What Happened to Mizuno? The Irons Tiger Won the Masters With While Titleist Paid $20 Million

On a Sunday in April of nineteen ninety-seven, a twenty-one-year-old in a red shirt walked up the last fairway at Augusta. He was twelve shots clear. Nobody had ever won the Masters by more. He was about to post the lowest score the tournament had ever seen, and he was its youngest champion. His cap said Nike. His bag said Titleist. By his agent's account, Titleist had guaranteed him twenty million dollars. The irons in his hands were not Titleists. For seven years, Mizuno led the count of irons on the American tour. Then it dropped from first to fourth in a single season, and it did not make one bad club to get there. This is how a baseball shop in Osaka came to forge the irons behind at least five Masters wins in ten years, and what it cost the company to keep its founder's rule: principle before profit. Did you ever play a set of Mizunos? Tell me the model and the year in the comments, and whether they are still in the bag. Subscribe for more golf brand histories:    / @persimmonarchive   Mizuno golf history, Mizuno irons, Mizuno MP-29, Mizuno MP-14, Tiger Woods 1997 Masters irons, Tiger Woods Mizuno, Nick Faldo Mizuno, Sandy Lyle 1988 Masters, Brooks Koepka Mizuno JPX 900 Tour, grain flow forged, Chuo Hiroshima forging, Rihachi Mizuno, Mizuno Ti-110 titanium driver, forged blades, vintage golf clubs, golf brand history, golf equipment documentary, rise and fall Sources: Mizuno Corporation, company history timeline: https://corp.mizuno.com/en/about/history Tony Covey, MyGolfSpy, "Know Your Japanese Brands: Mizuno" (16 Aug 2018): https://mygolfspy.com/news-opinion/kn... Tony Covey, MyGolfSpy (20 May 2024): https://mygolfspy.com/news-opinion/mi... Mike Johnson, Golf Digest (5 Apr 2016), Nick Faldo and Mizuno: https://www.golfdigest.com/story/nick... Golf Digest (27 Mar 2024), Hughes Norton memoir excerpt: https://www.golfdigest.com/story/agen... Golf.com, Tiger Woods's Masters equipment: https://golf.com/news/tournaments/tig... Associated Press via Golf Today (2002), Woods on his Titleist irons: https://www.golftoday.co.uk/news/year... GolfWRX, Tiger's Titleist 681T irons: https://golfwrx.com/603486/golfwrx-in... GolfWRX, Larry Bobka podcast transcript: https://golfwrx.com/512648/transcript... GolfWRX, bags the week of the 1998 Masters: https://www.golfwrx.com/605874/witb-t... National Club Golfer (12 Aug 2018), Chris Voshall on Brooks Koepka: https://www.nationalclubgolfer.com/eq... Golf Digest, Koepka's 2017 U.S. Open clubs: https://www.golfdigest.com/story/the-... European Tour, the Mizuno workshop: https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-... Golf Business News (2000), tour counts: https://golfbusinessnews.com/news/cor... Golf Business News (2000), the Open at St Andrews: https://www.golfbusinessnews.com/news... GolfMagic (2003), David Matthews: https://www.golfmagic.com/news/equipm... Adams Golf 10-K (SEC): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... Sports Illustrated Vault (12 Feb 1996), titanium drivers: https://vault.si.com/vault/1996/02/12... Sports Illustrated Vault (21 Aug 1989): https://vault.si.com/vault/1989/08/21... International Directory of Company Histories, Mizuno Corporation: https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/... Mizuno Corporation financial results, year to March 2026: https://corp.mizuno.com/system/files/...