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equipment
Features
Is the blade putter dying on tour? The rise of the mallet

published: Feb 13, 2026

Is the blade putter dying on tour? The rise of the mallet

Max McvittieLink

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Many of the best golfers in the world are using a mallet putter of some kind and it brings about the question as to whether blade putters are becoming somewhat obsolete

Scottie Scheffler showing his love for his mallet putter.

Table of Contents

Jump to:

  • Stability the order of the day?
  • The rise of square-2-square putters
  • A shift from tradition
  • Expert opinion
  • Have your say

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.

Brooks Koepka using a mallet putter on tour.
Brooks Koepka with his TaylorMade Spider mallet putter.

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
1Scottie SchefflerTaylorMade Spider Tour X L-Neck putterMallet
2Rory McIlroy TaylorMade Spider Tour X3 putterMallet
3Justin RoseScotty Cameron T-5 putterMallet
4Tommy FleetwoodTaylorMade Spider Tour Black putterMallet
5Chris GotterupTaylorMade Spider X Tour putterMallet
6Russell HenleyScotty Cameron T-5 Tour putterMallet
7JJ SpaunL.A.B DF3 putterMallet
8Robert MacIntyreTaylorMade Spider Tour Black putterMallet
9Ben GriffinTaylorMade Spider Tour X putterMallet
10Xander SchaufelleOdyssey Toulon Las Vegas CH Xander Prototype putterMallet

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.

Rory McIlroy The Masters mallet putter
Rory McIlroy celebrating his Masters victory in 2025.

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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  • RELATED: TaylorMade Spider Tour X putter review

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.

jj spaun lab putter

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.

Mallet Putters
Tiger Woods with his iconic Scotty Cameron blade putter.

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).

mallet putters

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.

  • RELATED: TaylorMade Spider 5K-ZT Putter Review
  • RELATED: L.A.B. Golf OZ.1 Putter Review

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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Don’t forget to check out and like our YouTube channel – YOUR GOLF NCG – where you will find lots of hints, tips and equipment reviews.

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About the author

Max Mcvittie

A bit of a late bloomer to the game of golf, Max fell in love with the sport when he attended Saturday coaching sessions down at his local golf club after being inspired by friends and family members.

Max has remained a member of Eden Golf Club in Carlisle for a number of years now as he looks to get his handicap down into single figures. Most of his golfing career has been spent battling a permanent slice off the tee, which has led to some ugly rounds.

Having studied at the University of Sunderland, Max is starting out his dream career in sports journalism. During his time at university, he picked up valuable work experience at Reach PLC, BBC Radio Cumbria and GiveMeSport, whilst also getting work published in the Teesside Live. He also spent time working at a local weekly newspaper, Eskdale and Liddesdale Advertiser, as a general news reporter partially covering some local sport just north of the border in Langholm.

Max has just started his journey with the NCG working as the assistant equipment editor. He looks forwarded to reviewing the latest golf equipment, taking up an interest in reviews when buying his first golf club, a Cleveland RTX wedge.

With his bag not going under too many changes throughout the last few years, Max carries an M3 driver, Titleist GT3 Fairway Wood, M2 hybrid, a set of M2 irons, Callaway Jaws wedges and a TaylorMade Spider putter. And yes, Max is a bit of a self-proclaimed TaylorMade fan boy.