Equipment
HYPE, or REAL? The Odyssey Versa Jailbird putter craze, explained by a top PGA Tour putting coach
I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t want to write this story. Given the amount of times the Odyssey Versa Jailbird putter was brought up during the Sunday coverage of the 2023 U.S. Open at LACC, I figured that most golfers were sick of hearing about it and just wanted to move on.
Hand up, I was wrong. After covering the early-week equipment activity at the 2023 Travelers Championship, and seeing what’s going on in the putter market overall, it’s clear that the Odyssey Versa Jailbird counterbalanced putter setup has officially moved from “hype,” to “trend.”
“Success tends to leave clues behind,” – @KramerHickok @GolfWRX spotted at least 4 players testing an @odysseygolf Versa Jailbird today at the Travelers after Wyndham and Rickie put on a show with it @usopengolf
This is fun. pic.twitter.com/Vprhc59Id7
— Andrew Tursky (@AndrewTursky) June 20, 2023
On Tuesday and Wednesday at the 2023 Travelers Championship, I counted at least five* PGA Tour players testing one out for themselves. The list included Kramer Hickok, Carl Yuan, Jimmy Walker, Ryan Moore and Joel Dahmen. And that’s just who I saw with my own eyes. Obviously, Rickie Fowler and Wyndham Clark are using the putter, and Keegan Bradley (who’s currently atop the Travelers leaderboard after round 1) has also been using the putter since 2021.
When I asked Joe Toulon, Callaway’s Tour Manager, how many requests he’s had for a Jailbird in the last week, he simply answered, “A lot.”
Also, in the third-party used golf equipment world, the market prices have officially hit quadruple digits for listed prices.
So has the golf world simply lost its mind over this putter? Or is the hype actually real?
Before I get into my conversation this week with top PGA Tour putting coach Stephen Sweeney (who works with a TON of PGA Tour players on their putting strokes), I wanted to provide my own personal anecdote.
Don’t worry, I’ll be quick.
Back in 2018, I switched from playing golf right-handed to playing golf left-handed. It was partially because of a bet with my Two Guys Talking Golf podcast co-host Brian Knudson, and partially because of a back injury. Either way, during my first full 18 holes as a lefty, I used an Odyssey Versa Jailbird putter to help me break 100… and win the bet.
So I guess you could say I am slightly biased when it comes to the benefits of the Jailbird mallet head. I’ve seen them first hand.
But I’ve yet to try out the newer age setup that’s currently hot in the golf world – a counterbalanced Versa Jailbird version with a large, elongated SuperStroke 17-inch putter grip, and slabs of lead tape on the sole.
Before every amateur golfer in the world goes out and overspends on a used Odyssey Versa Jailbird putter, and reconfigures it into the Rickie/Wyndham specification, I wanted to get to the bottom of what’s going on here.
In my opinion, there was no one better to turn to than Sweeney. He’s one of the foremost authorities on the putting stroke in the world of golf, and he works with players like Shane Lowry, Aaron Wise, Collin Morikawa, and a slew of other top players in the world.
So, Stephen Sweeney, what’s actually going on with this Jailbird? What is counterbalancing? Why does it help? Should everyone in the world switch to this putter, or what?
Here’s what he had to say on the matter…
Andrew Tursky, GolfWRX.com: I know you’ve worked with at least one player who’s tried out the Jailbird for the first time this week. Does it have legitimate impact on improving the stroke? Like, should amateurs try out a counterbalanced putter? Should they try out the Jailbird, or is it hype?
Stephen Sweeney, PGA Tour putting coach: No, it’s not hype. I mean, I think the biggest thing that people don’t understand with that putter is the Versa element to it; the black-white-black colorway. So it helps with alignment at the very start.
And then with the counterbalanced part of the putter, and the Versa together, the way they work together, it almost swings itself once you get it started. It’s very easy to swing on the correct path. So, no, it’s not hype. It actually does have some technology in it that helps it perform better.
Can you explain “counterbalancing” to someone, you know, amateurs, who really don’t know what that means?
SS: Yeah, so the simplest way to think about it would be on a regular putter, the end of the putter, that’s where the last gram of weight is on the putter. So basically 90 percent of the weight is below the hands. It makes the putter quite heavy, activates the wrists, and makes the hands pretty active. Whereas, with a counterbalanced putter, there’s a proportion of the weight that sits higher than the hands. It basically quiets the hands down and stops so much wrist movement, and it makes the stroke more arm and body driven as opposed to wrists, hands driven.
Rickie Fowler’s 17-inch SuperStroke Tour 3.0 putter grip
If you were to put a percentage on how many amateurs you think should switch to a counterbalanced putter – of those who are currently using a standard putter…how would you describe that?
SS: Probably, for the everyday golfer, I would say somewhere close to 30-to-50 percent would benefit immensely from getting into something like that where, not just having the counterbalance, but also more of a mallet-style head with slightly more forgiveness on it.
But yeah, overall, I think it would help a lot of people get rid of those wristy, hand-manipulated strokes, and get them more into a pendulum, body-controlled stroke style.
Is there anything they can do, you know, some people might not want to go get their putter rebuilt, or buy a new grip, or buy a new putter. Is there a quick trick you can use to counterbalance a putter? Maybe lead tape on the end of the grip, or anything like that?
SS: I guess the simplest DIY trick would be to grip down the putter a little bit and put some lead tape around the top of the grip.
Not that I would really advocate that, but you could counterbalance any putter just simply by going to a local club pro, get them to extend the shaft, put a new grip on there and that will already do a lot of the work for you.
- LIKE130
- LEGIT21
- WOW15
- LOL12
- IDHT4
- FLOP10
- OB3
- SHANK26
- Kevin Tway what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX
5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX
Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)
Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4
More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.
- LIKE4
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
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 timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?
Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.
When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.
To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.
Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.
“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.
“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”
Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.
- LIKE3
- LEGIT1
- WOW0
- LOL1
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK2
Equipment
Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird
With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.
On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.
Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.
See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here
GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?
Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’
So that’s why I went back.
View this post on Instagram
OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?
It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.
Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.
It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.
Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.
Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.
So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?
Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.
Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play?
Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.
There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.
It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.
Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.
And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?
Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’
If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’
My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’
I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”
And you’re going with it this week?
Hundred percent.
Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week.
Thanks, man.
See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here
- LIKE43
- LEGIT5
- WOW3
- LOL2
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK5
Dave Portnoy places monstrous outright bet for the 2024 Masters
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
What we know about Bryson DeChambeau’s 3D-printed Avoda irons
Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)
Kevin Tway what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here. Driver:...
Matthieu Pavon WITB 2024 (May)
Pavon’s WITB accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here. Driver: Ping G430 Max (9...
WITB Time Machine: Rory McIlroy’s winning WITB, 2015 Wells Fargo Championship
Then-No. 1 player in the world Rory McIlroy began the week at the Wells Fargo Championship at 3-1 odds, if...
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...
-
19th Hole3 weeks agoJustin Thomas on the equipment choice of Scottie Scheffler that he thinks is ‘weird’
-
19th Hole3 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 Hole5 days agoReport: LIV star turns down PGA Championship invite due to ‘personal commitments’
-
19th Hole2 weeks agoGary Player claims this is what ‘completely ruined’ Tiger Woods’ career
-
Equipment4 days agoDetails on Justin Thomas’ driver switch at the Wells Fargo Championship
-
Whats in the Bag2 weeks agoTeam McIlowry (Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry) winning WITBs: 2024 Zurich Classic
-
Whats in the Bag5 days agoKeegan Bradley WITB 2024 (May)
Kuch is the MAN
Jun 26, 2023 at 1:22 pm
Jimmy Walker didn’t stay very long with the overpriced and over-hyped Lamb Crafted by Tyson Lamb. What this boutique putter and ball markers are going for is HIGHWAY ROBBERY.
Pingback: Odyssey announces new Jailbird 380 limited edition putters - Fly Pin High
Pingback: Odyssey announces new Jailbird 380 limited edition putters – GolfWRX
Mike
Jun 23, 2023 at 4:16 pm
Also great for tapping down imaginary spike marks along the line and helping keep the ball going towards the hole. Old rules did not allow that.
Dat Dude
Jun 23, 2023 at 2:54 pm
Those are not large sheets of lead tape. If you put your “readers” on you can detect the two seams of lead tape. It might take 2-3, inch wide pieces of tape to achieve it. Once the tape is applied use something like a muddler or your fingers to press the seam and it will blend together.
DB
Jun 23, 2023 at 12:10 pm
Jailbird head has always been under-rated. They should have brought that head into the Tri-Hot 5k line, the Toulon line, etc.
However didn’t all the putter companies offer the counter-balanced thing like 10 years ago? As I recall they didn’t sell that well and they eventually stopped offering them.
Brandon
Jun 23, 2023 at 10:52 pm
Was definitely trendy about 10 years ago. I had a 38 inch TaylorMade ghost for a few years. Wish I had kept it around. Using a white hot og 7 bird now, which is the most similar current offering to the jailbird.
Jordan
Jun 23, 2023 at 11:28 am
I just want to know how i can get large sheets of lead tape like that.
D
Jun 23, 2023 at 12:00 pm
Ditto
chip75
Jun 23, 2023 at 5:05 pm
You can get 1 foot squares of lead sheet on Amazon, but as the other chap said it’s several pieces on Rickie’s putter.
Troy West
Jun 23, 2023 at 10:47 am
For those curious and Dont want to spend $1k you can buy the INAZONE CB 400 COUNTER BALANCE PUTTER head at Diamond Tour Golf for $20. It’s 400g (mine came in at 395g) so you won’t need a sheet of lead tape either.