Brooks Koepka recently switched out his trusted Scotty Cameron Newport 2 putter for a mallet counter part and with it shows how blade putters might be on the decline on tour.
On the PGA Tour as a whole mallets are now chosen by over 75% of players.
It is no secret that mallet putters are designed to offer that bit more stability and forgiveness for golfers.
They are engineered with higher Moment of Inertia (MOI) than their blade siblings, meaning they resist face twisting on off-centre strikes.
For so long blades were the putter of choice for so many golfers, but that train of thought has long gone. Going into the 2026 season, there isn’t a single male player in the top 10 rankings using a blade putter.
I’m no statistician but I imagine that must be one of the few times, if not the first, that this has been the case.
| WORLD RANKING | NAME | PUTTER | BLADE OR MALLET |
| 1 | Scottie Scheffler | TaylorMade Spider Tour X L-Neck putter | Mallet |
| 2 | Rory McIlroy | TaylorMade Spider Tour X3 putter | Mallet |
| 3 | Justin Rose | Scotty Cameron T-5 putter | Mallet |
| 4 | Tommy Fleetwood | TaylorMade Spider Tour Black putter | Mallet |
| 5 | Chris Gotterup | TaylorMade Spider X Tour putter | Mallet |
| 6 | Russell Henley | Scotty Cameron T-5 Tour putter | Mallet |
| 7 | JJ Spaun | L.A.B DF3 putter | Mallet |
| 8 | Robert MacIntyre | TaylorMade Spider Tour Black putter | Mallet |
| 9 | Ben Griffin | TaylorMade Spider Tour X putter | Mallet |
| 10 | Xander Schaufelle | Odyssey Toulon Las Vegas CH Xander Prototype putter | Mallet |
Table: Top 10 players and the putter of choice
So, why are so many of the best players in the world using mallet putters?
Stability the order of the day?
Like I mentioned previously, mallets offer a lot more confidence from their forgiving nature.
Many of us have only ever experienced the pressure of a weekly medal, and even that’s enough. But with the pressure these golfers face week-to-week on the biggest stages, is it really any surprise they are opting to go with the more stable option?
The TaylorMade Spider range does just that. They are used by Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Chris Gotterup, Robert MacIntyre and Ben Griffin all within the top 10 of the official rankings.
TaylorMade’s marquee putter range is built around perimeter weighting and extreme forgiveness. This helps to deliver a more consistent roll and tighter dispersion, even when contact drifts slightly from the centre.
With speeds reaching as high as 15 on the Stimpmeter last year on tour, this could make all the difference.
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The rise of Square-2-Square putters
Beyond traditional mallets, Square-2-Square putters, or zero-torque putters as they are also referred to, have gained plenty of traction over the last few years in particular.
The purpose of these putters are to help eliminate face rotation throughout each stroke. They reduce the torque that would normally cause the club face to open or close. Hence the name zero-torque.
L.A.B are at the centre of this trend. They have begun to have a stronger presence in professional golf over the last few seasons – with the leading brands following suit and producing their own zero or low torque putters.
Most notably at the US Open last year. JJ Spaun, who is the highest ranked golfer in the world to have one their putters in the bag, used the L.A.B DF3 putter to win at Oakmont Country Club
You may remember he held a 64-foot putt on 18 to claim his maiden major trophy. It was a putt that also cemented the place of zero-torque putters as truly viable option for golfers of all abilities.
A shift from tradition
The trends of golf equipment tends to start on tour and filter its way down to the average club golfer.
We’re very impressionable people. We all want to play like the best players in the world. We think if it works for them, why shouldn’t it work for us?
Right now, I think it is fair to say that the identity of the ‘elite’ putter has changed. For so long, the blade putter was synonymous with tour professionals.
From Tiger Woods to Jack Nicklaus, the best played a blade and that was always the case.
But now, TaylorMade’s Spider putters are the go-to for so many. High-MOI shaped putters are embraced rather than scoffed at. And, square-to-square offerings are only getting more popular.
The blade which was once a symbol of tour professionals are now outliers.
Expert Opinion
Jack Backhouse, our resident PGA professional and face of our Your Golf YouTube channel believes some of it is definitely one player copying the most inform player. This is nothing new on tour with trends and players trying clubs that others are succeeding with (Odyssey Jailbird most recently).
That being said he points out is that mallets have higher MOI and perform better on miss hits on the longer putts, which can mean better overall strokes gained putting.
Ultimately, he believes they don’t use mallets because they look better, it’s purely performance related.
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Have Your Say
Do you think blade putters are a thing of the past? What style of putter do you have in the bag? Are zero-torque putters the next big thing? Let us know by leaving a comment or a post on X!
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