Equipment
Blade vs. mallet: What style putters do the top-50 players in the world use? (2022 update)
Four years ago, I wrote an article where I analyzed the putters that the top-50 players in the world were using, and the top-50 players in strokes gained: putting. I wanted to find out whether more mallet-style putters, or blade-style putters, were being used by the world’s best.
In 2018, I found that 44 percent of the top-50 players in the Official World Golf Rankings were using mallet style putters, and 56 percent of the top-50 in strokes gained: putting were using mallet putters.
Flash forward to 2022, and it would seem that more and more top golfers are switching into mallet putters – Scottie Scheffler, for example, just switched into a mallet putter after using a blade-style putter throughout his career.
What are the actual numbers, though? Are more top PGA Tour players really using mallet putters these days, or is the shift overblown?
I wanted to find out.
For my research, I simply went through the most recent GolfWRX WITB photos, and the most recent photos on Getty Images, to figure out what style putter each player in the Top-50 in the OWGR is using, as well as each Top-50 player in strokes gained: putting on the PGA Tour for the 2021-22 season.
Below are the results:
Top-50 in OWGR: Blade or Mallet?
Mallet putter users, 62 percent (31 out of 50)
Rory McIlroy’s TaylorMade Spider Tour mallet putter
Rory McIlroy (No. 1: TaylorMade Spider Tour Hydroblast)
Scottie Scheffler (No. 2: Scotty Cameron T-5.5 Proto)
Patrick Cantlay (No. 4: Scotty Cameron T5 Proto)
Jon Rahm (N0. 5: Odyssey Rossie S White Hot OG)
Xander Schauffele (No. 6: Odyssey O-Works #7 CH Red)
Will Zalatoris (No. 7: Scotty Cameron Circle T Phantom X T-11 Proto)
Justin Thomas (No. 8: Scotty Cameron T5 Proto Tour-Only custom)
Viktor Hovland (No. 11: Ping PLD DS 72)
Sam Burns (No. 12: Odyssey O-Works 7S)
Billy Horschel (No. 16: Ping PLD Sigma 2 Tyne 4)
Cameron Young (No. 17: Scotty Cameron T5 prototype)
Max Homa (No. 18: Scotty Cameron Phantom X T5.5 Prototype)
Sungjae Im (No. 20: Scotty Cameron Flowback 5 Prototype)
Shane Lowry: (No. 21: Odyssey DFX 2-ball)
Abraham Ancer (No. 23: Odyssey White Hot No. 5 Stroke Lab)
Keegan Bradley (No. 25: Odyssey Versa Jailbird)
Sepp Straka (No. 27: Odyssey Tuttle Stroke Lab)
Tyrrell Hatton (No. 28: Ping Vault Oslo)
Kevin Kisner (No. 29: Odyssey 2-Ball 11)
Dustin Johnson (No. 30: TaylorMade Spider GT Black)
Corey Conners (No. 31: Ping PLD Prototype)
Tom Hoge (No. 32: TaylorMade Spider X Hydroblast)
K.H. Lee (No. 33: Odyssey Works Versa 2-ball)
Adam Scott (No. 34: L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 prototype)
Aaron Wise (No. 36: TaylorMade Ghost)
Brian Harman (No. 37: TaylorMade OS CB)
Daniel Berger (No. 43: TaylorMade Spider X Hydroblast)
Jason Kokrak (No. 44: Bettinardi Studio Stock 38)
Harold Varner III (No. 46: Odyssey White Hot OG 7S)
Seamus Power (No. 48: Ping PLD3 Mallet)
Harris English (No. 49: Ping Scottsdale Hohum)
Blade putter users, 38 percent (19 out of 50)
Tom Kim’s new custom Scotty Cameron blade-style putter
Cameron Smith (No. 3: Scotty Cameron 009M Prototype)
Collin Morikawa (No. 9: TaylorMade TP Soto)
Matt Fitzpatrick (No. 10: Bettinardi DASS Prototype)
Jordan Spieth (No. 13: Scotty Cameron 009 tour prototype)
Tony Finau (No. 14: Ping PLD Prototype)
Joohyung “Tom” Kim (No. 15: Scotty Cameron TourType GSS Prototype)
Hideki Matsuyama (No. 19: Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS)
Joaquin Niemann (No. 22: Prototype Ping PLD Anser)
Tommy Fleetwood (No. 24: TaylorMade TP Juno)
Ryan Fox (No. 26: Ping Anser 2D)
Thomas Pieters (No. 35: Scotty Cameron Squareback Select 2 Tour Only)
Talor Gooch (No. 38: Odyssey Tri-Hot Two)
Brooks Koepka (No. 39: Scotty Cameron Teryllium TNP2)
Kevin Na (No. 40: Odyssey Toulon Madison)
Kurt Kitayama (No. 41: Scotty Cameron Newport prototype)
Louis Oosthuizen (No. 42: Ping Vault 2.0 Voss)
Mito Pereira (No. 45: Ping Vault 2.0 Dale Anser Stealth)
Paul Casey (No. 47: Scotty Cameron 009M Prototype)
Alex Noren (No. 50: Odyssey O-Works 1W)
Top-50 in Strokes Gained: Putting
Mallet users: 70 percent (35 of 50 players)
Kelly Kraft’s custom Odyssey Versa 1-Ball Red prototype mallet
Lucas Herbert (No. 1: TaylorMade Spider X Hydroblast)
Denny McCarthy (No. 2: Scotty Cameron GoLo N7)
Tyrrell Hatton (No. 4: Ping Vault Oslo)
Beau Hossler (No. 5: Odyssey 2-Ball Ten)
Christiaan Bezuidenhout (No. 6: Odyssey White Hot OG #7)
Kelly Kraft (No. 7: Odyssey Versa 1-ball Red Prototype)
Kevin Kisner (No. 9: Odyssey 2-ball 11)
Sam Burns (No. 10: Odyssey O-Works 7S)
Martin Trainer (No. 12: Scotty Cameron Circle T Prototype Phantom T12)
Chesson Hadley (No. 13: Odyssey White Hot OG 2-Ball)
Mackenzie Hughes (No. 14: Ping Scottsdale TR Piper C)
Rory McIlroy (No. 16: TaylorMade Spider Tour Hydroblast)
Ian Poulter (No. 17: Scotty Cameron T-11 Proto)
Justin Rose (No. 20: Axis1 Rose Prototype)
Billy Horschel (No. 21: Ping PLD Sigma 2 Tyne 4)
Matthew Wolff (No. 23: TaylorMade GT Notchback)
Adam Long (No. 24: Scotty Cameron T5 Proto)
Viktor Hovland (No. 25: Ping PLD DS 72)
Max Homa (No. 27: Scotty Cameron Phantom X T5.5 Prototype)
Patrick Cantlay (T28: Scotty Cameron T5 Proto)
Jon Rahm (T28: Odyssey Rossie S White Hot OG)
Wyndham Clark (No. 31: Scotty Cameron T5 Proto)
Xander Schauffele (No. 32: Odyssey O-Works #7 CH Red)
Vince Whaley (No. 33: Odyssey White Hot OG #7)
Rory Sabbatini (No. 34: Scotty Cameron Flowback Prototype)
Austin Cook (T35: Ping Sigma G Tyne)
Sungjae Im (No. 37: Scotty Cameron Flowback 5 Prototype)
Andrew Putnam (No. 38: Odyssey Stroke Lab Black Rossie)
Sepp Straka (No. 39: Odyssey Tuttle Stroke Lab)
Seamus Power (No. 40: Ping PLD3 Mallet)
J.T. Poston (T41: Scotty Cameron GoLo 5 Black Tour Prototype)
Adam Scott (T41: L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 prototype)
Troy Merritt (No. 43: Yes! C-Groove Mollie Tour)
Jason Kokrak (T46: Bettinardi Studio Stock 38)
Mark Hubbard (No. 50: Odyssey Metal X Milled #9HT)
Blade users: 30 percent (15 of 50)
Matthew Fitzpatrick’s custom Bettinardi blade-style putter
Brendon Todd (No. 3: Sik Pro C-Series)
Cameron Smith (No. 8: Scotty Cameron 009M Prototype)
Matt Kuchar (No. 11: Bettinardi Tour Department SS28 DASS)
Marc Leishman (No. 15: Odyssey Versa #6)
Alex Noren (No. 18: Odyssey O-Works 1W)
Maverick McNealy (No. 19: Toulon Stanford MM Custom)
Matt Fitzpatrick (No. 22: Bettinardi DASS Prototype)
Tommy Fleetwood (No. 26: TaylorMade TP Juno)
Patrick Rodgers (No. 30: Odyssey Toulon San Diego)
Seung-Yul Noh (T35: Scotty Cameron Select Prototype)
Scott Stallings (No. 44: Scotty Cameron Newport 2.6 Prototype)
Brooks Koepka (No. 45: Scotty Cameron Teryllium TNP2)
Justin Lower (T46: PXG Prototype)
Richy Werenski (No. 48: Scotty Cameron Circle T Prototype)
Patrick Reed (No. 49: Odyssey White Hot Pro #3)
Conclusion
In 2018, 44 percent of the top-50 players in the Official World Golf Rankings were using mallet style putters, and 56 percent of the top-50 in strokes gained: putting were using mallet putters.
In 2022, 62 percent of the top-50 players in the OWGR use mallet style putters, and 70 percent of the top-50 in strokes gained: putting were using mallet style putters.
What do you think this means?
To me, it means that each golfer should try as many putters as possible – under the supervision of a professional fitter or local club professional – and find the best possible putter to fit their stroke style and preferences.
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Equipment
Why Rory McIlroy will likely use the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper at the RBC Heritage
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.”
View this post on Instagram
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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It seems like the RBC Heritage is full of new gear to be spotted, and you can add TaylorMade’s P-UDI utility irons to that list.
We spotted a 17-degree P-UDI 2-iron in Nick Dunlap’s bag yesterday, and now have some photos of both the 3- and 4-irons. Nick has his P-UDI 2-iron setup with a Project X HZRDUS Black 4th Gen 105g TX shaft.
From what we can tell, this new P-UDI utility iron looks to have some of the usual TaylorMade technology as we can see the Speed Slot on the sole of the club for additional face flexibility. A toe screw is usually used to close off the hollow body design that will probably be filled with a version of TaylorMade’s Speed Foam that is present in the current iron lineup. This hollow body, foam-filled design should offer additional ball speed, soft feel, and sound, as well as an optimized CG for ball flight.
“Forged” is etched into the hosel, so we can assume that either the face, body, or both are forged for a soft and responsive feel. The club looks good from behind and at address, where we can see just a little offset and a topline that I would consider medium thickness. We don’t have the full details on what is under the hood or how many loft options will be available yet.
TaylorMade P-UDI 3-iron – 20°
TaylorMade P-UDI 4-iron – 22°
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 RBC Heritage
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- Collin Morikawa what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage. More photos from the event here.
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 LS (9 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 60 TX (45 inches)
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (13.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 80 TX
5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 80 TX
Irons: TaylorMade P770 (4), P7MC (5-6), P730 (7-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Mid 115 X100 (4-6), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (7-PW)
Wedges: TaylorMade MG4 (50-SB09, 56-LB08), TaylorMade MG4 TW (60-TW11)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: TaylorMade TP Soto
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Tour 2.0
Grips: Golf Pride Z-Grip Cord
Ball: TaylorMade TP5x
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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
Tiger Woods arrives at 2024 Masters equipped with a putter that may surprise you
Scottie Scheffler WITB 2024 (March)
Photos from the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational
Report: Tiger Woods has ‘eliminated sex’ in preparation for the 2024 Masters
Two star names reportedly blanked Jon Rahm all week at the Masters
Joaquin Niemann names 3 PGA Tour events he’d love to play each year ‘in a perfect world’
Spotted: Bettinardi irons at the Arnold Palmer Invitational
Collin Morikawa WITB 2024 (April)
Collin Morikawa what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage. More photos from the event here. Driver: TaylorMade...
WITB Time Machine: Jordan Spieth’s winning WITB, 2022 RBC Heritage
At the 2022 RBC Heritage Jordan Spieth defeated Patrick Cantlay on the first playoff hole after nearly holing his greenside...
Jason Day WITB 2024 (April)
Jason Day what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage. Driver: Ping G430 LST (9 degrees @10) Shaft: TPT...
Ludvig Åberg WITB 2024 (April)
Ludvig Åberg what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage. Driver: Titleist TSR2 (9 degrees, D4 SureFit setting)...
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Tom K
Oct 30, 2022 at 9:45 pm
Blade that isn’t too deep with a rounded back and flow neck is the way to go.
GenoK
Oct 28, 2022 at 7:45 pm
I’m 73 now, with an 18hdcp. My Tommy Armour Impact #3 was tested against the top mallets on Tour in 2019 and came in 2nd overall. Retail $129 On sale $99 I had a $20 coupon…net price $79. Putting has always been my default position and why my game is still respectable. I wasn’t looking to change, but the testers loved the putter, I loved the price and three putts I’ve had with it have been rare.
Peter
Oct 28, 2022 at 5:09 pm
Confusing to me , in the article it says mallet style putters to mallet putters? I thought it was supposed to be compared to blade putters
Vs. Mallet. I must of missed something.
Tom Philbeck
Oct 28, 2022 at 8:38 am
Compare MOI numbers for blade vs. mallet and your article would be really worth reading
Jeff B
Oct 28, 2022 at 3:21 pm
The MOI for Anser2 style blade is higher than many small/mid mallets. Standard Newport 2 is around 4000, some like Odyssey Tri-Hot getting to 5000. Small mallets like Rossie, 2-Ball, #7 in the range of 3000-3500.
Juan
Oct 27, 2022 at 7:55 pm
Nice article. Scheffler’s rank is confusing because he got there with a blade. In his first tourney with a mallet he lost 4.5 strokes putting to the field.