Equipment
Why do so many pros play blade irons but mallet putters? – GolfWRXers discuss
In our forums, our members have been discussing why professional golfers would choose to play blade irons but mallet putters. WRXer ‘2717B’ queries why players would opt for less forgiving options in their irons but desire more forgiveness on the greens, and our members have been having their say.
Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- bombs: “Blades, when struck well, are the most predictable in terms of carry, consistency and workability.”
- gbartko: “I think forgiveness is more important with the putter. With an iron, you may be off a few yards but still on the green/in bounds/over the hazard. But a small miss with the putter means you miss the putt period.”
- shortset: “I believe that the skill that carries players to the pro ranks is ball striking. Hence the blades. Tour players are not necessarily the best putters in the world hence the need for forgiving equipment.”
- 1Mordrid1: “Less than 30% of PGA Tour players use blades, so pros and blades do not go hand in hand. The same reason that less pros are using blades now days is the same reason more players are using mallet putters. The stigma of what’s in the bag just does not matter much any more, as long as what is in the bag is working for them.”
- greenwavegolfer: “There’s absolutely no downsides to a forgiving design on a putter whereas there’s a performance tradeoff between a blade and a chunky, forgiving GI type iron when you’re a pro looking for consistent ball speeds and spin control on good shots. They don’t want “flier” shots or reduced spin on irons, and that’s what dictates their choice of clubs. For a putter, they want what they can get a good roll with and align properly, and if that’s a mallet, it’s a mallet.”
Entire Thread: “Why do so many pros play blade irons but mallet putters?”
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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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Primal
Sep 4, 2020 at 2:08 pm
Majority of “pros” use what they’re told too!
Sean
Sep 3, 2020 at 10:05 am
The market influences what players use from the time they take up golf all the way to the tour. Take an old blade putter in its simplicity it would be very hard for OEM to charge big money for a blade like putter. One of the reasons they are not great putter are the putters alignment lines, they don’t encourage a arc stroke for a beginner or amateur.