Luke Donald ditching the MP59 for the MP64

[Kanoito]

Well, its official! Luke has switched into the new MP-64 irons, the best feeling "player's cavity" we've ever created. Look for them everywhere mid-September. Here are some pics of Luke's new irons from The Barclays.

 

 

Damn... those things are ugly! I mean... I would take the 63 over the 64.

[RoverRick]

I play the MP62 which is what Donald used last year to become number 1. He switched to the MP59 and really has not done that great with them. When you compare the MP64, MP63, and MP62, you see that the blade shape is really just the MP62 with the diamond shaped muscle rather than the cavity that was on the MP63.

 

Personally, I am a fan of the MP64 but then again, I prefer the 62 over the 59. The 59 do not fit my eye like the 62 and 64.

[Kanoito]

That makes sense! In that case he should go back to the MP6x series to reclaim #1

[ZenGolfer]

Interesting. Donald's iron play stats have been dropping in the last year, so clearly he sees something in the 64s that he likes. Likely he wants a little more forgiveness than what the 59s offered. Im wondering if maybe the feel of the titanium insert with the 59s changed the feel to the point where it hurt his distance control.

[RoverRick]

The Golf Channel just had a spotlight on Luke Donald. I grabbed the iPhone and took a picture of this graphic. It basically says that Luke increased his driving accuracy this year, and increased his putting stats but the big difference was his iron play this year. Here is the graphics on that.

 

 

 

As you can see in the stats, he probably did not have to have his arm twisted to make the change to the new irons.

[RoverRick]

Interesting. Donald's iron play stats have been dropping in the last year, so clearly he sees something in the 64s that he likes. Likely he wants a little more forgiveness than what the 59s offered. Im wondering if maybe the feel of the titanium insert with the 59s changed the feel to the point where it hurt his distance control.

 

I am not sure that forgiveness was the attribute he was going for. The MP5x is more forgiving than the MP6x, traditionally. I have never hit these but looking at the design I can see where the 64 is closer to the 62 than the 63 and the 59s are way different.

 

I have the FLI HI's, the older and the newer versions. The newer version has the titanium insert like the 59. It may go better, and may be more forgiving, but it does not feel as good to me as the older one.

 

I did hit the 63 vs the 62 after I already had the 62 and they did not feel as solid.

[BK in TEXAS]

The Golf Channel just had a spotlight on Luke Donald. I grabbed the iPhone and took a picture of this graphic. It basically says that Luke increased his driving accuracy this year, and increased his putting stats but the big difference was his iron play this year. Here is the graphics on that.

 

 

As you can see in the stats, he probably did not have to have his arm twisted to make the change to the new irons.

 

Or.......perhaps he just had a really good 18 months and now he's filtering back where he should be. Just an idea

[RoverRick]

Or.......perhaps he just had a really good 18 months and now he's filtering back where he should be. Just an idea

 

 

I will not argue that he had a really good previous 18 months but I can understand him switching clubs pretty early though. He obviously was not playing as well as he did with the 62's. I have no idea how his contract is but I thought about a month ago if I were he, than I would be gaming the MP62's.

 

 

Golf is a funny sport and you never know what will add spark to your game. I have been playing horribly and switched from a Pro V to a Penta and played lights out for a few days only to start playing poorly again, so time to switch back. Same with putters.

 

Rory, took the 909F fairways out of his bag and put in the 906F's. He said the 909 out performed the 906 in every area but comfort. He felt more comfortable with the older clubs.

[JMiller]

Good to see Luke going back to what he is used to playing... The MP-60, MP-62, MP-63, MP-64 are pretty much blade irons almost... They would give you a slightly higher ball flight and slightly more give... I see the MP-59 too much of a GI iron for someone like Luke Donald that had a assume iron game probably harder to work the ball maybe harder to control trajectory... Something obviously brought him down between 2011 and 2012.

[ZenGolfer]

I am not sure that forgiveness was the attribute he was going for. The MP5x is more forgiving than the MP6x, traditionally. I have never hit these but looking at the design I can see where the 64 is closer to the 62 than the 63 and the 59s are way different.

 

I have the FLI HI's, the older and the newer versions. The newer version has the titanium insert like the 59. It may go better, and may be more forgiving, but it does not feel as good to me as the older one.

 

I did hit the 63 vs the 62 after I already had the 62 and they did not feel as solid.

Agree. I tried the 59s this past spring and to me they didnt feel like Mizunos. To me, they had a more springy or explosive feel at impact. I found that the distance control with them wasnt as consistent as I would like.

[revkev]

First of all I'd imagine that the difference between a top ten in a category among touring pros and top 60 is fractional and yet it's huge in terms of money.

 

I'm fairly certain that forgiveness is not the attribute that Luke or anyone at his level is concerned with - I'm thinking this is a Rory with the fairway woods sort of thing - does the iron fit his eye and with his particular shaft clubhead combination does it easily produce the types of shots that he prefers to hit. If it falls short in either of those areas he's bound to make a change fairly quickly. Of course it could simply be that he put so much emphasis on improving his driving accuracy (a perceived weakness) that he didn't devote the time that he needed to maintain one of his greatest strenghts - GIR's. Maybe the driving accuracy wasn't as big a liability as he thought.

 

Interesting topic not so much for the change in irons but to try and psyche out the reason for the drop in performance.

[RoverRick]

Jesus, you & RR save me having to think...All I gotta do is write "This"....Seriously, I found what you found & that's why they're in my closet though I will say that the ball doses come off of the face much livelier than the 63s or the 68s...If I hadn't been playing them, it would've been different, because the 59s are great irons...

 

Fairways & Greens 4ever.....

 

 

I must have missed the post by Jesus. What did he have to say? I, of course, read mine and GG's.:DOr was this in the Gospel according to Luke.

[RoverRick]

 

Damn... those things are ugly! I mean... I would take the 63 over the 64.

 

 

The angle of the pictures and the shadow created by the muscle makes it look more pronounced than it actually is. Case in point if you go to the Mizuno web site and look at the pictures (oblique angle) of the muscle looks huge and ugly and pregnant. However, when you look at the view of the two irons one from the toe and one from the heel, it is not near as pronounced and is a good looking iron. If you look at this picture you see the shadows have the same effect with the shorter irons, but on the longer iron because of the angle it looks much better.

[RoverRick]

And the funny thing is, when the 63s came out, Luke stayed with the 62s, & the 63s were a hell of a lot closer to the 62s than the 59s, which he jumped on...Oh well, go figure...Maybe he started believing like a lot of these guys after big years(Graeme McDowell) that it's all indian & no arrow..lol...They eventually learn...

That was my thinking when reading this post, at the end of last year, fresh off a Fedex playoff win, leading money winner on both tours, World number 1. Yeah, these irons feel great. Everything feels great. He can even go to the dentist with no anesthesia and it would have felt great. But it is different on the course.

[ZenGolfer]

Jesus, you & RR save me having to think...All I gotta do is write "This"....Seriously, I found what you found & that's why they're in my closet though I will say that the ball doses come off of the face much livelier than the 63s or the 68s...If I hadn't been playing them, it would've been different, because the 59s are great irons...

 

Fairways & Greens 4ever.....

I still enjoyed demoing them but for me, if I hit 10 balls with a 7-iron, 8 of them would carry 150-yards but Id get those odd 2 that I would hit perfectly and theyd take off on me and go 160-165 yards. Especially when you are a pro who needs very precise distance control, that just doesnt get it done.

[ZenGolfer]

Read a small blurb with a quote from Luke on his switch to the 64s and he said that he didnt feel that the 59s gave him the "pinpoint control" that he had with the 62s and the 64s...Well, the graph that JM put up sorta showed that...

 

 

Fairways & Greens 4ever....

Kind of echos the same things that people on this forum said about the 59s too. Id be willing to go out on a limb and say that next year Mizuno wont have a multi-metal iron in the MP line.

[RoverRick]

Luke had a top 10 finish this week with his new irons. This is pretty impressive for someone with new irons and on a bombers course. He ain't a bomber.

[ZenGolfer]

Luke had a top 10 finish this week with his new irons. This is pretty impressive for someone with new irons and on a bombers course. He ain't a bomber.

I saw one of his approach shots that he hit from 180-yards out and stuck it within 5 feet.

[JMiller]

I found the exact same thing....I hit my 7i 173 yds....My 63 goes that distance flush...My 68 goes that distance(though I have it bent 2* strong)....Even if my SF is approaching 1.50, they're w/in a couple yards based on my swing....Now my 59*s are bent 1* strong, though I hit 3 that flew at least 10 yards past the 175 flag...Same swing as my 63s & 68s...That would kill me on a course....I guess if I took 'em outa the closet & put 'em in the bag, I could work it out...I mean, if they give me more usable distance, that's a good thing....Yet I keep hearing my teacher's words: "That's why they give you 13 clubs"..lol...That would be a winter project...They don't feel like my 68s, however they do feel nice....Fairways & Greens 4ever......

The MP-63 has a stock PW loft up to 6iron of 1* stronger then the MP-68... So with the MP-68s bent 2* strong and the MP-63 bent 1* strong they are the same exact lofts. Something is off if you have 10 additional yards with the MP-63 over the MP-68 and not just launch angle. Have you taken the MP-68 and MP-63 to look at the launch angle and spin of both irons and what the SF would be on both?

 

You really can't get anywhere near a 1.50 SF on an iron because of spin loft.

Take a look at this news release on page 3 from Trackman listing the PGa / LPGA SF numbers on all clubs

http://www.trackman.dk/download/newsletter/newsletter3.pdf

 

 

 

Read a small blurb with a quote from Luke on his switch to the 64s and he said that he didnt feel that the 59s gave him the "pinpoint control" that he had with the 62s and the 64s...Well, the graph that JM put up sorta showed that...Fairways & Greens 4ever....

That wasn't me that put the graphic up it was RR... which is a really cool graphic like you said...

[JMiller]

No, JM, I hit the 59s about 8-10 yds further, not my 63s...My 59s are bent 2* strong, not 1*, like I posted....That was an error..And it wasn't consistently 8-10yds, however, like I said, I "flushed" about 3-4 that flew 8-10 over the 175yd pin...I didn't look @ my post, though sorry if I said 63s, it shoulda been the 59s....I was being facetious on the 1.50, figurative vs. literal, if you will....I meant the closer that you get to 1.50, the "flusher" the strike....1.42 is "flusher" than 1.31...That's how I meant it....I realize that about hitting a 1.50 with an iron, with regards to spin....

 

Regarding my swing, my teacher(he used to, he's deceased) & anyone who watches me says that I have a faster tempo with the 68s...I don't feel it, I know mentally it's probably because there's less iron there, so I subconsciously feel like I have to compensate w/my swing...I don't find it to be detrimental, I just swing faster...My TT numbers with my 63s are 27/9 & the 68s are consistently 24/8 & for some reason a few 25/8s...That's an amateaur's interpretation..lol..

 

 

That's why I hate trying to converse on a box...I don't know enough to explain when I'm being figurative vs. literal...I'll go with "flushed"..I used to say "nutted," & still do on occasion, however my mother says that it sounds tacky..lol...

 

I probably just miss read it...

Either way the MP-68 is stock lofts of 47, 43, 39, 35, 31 (P to 6i)... the MP-63 / MP-59 are both 46, 42, 38, 34, 30 (P to 6i) so 1* stronger stock...

 

Bending the MP-59 2* strong from it's stock would result in 44, 40, 36, 32, 28 (P to 6i) which is pretty close to the stock loft of the MP-68 but one club more and 1* weak (9i to 5i)... I would have to imagine that this would be the reason for the 10 yards of extra distance over the MP-68 you'd have to jack them up 3* to get them to match the same numbers / lofts.

[JMiller]

The other thing, and I don't know how much, if any difference it makes, however when I flushed the 59s, it felt like the ball "bounced" off of the face...Livrlier, if you know what I mean...

 

Not that the 64s & 68s are dead, I just think that that titanium insert comes into play....Did that contribute to the added distance?...I don't know...

 

Mizuno talks about feel regarding the inserts, not distance, though in the 2 1/2 decades I've played their stuff, I don't ever recall them advertising "more distance".....Obviously, the market that the MP line is geared towards is not concerned with "more distance," as much as distance control, however I believe that the titanium insert adds to the "trampoline effect," at least it felt that way to me...

 

Fairways & Greens 4ever.....

 

Feel of a strike is just Vibrations + Sound at impact roughly. The insert in the MP-59 probably reduces vibrations compared to the MP-63 and espesually the MP-68. I played the AP2s for a couple years all i knew was either it felt soft and good or it felt terrible, nothing really in-between. It could be possible that the "bounce" feel is just you feeling less vibrations in your hands and the sound being slightly different.

 

I would have to imagine that the MP-59 at stock loft would launch a touch higher then the MP-63 also at stock loft, just by the way the heads are designed. So this could attribute to a little extra distance just in launch angle and spin changes. I would have to imagine that it mostly has to do with the jacked up lofts on your MP-59s because they were bent 2* strong.

 

I was getting at is that MP-63 7i = stock 34*, MP-68 7i = stock 35*, MP-59 bent 2* strong = 32*... MP-33 stock loft for a 6i = 32* I think... You are pretty much hitting a damn 6iron instead of a 7iron with the lofts bent that strong on your MP-59s thus where the 10 yards extra probably came from... Compare the 6i at 31* or 30* to the 7i at 32* and see the difference it should only be about 3-6 yards give or take.