Looked at through the Korean market alone, the Srixon ZXi lineup is five models: ZXi7, ZXi5, ZXiR, ZXiR HL, and ZXiU. Set that alongside Japan’s release information and tour-seeding reports, though, and the same-named lineup turns out to be assembled differently in each place.
The takeaway is a simple one: you can’t judge a brand’s “current” state from a single market. A regional retail page, a Japanese manufacturer release, and tour-seeding news each point to a different answer on their own — only overlaying all three gives the full picture.
1. Five models in Korea, four in Japan — HL is missing
| Market | Models | Launch date |
|---|---|---|
| Korea (Dunlop Sports Korea) | ZXi7, ZXi5, ZXiR, ZXiR HL, ZXiU | 2026-03-16 |
| Japan (Sumitomo Rubber) | ZXi7, ZXi5, ZXiR, ZXiU | 2026-09-12 (announced) |
Five Models in Korea, Four in Japan — ZXiR HL is present in one market, absent in the other. Why ZXiR HL is absent from Japan’s lineup is not confirmed — only the timing gap (Korea first, six months ahead) is confirmed.
In Korea, Dunlop Sports Korea launched the ZXiR and ZXiR HL on March 16, 2026, alongside an “Obsessed With It” global campaign aimed at broadening the target audience. That brought the Korean lineup to five models: ZXi7, ZXi5, ZXiR, ZXiR HL, and ZXiU.
Japan tells a different story. Sumitomo Rubber announced a September 12, 2026 release with only four models — ZXi7, ZXi5, ZXiR, and ZXiU. ZXiR HL is absent.
Both markets carry a model called ZXiR, but its high-launch variant exists in one market and not the other. We could not determine why within the scope of this piece. What is confirmed is the timing gap: Korea’s release came first, in March; Japan’s follows in September.
The timing gap explains some of this and not all of it. Launching the global campaign in Korea first, six months ahead of Japan, is a plausible explanation for the sequencing. But that doesn’t mean Japan will necessarily add the HL variant later — Japan’s announced lineup lists four models, and whatever happens after this piece was researched is outside what we can confirm. Taking only what’s confirmed as of now, the finding stands as stated: the same-named lineup is built differently by market.
2. Japan’s release pricing — by set
These are the tax-included prices from Sumitomo Rubber’s Japan release.
The ZXi7 is priced at ¥171,600 for a 6-club steel set. The ZXi5 matches that at ¥171,600 for steel, with a 6-club graphite set at ¥178,200. The ZXiR runs ¥143,000 for a 5-club steel set and ¥148,500 for graphite. The ZXiU is sold individually rather than as a set — ¥38,500 steel, ¥41,800 graphite.
What stands out is that the ZXi7 and ZXi5 carry identical steel pricing. The players’ iron (ZXi7) and the two-piece game-improvement model (ZXi5) aren’t differentiated by price — the gap only opens up once graphite shafts enter the picture. This pricing is Japan-specific; we could not confirm Korean pricing for these models.
The ZXiR being cheaper than the ZXi7 and ZXi5 is also notable. Even accounting for a 5-club set instead of 6, the ZXiR comes out lower on a per-club basis. Whether that gap reflects the cost difference between cast and forged construction or a deliberate positioning choice, we could not determine from this research. The ZXiU, sold individually rather than as a set, isn’t directly comparable to the other three on the same basis.
3. On tour — the “2027 model” is already in play
At the 3M Open (TPC Twin Cities) in August 2026, Srixon staff bags carried “2027” prototype ZXi7, ZXi5, and ZXiU models. Given Srixon’s usual January release cycle, tour players are playing the next generation nearly six months before retail buyers will see it.
Tied to that seeding is a separate piece of news: Ryan Fox won The Open using a number of these prototypes. Whatever counts as the “current” ZXi in the Korean or Japanese retail lineup, tour play has already moved on to the next generation.
Whether the ZXiR or ZXiR HL were part of this tour seeding, we could not confirm. Only the ZXi7, ZXi5, and ZXiU were named.
This tracks with what these models are for. The ZXiR and ZXiR HL are game-improvement models aimed at everyday golfers rather than tour players, so their absence from the seeding list isn’t surprising. That’s inference on our part, though — Dunlop has not stated that this is the reason they were left out.
4. There’s also a limited edition
The ZXi lineup includes a black-chrome finish limited edition. We could not determine within this research whether it reached the Korean market, or which base model (ZXi7 or ZXi5) it’s built on. Only its existence is confirmed.
Layer the regional, tour, and limited-edition angles together, and “Srixon ZXi” turns out to describe at least four distinct lists: the Korean retail lineup, the Japanese retail lineup, the tour-seeding lineup, and the limited-edition lineup. Depending on which one a source is drawing from, the answer to “how many ZXi models are there right now” changes completely.
5. Who this is useful for
Judgment calls drawn from what’s confirmed. This is a lineup breakdown, not a recommendation, so it’s organized around where to look for information rather than which model to buy.
- Golfers in Korea considering a high-launch variant — the ZXiR HL exists only in the Korean lineup, not in Japan’s announced release. That option is open specifically for buyers there.
- Golfers using Japanese pricing to set a budget — confirmed, tax-included Japanese pricing gives a starting point for import comparisons.
- Golfers deciding between ZXi7 and ZXi5 on price alone — Japanese steel pricing is identical for both, meaning the decision comes down to construction (forged versus two-piece) rather than price. Pricing alone doesn’t reveal the difference between the two.
Where it may not fit:
- Golfers in Japan hoping to buy a ZXiR HL — Japan’s announced release (2026-09-12) does not include it.
- Golfers who want an exact read on tour specs — the “2027 model” is still at the seeding stage; whether or when it reaches retail, and its exact specs, are unconfirmed. A tournament win alone isn’t grounds to recommend a specific spec.
6. What we could not confirm
| Item | Status |
|---|---|
| Why ZXiR HL is absent from Japan | Not confirmed |
| Korean pricing (ZXi7/ZXi5/ZXiR/ZXiU) | Only Japanese pricing confirmed |
| ZXiR / ZXiR HL in tour seeding | Only ZXi7, ZXi5, ZXiU named |
| Black-chrome limited edition: base model, market | Existence only confirmed |
What We Could Not Confirm — Left blank rather than filled in.
- Why ZXiR HL is absent from the Japanese lineup — not confirmed.
- Korean pricing for the ZXi7, ZXi5, ZXiR, and ZXiU — only Japanese pricing was confirmed; we did not convert Japanese figures to stand in for Korean prices.
- Whether the ZXiR or ZXiR HL were included in tour seeding — only ZXi7, ZXi5, and ZXiU were named.
- Which base model the black-chrome limited edition belongs to, and where it has released — only its existence is confirmed.
- The spec differences between the “2027” prototypes and current retail models — not confirmed.
In one line
The same ZXi name breaks down into five models in Korea, four in Japan (no HL), and an already-advanced generation on tour. Ask “what is this brand’s current lineup” and there isn’t one answer — it splits into three depending on which market you’re asking about.
All charts in this piece were built from scratch, and only confirmed figures were used. Where a figure could not be confirmed, the space was left blank. Overlaying the regional, tour, and limited-edition angles is a reminder that a single model name doesn’t always map to a single spec.
Sources
- Dunlop Sports Korea — SRIXON Iron category page — confirms ZXi7, ZXi5, ZXiR, and ZXiR HL are all live in the Korean retail lineup.
- Sumitomo Rubber — ZXi series news release (2026-09-12 launch) — confirms the September 12, 2026 Japan release date, the four-model lineup (ZXi7, ZXi5, ZXiR, ZXiU) with no ZXiR HL, and the tax-included pricing cited in this piece.
- Dunlop Sports Japan — Srixon ZXi iron product page — confirms the same four-model Japan lineup live on the manufacturer’s product page.
Tour-seeding reports (3M Open, The Open) are third-party press coverage, not manufacturer pages, so they are cited as reporting rather than linked as an official source.
