Want to improve your handicap? It’s easy. Skip the golf magazine lessons and the how-to books, the never-ending stream of videos showing you how to straighten that slice or add yards to your drives (you old fogeys!). Want to lower your scores, just go out and buy a mallet putter. Yahoo Sports details the thinking in the following article, at this link:
As the recent Yahoo Sports article points out, mallet putters have become ubiquitous among top professional golfers, and the once-niche club has helped fuel two historically great seasons in 2024.
Weapon of choice: 21 of the world's top 30 male golfers, and seven of the top 10, used mallet putters as of July — a stark contrast to 20 years ago, when 17 of the top 20 preferred blades. 34 of 46 PGA Tour events this year were won by a mallet-wielding golfer, and they've gained traction on the LPGA Tour, too: every top-10 player uses one.
The mallet effect: Putts comprise roughly 40% of all strokes (~28 of 70 per round) on the PGA Tour. So yes, a single club can make a huge difference. Just ask top-ranked Scottie Scheffler and Nelly Korda, who found great success in 2024 after embracing the mallet.
- Scheffler's putting was the one thing holding him back early this year, and his switch to a mallet at Bay Hill immediately paid dividends: He won four of his next five starts and eight of his final 15, including the Masters, Tour Championship and Olympics.
- Korda, to be fair, won six times this year with her blade. But after missing three straight cuts and recovering from injury, she switched to a mallet. Since then, she's finished 2nd, 5th and 1st in LPGA events, and drained five straight birdie putts on Sunday to win The Annika.
One notable blade enthusiast? Tiger Woods, who won 14 of his 15 majors, 66 of his 82 PGA Tour titles and $94 million with his iconic Scotty Cameron, which remains in his bag today. (The Scotty Cameron 2024 Xperimental GOLO 6.2 LTD Putter will only set you back a measly $1,299.00, online everywhere. I think Tiger can afford it.)
Oh, and Scheffler won the Hero World Challenge in Albany, Bahamas on December 8th, posting a score of 25 under par. Yikes. Good luck beating this Scottie any time soon.
© 2012-24 R.E. Kelly
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