FIRST LOOK: Mizuno’s new ST200 Series drivers and fairway woods

Mizuno — historically known for its iron designs — had a breakout year on the PGA Tour in 2019 with its ST190 drivers. Keith Mitchell captured his first-ever PGA Tour win with an ST190 driver in the bag, and a slew of other PGA Tour players used the drivers, as well. Since the ST190 metalwoods released in early 2019, Tour players and Mizuno’s R&D teams collaborated on improving the look and performance of the drivers for a 2020 release.

The result of that collaboration is the new line of ST200 drivers (ST200, ST200G, and ST200X) and ST200 fairway woods. Mizuno’s craftsmen, with feedback from Tour players in both the United States and Japan, refined the head profiles and worked with different materials to make the drivers faster and more forgiving.

Each of the ST200 drivers features a face made of forged Beta Titanium, which Mizuno says is 17 percent stronger than 6-4 Titanium. Varied thickness across the faces helps to optimize ball speeds, and the stronger material makes the faces more durable.

Based on feedback from Tour players, the ST200 and ST200G drivers have flatter crowns and are made with flatter lie angles. In general, this change will help reduce the left miss that better players struggle with. The ST200X, on the other hand, is made for a higher launch and more of a draw bias, so it’s built with more mass in the heel and has an upright lie angle. The ST200X driver will appeal more to mid-and-lower swing speeds.

The standard ST200 driver is made with a fixed 11.6-gram weight in the rear portion of the sole in order to add forgiveness to the low spin head design. The ST200G, which has CG (center of gravity) adjustability, has longer weight tracks than its predecessor in order to increase the amount of options for players and fitters. That means with the sliding weights in the rearward position, the driver will be higher launching and more forgiving, and with the weights all the way forward, it will be lower launching and lower spinning.

Each of the drivers has Wave Sole technologies behind the faces to add speed on off-center hits, and they have 4-degree loft adjustable hosel sleeves for added adjustability. The ST200 drivers will be available on February 7, selling for $399.95 each.

Like the ST200 drivers, Mizuno’s ST200 fairway woods also capitalize on face materials and design to boost performance. The new fairway wood faces are made from a stronger maraging steel material in order to produce faster ball speeds. Mizuno says that due to the stronger material, it was able to make its thinnest ever multi-thickness face. The profiles also have a softer leading edge and hosel transition, according to Mizuno, for a look that better players prefer.

The ST200 fairway woods will sell for $299.95 apiece starting on February 7.

In addition to the launch of the ST200 metalwoods, Mizuno is also launching a new CLK hybrid. As with the fairway woods, the hybrids also utilize a maraging steel face for a thinner design and faster ball speeds. The Wave Sole on the hybrids has a new dual construction to increase flexibility at impact, as well.

Mizuno gave the hybrids a new look, with a wide and flat crown to encourage a higher ball flight for steeper landing angles into the green.

The CLK hybrids, available in five different lofts, will sell for $249.95 each starting on February 7.