.tourspecgolf.com/mizuno-pro-fli-hi-driving-iron.html
Barry
Jul 26, 2017 at 7:17 pm
Nicely written article
mr b
Jul 26, 2017 at 4:57 pm
is that a hot melt port? looks awesome.
Hmmm
Jul 26, 2017 at 7:03 pm
My 712U’s have the same plug. You certainly can’t remove the plug and put hot melt glue inside. That is the opening to the space between the face and the backside of the club and it’s injected with some sort of engineering polymer to get the feel/performance where they wanted it. Fairly common with driving irons these days as you can add forgiveness without making it super bulky (think of the original Fli-Hi’s)
Ryan Barath
Jul 27, 2017 at 9:05 pm
The plug IS access to the inside of the head that does allow for hot-melt to be added. It can be done at the factory level or through later customization and then easily plugged again. Most if not all driving irons (PXG exception) are hollow and not filled with a polymer… How do I know this? I’ve work on and added hot-melt to dozen of driving irons.
Ryan