Tigers Irons?

[scottcheek]

Belote -

Please....you cannot really believe what you wrote.

[dlygrisse]

I was at a golf shop yesterday and I got involved in a conversation with the guy who ran the shop and another regular customer who made the statemnet that Tigers irons are really Mizunos. Then he went into this conspiracy theory about how the TV networks never show a closeup of his clubs on TV. Give me a break, if the TV networks could find a story like that they would have it on the air so quick that it would make Brittnay Spears' paparazzi look like they weren't paying attention.
This is nothing but a urban legend and as I posted earlier all clubs are basically copies of earlier models. All caviites are copies of the orginal Pings, Tigers irons are similar to the Mizunos that he played early in his career, BUT THEY ARE NOT MIZUNOS, THEY ARE NIKE'S, THEY ARE DESIGNED BY NIKE, THEY ARE CUSTOM GROUND FOR TIGER BY A CRAFTSMAN AT NIKE, JUST AS TIGERS IRONS WERE MADE BY TITLEIST WHEN HE PLAYED FOR TITLEIST. This rumor got started when tiger first turned pro and he used MP 14's and MP 29's for most of his first season. He then started playing Titleist irons and they were not available on the market. Everyone and their sister wanted a set of Titleist blades and there were none to be had, except old Tour Modles which began to increase in value for some reason. Anyone who beleives any differently also beleives that aliens visit the earth on a regular basis, that we really didnt go to the moon, and that the moon landings were filmed in a Hollywood studio, that the federal govt. was behind the 911 attacks,and that Oliver Stone knows who killed JFK. Conspiracy theories are just that THEORIES, not facts, the fact is that human beings could not keep their mouths shut long enough to keep anything like that a secret for longer than about 2 days. Someone would let it leak, eventually.

[Spinach]

Not to open a can of worms or anything and I am on the side that says that Nike makes TW's irons but I recall reading somewhere an article about how Phil Mickelson's original X tours were milled. And the article went on to explain that Callaway makes Phil's irons by forging carbon steel into a block and then CNC milling that to his template and hand finishing them to fit his eye. At the end of the article it said that TW's irons were made a very similar way and that each set of irons cost around $6,000 to make. Maybe NIKEPROTO can give us an idea. Technically this would still mean his irons are forged but it would also seem that they would be much easier to replicate feel, and appearance.

Peterm

[HeadonaStick]

[quote name='peterm' post='843546' date='Dec 31 2007, 04:01 PM']Not to open a can of worms or anything and I am on the side that says that Nike makes TW's irons but I recall reading somewhere an article about how Phil Mickelson's original X tours were milled. And the article went on to explain that Callaway makes Phil's irons by forging carbon steel into a block and then CNC milling that to his template and hand finishing them to fit his eye. At the end of the article it said that TW's irons were made a very similar way and that each set of irons cost around $6,000 to make. Maybe NIKEPROTO can give us an idea. Technically this would still mean his irons are forged but it would also seem that they would be much easier to replicate feel, and appearance.

Peterm[/quote]
There are many many player's sets that are right off the retail floor - just hand picked for specs. TaylorMade has publicly stated that all but a very select few of their players play handpicked retail heads.

That said, Tiger's irons are indeed designed by Nike but they are not the same as the retail blades. There are very few tournament players who could play Tiger's specs and fewer still at the recreational level. If Nike released Tiger's irons as a regular retail set Nike would earn an "unplayable" reputation in a hurry.

Keep in mind, a blade will look like a blade. There really is very little that can be done. So, do Tiger's Nike blades look like his Titleists's? Of course, and they also look a lot like David Love's et. al. They are what they are - blades.

Phil's original X-Tours were milled, as were Retief's original "Batwing" TaylorMade blades. I think Sergio's were as well. Tiger's may be, I don't know. While the CNC milling is expensive (I think 6 grand is the low end) it is still cheaper than creating tooling for proto sets that may never see the light of day, or Tiger's irons that are not protos per se, but will still never see the light of day as a mass produced retail set.

[dispatch096]

i can not stand this topic. how these topics dont get shut down immediately is beyond me. nobody really knows for sure. people just say what they believe is true. this topic comes up about once a month. sick of it.

[HeadonaStick]

[quote name='dispatch096' post='843628' date='Dec 31 2007, 05:40 PM']i can not stand this topic. how these topics dont get shut down immediately is beyond me. nobody really knows for sure. people just say what they believe is true. this topic comes up about once a month. sick of it.[/quote]
Actually, there are people who know for sure. Nobody listens to them.

[kebeal]

Didn't you guys know; tigers irons were forged from excalibur itself. He won it from me in a game of strip poker involving Me, tiger, elin, and my girlfriend jessica alba....................or was it jessica biel? I was dating both of them at the time.

[DaveyH]

iv heard so many different theories its getting boring...
Honmas mizunos miuras nikes
Tbf i dont really care but whatever hes using i wouldnt mind the exact replica just to make a few million for myself and end all of the rumours haha...

[FlyFish]

This topic is addressed in the Tiger Woods FAQ (shameless plug).

[url="http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t115733.html"]http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/lofiversion/...hp/t115733.html[/url]

[Veritas]

This is an ignorant question, but was this rumor around when he was playing titleist or did it start once he started playing Nike? In other words, is this a Nike can't possibly make good clubs so it must be something else rumor?

[18th Legion]

[quote name='pafundi' post='625902' date='Jul 6 2007, 07:58 AM']There seems to be some information straight from Tiger here.

[url="http://www.golfrewind.com/tour-talk/33107-photo-tigers-bag-augusta-4.html"]http://www.golfrewind.com/tour-talk/33107-...-augusta-4.html[/url][/quote]

Good find:
Quote:
Tiger Woods, the world's top-ranked golfer, who is paid about $20 million a year to endorse Nike equipment, said at a news conference last month that he never has used Miura clubs or met Miura himself. Beth Gast, a spokeswoman for Nike Inc.'s golf division, said in an e-mail that Miura never has made clubs for the Beaverton, Oregon-based company.

Miura said in an e-mail that he has made wedges for Nike, and his company's Web site says that in the late 1990s he forged irons for Woods under the Titleist name, then a Woods sponsor.

Miura, who won't comment directly about Woods, made 500 sets of limited-edition Tiger Woods Titleist models exclusively for the Japanese market in the late 1990s, Holowaty said.

[quote name='Gxgolfer' post='837251' date='Dec 26 2007, 12:26 PM']Miura has publically stated that they didn't forge Irons for Tiger while he was with Titleist.[/quote]

GX Golfer, So you are saying Miura has denied forging Tiger's Irons when he was with Titliest, however Miura states in the article above that he, Miura, did in fact forge Irons for Woods when he was with Titleist. Do you have available the statement from Miura countering the article above?

Reading the first paragraph, it is clear that Miura and Nike clearly do not agree. Who is telling the truth?

[jrwebb]

Ive seen Miura making wedge heads for Tiger in Japan. Not sure if they are the ones he uses now though. That was early 2007. Saw heads for Goosen and Sergio also

[Diamana_Stinger]

right now, there is a set of Tiger's last model of Nike blade up for sale in Japan; these are not the newest style muscle back he was using.

3-PW, DG X100, 5-iron 38 inches, weighing 436 grams, the balance of D4, Tour Velvet code cutting back

oh yeah the price: 1580000 yen or approx. $14,000 USD

[Quagebeur Robin]

You know I really don't have a clue.
But Nike seems to have enough money to make his irons themself and they can afford the best (they took Tom Stites from titleist to nike). So I think that it really is an urban legend. Of course I could be wrong but it seems most logic to me.

[golfernut78]

[quote name='Quagebeur Robin' post='844401' date='Jan 1 2008, 12:55 PM'] You know I really don't have a clue.
But Nike seems to have enough money to make his irons themself and they can afford the best (they took Tom Stites from titleist to nike). So I think that it really is an urban legend. Of course I could be wrong but it seems most logic to me. [/quote]

tom stites was at hogan, working side by side with ben hogan and then had his own company. he wasn't at titleist.

[pogioge4]

On his website, Tiger is currently working with Nike on a new set of irons for him. According to Tiger, this set is not complete yet. They only have 3 clubs made right now. I will be curious to see if Nike will release something similar for retail. CCI line is almost done.

[atlas0_6]

hmmm.. a blade is a blade is a blade..

 

Check out the old titlelist blades from around the T-Woods time.

 

 

How about the Mizunos

 

My question is why does it matter? If you like Miura Blades - buy them, play them love them.

Mizuno are great.

Titlelist are good as well.

 

Enjoy your golf and if you want the Tiger woods irons pay $14K and get them analyzed to see what his spec are.. There you go...

[atlas0_6]

[url="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/17/sports/golf/17irons.html?_r=1&oref=slogin"]http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/17/sports/g...amp;oref=slogin[/url]


A Japanese Club Maker Forges a Reputation for Craftsmanship

A world away from the United States Open, a man hunches over a grinding wheel, quietly aiding some of the game’s top players.



Katsuhiro Miura and his family-owned Miura Golf have been shaping hand-forged clubs for three decades in Himeji, Japan, where craftsmen once pounded steel into samurai swords.

Without a formal presence or a single endorsement contract at the Open, which concludes today at Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh, the work of the 67-year-old Miura is well known. Retief Goosen and José María Olazábal used his clubs while winning majors.

“From what I’ve seen all these years, what he did really stands out,” said Olazábal, a finicky critic of equipment who used Miura clubs to win his first Masters title in 1994. “He was very, very meticulous.”

Miura Golf sells its custom irons for about $2,000 a set and provides what it calls “professional discounts” for top-ranked players, whose clubs can cost far more. While Miura Golf does not sponsor any golfers, its clubs have been used in 25 Japanese Tour victories.

The company has also forged irons for manufacturers like TaylorMade and Titleist. Because of such branding, players are often not aware of who is behind their clubs, even when they win.

“I haven’t met him,” Goosen said when asked about the Miura clubs he used to win the 2001 United States Open. “I didn’t know he did my clubs. I hit it pretty solid that week.”

A solid feel is what Miura is known for, and a forging process developed more than 47 years ago by the company’s founder is what sets the clubs apart, Bill Holowaty, a Miura vice president, said in an interview in the company’s North American office in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Forged clubs are made from steel that is heated and pounded into shape, and smoothed and finished on grinding wheels like the ones in Miura’s shop, 6,600 miles from Oakmont.

Most forged clubs are struck twice with a forging hammer. Miura’s irons get one more striking, creating a tighter molecular structure in the steel, which under a microscope looks more like a jar filled with sand than a jar filled with marbles, Holowaty said.

“There are fewer voids in the steel, creating a more solid feel,” Holowaty said.

TaylorMade, based in Carlsbad, Calif., worked with Miura’s 25-employee company for four years for its Tour Preferred line of RAC CB 300 irons. The partnership ended in 2004 because Miura’s 14-step forging process does not lend itself to mass production, the TaylorMade spokesman John Steinbach said.

Miura Golf makes only about 50 sets of irons each week, or about 1 percent of the output of major manufacturers like TaylorMade or Titleist.

Miura typically can be found sitting in the last chair along the company’s line of grinding wheels, with his two sons, Yoshitaka and Shinei, working alongside. His wife, Akemi, often rejects clubheads for the slightest imperfection.

Described by Japanese golf media as having the “hands of God,” Miura is a master craftsman, not just a club maker, Olazábal said. In his 1994 Masters victory, Olazábal used clubs forged by Miura under the name of Maruman & Company, a Japanese club company.

“He was quite serious about it and took his time with every step,” Olazábal said. “There was no rushing anything.”

As many club companies create oversized, mass-produced clubheads by pouring metal into casts, Miura’s forging process remains an anomaly. With a thin edge on the top of the clubhead and a straight connection where the shaft meets the face, the classic look of Miura clubs tends to appeal more to purists and highly skilled players than average golfers leaning toward ease of use.

“Most players look at them and say, ‘I can’t hit those blades,’ ” Holowaty said. “Mr. Miura would argue the other way. A well-made forged blade is actually easier and more forgiving, and produces a more precise strike than oversized clubs.”

Tiger Woods, the world’s top-ranked golfer, who is paid about $20 million a year to endorse Nike equipment, said at a news conference last month that he had never used Miura clubs. Beth Gast, a spokeswoman for Nike Inc.’s golf division, said in an e-mail message that Miura had never made clubs for Nike.

Miura said in an e-mail message that he has made wedges for Nike, and his company’s Web site says that in the late 1990s he forged irons for Woods under the Titleist name, then a Woods sponsor.

Miura, who would not comment directly about Woods, made 500 sets of limited-edition Tiger Woods Titleist models exclusively for the Japanese market in the late 1990s, Holowaty said.

For golfers like Olazábal who have won with the clubs, there is no denying the secret to Miura’s success.

“The Japanese people regard their work as if it was a piece of art,” Olazábal said. “That’s what really stood out. He paid attention to the smallest of details.”

[Fairways_and_Greens]

I hate to dig up an old tread, but this made my week!

 

 

Tigers Nike irons are actually copies of Titleist irons which are copies of of Mizuno irons. Mizuno irons are actually copies of Wilson staff irons, which are copies of Hogan irons. Hogan irons are actually copies of MacGregor VIP irons, which are copies of Spaulding irons that Bobby Jones designed in the 1930's. These irons are actually copies of clubs designed in Scotland by D Anderson and sons who copied clubs designed by old Tom Morris at St. Andrews. Old Tom stole his design from a shepherd he saw playing in an old stretch of links land off the Firth of Forth, who stole the idea from a guy hitting a rock with his staff. The guy who designed the shepperds staff was named Chip Green, or Willie Buyit, know one really knows for sure. :)

 

I agree with the previous quote, how many times do people have to ask about this rumor? Tom Stites with Nike is one of the most qualified clubmakers in the world, (he used to make clubs for Hogan when Ben himself still ran the company) why would he have someone else make clubs for Tiger? It makes no sense. also you have to remember Tigers clubs are not the ones you can buy off the rack, the are custom made by hand one at a time to his specs, custom leading edges, sole grinds, shape etc. etc. They are similar to the Nike blades you see at Golf Discount, but not the same.

The only way any of us will ever play the exact clubs tiger uses is if he gives us his hand me downs when he has worn them out. So unless you are good buddies with Eldrick, and on his Christmas card list just go to a qualified clubmaker and buy a set that fit you and made for your game.

[dlygrisse]

 

Tigers Nike irons are actually copies of Titleist irons which are copies of of Mizuno irons. Mizuno irons are actually copies of Wilson staff irons, which are copies of Hogan irons. Hogan irons are actually copies of MacGregor VIP irons, which are copies of Spaulding irons that Bobby Jones designed in the 1930's. These irons are actually copies of clubs designed in Scotland by D Anderson and sons who copied clubs designed by old Tom Morris at St. Andrews. Old Tom stole his design from a shepherd he saw playing in an old stretch of links land off the Firth of Forth, who stole the idea from a guy hitting a rock with his staff. The guy who designed the shepperds staff was named Chip Green, or Willie Buyit, know one really knows for sure. :)

 

I agree with the previous quote, how many times do people have to ask about this rumor? Tom Stites with Nike is one of the most qualified clubmakers in the world, (he used to make clubs for Hogan when Ben himself still ran the company) why would he have someone else make clubs for Tiger? It makes no sense. also you have to remember Tigers clubs are not the ones you can buy off the rack, the are custom made by hand one at a time to his specs, custom leading edges, sole grinds, shape etc. etc. They are similar to the Nike blades you see at Golf Discount, but not the same.

The only way any of us will ever play the exact clubs tiger uses is if he gives us his hand me downs when he has worn them out. So unless you are good buddies with Eldrick, and on his Christmas card list just go to a qualified clubmaker and buy a set that fit you and made for your game.

 

I hate to dig up an old tread, but this made my week!

 

lol, thanks, definitely one of my more inspired posts, I appreciate your comment.

[OldSkoolTexan]

who cares?

 

We could go play with Tiger's exact set and not be any better.

 

Tiger could play with KMART ladies clubs and still be Tiger.

 

Think about it....

 

+1, Exactly.....  Besides Im pretty sure that Tiger plays Ping Eye 2s with a special nike miraging effect that makes them seem like Nike blades to the untrained eye.  It's all very hush hush....

[maddsurf]

I HATE THIS TOPIC

EVERY 6 MONTHS THIS COMES BACK

BLAH BLAH BLAH

 

Wow someone else feels the same way I do, GIVE IT A REST

[meliaant]

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm what do I have to do to get the dancing spiderman? LOVE IT

[Corgi]

Hey, Spidey stole all of Napolean Dynamite's moves!

[The Duck]

Hey, Spidey stole all of Napolean Dynamite's moves!

 

 

I see you also stole those PRO M blades too!!!

 

any updates on them

[Corgi]

Pretty much love at first impact! They are not even scuffing the covers on my Pro V1's. What more could you ask?

[cigarnut81]

The fact is no american club company makes their own irons!!!!!!! Get over it!!! The best forgery is in Taiwan by the way!!!!!!

[marrigo]

The fact is no american club company makes their own irons!!!!!!! Get over it!!! The best forgery is in Taiwan by the way!!!!!!

 

Ping does :rolleyes:

[goodvibes]

When Tiger played Titleist they fixed whatever he wanted to make better about what he played before. Gave him the size, toe, bounce, grind, weighting and CG he liked and stuck a shaft in it. Not a copy, custom. Still goes on like that. Blades just don't vary that much. Mizuno was a copycat company for a long time before selling well in the states. They didn't invent the blade. LOL

[enterprise920]

you could build an entire website for this topic....www.thingsthatdontreallymatter.com.

 

if they AREN'T Nikes, you cant get them. If they ARE Nikes, you still can't get them get them. And even if you COULD get them, they aren't going to fit you. So pretty much unless im on Jeopardy and the question is asked, it doesn't matter in my opinion.