Equipment
Blade vs. Mallet putters: What the top-50 players are using (OWGR and SG: Putting)
“Blade versus mallet” is becoming more of a relevant argument over the past several years as more and more PGA Tour pros are opting for mallet putters with higher MOI (moment of inertia, a measure of forgiveness) instead of the classic Anser-style putters that most pros once employed. But, exactly how many top golfers are actually using mallets instead of blades now?
That’s what I wanted to find out. In order to do so, I simply looked up the top-50 golfers in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) and went through recent Getty Images (as close to August 9, 2018 as possible) to determine whether they’re currently using a blade or mallet putter. I then repeated the process with the current top-50 golfers in Strokes Gained: Putting as per PGA Tour’s website on August 9.
What’s the point of this? Well, each golfer is different and you should definitely get fit before making a putter purchase. But to me, it’s just interesting to see how many top golfers and great putters are using mallets compared to blade-style putters, and how any stigma surrounding mallet putters is all but gone. Heck, even Tiger Woods recently switched to a mallet-style putter.
Note: Using an Odyssey rep’s suggestion, I classified Phil’s Odyssey No. 9 putter as a “modified blade,” as well as a few other blade-style heads that have MOI-raising designs i.e. Patrick Cantlay’s Cameron Concept, Ricky Barnes’ and Anirban Lahiri’s No. 9-style heads, and Billy Horschel’s PXG. So these putters were included in the “blade” category. If you disagree with calling these modified blades, I understand.
Let’s get to the numbers.
Top 50 players in the OWGR
Mallet (22-out-of-50): 44 percent
- Dustin Johnson (No. 1 in the OWGR)
- Justin Thomas (No. 2)
- Justin Rose (No. 3)
- Jon Rahm (No. 7)
- Jason Day (N0. 10)
- Henrik Stenson (No. 17)
- Xander Schauffele (No. 19)
- Webb Simpson (No. 20)
- Tyrrell Hatton (No. 25)
- Kyle Stanley (No. 26)
- Kevin Kisner (No. 27)
- Ian Poulter (No. 31)
- Kiradech Aphibarnrat (No. 32)
- Brian Harman (No. 33)
- Charley Hoffman (No. 35)
- Branden Grace (No. 36)
- Pat Perez (No. 38)
- Kevin Na (No. 41)
- Daniel Berger (No. 43)
- Ross Fisher (No. 46)
- Luke List (No. 47)
- Cameron Smith (No. 49)
Blade (28-out-of-50): 56 percent
- Brooks Koepka (No. 4)
- Rory McIlroy (No. 5)
- Francesco Molinari (No. 6)
- Jordan Spieth (No. 8)
- Rickie Fowler (No. 9)
- Tommy Fleetwood (No. 11)
- Patrick Reed (No. 12)
- Alex Noren (No. 13)
- Bubba Watson (No. 14)
- Paul Casey (No. 15)
- Hideki Matsuyama (No. 16)
- Marc Leishman (No. 18)
- Phil Mickelson (No. 21)
- Bryson DeChambeau (No. 22)
- Sergio Garcia (No. 23)
- Patrick Cantlay (No. 24)
- Matt Kuchar (No. 28)
- Tony Finau (No. 29)
- Rafa Cabrera Bello (30)
- Louis Oosthuizen (No. 34)
- Satoshi Kodaira (No. 37)
- Matthew Fitzpatrick (No. 39)
- Thorbjorn Olesen (N0. 40)
- Byeong Hun An (No. 42)
- Gary Woodland (No. 44)
- Haotong Li (No. 45)
- Si Woo Kim (No. 48)
- Zach Johnson (N0. 50)
Top 50 players in SG: Putting
Mallet (28-out-of-50 players): 56 percent
- Jason Day (No. 1 in SG:Putting)
- Greg Chalmers (No. 3)
- Daniel Summerhays (No. 5)
- Webb Simpson (No. 6)
- Kevin Kisner (No. 7)
- Justin Rose (No. 8)
- Peter Malnati (No. 9)
- Beau Hossler (No. 10)
- Graeme McDowell (No. 12)
- Dustin Johnson (No. 14)
- Seamus Power (No. 15)
- Brian Harman (No. 16)
- Denny McCarthy (No. 21)
- Tyrrell Hatton (No. 22)
- Chesson Hadley (No. 23)
- Derek Fathauer (No. 26)
- Ben Crane (T27)
- Nicholas Lindheim (T27)
- Branden Grace (No. 32)
- Austin Cook (No. 33)
- Brandt Snedeker (No. 35)
- Aaron Wise (No. 36)
- Justin Thomas (No. 37)
- Brett Stegmaier (No. 39)
- Tiger Woods (T44)
- Patton Kizzire (No. 46)
- Brandon Harkins (No. 48)
- Kiradech Aphibarnrat (No. 50)
Blade (22-out-of-50 players): 44 percent
- Phil Mickelson (No. 2)
- Alex Noren (No. 4)
- Emiliano Grillo (No. 11)
- Patrick Rodgers (No. 13)
- Johnson Wagner (No. 17)
- Brian Gay (No. 18)
- Michael Thompson (No. 19)
- Whee Kim (No. 20)
- Billy Horschel (No. 24)
- Hunter Mahan (No. 25)
- Wesley Bryan (No. 29)
- Jimmy Walker (No. 30)
- Bud Cauley (No. 31)
- Paul Casey (No. 34)
- Michael Kim (No. 38)
- Matt Kuchar (No. 40)
- Martin Laird (No. 41)
- Dominic Bozzelli (No. 42)
- Ricky Barnes (No. 43)
- Anirban Lahiri (T44)
- Russell Henley (No. 47)
- Rickie Fowler (No. 49)
For those keeping track at home, this means that 8-of-the-top-10 in Strokes Gained: Putting are currently using mallet putters. On the flip side, 3-of-3 major champions in 2018 used blade putters to win. Again, not exactly sure what this means. But it’s interesting.
What do you take away from these results?
- LIKE656
- LEGIT81
- WOW18
- LOL18
- IDHT13
- FLOP12
- OB7
- SHANK54
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.
…The Jailbird craze hasn’t really slowed down in 2024, either. According to Odyssey rep Joe Toulon, there are about 18-20 Jailbird putter users on the PGA TOUR.
Most recently, Akshay Bhatia won the 2024 Valero Texas Open using a broomstick-style Odyssey Jailbird 380 putter and Webb Simpson is switching into a replica of that putter at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Now, Fowler, who essentially started the whole Jailbird craze, is making a significant change to his putter setup.
Fowler, who has had a couple weeks off since the 2024 RBC Heritage, started experimenting with a new, custom-orange Jailbird 380 head that’s equipped with a standard 35-inch putter build, rather than his previous 38-inch counter-balanced setup.
According to Fowler, while he still likes the look and forgiveness of his Jailbird putter head, he’s looking to re-incorporate more feel into his hands during the putting stroke.
He told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Championship that the 38-inch counterbalanced setup “served its purpose” by helping him to neutralize his hands during the stroke, but now it’s time to try the standard-length putter with a standard-size SuperStroke Pistol Tour grip to help with his feel and speed control.
Although Fowler was also spotted testing standard-length mallets from L.A.B. Golf and Axis1 on Tuesday, he confirmed that the custom Odyssey Jailbird 380 is the putter he’ll use this week at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship.
Head over to PGATour.com for the full article.
- LIKE13
- LEGIT2
- WOW1
- LOL1
- IDHT0
- FLOP1
- OB0
- SHANK3
- Akshay Bhatia what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. Bhatia is deciding between drivers. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Callaway Rogue ST Max LS (9 degrees @7.2, 2 grams lead tape heel, 4 grams toe)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X (44 7/8 inches, tipped 1 inch)
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max D (9 degrees @7)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max (15 degrees @13.9)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X (43 inches, tipped 1.5)
Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW Prototype (19 degrees @17.8)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 10 X
Irons: Callaway X Forged UT (21 degrees) Buy here, Callaway Apex TCB Raw (5-PW)
Shafts: KBS $-Taper 125 S+
Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (50-10S @49, 54-10S, 60-08C @61)
Shafts: KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 135 X
Putter: Odyssey Versa Jailbird 380
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Split
Grips: Iomic
Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour
More photos of Akshay Bhatia’s WITB in the forums.
- LIKE5
- LEGIT1
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
- Emiliano Grillo what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (9 degrees @10)
Shaft: Project X Denali Blue 60 TX
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (15 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Blue RDX 70 TX
5-wood: Cobra LTDx Prototype (18.5 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Blue RDX 70 TX
Irons: Callaway Apex TCB (4-9)
Shafts: Project X 6.5
Wedges: Callaway MD3 Milled (46-08S), Callaway Jaws Raw (50-10S, 54-10S, 60-08T)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Flatso 1.0
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Check out more in-hand photos of Emiliano Grillo’s clubs here.
- LIKE1
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
Dave Portnoy places monstrous outright bet for the 2024 Masters
John Daly stuns fans into silence with brutal opening tee shot on PGA Tour Champions
Things got heated at the Houston Open between Tony Finau and Alejandro Tosti. Here’s why
Justin Thomas on the equipment choice of Scottie Scheffler that he thinks is ‘weird’
Tiger Woods arrives at 2024 Masters equipped with a putter that may surprise you
‘Absolutely crazy’ – Major champ lays into Patrick Cantlay over his decision on final hole of RBC Heritage
Report: Tiger Woods has ‘eliminated sex’ in preparation for the 2024 Masters
Two star names reportedly blanked Jon Rahm all week at the Masters
Report: LIV Golf identifies latest star name they hope to sign to breakaway tour
Neal Shipley presser ends in awkward fashion after reporter claims Tiger handed him note on 8th fairway
Akshay Bhatia WITB 2024 (May)
Akshay Bhatia what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. Bhatia is deciding between drivers. More photos...
Emiliano Grillo WITB 2024 (May)
Emiliano Grillo what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here. Driver: Callaway...
Webb Simpson WITB 2024 (May)
Webb Simpson what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here. Driver:...
Keegan Bradley WITB 2024 (May)
Keegan Bradley’s WITB accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. >14 clubs pictured. Obviously, Bradley will reduce that number to...
-
19th Hole2 weeks agoJustin Thomas on the equipment choice of Scottie Scheffler that he thinks is ‘weird’
-
19th Hole2 weeks ago‘Absolutely crazy’ – Major champ lays into Patrick Cantlay over his decision on final hole of RBC Heritage
-
19th Hole2 weeks agoLET pro gives detailed financial breakdown of first week on tour…and the net result may shock you
-
19th Hole1 day agoReport: LIV star turns down PGA Championship invite due to ‘personal commitments’
-
19th Hole1 week agoGary Player claims this is what ‘completely ruined’ Tiger Woods’ career
-
Whats in the Bag1 week agoTeam McIlowry (Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry) winning WITBs: 2024 Zurich Classic
-
19th Hole3 weeks agoTaylorMade signs 15-year-old AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year to an NIL contract
-
Equipment1 week agoGolf fans left surprised by LIV’s choice of course for its 2024 individual championship event
Pingback: What styles of putters are used by the 50 best players in the world? (2022 update) – GolfWRX – 0-cialis.com
Pingback: Hvilken stil af pinde bruges af de 50 bedste spillere i verden? (Opdatering 2022) - GolfWRX - comwpvip
Pingback: Vilken typ av stick använder de 50 bästa spelarna i världen? (uppdatering 2022) – GolfWRX - com4yuuu
Pingback: Blade vs. mallet: What style putters do the Top-50 players in the world use? (2022 update) – GolfWRX
HDTVMAN
Aug 19, 2018 at 4:37 pm
I have an actual Ping reproduction of the 1A putter with the PP58 midsize grip in my bag…AND I LOVE IT!!!
Wiger Toods
Aug 17, 2018 at 7:57 am
Centre-shafted mid-mallets are clearly the wave of the future.
OK, maybe not, but they should be. 🙂
Benny
Aug 15, 2018 at 2:48 pm
SAM Lab is awesome but what happens is it shows all the mistakes. Which we try to correct. Some of the best putters in the world have putted great with all types. Balanced, flow, whatever gives them confidence. Cool article. They did another years back with top wedge players and what they use. Keep it up Golfwrx!
Gepetto
Aug 11, 2018 at 1:45 pm
As a follow up, it would be fascinating to know how many of the top putters use a conventional, left hand low or claw grip and then to know which of these use a mallet or blade. Thanks for the great article!
Commoner
Aug 11, 2018 at 8:36 am
A refresher course in English Composition is needed.
doug
Aug 11, 2018 at 1:33 pm
This is conversational english…. ya whitey racist golf ball !!!
Ritch Gallagher
Aug 10, 2018 at 7:24 pm
To be a little more data centric, how many of the players listed as using mallets are using the new models that have some toe hang versus face balanced. I think whatever works best is the path to follow. I have tried a variety over the years but always wind up with my 18 year old Ping B60. I also like to take my 50 plus year old Bullseye flange that I bought in high school in the sixties. It still feels great.
anton
Aug 10, 2018 at 11:57 pm
does your bullseye feel great in your hands, during the stroke or at impact?
Bugh
Aug 10, 2018 at 7:20 pm
A putter is a man’s symbol of his gonadal weapon whipped out on the shaved green to drop that lil’ ball into da hole.
anton
Aug 10, 2018 at 11:55 pm
a man and his putter shall not be parted… it’s a matter of golf and life.
engineer bob
Aug 10, 2018 at 6:25 pm
Two points about putters and putting:
1. ‘feel’ for pros is sensing and controlling the putting stroke. Feel for the rest of us is the pleasant sensation of impact on the sweet spot, and nothing more.
2. MOI = Moment of Inertia or Force of Resistance to motion. High MOI putters impede the putting stroke, but deaden the lousy feel of off center hits. Choose your poison.
anton
Aug 10, 2018 at 11:59 pm
but a big black heavy putter will get the ball into the hole with greater force.
Jeff LeFevre
Aug 10, 2018 at 5:56 pm
Ok so were now calling Anser style putters blade putters what are we calling a wilson 8802 or similar putters?
shawn
Aug 10, 2018 at 6:13 pm
Obsolete ??!!! 😀
anton
Aug 11, 2018 at 12:00 am
LOL !
Jaap
Aug 10, 2018 at 4:20 pm
Almost all my new golfino Customers end up in the mother of all mallet putters.. the odyssey rossie. What they are looking for is balance..
what would be a more interesting test is how many out of the top 50 owgr And PG stats use bigger (super stroke) grips..
joro
Aug 10, 2018 at 2:14 pm
So the Companies are pushing their newest and greatest, usually Mallets. Those who use the “Blades” are using proven models, usually Ping style or my 8802 which has been in the Closet while I succumbed to the hype and the Mallet. I brought out my 8802 forged and POW, back to holing more and more “gimmees”.
So again, either you can or you can’t. Buy what you like and what works, not what some top Pro who can put with a broom uses.
shawn
Aug 10, 2018 at 6:12 pm
But joro…. the pros practice their putting stroke endlessly with any putter they choose to use. Ams and rec golfers want a putter that will guide them through the putting stroke without practice… and even read the green and pot the putt too!!!
christian
Aug 11, 2018 at 10:51 am
Holing out gimmies doesn’t seem very impressive?
joro
Aug 25, 2018 at 8:46 am
Well Christian, holing out and a gimme are not the same in case you did not know. Our gimmes are 6 inches or less and I am very good at that distance. I take it you may have trouble from that distance? You should practice more.
Have a nice game and enjoy your Golf.
Justin
Aug 11, 2018 at 3:34 pm
Exactly, Joro! We can make case study after case study of which type of putter is the “right” putter, depending on what criteria we choose.
Leftshot
Aug 10, 2018 at 1:15 pm
This suggests we mere mortals should all be using high MOI putters, which are mostly mallets. If the players with the most skill and the most time to practice favor putters that give more forgiveness, we’d be fools to give up this added forgiveness.
shawn
Aug 10, 2018 at 6:10 pm
If you can consistently hit the ball on the putter sweet spot you don’t need high MOI… ever think of that?!! 😮
Paul
Aug 10, 2018 at 12:26 pm
I was fitted after going through a SAM Putting Lab session some years back.They recommended a Bettinardi BB-27 blade which I bought. Liked the putter but struggled with it. Keep in mind I developed a mild case of the yips that would come and go. This putter was 340G in weight. Many times I would leave putts short. Finally after a number of years a friend told me I should try a center shafted mallet. There is a PGA Superstore close to me with a huge selection of putters. After hours of putting with various models, I really liked the Scotty Cameron Futura 5s. It had two 10g inserts in the bottom of the mallet. The putter was very expensive. I searched on eBay and found the same putter with two 15g inserts. It was a floor model and absolutely like brand new. Never used on the course. Also I saved over $100.00 going this route. I am happy to say I have halved the number of 3 putts on 18 holes. Normally I would 3 putt at least 6 holes on average and sometimes more. With my old putter there was never a short putt I couldn’t miss. Now I’m consistently making those 2.5 to 3 foot putts. The mallet putter made a huge difference to me. It also is face balanced. Hey I win a few bets now also. With my old putter, my friends would make side bets amongst themselves, if I was going to 3 putt a hole or not. As they say, what are friends for!!!
Sl
Aug 10, 2018 at 1:08 pm
So, what you’re saying is, that the science at the SAM putt lab is totally bogus and useless. I knew it! lol
Paul
Aug 10, 2018 at 3:45 pm
Actually the Sam Putt Lab was very useful. It showed that when I addressed the ball with my putter, I was always leaving it 2 degrees open. I automatically compensated for it by cutting across my putts even though I didn’t realize it. Also it showed that when I thought the blade was centered behind the ball it actually wasn’t. I had to adjust the line on my putter so it was actually farther to the right of the ball a little bit to be actually centered. The Sam Putt Lab was definitely worth it. The lasers they use don’t lie.
ogo
Aug 10, 2018 at 12:08 pm
If you pull the putter with your lead hand get a blade.
If you push the putter with your trail hand get a mallet.
If you can’t bend over due to back pain get a broomstick.
Joe Joe
Aug 12, 2018 at 9:26 am
What if you’re trying to keep your hands neutral and putt 100% with your shoulders?
JP
Aug 16, 2018 at 12:42 pm
I’m a right-hand dominant putter, and I love putting with a blade. Your canned advice doesn’t cut it.
Regis
Aug 10, 2018 at 12:05 pm
I go back to a time where most pros were gaming bullseye putters. Those were blades. Anser style putters were ‘mallets”. Now Ansers are blades.There are Ansers with “Wings”. I gained a real mallet putter for years. My buddies called it my potato masher. That head over was the size of a briefcase
Brad
Aug 10, 2018 at 10:30 am
I recently went through a Sam Putting Lab session where I was willing to accept whatever type of putter was recommended for me. Ironically I ended up with a putter style I would have never chosen for myself on my own. It’s amazing what the right fit will do for your game. Blade or Mallet, be sure to get properly fit as noted in the article.
Chris Pierson
Aug 10, 2018 at 9:55 am
Andrew- Awesome study! Would love to know and see if there’s anything a bit deeper like what is the most popular mallet, most successful mallet, most popular alignment, and maybe look into grips as well. A lot of Odyssey 7’s and TMAG spiders!
Getemgoose
Aug 10, 2018 at 8:37 am
I was actually doing that comparison myself a few days ago. Really cool to see the breakdown. Great article.
DB
Aug 10, 2018 at 8:28 am
Very interesting. However, I suspect it really doesn’t matter that much. If you forced everyone to use a blade putter (or mallet), I suspect the same people would rise to the top in the putting stats.
Shooter McGavin
Aug 10, 2018 at 7:40 am
This kind of means nothing since a lot of mallets now are 4:30 toe hang. I’d rather see a break down of players that use face balanced vs. toe hang putters. Would be interested to see how successful the SBST stroke is on tour.
Day, DJ, JT, Rahm, Tiger… all toe hang mallets.
John Lancaster
Aug 10, 2018 at 3:22 am
It means Rory should get himself a “RORS” spider and green can become the new red….
Brad
Aug 10, 2018 at 1:06 am
It simply means that we should use the putter that works best for us, whether that’s a blade, mallet, or a…wedge? Tip of the hat to you Robert Streb…
Jamie
Aug 9, 2018 at 5:40 pm
Wilson 8802 or George Low Wizard 600 are BLADE putters, not all the Ping Anser knockoffs. This is how mass delusion starts.
shawn
Aug 9, 2018 at 10:01 pm
Absolutely correct… and add to that the Cashin, Bullseye and Spalding T.P. Mills style putters are true BLADE putters… because they don’t have heel-toe weighting like the Anser-style putters. It’s important to make the distinction to stop the mass delusion.
The dude
Aug 10, 2018 at 12:53 am
That ship Has left the port…….Anser style is “blade”.
shawn
Aug 10, 2018 at 11:53 am
Answer style is now called a “blade” to make it sound more potent. Karsten designed the heel-toe weighted Anser for the mass market which cannot consistently hit the ball on the putter sweet spot. Maybe pros have the same problem given their search for an effective way to hold the putter grip.
joro
Aug 10, 2018 at 2:23 pm
Just a little tidbit of info. I was on the first Ping staff and Karsten told me the design was as you stated. The most important thing to him in Putting was feel and should, later proven in testing . So he make the hard material head for sound and the small grip for feel, later copied by Scotty when he ditched the Platinum for steel. Tiger said the Platinum was too soft.
Christens wife named the Putter the Answer but he had to remove a letter on the name to fit on the hosel and it became the ANSER. A great Putter. I had the first Left Handed ANSER made in Redwood City that he gave me. He was a great man and although his clubs were ugly at first, they got pretty really fast. Just a ramble on my part.
shawn
Aug 10, 2018 at 6:06 pm
Thank you, joro… for your historical insight and cogent explanation of “feel” of impact. What about the feel for the back and fore stroking of the putter? The hosel offset destroys putting feel due to added eccentricity. Why didn’t Karsten stay with the true pendulum style 1A model?
Suncoast9
Aug 10, 2018 at 4:24 pm
Terminology has changed over the years. When I started golfing in the 60’s there were three categories for putters: blade, flanged, and mallet.
Blade putters (such as the Bullseye) had identical faces on the front and back.
Flanged putters had a small flare on the back, usually near the bottom. There were flanged putters long before Ping, but I can’t remember any model names. I would say the Anser fell into the flanged category.
Mallet putters of the day were half-round in shape, with larger heads than blades and flanges, although much smaller than today’s offerings. I remember the term “potato masher” from the 70’s, but can’t recall if it was a specific model name or just a generic term for all mallets.
Christopher
Aug 15, 2018 at 12:07 pm
It is depressing that we’re now calling heel-toe weighted game improvement putters a blade. But Golf WRX did best of list of blades a while ago which featured cavity backs. I understand that putters like the Bullseye, Wilson 8802, the TP Mills and Tad Moore putter ranges have gone out of fashion. Even Scotty had the Circa ’62 line (and others) blade range and they were beauties, but it’s lamentable that we’re changing the meaning for no real reason.
If a club offers any kind of perimeter weighting, it’s not a blade.