Equipment
Spotted: Bubba Watson’s new Ping PLD mallet putter
So far in 2017, Bubba Watson has had a year to forget on the golf course. He’s dropped to No. 46 in the Official World Golf Rankings, his top finish is a T5 at the 2017 Zurich Classic, and he missed the cut at both The Masters and the U.S. Open.
Time to switch it up, apparently.
While Watson has used an Anser-style putter throughout his professional career, he put a new Ping PLD mallet putter in play at the 2017 Open Championship… and maybe he’s found something. Although Watson finished T27 at Royal Birkdale, he recorded the second-most amount of birdies (17), tied with Open champion Jordan Spieth. He also had one of the best putting rounds of the week among all competitors, needing only 24 putts during the second round.
We spotted him at the 2017 RBC Canadian Open with the Ping PLD putter still in the bag. Check out in-hand photos of the putter in the gallery below.
Discussion: See what GolfWRX members are saying about Watson’s new putter
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- Pavon’s WITB accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G430 Max (9 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 6 X
3-wood: Ping G430 LST (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 7 X
Hybrid: Ping G430 (19 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 10 X
Irons: Ping i230 (3-PW)
Shafts: Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 X
Wedges: Ping Si59 (52-12S, 58-8B)
Shafts: Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 X
Putter: Ping Cadence TR Tomcat C
Grip: SuperStroke Claw 1.0P
Grips: Golf Pride MCC Align
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Check out more in-hand photos of Pavon’s gear here.
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Tommy Fleetwood has been attached to his Odyssey White Hot Pro #3 putter for years now. However, this week at the Wells Fargo Championship, we did spot him testing a new putter that is very different, yet somewhat similar, to his current gamer.
This new putter is a TaylorMade Spider Tour X head but with a brand new neck we haven’t seen on a Spider before. A flow neck is attached to the Spider head and gives the putter about a 1/2 shaft offset. This style neck will usually increase the toe hang of the putter and we can guess it gets the putter close to his White Hot Pro #3.
Another interesting design is that lack of TaylorMade’s True Path alignment on the top of the putter. Instead of the large white center stripe, Tommy’s Spider just has a very short white site line milled into it. As with his Odyssey, Tommy seems to be a fan of soft inserts and this Spider prototype looks to have the TPU Pure Roll insert with 45° grooves for immediate topspin and less hopping and skidding.
The sole is interesting as well in that the rear weights don’t look to be interchangeable and are recessed deep into the ports. This setup could be used to push the CG forward in the putter for a more blade-like feel during the stroke, like TaylorMade did with the Spider X Proto Scottie Scheffler tested out.
Tommy’s putter is finished off with an older Super Stroke Mid Slim 2.0 grip in blue and white. The Mid Slim was designed to fit in between the Ultra Slim 1.0 and the Slim 3.0 that was a popular grip on tour.
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
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We enter week 4 of Thursday night men’s league feeling a little more confident in the game. BK is hoping to go a little lower and reduce the mistakes out there with these clubs in the bag. Watch the video for the full breakdown of why these clubs are getting the starting nod this week!
Driver: Titleist TSR2 (10 degrees, neutral setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana WB 63 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: UST Mamiya Lin-Q M40X TSPX Blue 7F5
7-wood: Ping G430 Max (-1 degree, flat Ssetting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 S
Iron: Mizuno Pro Fli-Hi 4
Shaft: Aerotech Steelfiber hls880 S
Irons: PXG 0317 Tour (5-PW)
Shaft: LA Golf A-Series 105 Low (4)
Wedge: Titleist Vokey SM10 (50-08F)
Shaft: UST Mamiya Dart V 105 F4 Wedge
Wedge: Ping S159 (56-10H)
Shaft: Ping Z-Z115
Wedge: Ping S159 (60-08B)
Shaft: Ping Z-Z115
Putter: PXG Battle Ready II Brandon
Shaft: BGT Stability Tour Spec One
Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour X
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Rick
Mar 11, 2018 at 2:28 pm
Jack you must not be very old Scotty Cameron copied all of Karstens original designs! Use google!
chris
Jul 30, 2017 at 11:13 am
Every putter made is a Ping knockoff
Jack
Jul 27, 2017 at 3:55 am
Yeah, if it weren’t for Scotty Cameron, Ping would run out of ideas! On another subject, is it just me or have club manufacturers and their photographers lost their minds? If you’re going to take photos of a putter, iron, wood, etc., for goodness sake, give us a shot of the club behind the ball (top down profile). What is wrong with you people?
Tom54
Jul 26, 2017 at 7:17 pm
Ping had their last good putters in the early 90’s I believe. Any of their beryllium models Anser and Anser2, B60, Zing 2. All of those were wonderful examples. I still have all of mine since they are not allowed to use those alloys anymore. The newer ping putters just don’t seem to be as simple as those were.
Lloyd
Jul 25, 2017 at 6:01 pm
Nothing new hear and just a redux of old putter designs to sucker golfers into buying Ping.
Mad-Mex
Jul 25, 2017 at 9:04 pm
I agree, PING has never released a putter which revolutionized the golf industry or has been copied by others,,, except for the Anser,
Mad-Mex
Jul 25, 2017 at 9:04 pm
or the Anser 2
Mad-Mex
Jul 25, 2017 at 9:06 pm
or the My Day,,,,,,,,,
Lloyd
Jul 25, 2017 at 10:12 pm
Ping 1A, the first Solheim design, was adequate to pop a golf ball.
tlmck
Jul 26, 2017 at 4:59 pm
Or the 5bz