Clubs Tested

Driver: JPX EZ
Loft: 9.5°
Shaft: Fujikura Orochi Black Eye
Flex: Regular

To say Mizuno’s drivers have failed to match the standard and kudos of its irons in the golf world would be an understatement. In fact, I think the last decent one it produced was probably a persimmon driver, which I still have at home.

So you can imagine my trepidation when taking the new JPX-EZ driver with me to compete in five rounds at the Tunisian Festival of Golf. However, all my fears evaporated when I finally pulled the driver out of my bag on the range during a practice session on the first day of competition.

The classic design of the head, and the matt-black finish with flashes of orange, give it a real aggressive tiger appeal – no, not that Tiger, the real chase-you-down-and-eat you type of tiger. And this baby hunts down those yards. I knew I was hitting some great distances, but it wasn’t until I played with a couple of professional golfers that I realised how far it was going. When I was within 10 yards of those guys I knew I was not only hitting it well, but that the JPX-EZ was really giving me some extra yardage.

I loved everything about the JPX-EZ, from its black finish to the teardrop design. It looked meaty and mean at address, and the sound and feel at impact were perfect. And with its low-spinning, penetrating ball flight, it gobbles up the fairway.

Technology

The JPX-EZ has eight adjustable settings. These are easy to understand, and with a couple of simple twists of the tool you can change the settings to fit your desired shot shape.

The low-slung profile of the face gives the ball a low-spinning flight to help gain extra distance. Mizuno uses a CORTECH multi-thickness high COR (coefficient of restitution) area for its club-face design, and this, along with the rebound crown design that helps increase average ball speeds, makes it easy to see where Mizuno is helping you get those extra yards from.

The standard shaft is the Orochi Black Eye, but there are four others for you to choose from, along with eleven grip options. I had the standard Mizuno grip, which I found nice and tacky, and it offered plenty of feel.

Conclusion

I think Mizuno has finally cracked the metal/wood driver market. It has taken a while, but the JPX-EZ offers you everything from length and feel to great looks, easy adjustability and plenty of forgiveness. If you’re looking for a new driver I would highly recommend you put this on your list to test. I’m pretty sure that, like me, you will be very pleasantly surprised.

Go and have some fun.