Check out Golfweek’s list of the best putters available to purchase in 2024.
The big trend in drivers this season is adding stability and boosting the moment of inertia (MOI) so tee shots that you mis-hit fly straighter and farther. The big trend in putters in 2024 is similar — more forgiveness and stability.
Twenty years ago on the PGA Tour, most players used heel-to-toe weighted blades like the classic Ping Anser, Scotty Cameron Newport and Odyssey #1. Then, in the mid-2000s, the Odyssey 2-Ball putters exploded and mallets found their way into more and more bags on tour and in local clubs. Fast forward to the mid-2010s, and TaylorMade’s Spider Tour putter, a mid-size mallet with a high MOI but some toe-hang for golfers who have an arced stroke, takes the putting world by storm. Odyssey’s #7 and Scotty Cameron’s Futura X 5, with stability-boosting extensions in the heel and toe became more popular over the last decade too.
Plenty of golfers still love the look and feel of classic blades, but mallets, often made with multiple materials, are here to stay because they allow designers to shift weight into performance-enhancing areas and create bolder alignment features.
The best putter for you is waiting at your local shop, and after going through a putter fitting that includes discovering your idea putter length, lie angle, loft and balance, you will know exactly what it is. The putters listed below can give you a starting point to learn more about clubs you might want to try.
Note: Putters are often released on two-year product cycles, which means updates are released every two years. For that reason, you will see several 2023 offerings alongside new 2024 putters.
Odyssey’s Ai ONE Cruiser putters have an insert made improve distance control and heavier weight to encourage a better-quality stroke.
Gear: Odyssey Ai ONE Cruiser putters Price:$349.99 each Specs: Cast stainless steel heads with adjustable sole weights. Available: February 8 (pre-order),March 15 (in stores)
Who It’s For: Golfers who struggle with distance control and who want a more solid, stable-feeling putter.
The Skinny: While the Ai ONE insert helps golfers improve their distance control by normalizing ball speed over a larger area, the Cruiser putters’ heavier weight should help players make a smoother, better-quality stroke.
The Deep Dive: When anchored puttering strokes were outlawed by the USGA and R&A in 2016, some players looked to heavier putters and counterbalanced putters to get some of the stability back in their game. Lighter putters can encourage golfers to get their hands and wrists more involved in the stroke, which can lead to inconsistency. However, heavier putters and clubs that have extra weight added to the top of the handle tend to quiet your hands and encourage players to make a smoother stroke, which can enhance consistency.
In time, the counterbalanced putter surge quieted and faded. The trend towards generally heavier putters continued, with many putters now typically weighing 345 or 350 grams, which is about 20-25 grams heavier than putters made in the early 2000s.
With the release of the new Cruiser family of putters, Odyssey is looking to blend the stability and stroke-enhancing features of longer, counterbalanced putters with a face technology created using artificial intelligence.
At the heart of the new Cruiser putter family is the new Ai ONE, which made its debut this winter in the standard Ai ONE putters. On the outside, the insert looks like a standard White Hot insert with a series of grooves milled into the hitting area. However, on the interfacing side of the urethane insert, artificial intelligence has created a series of thicker and thinner areas that help to normalize ball speed. Traditionally, when you strike a pot in the center, you get the best energy transfer, but when you strike a pot towards the heel or toe, the ball rolls out less far. With the AI ONE insert, center strikes are slowed down slightly while mis-hits roll out a touch further, so your overall distance control is enhanced. A transparent polymer window in each putter allows you to see the rippled backside of the insert.
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A window on the back of the Double Wide Cruiser allows you to see the variable-thickness Ai ONE insert. (Odyssey)
Each of the five Cruiser models features the Ai ONE insert, and all five putters are significantly heavier than most of today’s standard putters, including the 380-gram Jailbird, which also comes with the black-and-white Versa alignment lines. This is the putter that Wyndham Clark used to win the 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am last week and a putter that is nearly identical to the one he used to win the 2023 U.S. Open. At 38 inches in length, it comes standard with a 17-inch grip, and players are encouraged to choke down so a few inches of the grip extend above their hands. Doing this creates a counterbalancing effect and should help increase stability.
Weights in the sole of the Cruiser putters allow fitters to adjust the swing weight. (Odyssey)
There are three versions of the #7 putter in the Cruiser family, including a 42-inch, 380-gram Arm-Lock edition and a 48-inch, 450-gram Broomstick model. The standard #7 Cruiser is 38 inches long with a head that weighs 380 grams. Like the Jailbird, it comes standard with a 17-inch grip, along with a Stroke Lab 140 steel shaft.
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Here are several close-up looks at the Odyssey Ai ONE Cruiser putters.
Wyndham Clark used this version of the Versa Jailbird to win the U.S. Open two weeks ago at Los Angeles Country Club, then Keegan Bradley won the Travelers Championship with the same style putter Sunday at TPC River Highlands.
Called the limited-edition Odyssey Jailbird 380, this version will be available for pre-order starting Wednesday at select retailers and at the company’s websites. The price will be $399.99. The Jailbird-style head has been available for a decade, and it has seen a spike in interest among Tour players this year.
Keegan Bradley used a heavier and longer version of a Jailbird putter to win the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 25. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
This version of the Jailbird features an extra-long, 17-inch SuperStroke grip atop a heavier steel shaft. The putter is also longer than standard at 39 inches, and players grip down farther on the shaft. It has become a popular style of putting for players looking for more stability with their stroke.
Odyssey said the putter also has the following features:
Watching Fowler today, it would be easy to forget that he hasn’t qualified for the last two U.S. Opens, but this has been a comeback season for the 34-year-old Californian thanks to a remarkable return to form on the greens.
Historically, Fowler had been an excellent putter, and he even led the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Putting in 2017 with an average of 0.852, but by 2021 he had slipped to 126th in that category and was worse on the greens than the average player on Tour at -.091. The following season, it was even worse at -0.253 (161st).
That’s when karma, a new putter and a new grip came to Fowler’s rescue.
A few days before the start of the American Express in La Quinta, California, Fowler’s first event of 2023, he hit a few putts with a putter owned by his caddie, Ricky Romano. The putter was a 2016 Odyssey Versa Jailbird, a black and white mallet fitted with a 17-inch SuperStroke Zenergy 3.0 grip. Fowler loved it, even though it was opposite from the blade-style putters he’d had success with in the past.
Fowler contacted Joe Toulon, a PGA Tour rep for Odyssey and requested a putter that was precisely like Romano’s Jailbird. Coincidentally, Toulon had cleaned out Callaway’s truck the week before the American Express and removed several old Odyssey putter heads, but had he found a Versa Jailbird the day and decided to keep it on board because Odyssey re-released the black-and-white striped putters this season. That head, which almost got thrown away, is now Fowler’s putter.
The club is 38 5/8″ long and has two degrees of loft. Fowler had the putter shortened by 1/8″ on Monday. He didn’t want that change made for a performance reason.
Instead, Fowler, who holds the extended-length putter normally with a few inches of the grip above his hands, wanted the putter shortened so the butt end would not brush against his pullovers, jackets or sweaters!
The Versa Jailbird Toulon had weighed 350 grams, but Fowler’s caddie’s putter was heavier, so to match the weight, three layers of lead tape were added to the sole. The added weight was also necessary because the 17-inch SuperStroke grip, which is 3 inches longer than standard, weighs 93 grams, which is 30-35 grams more than a typical putter grip. The combination of the heavier head and heavier grip creates a counterbalancing effect, which Toulon suspects combines with the Versa alignment lines to help Fowler swing more freely and make more short and mid-range putts.
The stats bear that out. On Thursday at LACC, Fowler’s Strokes Gained: Putting average was an eye-catching 4.52 and coming into this week’s U.S. Open, he ranks 50th on the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Putting at +0.281.
The combination of a new alignment system, a forgiving mallet design and a counterbalancing grip could be precisely what Rickie Fowler needs to win his first major championship. And he’s got his caddie to thank for it.
Odyssey’s mallet-style additions to the Tri-Hot 5K family offer extreme levels of forgiveness and stability in classic head shapes.
Gear: Odyssey Tri-Hot 5K mallet putters Price: $399.99 each with Stroke Lab graphite/steel shaft Specs: 303 stainless steel and 6061 aluminum bodies with tungsten weights and urethane face insert
Who They’re For: Golfers who want a mallet putter that maximizes stability and forgiveness.
The Skinny: The Odyssey Tri-Hot 5K mallet putters have extra weight positioned in the front of the head to increase the moment of inertia and boost stability, while the White Hot insert delivers a sound and feel many players prefer.
The Deep Dive: Odyssey, the putting division within Callaway, launched a new family of blade-style putters last season. The Tri-Hot 5K offerings looked like traditional blade putters in the address position, but they were popular because Odyssey used multilateral construction to make them play like high-MOI mallets. The trick was to shift as much weight forward as possible so the clubs would resist twisting on off-center hits.
For 2023, Odyssey is broadening the Tri-Hot 5K lineup to include two traditional mallet shapes – the #7 and the Rossie – and using the same multilateral construction to boost stability without increasing the head sizes.
The front of each Tri-Hot 5K mallet is made from 303 stainless steel, a commonly used material in premium putters, and the backs are made from 6061 aircraft-grade aluminum, which is significantly lighter than steel.
Going with aluminum allowed designers to shift even more mass to the front of the putters in the form of two tungsten weights. The exact amount of tungsten varies by head shape, but it averages around 120 grams and helps to pull the center of gravity even more forward.
So while the overall head weight has not increased and golfers will see familiar shapes when they set a Tri-Hot 5K mallet behind the ball, the putters are more stable, resist twisting on off-center hits more effectively and should help improve distance control.
Each of the Tri-Hot 5K mallets also has Odyssey’s popular White Hot urethane face insert. On short putts the material feels soft and creates a low-pitched sound, while on longer putts the sound has a higher pitch that matches the amount of force golfers put into the shot.
Odyssey’s updated Versa putters are designed to make it easy to aim and now come with a Stroke Lab shaft and White Hot face insert.
Gear: Odyssey Versa putters (2023) Price: $259.99 each with Stroke Lab graphite-and-steel shaft Specs: White Hot face insert, adjustable sole weights with white and black alignment system. Length: 33, 34 or 35 inches. Available: Feb. 10
Who It’s For: Golfers with poor aim who need help to point their putter’s face at their intended target line.
The Skinny: Odyssey Versa putters are designed to make it easy to aim your putter, and this update has been given a Stroke Lab shaft – which combines steel and graphite – for more consistency and a White Hot face insert for a better feel.
The Deep Dive: A decade ago, Odyssey released a family of putters as polarizing as any clubs to hit pro shop shelves in recent memory. The Versa putters had alternating black and white lines and came in every shape and size. They looked like nothing else, and players who liked them tended to be loyal to Versa. They also won championships, including the Versa #9 that Phil Mickelson used to win the 2013 British Open at Muirfield.
Now the Versa putters are back, having quietly been unavailable at retail the past few seasons.
The Versa alignment lines create a distinctive look that makes aiming the face easier for many players. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Odyssey has several putter families that offer different features and benefits. The Versa putters are all about aim and alignment.
Odyssey has done significant research into how well players at every level aim, and as you would assume, the pros aim more precisely and more consistently than club players. However, golfers at every level struggle to aim correctly, and that that’s a problem because from just 10 feet away on a perfectly straight putt, if your aim is off by just 1 degree and you roll the ball on your intended line, you will miss the hole.
In the address position, golfers who set down an Odyssey Versa putter see a black topline with a bright white line behind it. The back of each putter has a thick black area. The alternating black-white-black regions create a stark, high-visibility pattern. When you set a Versa putter down behind the ball, that pattern can make it obvious when you improperly aim the putter face.
The White Hot insert creates a soft feel at impact. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
In addition to the Versa alignment system, the new Versa putters have Odyssey’s popular White Hot insert, the same insert golfers will find in the popular White Hot OG putter line. It is firm but has a soft feel at impact. Notably, the sound it creates matches the force applied to putts and how fast the ball comes off the face. For those reasons, it has been Odyssey’s most popular face insert for several seasons.
Fitters can change the weights in the sole to adjust the Versa’s swing weight. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The updated Versa putters also have adjustable weights in the sole, allowing fitters to change the putter’s swing weight easily to match the club’s length and player preferences.
While there used to be numerous versions and variations of Versa putters, Odyssey is releasing just five now.
The Odyssey Versa #7 (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The One and Double Wide are heel-toe-weighted blades, while the Three T is a compact mallet. The #7, with wing-like extensions in the heel and toe, is the most popular Odyssey putter shape, while the Twelve is a new high-MOI mallet. The Twelve is the only new Versa offering with a line that runs straight back from the face, parallel to your target line instead of perpendicular.
With the PGA Tour set to restart at the Sentry Tournament of Champions this week in Hawaii, don’t be surprised if competitors like Phil Mickelson, Kevin Na, Xander Schauffele and Jon Rahm decided to add one of the new drivers or the new golf balls to their bag this week.
Odyssey combined the popular and forgiving shape of the Ten with the iconic 2-Ball alignment system in its latest putters.
Gear: Odyssey Ten putters Price: $299.99 each Specs: High-MOI mallet putters with microhinged face insert Available: March 11
Over the years, Odyssey, the putter division of Callaway Golf, has shown that it is more than willing to borrow successful elements from previously-released models to offer both pros and recreational players enhanced versions of popular designs. For 2021, the company has done it again, utilizing one of its most forgiving shapes alongside popular alignment features and a roll-enhancing face insert in the new Ten putter family.
Like the original Odyssey Ten putter that debuted in 2019, the new mallets feature a squared shape that pushes more weight to the back in the heel and toe areas to dramatically increase the moment of inertia (MOI) and make the heads more stable on off-center hits. So, golfers can expect putts that are mis-hit to roll out nearly as far as well-struck putts, which should help golfers improve their distance control.
However, when you look down at several versions of the new Ten putters, you will clearly see two iconic white disks that appeared on many Odyssey putters starting about two decades ago. The 2-Ball versions of the new Ten putter should be easy for many golfers to align, but for golfers who do not like the 2-Ball alignment system, there are also versions of the new Ten putter with a single line, as well as Odyssey’s blue-and-red Triple Track alignment lines.
The Odyssey 2-Ball Ten putters come with white disks, lined disks and disks with Triple Track lines. (Odyssey)
Regardless of the alignment system golfer’s prefer, Odyssey claims the new 2-Ball Ten putters have an MOI that is 32 percent higher than the original 2-Ball.
To help get the ball rolling instead of skidding as it comes off the face, Odyssey has given the new Ten putters a micro hinge face insert. This version, referred to as the Microhinge Star, was originally made for tour pros who wanted a firmer feel than previous Microhinge face inserts and first appeared in retail putters in 2019. According to Odyssey, it not only feels firmer, the microhinges in the face help to pull the back of the ball upward at impact, which encourages it to start rolling along the ground more quickly.
Odyssey gave the Ten putters the Microhinge Star insert. (Odyssey)
Finally, to help golfers improve the rhythm and tempo of their putting stroke, Odyssey gave the new Ten putters an updated Stroke Lab shaft. The lower portion is made of steel, but the middle and upper parts of the shaft are made from graphite, which weighs less than steel. This allowed designers to add extra weight in the head and under the top of the grip. According to Odyssey’s research, this helps golfers make a smoother, more-repeatable stroke.
Golfers have loved the White Hot insert for two decades, so Odyssey has released the new White Hot OG putters featuring the legendary insert
Gear: Odyssey White Hot OG putters Price: $219 on a steel shaft; $269 with Stroke Lab shaft Specs: Milled carbon steel with urethane insert Available: Jan. 28
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Odyssey added the White Hot insert to putters starting in 2000, and in the 20 years since, the putter arm of Callaway Golf has released a host of other inserts to enhance golfers’ feel on the greens and make the ball roll better.
From metal mesh to microhinges to various urethane blends, many options have been explored and researched. Still, some golfers have been reluctant to set down their White Hot putters and switch to anything else. Like “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” the insert has a cult following. About half the Odyssey putters used on professional tours last year were either old White Hot putters or new models retrofitted with a White Hot insert.
Odyssey has not ignored the clamoring or the loyalty of White Hot users, and at long last the company has decided to bring out a new line of clubs that feature the original insert, the White Hot OG putters.
The White Hot insert (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The White Hot insert was developed from the same urethane material Callaway used in the Rule 35 golf ball. It is firm to the touch, but at impact it behaves like soft material. For many players, it also creates a sound that matches the force applied to putts. Some putter inserts feel exceedingly soft or sound too quiet when players hit putts firmly, leading to distance control problems. The White Hot typically creates a soft sound on short putts and a crisper, higher-toned clicking sound on long putts that are hit harder.
The White Hot OG putters will be available with either a traditional steel shaft or an updated version of the Odyssey Stroke Lab shaft with a shorter steel section and a red graphite area. As with the original Stroke Lab shaft, the new shaft’s lightweight graphite allows Odyssey to use heavier heads and add weight to the handle portion. The company’s research states that such weight distribution can improve a golfer’s consistency and stroke quality.
There are seven putters in the White Hot OG family, each having a classic-looking chrome finish and black alignment features.
The #1, a traditional heel-toe-weighted blade, was given a tri-sole, with the heel and toe areas angled up slightly from the flat center section, while the #1W has a similar shape with a broader back flange. Both clubs have a slant hosel and one shaft’s width of offset.
The Odyssey White Hot OG 5SB putter. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The 5SB is a compact, semi-circular mallet with a single alignment line.
The Rossie, which has been especially popular among professionals, is a traditionally sized mallet with three alignment lines on the topline and two lines extending to the back of the head. The Rossie is available with either a double-bend or slant-neck hosel.
Odyssey is releasing a double-bend and single-bend White Hot OG #7, one of its most popular putter shapes. It features a pair of wing-like extensions in the heel and toe to increase stability and forgiveness.
Finally, the Odyssey White Hot OG 2-Ball putter has a pair of iconic golf ball-shaped disks on the top to help players improve aim and alignment.
