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The best putters on the PGA Tour using mallet putters this season

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The title says it all. Inspired by Dave Dusek’s breakdown of the irons gamed by the Tour’s best in that department over at Golfweek today, and going off some articles we did in the past, here are the top-eight golfers in Strokes Gained: Putting for the 2015-2016 season thus far who are using mallet-style putters and their weaponry (as well as links to their full WITBs, where applicable).

In-hand photos of players’ actual putters (where applicable). Exclusive to GolfWRX!

T13. Kevin Kisner (0.578 SG:P)

kisner putter

Putter: Odyssey White Hot Pro #7
Grip: SuperStroke Mid Slim 2.0 (Black/White)

T13. Brian Harman (0.578)

9486065-taylormade-left-handed-os-cb-spider-putter

Note: This is a stock image. Harman switched putters since we last photographed his bag.

 

Putter: TaylorMade OS CB Spider

9. Martin Piller (0.610)

images

Note: This is a stock image. Piller switched putters since we last photographed his bag.

Putter: Ping Craz-E-R Heavy

7. Aaron Baddeley (0.666)

badds

Putter: Odyssey Works #7CH

6. Harris English (0.690)

harris english-putter

Putter: Odyssey White Hot Pro 2-Ball

4. Phil Mickelson (0.756)

mickelson-putter

Putter: Odyssey Versa #9 (WBW)
Grip: Odyssey by SuperStroke

3. Jamie Donaldson (0.784)

donaldson-putter

Putter: Odyssey White Hot Sabertooth

1. Jason Day (1.072)

6395c96c5d3edafa9ac99cab167a4e20-e1461939760995-742x420

Putter: TaylorMade Ghost Spider Limited Red

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14 Comments

14 Comments

  1. snowman

    Aug 14, 2016 at 10:17 pm

    I Like the Spider that Jason Day uses as it has no alignment lines or dots. I’d like to see more ‘plain’ putters like this as I feel that I do best by “aiming the face” and don’t want to look at alignment lines and such. The 2 Ball (without lines) and phils putter also meet this criteria to some degree.

  2. Korean Slum Lord

    Aug 11, 2016 at 10:09 pm

    For maximum forgiveness and feel, try a Wilson 8802.

  3. DaveyD

    Aug 11, 2016 at 7:50 pm

    Looks like Scotty Cameron mallets aren’t too popular in this ranking. Probably better known for their blades.

  4. KK

    Aug 10, 2016 at 11:27 pm

    Phil’s putter is not a mallet, it’s a flanged blade according to Odyssey’s website. I consider it a rounded blade, definitely not a mallet.

  5. George

    Aug 10, 2016 at 5:06 pm

    does this actually mean anything? If you gave thesew guys any putter I’m sure they would still be in the same position they currently are. Sponsorships or sponsorships

    • Charlie

      Aug 11, 2016 at 11:20 am

      So why not bend a lob wedge to 3* and have a completely matched set of irons? Putters are definitely not all the same. Height, weight, offset, toe hang, visual, audible, tactile, MOI, etc…

      • George

        Aug 11, 2016 at 12:24 pm

        the putter still needs to be fit to you sorry for not clarifying that. My point was that Mallet putters are not the reason these guys are the best putters out there. These guys are promoting mallet putters for their respective sponsors. If they were allowed to choose any putter they wanted they would still be in the same ranking as a putter. If you gave them a blade putter that was fit to their specs I am sure they would still be as good as they currently are. The mallet putter is just the new tools these companies have so they are making them use them

        • John

          Aug 11, 2016 at 12:42 pm

          Not sure I can agree. The Mallet stroke vs the Blade stroke are different. Most Mallets are face balanced and thus are best suited for a straight back straight through stroke. Blade are typically toe balanced and better suited to an arced putting stroke.

          You have to use the tool best suited to your stroke.

          • George

            Aug 11, 2016 at 1:29 pm

            So those with a striaght back and forth swing are better putters?

      • George

        Aug 11, 2016 at 12:27 pm

        also I said putter not wedge

    • Anna

      Aug 12, 2016 at 8:47 am

      So much bad information on this comment. These are not the best putters out there. These are the best putters out there who do use mallet style putters, it’s in the title. Also, these players are not made to play a mallet style by there sponsors, they choose to play a mallet style from there sponsors offerings, they have a ton of models to chpose from and go with the one that suits them best.

  6. nick

    Aug 10, 2016 at 3:13 pm

    I switched from a Newport 2 circa 2000 to a spider limited (red) and absolutely love it. it took about three rounds to get used to the line up at address, but the feel is unmatched. all preference, but I love the mallet I’m using now. whatever works, roll with it.

    • Justin

      Aug 11, 2016 at 12:38 pm

      I’ve used various blade putters over the past 20+ years and had 2 short stints in that time with mallets. For me, I could get the ball on line easier with a mallet, but felt that I struggled much more with distance control. Have you noticed that it’s taken some time to get used to the distance or do the new mallets have a much softer feel to them? I did try out a Ping Ketsch the other day and found that when I switched to cross-handed my distance control was much better. That in itself seems odd, but hey… whatever works!

  7. Justin

    Aug 10, 2016 at 2:27 pm

    Would be interesting to include the other 5 players that make the top 15 who use blade style putters. It would also be cool to break down the top 25 putters by putting style… standard, cross-handed, claw, etc.

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Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (4/18/24): Ping PLD Limited Anser – 1988 Open Championship – #2 of only 88 Made

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At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a Ping PLD Limited Anser – 1988 Open Championship – #2 of only 88 Made.

From the seller: (@DLong72): “Ping PLD Limited Anser – 1988 Open Championship – #2 of only 88 Made. ?: $1150. ?? 100% milled collectors item from the limited releases commemorating when Ping putters won every major in 1988 (88 putters made). This was the model Seve Ballesteros used to win the 1988 Open Championship. Condition is brand new, never gamed, everything is in the original packaging as it came. Putter features the iconic sound slot.

Specs/ Additional Details

-100% Milled, Aluminum/Bronze Alloy (310g)

-Original Anser Design

-PING PP58 Grip

-Putter is built to standard specs.”

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: Ping PLD Limited Anser – 1988 Open Championship – #2 of only 88 Made

This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules

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Inside Collin Morikawa’s recent golf ball, driver, 3-wood, and “Proto” iron changes

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As you probably know by now, Collin Morikawa switched putters after the first round of The Masters, and he ultimately went on to finish T3.

The putter was far from the only change he made last week, however, and his bag is continuing to change this week at the 2024 RBC Heritage.

On the range of The Masters, Morikawa worked closely with Adrian Reitveld, TaylorMade’s Senior Manager of Tour at TaylorMade, to find the perfect driver and 3-wood setups.

Morikawa started off 2024 by switching into TaylorMade’s Qi10 Max driver, but since went back to his faithful TaylorMade SIM – yes, the original SIM from 2020. Somehow, some way, it seems Morikawa always ends up back in that driver, which he used to win the 2020 PGA Championship, and the 2021 Open Championship.

At The Masters, however, Rietveld said the duo found the driver head that allowed “zero compromise” on Morikawa’s preferred fade flight and spin. To match his preferences, they landed on a TaylorMade Qi10 LS 9-degree head, and the lie angle is a touch flatter than his former SIM.

“It’s faster than his gamer, and I think what we found is it fits his desired shot shape, with zero compromise” Rietveld told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the RBC Heritage.

Then, to replace his former SIM rocket 3-wood, Morikawa decided to switch into the TaylorMade Qi10 core model 13.5-degree rocket head, with an adjustable hosel.

“He likes the spin characteristics of that head,” Rietveld said. “Now he’s interesting because with Collin, you can turn up at a tournament, and you look at his 3-wood, and he’s changed the setting. One day there’s more loft on it, one day there’s less loft on it. He’s that type of guy. He’s not scared to use the adjustability of the club.

“And I think he felt our titanium head didn’t spin as low as his original SIM. So we did some work with the other head, just because he liked the feel of it. It was a little high launching, so we fit him into something with less loft. It’s a naughty little piece of equipment.” 

In addition to the driver and fairway wood changes, Morikawa also debuted his new “MySymbol” jersey No. 5 TP5x golf ball at The Masters. Morikawa’s choice of symbols is likely tied to his love of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team.

Not enough changes for you? There’s one more.

On Wednesday at the 2024 RBC Heritage, Morikawa was spotted with a new TaylorMade “Proto” 4-iron in the bag. If you recall, it’s the same model that Rory McIlroy debuted at the 2024 Valero Texas Open.

According to Morikawa, the new Proto 4-iron will replace his old P-770 hollow-bodied 4-iron.

“I used to hit my P-770 on a string, but sometimes the distance would be a little unpredictable,” Morikawa told GolfWRX.com. “This one launches a touch higher, and I feel I can predict the distance better. I know Rory replaced his P-760 with it. I’m liking it so far.” 

See Morikawa’s full WITB from the 2024 RBC Heritage here. 

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Why Rory McIlroy will likely use the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper at the RBC Heritage

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Although we spotted Rory McIlroy testing the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper last week during practice rounds at the Masters, he ultimately didn’t decide to use the club in competition.

It seems that will change this week at the 2024 RBC Heritage, played at the short-and-tight Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head.

When asked on Wednesday following his morning Pro-Am if he’d be using the new, nostalgic BRNR Copper this week, McIlroy said, “I think so.”

“I like it,” McIlroy told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday regarding the BRNR. “This would be a good week for it.”

 

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According to Adrian Rietveld, the Senior Manager of Tour at TaylorMade, the BRNR Mini Driver can help McIlroy position himself properly off the tee at the tight layout.

Here’s what Rietveld told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday:

“For someone like Rory, who’s that long at the top end of the bag, and then you put him on a course like Harbour Town, it’s tough off the tee. It’s tight into the greens, and you have to put yourself in position off the tee to have a shot into the green. It kind of reminds me of Valderrama in Spain, where you can be in the fairway and have no shot into the green.

“I’m caddying for Tommy [Fleetwood] this week, so I was walking the course last night and looking at a few things. There’s just such a small margin for error. You can be standing in the fairway at 300 yards and have a shot, but at 320 you don’t. So if you don’t hit a perfect shot, you could be stuck behind a tree. And then if you’re back at 280, it might be a really tough shot into the small greens.

“So for Rory [with the BRNR], it’s a nice course-specific golf club for him. He’s got both shots with it; he can move it right-to-left or left-to-right. And the main thing about this club has been the accuracy and the dispersion with it. I mean, it’s been amazing for Tommy.

“This was the first event Tommy used a BRNR last year, and I remember talking to him about it, and he said he couldn’t wait to play it at Augusta next year. And he just never took it out of the bag because he’s so comfortable with it, and hitting it off the deck.

“So you look at Rory, and you want to have the tools working to your advantage out here, and the driver could hand-cuff him a bit with all of the shots you’d have to manufacture.”

So, although McIlroy might not be making a permanent switch into the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper, he’s likely to switch into it this week.

His version is lofted at 13.5 degrees, and equipped with a Fujikura Ventus Black 7X shaft.

See more photos of Rory testing the BRNR Mini here

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