Gear

The hottest putters on the PGA Tour just keep winning

By: Ryan Barath
spider tour series putters 2023

With its continued popularity and growing number of wins, the TaylorMade Spider putter has become a force on the PGA Tour.

TaylorMade Golf

This past week at the Zurich Classic, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry had a lot in common — beyond the fact that they’re both major winners and hail from Ireland. Lowry and McIlroy also used a TaylorMade Spider, which is the hottest putter in golf at this point in the 2024 PGA Tour season.

While it’s easy to give credit to a putter that has been used by Scottie Scheffler for each of his four wins in 2024, even with those accounted for, a Spider putter has been used for four additional victories. Nick Taylor (WM Phoenix Open), Jake Knapp (Mexico Open) and now Lowry and McIlroy.

TaylorMade Spider Tour X Putter

$349.99
THIN WALL UNDERCUT CONSTRUCTION We’ve engineered a super stable structure by removing excess weight to create high MOI and legendary Spider performance. STEEL WIREFRAME Allows engineers to better control weight distribution and CG location. HYBRAR ECHO® DAMPENER HYBRAR is behind the face to dampen unwanted vibrations, delivering premium sound and feel on every putt with the best possible sensation. DIFFERENT CG LOCATION Each Spider Tour model features different CG locations for optimal putter fitting. TSS WEIGHTING TSS weights provide balanced weighting and help optimize performance for all various putter lengths. GUNMETAL PVD FINISH The durable PVD coating creates a beautiful high-quality finish. TRUE PATH™ ALIGNMENT The patented alignment system provides visual clarity and helps golfers better envision the line to the hole. WHITE TPU PURE ROLL™ INSERT Made from a combination of Surlyn and aluminum, the white TPU Pure Roll™ insert creates a softer feel. Grooves are angled at 45° to encourage optimal forward roll as well as better sound, feel and overall roll characteristics. The white insert also creates better symmetry with the white True Path alignment. REFINED HOSEL DESIGNS Spider Tour Series includes two different hosel shapes and designs. The small slant produces toe hang, and the double bend produces a face balanced design.
 
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This Spider putter streak is also a part of a larger trend among the best players in the world slowly moving away from blade-style putters and into mallets for extra help with alignment and forgiveness.

When speaking to one putter rep at a recent Tour event, I asked how putter-style percentages have changed over the last five years. He said what used to be a 70/30 split from blades to mallets has become 50/50 — which is a big jump considering how long some players will use a particular putter. This same rep added that it could completely swap to a 30/70 split in favor of mallets over the next few years.

Scotty Cameron Phantom putters are a popular option for players looking for a mallet. Ryan Barath

Another part of this story is the renewed interest and use of longer counterbalanced putters like the Odyssey model used by Wyndham Clark and Rickie Fowler. To achieve the proper balance required to build a counterbalanced putter the head weight generally has to be above 400 grams, and getting a conventional blade to that mass can be difficult.

When looking at the 20 winners on the PGA Tour this season, the results speak for themselves — 75 percent of them were with a mallet putter, which includes a win with a long putter (by Akshay Bhatia). An even closer look at the OWGR shows eight of the top 10 players in the world use mallets, including all of the top five.

Odyssey Ai-ONE Jailbird Mini CH Putter

$299.99
These Odyssey Ai-One putters feature our Ai-One insert which delivers more consistent ball speeds, even from off-center hits, leaving putts closer to the hole. AI-ONE INSERT Designed using Artificial Intelligence, we’ve created contours on the Aluminum backer of the insert which we co-mold to a White Hot Urethane striking surface to promote consistent ball speed across the face with the classic White Hot feel that Tour players and amateurs love. AI WINDOW Our designers and engineers developed a Panlite window, which is a unique automotive grade polymer, that allows us to showcase the unique topology of the back of our insert. SL 90 SHAFT A lightweight steel shaft with 20-30 grams (depending on the grip) of counterbalance weight in the butt end. This is an evolution of our Stroke Lab weighting that will appeal to even more golfers. UNIQUE NAVY BLUE PVD FINISH These putters all feature a beautiful navy blue PVD finish that really sets them apart and gives them a premium look. INTERCHANGEABLE FRONT WEIGHTS Available in 5, 10, 15 and 20 grams these removable weights allow you to dial in your head weight to your exact preference.
 
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So if you’re a golfer who has been clinging onto your blade putter but looking to change things up on the greens, it might be time to look at the shifting trend being created by the best players in the world. See if switching to a mallet will help you drain a few more putts.

Want to overhaul your bag for 2024? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

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