Blade vs. mallet: What style putters do the top-50 players in the world use? (2022 update) (GolfWRX.com)
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:
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)
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)
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)
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)
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.
Pokračovat ve čtení...
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.
Pokračovat ve čtení...
