Best Muscle Back Irons 2024

I played these clubs for 2 years. I love these clubs. 

I tried many many muscleback irons, from Mizuno to TaylorMade to Ping to Cobra to Itobori. I like them all but the Srixon Z Forged is just made of superior metals. 

These irons are the best looking blade on the market and feel like butter when you hit the ball. When I hit the sweet spot, the distance control is the best in the business. 

These are one of the most forgiving muscleback irons I’ve played and it's because they use superior metals to any other big manufacturer. The metal is soft, the sweet spot feels like a tuning fork ringing in your loins.

The Z-Forged irons have a signature 'double curve' design which helped me use the clubs with maximum workability. The forged construction delivers a fantastic soft feel and the V sole promotes optimized turf interaction and stability. The leading edge will enter the ground, but then does not get stuck, instead sliding through the other side, smoothly. The best muscle back iron on the market is the Srixon Z Forged. 

The Apex is Callaway’s premium player’s club and this 2021 version includes a few updates from the 2019 version.

These  irons feature improved tungsten weighting a semi cavity to give you maximum forgiveness with a precision strike you're used to from Ben Hogan irons. Callaway bought the Apex range off Hogan and this is the result. 

I play quite a bit with very low handicappers and pros and these feature in the bag quite often. I've hit them plenty but for me the look of a Callaway iron just doesn't feel 100% right to my eye which is the most important part of your clubs. You MUST love them.

Callaway have created a very forgiving iron with the Apex series. 

Takomo 301MB irons are my iron of choice and current gamers. What sets Takomo apart in the muscleback category is that they are prices below any other iron on the market.

The 301MB are forged in Japan and designed in Finland. My set came with the standard KBS Tour stiff shafts. I switched them out to KBS Tour S+ shafts which are not on the Takomo standard fitting options. The quality of KBS Tour shafts makes it even more amazing that these high quality irons can be had for less than $700.

When I play the 301MB, I find the forgiveness is biased toward the toe and high in the face. Center strikes are always consistent distances which is vital for muscleback irons and their biggest advantage. When i hit high toe shots, they generate much lower spin and go similar distances to well hit shots.

I will be playing the Takomo 301MB for the foreseeable future.

PXG made a name for themselves as only for the elite with eye watering prices. 

The prices have come down and that is great news for every day golfer because these clubs are superb. The weighting, the design and the feel are right up there with some of the best in the game.

Yond from the channel, and Joe who contributes from England on this site both play these PXG irons and have fallen back in love with the game. What is important from both Yond and Joe's experiences is that you should be fitted for these clubs to understand your specs. 

Lofts are slightly stronger in the PXG 0311P but the ball flight is high and handsome with a soft face for buttery contact. While the price is high, it's because you get the best of the best. PXG won't release new clubs unless they are confident their new model is much superior to their prior models. This model is a couple of versions older now so you'll be sure to get the best value if you buy used or new! 

Mizuno clubs have to be included in any muscleback list - they pretty much invented the term almost.

They are seen as the players iron and when you buy a set of the MP range of Mizunos, you keep them for years and years because NOTHING ever compares and the new models of any other iron never impress you enough to give up your 8 year old set. 

I know, because I had 2 different model of Mizunos from 2001 to 2019. Steve on the channel only plays the MP range and has had his set for 18 years. He loves them so much, he has a backup set with the identical specs in case his current set goes missing.

The Mizuno MP20 MB has a thin layer of copper in the face to enhance feel. Where these clubs offer forgiveness is in their stability. They are very accurate and even mishits won’t go wildly off line. You will sacrifice some distance but you will be rewarded with supreme feel and feedback.

The differences between these and the Srixon Z Forged are minimal. If I weren't playing Z Forged I would have a long hard look at purchasing a third set of MP Mizuno irons. I tried the JPX 919 Tours and if you're in the air about which to purchase, I would say go for the MP range every time.