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When it comes to player’s distance irons, the idea is to give golfers a compact head and controlled look while still sneaking in modern distance. These clubs aren’t typically as forgiving as game-improvement irons but they should help you hit it farther than traditional player’s irons.
Still, not all player’s distance irons are built the same. Some lean heavily into speed while others balance accuracy, forgiveness and overall feel. If distance is your top concern, here are the best player’s distance irons for distance, ranked.
The Mizuno JPX 925 Hot Metal Pro blew away testers with raw yardage. In testing, the 5-iron carried 185.8 yards (195.0 total) and the 7-iron carried 167.6 yards (174.1 total), making it the longest option in this category. Even the pitching wedge stretched out to more than 123 yards of carry, proving Mizuno built serious speed into this iron.
For comparison, the shortest iron in the test, the TaylorMade P•770, produced a 5-iron carry of just 179.3 yards and a pitching wedge at 117.0 yards.
The tradeoff with the Mizuno JPX 925 Hot Metal Pro is forgiveness. The forgiveness score is only 8.0 and strong lofts mean you’ll want to check your gapping carefully.
One tester summed it up: “This thing flies. It’s long, but you’ll want a fitter to make sure your numbers line up.”
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Here’s how every iron stacked up for distance performance:
| Iron Model | Distance Score | Overall Score |
|---|---|---|
| Mizuno JPX 925 Hot Metal Pro | 9.6 | 8.6 |
| Callaway Apex Ai200 | 9.5 | 8.9 |
| Maxfli XC2 | 9.2 | 8.4 |
| Orka RS1X | 9.2 | 9.0 |
| Mizuno JPX 925 Forged | 9.1 | 8.4 |
| PXG 0311 P GEN7 | 9.0 | 8.6 |
| Honma TW Vx | 8.9 | 8.9 |
| Srixon ZXi5 | 8.8 | 8.8 |
| TaylorMade P•790 | 8.8 | 8.5 |
| Callaway Apex TI Fusion | 8.7 | 8.4 |
| Honma TW Px | 8.6 | 8.9 |
| Sub 70 699 Pro v3 | 8.5 | 8.3 |
| COBRA KING TEC | 8.4 | 8.3 |
| Ben Hogan Legend | 8.4 | 8.2 |
| New Level 702+ | 7.7 | 8.4 |
| Bettinardi CB24 | 8.2 | 8.2 |
| Tour Edge Exotics C725 | 8.1 | 8.2 |
| Bridgestone 222 CB+ | 7.9 | 8.5 |
| Stix Golf Compete Hollow Body | 7.8 | 8.8 |
| TaylorMade P•770 | 7.6 | 8.3 |
If you’re after more than just raw distance, here are three irons that stood out for balancing additional performance instead of just distance.
The Mizuno JPX 925 Hot Metal Pro is the clear winner if you’re looking for raw distance. But there are other strong options in the Callaway Apex Ai200, Orka RS1X and Srixon ZXi5.
If you don’t see your ideal fit here, check out our full guide to the Best Player’s Distance Irons of 2025 for more insights.
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Britt Olizarowicz is a scratch golfer, former teaching professional and one of MyGolfSpy’s leading voices on equipment testing and golf performance. She has spent more than 15 years working at private clubs in New York and Florida and now specializes in translating test data and swing mechanics into practical advice for everyday golfers. Britt began playing at age 7 and has never left the game. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her on the course, playing pickleball, cooking, running or out on the boat with her family.
| Driver Callaway Triple Diamond Max | 5 Wood Callaway Epic Speed |
| 4 Hybrid Titleist TSR2 | Irons Titleist T-250 (6-PW) Titleist T-350 (5) |
| Wedges Titleist Vokey SM10 (52, 56, 60) | Putter Scotty Cameron Newport |
9 months ago
I’ve tried the second ones on this list (Apex Ai200). My friend was recently fitted for a set of these, and he and I have nearly identical fitting specs (length, lie, flex, swing weight are all the same, but he prefers more offset). He was hitting the Apexes much better than his old set, so I borrowed them for a bit to see if I needed new clubs. Spoiler alert, I might need new clubs, but these aren’t them; they are pretty good though. The thick-ish topline, noticeable offset, and very strong lofts make me feel like these very much belong in the GI category, not PD. Regardless, I hit them well. The Apex 6 iron is 2 degrees stronger than my current 5 iron (Apex 6 is 26 and my 5 is 28). I expected the lower CG would get it to launch higher with more spin and go about the same distance. That wan’t the case with the launch, but the distance was close. The Apex 6 launches lower than my 5, carries less, and rolls out a few yards further. Total distance, I hit my 5 about 205, the Apex 6 was averaging about 208. Similar results throughout the set and the gapping was about the same (~12 yd). I saw in other MGS reviews that the Apex didn’t rate highly in forgiveness. I thought they were OK in that regard. Took a bit to adjust for and get used to the offset, but even in the adjustment period, they seemed fairly forgiving of poor hits. Probably my biggest complaint was the feel. It wasn’t there. Felt like hitting foam practice balls, no feedback.
All this just leads to my usual rant about the obsession with distance above all in golf. I feel like I need to stamp new numbers on all my clubs so I’m playing the same set as everyone else. E.g., I hit my 7 iron on a 175yd par 3, it tops out ~100ft and lands just past pin high and pulls back a couple feet short of the hole. Then my playing partner hits an 8 iron 50 feet in the air that lands just short of the green and it rolls up next to the pin. They see I’m holding a 7, and say something like, “I usually hit an 8 or 9 on this hole, I could never hit a 7, it’d go way over.” I guess I should just enjoy that I’m making them feel better about themselves…
9 months ago
I’m glad I read this article. I wish that during all the iron reports and comparisons, mygolfspy would give us the statistics for each iron. To know that the longest vs the shortest iron is only 6.5 yards is very important. Considering the test consisted of 20 irons, that really isn’t much. If I saw an iron statistically had better forgiveness and better missions and was say just 3 yards shorter, then I’d rather have the shorter straighter more forging iron. I think you guys do a wonderful job, but I’m hoping in the future you will add statistics to your reports to better define what you consider the longest and the shortest, how much straighter and how forgiving, if possible. I was rather shocked to see only 6.5 yards difference, which to me means second, 3rd or fourth place distance wise might only be a matter of a yard or 2. I was thinking it was a lot more.
Thank you…
RPD3
9 months ago
Hard to compare some of these clubs when the lofts are so strong, especially on the Mizunos. Longest vs shortest loft comparison: Mizuno 5i 22, 7i 28, PW 42 vs TM P770 5i 25.5, 7i 33, PW 45.
The average loft of all of these 5i is 23.85, 7i 30.63, and PW 43.9. So this Mizuno is much stronger than even the average.