“Drive for show. Putt for dough.”
That’s one of the oldest maxims in golf primarily because it’s true. Unless you hole out with your eight-iron from 150 yards thanks to a nod from the golf gods or you chip it in green-side from the first cut rough, you’re going to reach for your putter. Under the traditional understanding of par in golf, two strokes of every hole’s count are supposed to be putts. Still, too few players really give enough thought and investment into their putters.
The look and shape of a putter vary more than any other club in the bag, and developing research finds ways to push designs forward. Whether a butter knife or a two-ball, a lag or straight shaft, the variety and uniqueness of putter shapes make them the most personal club in the bag. A good putter has an intimate bond to a golfers’ game, and the best putters need to be chosen carefully.
This list includes some of the newest and most intriguing putter designs now available in a wide variety of prices. You should know your putting stroke and what makes you comfortable when you go putter hunting. If you have that information filed away, one of our choices for the best golf putters will knock it in the hole.
1. TaylorMade Truss TM2
Best for the Accuracy Searcher
By way of full disclosure, this scribe states for the record that this is the putter I carry in my bag. After trying multiple options at my True Spec fitting, I settled on the Truss TM2 for its pure accuracy. With an inventive hosel design, cutting edge alloys and excellent balance, the TM2 puts the ball where I aim it every time. That builds confidence on the greens. If I miss a putt, I know it’s on me and not the putter.
Its TaylorMade engineers designed the forked mallet layout of the putter to look like a more traditional putter from above so it doesn’t throw off the golfer. I never experienced a problem looking at it from any angle because I trust my Truss.
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2. Honma Beres PP-201
Best for the Bling-Centric Golfer
While Honma makes elite golf clubs for any player who takes the game seriously, the company’s Beres line is famous throughout the sport for producing the most luxurious clubs in the game. Employing precious metals for looks and employing the most forgiving designs possible for feel, Honma Beres is for the player with ample resources and a desire to make the game easier. The Beres PP-201 qualifies on all of the above, employing a lag blade design and coming in finishes including gold and platinum.
3. Wilson Staff “The L” Infinite Putter
Best Budget-Friendly Putter
Wilson Golf is always on duty making sure beginner golfers or players on more of a budget have strong club choices. The company offers 16 variations of putter designs, with none of them costing more than $99. Wilson Staff’s “The L” comes from the Infinite Putter line and includes seven head shapes for personal preferences. Focused on game improvement, “The L” Infinite offers accurate counter-balancing to help the up and coming golfer control the putting stroke.
4. Callaway Odyssey Stroke Lab Triple Track 2-Ball
Best for the Heavy Putter Fan
For the uninitiated, a two-ball putter isn’t designed for some bizarre trick shot off-shoot of golf in which you play two golf balls at once. The term refers to the length of the mallet putter head being two balls wide from face to hosel. Extra width means extra weight, and a smoother strike — especially for golfers with very level, very straight putting strokes. A player with a more rounded or arced stroke should look to another putter. Still, the (deep breath) Callaway Odyssey Stroke Lab Triple Track 2-Ball is a long-standing classic design for amateurs and pros alike.
5. Titleist Scotty Cameron Phantom X 7
Best for an Uneven Putting Stroke
The partnership between Titleist Golf and the Scotty Cameron design shop produces a selection of eye-catching putters. Angled like a stealth bomber, the Titleist Scotty Cameron Phantom X 7 looks that way for a reason beyond aesthetics. The mid-mallet head’s shape is intended to direct the eye to the accurate putting line, thus aiding aim. Its mid-bend shaft minimizes the amount of arc, so this is an option for putters with a less even stroke.
6. Ping Heppler Tomcat 14
Best for the Putting Pilot
While its name sounds like a really cool law firm or what Aaron Rodgers yells before he takes a snap, the Ping Heppler Tomcat 14 is cast from aluminum and blended with supporting steel in its mallet shape. To help the golfer aim as much as possible, the putter head displays a 14-dot alignment aid “inspired by the lights on an airport runway” — giving the Heppler Tomcat its numeric name tag.
7. Mizuno M-Craft 3
Best for the Well-Balanced Stroke
A first edition product for Mizuno, the new M-Craft 3 is a mid-mallet design. Consider it a hybrid of a blade and a full mallet shape. Forged from mild carbon steel, then milled to its precise shape, the M-Craft 3 is intended for golfers with less putting arc and a balance point centered at the middle of the putter head.
8. TaylorMade Spider S
Best for the Twister
There’s a term in the realm of putting that designers wrestle to create the ideal club – MOI or Moment of Inertia. If we were to play a round of golf with Sir Isaac Newton, he’d tell us inertia is “a property of matter by which it continues in its existing state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, unless that state is changed by an external force.” After Sir Isaac missed his putt, Taylormade would tell him MOI is a measurement of a putter’s resistance to twisting on off-center hits. So, the greater the MOI number, the more stable a putter will be. Combining aluminum and tungsten, the Spider S has Taylormade’s highest MOI figure at 6,000 — making it the company’s most stable putter.
9. Callaway Odyssey Toulon Garage – Madison
Best No-Frills Putter
Perfect for the golfer looking for that classic blade putter — the slim design that’s been knocking down four-footers for decades — the Madison came out of the Odyssey Putter Toulon Stroke Lab. It employs a simple shape with perfect balance to allow the essential pendulum motion from the shoulders that make for consistent putts. The Odyssey Toulon series also allows for extensive customization via club fittings.
10. Breakthrough Golf Stability Shaft
Best for any Putter Seeking More Stability
Admittedly, this is not a putter — but it goes on the list because it will make any putter on this list more reliable. The custom-made Breakthrough Golf Technology Stability Shaft replaces the steel of the standard putter with eight layers of carbon fiber. The idea is to firm up the putter and remove torsion (a fancy word for wiggling) from any putting stroke.
While it can certainly improve any golfer’s putting ability, the Breakthrough Shaft is particularly useful for the older golfer whose wrists might not be as strong or stable as they once were. Send them your putter, and they’ll send it back with a shaft they guarantee will put the buyer in a better place on the greens.
11. 2020 Tour Edge Exotics Wingman Putter
Best for the Sound-Centric Putter
Very few putter manufacturers take sound into consideration when creating golf clubs. Still, distinctive putters make distinctive sounds that can help indicate whether you struck the ball well enough. My own putter makes a high pitched “tink” when I stroke it right. This Tour Edge design lists its sound as one of the key design features, offering it on the same level of importance as touch and feel.
12. 2020 XXIO Eleven Half Mallet Putter
Best for the Player with Touch
Like other clubs of its size and head shape, the XXIO Eleven Half Mallet putter looks to blend the attributes of a blade and mallet putter. Beyond that, the XXIO Eleven sells itself on its balance and accuracy, encouraging a golfer with some touch and refinement in a swing to come onboard. XXIO employs softer steel and tungsten to give more feedback from the putter’s head.
13. S7K Standing Putter
Best for the Putter with a Bad Back
While the standing putter seemed like a gimmick when it first appeared on the scene, there is some genuine technique included in its design. The idea is you stand the putter up and position its alignment markings where you’ll want the ball roll. Its ability to stay in place without human contact allows you to step back from a distance and double-check the alignment. You not only get a new putting perspective, you save your back from all of those one-knee putting examinations.
14. JAMESMILR TOPSPIN Mallet 6 Forged Butterfly
Best for the Backspin Putter
Many amateur golfers strike too much up or down on the golfball while putting, causing the ball to hop, skip or backspin slightly on address. Since you want the ball rolling forward and never backward — even for an instant — the Topspin Mallet 6 uses a curved face design to aid the ball’s forward momentum. Its unusual design does mean this club best serves the more advanced amateur player.
15. 2020 Evnroll ER10 Outback Mallet Putter
Best for the Strong Putter
There’s more weight in the hands for this Evnroll model, and that heft is balanced at the bottom center of the mallet club head. That makes this a good choice for stronger putters with firm hands who like the longer putting stroke. It can also come in handy for those putters who tend to overhit, pull or push a smaller, lighter putter.