Four new limited-edition, all-black putters are a stylish way to make a statement on the greens.
Gear: Scotty Cameron limited edition Special Select Jet Set putters Price: $650 each Specs: Milled 303 stainless steel with adjustable sole weights and aluminum sole plate Available: Aug. 19
Who it’s For: Golfers who want a traditional blade with a soft feel in an all-black, non-glare finish.
The Skinny: The limited-edition Special Select Jet Set Newport and Newport 2 are all-black versions of the previously released Special Select putters, while the Plus versions are new, wider offerings that should provide more stability.
The Deep Dive: If you are ever in Encinitas, California, and have a chance to stop by the Scotty Cameron Gallery, it will be easy to see what inspires Titleist’s putter guru. For decades, Cameron has loved Southern California beach culture, American muscle cars and industrial designs.
Recently, more and more pros who use a Scotty Cameron putter have opted to use a Phantom X or Futura X mallet – players such as Justin Thomas, Max Homa and Patrick Cantlay – but most golfers associate Cameron with heel-toe-weighted blades such as the Special Select putters. With the release of the limited-edition Special Select Jet Set putters, Cameron is building on the Special Select lineup that was released about two years ago and blending his most popular blade offerings with a styling that sets them apart.
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Specs: Milled 303 stainless steel and 6061 aluminum. Available in seven head styles. 33-, 34- and 35-inch options
Price: $429
Available: April 15
Who It’s For: Deep-pocketed golfers who love blades and have an arched stroke but want the forgiveness and sightline options of a mallet.
The Skinny: The Phantom X mallet putters for 2022 are designed to provide the feel and sound of Scotty Cameron’s premium heel-toe weighted blades, but their added size created room for bolder alignment features and a higher moment of inertia for increased forgiveness.
The Deep Dive: The way that Scotty Cameron tells the tale, mallet putters from a generation ago were nearly all face-balanced, which means that if you rested the shaft of one in your palm and let the head hang loosely, the hitting area would point to the sky. That was fine for golfers who aspired to make a straight-back, straight-through stroke, but those putters were poorly matched for golfers who naturally made an arched stroke. Instead, arched-stroke players used less forgiving blade-style putters, and that was that.
Then, about a decade ago, new materials started finding their way into putter designs. They allowed weight to be shifted more easily, and putter makers like Cameron started crafting mallets with different hosel designs and weight systems that gave them toe-hang. Instead of being face-balanced, they could be used by golfers who made an arched putting stroke.
The 2022 updated Phantom X putter lineup is filled with mallet options for golfers who want forgiveness coupled with the feel of Cameron’s Newport and Newport 2 blades.
While only 1,250 putters have been made, Cameron hopes that people who buy a My Girl will use it.
GEAR: Scotty Cameron My Girl putter (2021) PRICE: $850 SPECS: Milled 303 Stainless Steel with aluminum sole plate and adjustable sole weights. AVAILABLE: Nov. 12
Scotty Cameron putters are used by stars like 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, 2021 FedEx Cup champion Patrick Cantlay, and the world’s No. 2-ranked female player, Nelly Korda. While they are expensive, Scotty Cameron putters are also very popular with amateur golfers, too. There is even a market for collectible Cameron putters, with most limited-run putters fetching thousands of dollars each.
Since 2002, Cameron has annually designed a limited-edition putter around the theme My Girl, with the actual head and style changing each time. The idea started as a way for Cameron, who is married and has two daughters, to make something for the women in his life and women golfers. Now the 2021 My Girl is here.
“My wife likes girly things, and I like to design girly things for my girls,” Cameron said.
Instead of red “Cherry Bombs,” the My Girl has blue dots ringed in chrome. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
The theme for this year’s putter was inspired by the classic blue boxes and bows from Tiffany’s. The headcover features a bow design that wraps around the outside, with another bow inside. There are robin’s egg blue bows on the sole, the face’s heel area and the topline. Instead of his trademark red “cherry bombs” on the back of the head, Cameron designed the My Girl with three blue dots, then made the rings around them chrome to make them pop like a picture frame.
The 2021 My Girl is a Phantom X 7, a mid-size mallet with wing-like extensions in the heel and toe areas. The body is milled from 303 stainless steel, but a large part of the sole has been removed and covered by a plate made from 6061 aluminum. The aluminum is lighter than the steel, so this design shifts more weight to the heel and toe areas to help the putter resist twisting on off-center hits. Like other Cameron putters, there are adjustable weights in the heel and toe areas in the sole. A fitter can use different weights to adjust the putter’s swing weight based on its length and a player’s preferences.
A blue bow acts as an alignment aid on the My Girl. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
And that’s the thing, while only 1,250 have been made, Cameron hopes that people who buy a My Girl will use it.
“All the My Girl putters have been colorful, and there have been different styles, but a guy could play with it,” Cameron said. “I don’t want it to be a wall hanger.”
Six raids at assembly plants and warehouses in China seized fake Callaway, Ping, PXG, Scotty Cameron, TaylorMade, Titleist and Xxio equipment.
With golf remaining so popular in 2021 and the global supply chain issues making the wait times for new gear longer and longer, criminals have plenty of incentive to try producing and selling counterfeit golf equipment. U.S. Golf Manufacturers Anti-Counterfeiting Working Group has joined forces with police agencies in China and conducted several raids this year and just announced that a six-raid sting operation in September seized more than 21,281 counterfeit clubs, components and pieces of apparel.
The raids involved more than 100 members of the Shanghai Police and took place at assembly plants and warehouses in the Chinese cities of Dongguan, Guangzhou, Longhui, Shanghai and Shaoyang.
“As golf continues to grow in popularity, counterfeiters are taking drastic measures to deceive the public and threaten the integrity of the game,” said Daryl Rocco, Senior Paralegal for Callaway, in a release. “The enforcement efforts driven by the Golf Group are growing steadily, and we’re thrilled authorities in China are sending the message that producing and selling fake golf equipment is unacceptable.”
Among the products seized in the latest raids were trademarked gear from Callaway, Ping, Scotty Cameron, TaylorMade, Titleist and Xxio.
The U.S. Golf Manufacturers Anti-Counterfeiting Working Group has several tips to help golfers spot fake gear online.
Putting plays a massive role in success at the Ryder Cup.
A common narrative that emerges at nearly every team match-play event is the squad that putts better wins.
Thunderous tee shots and precision-guided approach shots are great, but in match play, holing putts unexpectedly to a win hole or draining a pressure-filled putt on top of your opponent to deny him or her a hole can create a huge psychological swing.
Statistically, the best putter on the American team is Harris English. He finished 12th in the just-completed 2020-2021 PGA Tour season in Strokes Gained: Putting, with an average of 0.544. That means over the course of a 72-hole tournament, English typically earned more than a two-shot edge over the average player based solely on the quality of his putting. Steve Stricker certainly knew that when he gave English a captain’s pick. English’s putter of choice is a Ping Scottsdale Ho Hum.
The American Ryder Cup team has plenty of heavy hitters, but if it is going to win at Whistling Straits, the players need to make putts and these are the putters they will be relying on.
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Limited to just 4,000 putters, the all-black mallet uses a multi-material construction for better performance on the greens.
Gear: Scotty Cameron Phantom X 9.5 Triple Black putter Price: $750 Specs: Milled 303 stainless steel body with 6061 aluminum piece and adjustable stainless steel sole weights. Available: October 8 at select Titleist retailers
Scores of elite golfers, including Jordan Spieth, Nelly Korda, Hideki Matsuyama, Cameron Davis, Rickie Fowler and Danielle Kang, use heel-toe weighted blade putters made by Scotty Cameron, Titleist’s master craftsman for putters. (Nice job title if you can get it.) Cameron also makes compact mallets like the Phantom X 5.5 that are based on his heel-toe weighted Newport blades, and you will find them in the bags of players like 2021 FedEx champion Patrick Cantlay and Justin Thomas.
On Tuesday, Cameron announced the release of a limited run of 4,000 all-black putters that take the concept of the Phantom X 5.5 a step further. The new Phantom X 9.5 Triple Black putter uses multi-material construction to help golfers achieve a better roll and improved performance on the greens.
The winner of the 2021 Tour Championship and FedEx Cup has several clubs that you can only find in discount bins and used gear outlets.
In the 1996 movie “Tin Cup,” Roy McAvoy wins $400 by after beating a guy using a pink ball and baseball bat off the tee, a shovel from the fairway, a hoe in bunkers and putting with the end of a rake, pool-style.
Dewey Boone, the macho guy McAvoy beats, tells Tin Cup and his caddie, Romeo, “Get the hell off my golf course,” as he slaps the $400 on Romeo’s chest.
It wasn’t exactly like that Sunday at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta as Patrick Cantlay won the Tour Championship and the overall FedEx Cup, along with $15 million. Still, several of his clubs are ancient by PGA Tour standards and might only be found in the discount bin at your local golf outlet.
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Why a growing number of stars have made the switch to putting with a mallet.
Rory McIlroy has made a flurry of late-season equipment changes, including switching the shaft in his driver and putting an old 3-wood into his bag last week at the BMW Championship after he tossed his previous 3-wood into the trees during the last round of the Northern Trust. All that came after McIlroy changed back to an old set of irons a few weeks ago.
And then there’s the putter. McIlroy raised the eyebrows of equipment junkies when he benched his TaylorMade Spider X and put an old Scotty Cameron 009M blade back in play at the Olympics in Toyko. But before the BMW Championship, he returned to a TaylorMade Spider.
“I said to Harry (Diamond, his caddie) after the first round (at the Northern Trust), ‘I’m thinking about going back to the Spider,’ and then I proceeded to gain four strokes on the greens over the next two days with the blade,” McIlroy said last Thursday. “But I think the thing with the blade is, the good days are really good, but the bad days are pretty bad, as well.”
The original Ping Anser was designed in 1966 by Karsten Solheim. (Ping Golf)
The first heel-toe-weighted, blade-style putter to impact golf was the Ping Anser designed by Karsten Solheim in 1966. Solheim sketched out the details of the club on the dust jacket of a record album, and as the story goes, he thought it was the answer to a lot of golfers’ putting problems. His wife, Louise, suggested he name the putter the Answer, but Solheim said the name was too long to stamp on the back bumper of the putter. Louise then suggested dropping the w, making the name Anser. The rest is history, and other manufacturers have copied that club’s characteristics ever since.
However, as popular as heel-toe-weighted blades have been over the past five decades, they typically are not as forgiving as mallets. That’s what McIlroy seems to be coming to grips with.
Rory McIlroy’s putter at the 2021 BMW Championship. (Scott Taetsch-USA TODAY Sports)
“There’s quite a lot of inconsistency in it for me. It’s almost like I need to practice with the blade at home, because you have to get your stroke spot-on to hit good putts with that style of putter,” he said at Caves Valley Golf Club. “But then, when I come out here, I started hitting putts with the Spider again, and it felt so easy. Felt like I couldn’t not start it on line. There’s a lesson in there somewhere about maybe just keeping the blade at home and practicing with it and then coming out here and putting with something that’s got a little more technology in it.”
The winner of the BMW Championship, Patrick Cantlay, used a Scotty Cameron Newport prototype, a heel-toe-weighted blade, for years. At the Zurich Classic in New Orleans, he put a Scotty Cameron Phantom X5 mallet in the bag. Using the Phantom X5, he won at Memorial and again last week at Caves Valley.
You might also recall that Justin Thomas broke through and won the 2017 PGA Championship shortly after switching from a Scotty Cameron Newport prototype blade to a Scotty Cameron Futura X5 mallet.
From a forgiveness standpoint, mallets usually outshine heel-toe-weighted blades because designers can add more weight to the perimeter and pull it farther back, away from the hitting area. That makes the putter more resistant to twisting on off-center hits, so putts that a player strikes outside the sweetspot not only roll out more, they tend to stay online more too.
Jason Day’s TaylorMade Spider putter (David Dusek/Golfweek)
While scores of great putters use blades – Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Ben Crenshaw and Brad Faxon – the increased acceptance of mallets should be attributed to Jason Day. The Australian became the first to finish a PGA Tour season with a strokes gained putting average over 1.0 when he ended the 2015-16 PGA Tour season with an average of 1.13 using a TaylorMade Itsy Bitsy Spider. The red mallet was compact and ideally balanced for Day’s slightly arched stroke. His success spurred more pros to try mallets and permanently destroyed any stigma that mallets were only for golfers who struggle on the greens.
So could a mallet help your putting? The best way to find out is to work with a good custom fitter and try several models. Here are a few to consider.
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An exact replica of the Scotty Cameron putter Tiger Woods used to 14 of his 15 majors sells for a jaw-dropping price.
The sports memorabilia market has been red hot for the past few years and anything to do with Tiger Woods always catches sports fans’ eyes, so when Golden Age Golf Auctions announced that a Scotty Cameron putter made for Woods was going to be sold, we knew bidding would not be for the faint of heart.
The bidding opened on August 12 at 7 p.m. ET with a $25,000 minimum. That was quickly bid by a private bidder, but within an hour the price was up to $27,500. Fourteen bids later, on August 26, the price was up to $104,431. On Saturday, the final day of the auction, a flurry of private bids came in pushing the price to $223,858, then $297,955 and then $327,750. The final bid, which won the private bidder the club, was $393,300.
To be clear, this is not the putter that Woods has used to win 14 of his 15 majors. This one was made in 2002 by Scotty Cameron to be an exact replica of Tiger’s Newport 2, something Woods could keep as a backup in case there was ever an issue with his gamer. According to Golden Age, Cameron produced one or two backup putters each year for Woods, but there are fewer than 10 known to exist.
The backup of a Tiger Woods’ putter that sold at auction has a single alignment dot on the topline and weight reducing pockets drilled in the heel and the back. Photo by Golden Age Golf Auctions
The Scotty Cameron putter that Woods uses in competition is 34 inches long and made from German stainless steel (GSS), an ultra-soft material Cameron uses for some putters made for Tour players. While most Newport 2 putters have an alignment line, Woods’ putter has a single dot on the topline so he can put the ideal hitting area of the face directly behind the ball at address.
The putter sold at auction has the same setup, as well as the same large red dots on the front and back. Those dots were made because Woods loved the putter Cameron made for him, but asked if it could be made a few grams lighter. To decrease the weight without changing how the putter appeared when Tiger looked down at the ball, Cameron carefully drilled out tiny pockets in the face and back of the head, then filled them with red paint to make them more stylist.
Among the other items sold in the same auction were Gary Player’s 1974 Masters Tournament trophy ($523,483), a 1904 Olympic Games golf trophy ($493,777.20), Billy Casper’s 1966 U.S. Open trophy ($30,326) and a Tiger Woods autographed Nike golf ball ($9,532.80).
To celebrate major wins over the years, Scotty Cameron and Titleist have released a limited run of putters with a Teryllium insert.
Gear: Scotty Cameron Champions Choice putters Price: $600 each Specs: Milled 303 stainless steel with Teryllium insert and adjustable sole weights Available: August 6
Professional golfers have used Scotty Cameron putters to win scores of tournaments over the years, including numerous majors. Tiger Woods used a Scotty Cameron to win all 15 of his majors, Brooks Koepka used his to win four, Jordan Spieth his three. You get the idea. The clubs have also developed a passionate fan base and collector community, with rare and limited-edition Scotty Cameron putters often sold for thousands of dollars.
Cameron and Titleist have announced the release of the new Scotty Cameron Champion’s Choice putters, a limited run of three putters, to celebrate major wins over the years.
