Is the Blade Putter Dead?: How and Why Professional Golf is Gravitating Towards Other Options
The year is 2026, and yes, the blade putter continues to be phased out. Building on the trend from the end of last season, more and more tournament winners and players across the four major golf tours are putting mallet putters in the bag. In fact, since the DP World Tour, LPGA Tour, PGA Tour, and LIV Golf began their respective new seasons, 13 of the 17 total winners across those tours used a mallet putter en route to victory. The breakdown of winners who used a mallet compared to those who did not is as follows: five of five on the PGA Tour, one of two on the LPGA Tour, seven of eight on the DP World Tour, and zero of two on LIV Golf. Additionally, 16 of the top 20 golfers in the Official World Golf Rankings currently have a mallet in the bag. The question is simple: why the continued shift from blade to mallet?
Professional Golfers Give Their Two Cents
According to Data Golf, Sam Burns gains 2.1 strokes with the putter in hand, placing him among the best putters in the world. He has been one of the most consistent performers on the greens over the past few seasons. Burns’ Odyssey Ai-ONE 7S has been a key weapon at the Tour level and reflects his long-standing preference for mallet designs. When he made the switch at the 2023 Tour Championship, Burns explained his reasoning to Golf.com, citing the putter’s forgiveness and consistency. “I started hitting some shorter and longer putts, and there was something about it: the consistency and how it felt. Even the ones I mishit were going really similar to the ones I hit in the middle of the face,” Burns said.
On the ladies’ side of golf, even Jeeno Thitikul, the Rolex Rankings’ first ranked women’s golfer in the world and recent champion at the Honda LPGA Thailand, also trusts a mallet putter, the Odyssey White Hot Versa. After the first round of last season’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, she credited her putting as a key reason for her success. “I think my putter went really well today,” Thitikul said. “To hole putts on holes seven, eight, and nine boosted my confidence up, making the turn to the back nine.” Her continued trust in the mallet has paid dividends, reinforcing a growing trend among elite players who value forgiveness and alignment assistance.
A Professional Putting Coach Explains Why
Stephen Sweeney, a PGA Tour putting coach who works with players such as Ryo Hisatsune, Michael Thorbjornsen, Tom Kim, Byeong Hun An, recently joined the Dan on Golf show to explain why professionals are gravitating toward mallets. Sweeney suggested that traditional blade putters typically feature more toe hang, which can create additional torque as the putter transitions from backswing to impact. “Not saying that torque is a bad thing, but it certainly makes it a little bit more difficult to control the face,” Sweeney explained. He also emphasized the alignment advantage mallets provide. “There is just not a lot of space to put a lot of alignment help, lines, rails, and stuff like that,” he said. “If I grab a mallet, you can see the amount of space on top of the head. Alignment tools are able to frame the ball for the player.”
For amateur golfers, Sweeney believes the advantages are even clearer. When asked by host Dan Rapaport whether there is still a reason to use a blade putter, Sweeney responded bluntly: “I honestly don’t think so.” He noted that modern mallets offer multiple neck options and increased moment of inertia, which maximize face stability and reduce the effects of mishits. Many of the customization features once exclusive to blades, such as shaft positions and balance adjustments, are now available in mallet models as well. The added forgiveness, in his view, makes the mallet the more practical choice for the majority of golfers.
Golf Brands Continue to Push Mallets Forward
Equipment manufacturers have also accelerated the shift. Brands such as Bettinardi, Scotty Cameron, and Odyssey continue to unveil new lines that prominently feature multiple mallet styles and technology-forward designs. Popular models among professionals include variations of the TaylorMade Spider, Odyssey Jailbird, and Scotty Cameron Phantom. Many companies have also leaned into zero-torque, center-shafted designs within their mallet offerings. Examples include the TaylorMade Spider ZT, L.A.B. Golf DF 3, and several Odyssey models engineered to reduce face rotation while increasing stability.
These designs aim to merge forgiveness with consistency, particularly on off-center strikes. On the green, variables such as undulation, speed, grain, and pressure already challenge execution. Players who opt for mallets are seeking to eliminate as many equipment-induced inconsistencies as possible. As golf continues to embrace data and technological innovation, putter design will evolve alongside it. Artificial intelligence, varied head shapes, multiple neck configurations, and enhanced face technologies now dominate product launches. Both professionals and amateurs gravitate toward mallets because the goal is simple: maximize the number of putts that start on line and stay there. When the best players in the world increasingly choose mallets, the broader golf community tends to follow.
