Scotty Cameron extends Titleist’s mallet putter lineup with two models designed to provide more feel and stability.
Gear: Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5, 5.5, 11, 11.5 putters Price: $429 each Specs: Milled 303 stainless steel with aluminum and adjustable sole weights Available: March 26
Last season brought an update to the Scotty Cameron Select line of blade-style putters, so this year it is the mallet putters’ turn to be refreshed. While there are several mid-size and high-MOI mallets in the Phantom X lineup introduced two years ago carrying over into 2021, Titleist’s putter maker has added two new models with different neck configurations for players who want more forgiveness and feel.
The Phantom X 5 and X 5.5 share the same head, which is milled from a piece of 303 stainless steel and has extensions in the heel and toe area. But instead of keeping the entire head solid, which could make the putter extremely heavy, Cameron replaced a significant portion of the bottom of the head with aluminum, which is a much lighter material, and then added a pair of weights in the heel and toe area. The weights are not designed to be changed by golfers, but fitters can swap the weights out to adjust the club’s swing weight based on its length and a player’s preferences.
Adjustable weights on the bottom of the Phantom X putters allow the swing weight to be changed easily. (Titleist)
Where the two putters vary is in the neck. The Phantom X 5 has a single-bend in the shaft that makes it face balanced and ideal for players who have a straight-back, straight-through stroke. The Phantom X 5.5 has a small slant neck which creates a small amount of toe hang. It is very similar to the putter that Justin Thomas plays and is better suited for players who have a slightly-arced putting stroke.
The Phantom X 11 and X 11.5 are similarly shaped to the X 5 and X 5.5, but they are slightly larger and have extra steel pieces at the end of the heel and toe wings. Again, the silver-toned areas are milled 303 stainless steel, and the darker sections are aluminum to save weight. The larger profile increases stability and the moment of inertia to make the X 11 and X 11.5 more resistant to twisting on off-center hits.
The Phantom X 11 and 11.5 have more mass at the end of the heel and toe extensions. (Titleist)
The difference between the two putters, again, is found in the neck. The Phantom X 11 has a high-bend neck and is face balanced; the Phantom X 11.5 has a single bend that is lower, which encourages more movement in the toe portion of the putter, so it is better for golfers who have an arched stroke.
Titleist’s putter guru is releasing 2,020 limited-edition putters inspired by Justin Thomas’ prototype.
Justin Thomas was not thrilled with the way he was putting at the end of 2016. He was striping the ball off the tee and from the fairway, but his putter was holding him back from contending and winning more.
He wanted a change, and after rummaging around on the Titleist PGA Tour van, he spotted a Scotty Cameron Futura X5.5. Having always played a Newport-style blade, it was visually a departure for Thomas, but he liked it. Eventually, Cameron welded a small slant neck onto a Futura X5.5 putter, Thomas put it into play and a few months later he won the 2017 PGA Championship with it.
If you have thousands of dollars to spend on a putter, for years you have been able to buy a Scotty Cameron prototype putter at the Scotty Cameron Studio in Encinitas, California, or on eBay. This is different: Starting on Sept. 22, for $850 you can get one of 2,020 limited-edition Scotty Cameron Inspired by Justin Thomas Phantom X5.5 putters at select Titleist authorized golf shops.
The Scotty Cameron Justin Thomas Phantom X5.5 putter. (Titleist)
Like Thomas’ actual putter, the Scotty Cameron Inspired by Justin Thomas Phantom X5.5 has a milled 303 stainless steel face and wings that extend back from the heel and toe areas. A portion of the sole has been milled out and replaced by a 6061 aircraft aluminum soleplate. That shifts more of the club’s overall weight to the perimeter for increased stability.
The club comes standard at 34.5 inches with 10-gram weights screwed into the heel and toe areas of the sole, just like Thomas’ putter. The hand-welded neck is also there.
Instead of a Circle T logo, the Scotty Cameron Inspired by Justin Thomas Phantom X5.5 putters have a Circle JT. (Titleist)
While Scotty Cameron putters designed for the PGA Tour typically are stamped with a Circle T logo, these putters are adorned with a unique Circle JT logo on the milled face and the sole.
“This was an extremely cool project for me to work on with Scotty,” Thomas said in a media release. “In the beginning, I was only thinking it would give me something different to look at for a couple weeks. Yet here I am, four-something years later and still using it. So, I guess it’s worked out pretty well.”
We offer up our list of the top 10 putts in Tiger Woods’ career, starting with Nos. 10, 9 and 8. Go to Golfweek.com for more on this list.
One of the most iconic clubs in golf’s history is a 35.25-inch, chrome-finished Scotty Cameron Newport 2 putter with a single dot on the topline and two distinct red dots, one on the front, the other on the back.
“Yep, it’s been pretty good to me,” Tiger Woods said of the putter he calls “Scotty.” “Seriously, it’s been a special club.”
Bobby Jones had Calamity Jane, Judge Smails his Billy Baroo and Woods his Scotty, which he first wrapped his paws around in 1999. Since then, the club has been in his bag for 66 of his record-tying 82 PGA Tour titles and 14 of his 15 majors and led to nearly $95 million in earnings.
“It’s hard to describe how it’s always felt in my hands; how confident I’ve always felt with it,” he said. “It’s been a huge part of my life on the golf course.”
In tandem, the two have delivered some of the game’s most memorable putts. It’s a long list, indeed, and presents a challenge as difficult as facing a 6-foot, downhill putt that breaks two feet at Augusta National – what are the best putts Woods has made in his career?
While Woods hasn’t used the Scotty since February due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, he’s had plenty of time to recall his best work with the shortest club in his bag. We’ve had the time, too, and offer up our list of the Top 10 best putts in Woods’ career. Without doubt, the list is open to dispute, as is the ranking. But that is what the 19th hole is for. Anyway, here’s our list. Be sure to come back all week as we continue the countdown.
The 2013 Masters champion explains what he looks for in his drivers, irons, wedges and putters after winning the 2020 Genesis Invitational.
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Adam Scott has been one of the best ballstrikers of his generation, having a powerful, flowing swing that not only allows him to excel off the tee, but also hit towering iron shots. The Australian won the 2020 Genesis Invitational last weekend at Riviera Country Club. Tuesday evening he spoke with a small group of writers on a conference call from Mexico City, where he is preparing for this week’s WGC-Mexico Championship.
The 29-year-old talked about his recent driver changes, why he plays old irons and how he first started testing broomstick putters. Here are four things we learned.
1. Scott’s driver needs have evolved, a lot, over the years
“The equipment has come a long way since I turned pro, and I’ve been in Titleist my entire career, which is incredible. This is my 20th year with them,” Scott said. “The DNA of my golf swing has had to adapt as changes have been made.”
Scott noted that when he turned pro, he used a 137-gram steel shaft in his Titleist 975D driver, and that club was 43 1/2″ in length. Today, he is using a Titleist TS4 driver that is 45 inches long and has a volume of 460 cubic centimeters. It is fitted with a shaft that is about 50 percent lighter.
Adam Scott switched back to a Mitsubishi Kuro Kage shaft in this Titleist TS4 driver at Riviera. (Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)
“I’ve always liked feeling where the clubface is, and as heads get bigger, the center of gravity goes back and you can lose that,” he explained.
Scott switched into the low-spinning TS4 last season because it has a slightly smaller head (430cc), and he could feel the head more than he could with his 460cc TS3.
Since 2010, Scott has used either a Mitsubishi Kuro Kage or Graphite Design Tour AD Di-8 shaft.
He switched back into the Mitsubishi shaft last week at Riviera, saying, “As we increased the head weight last week to feel the head even more, just having that slightly more stout tip in the Kuro Kage might balance out the extra head weight.”
Adam Scott’s Titleist 680 irons. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
2. Scott knows exactly what he wants in his irons
One of the best iron players since he arrived on the PGA Tour, Scott plays Titleist 680 irons, but don’t look for those clubs on the wall of your local pro shop.
“I switched to those irons when they came out in 2003, maybe 2004,” he said. “I had some 681s back then too, I believe. Then I used AP2s for a while when they first came out. Then I used the 710 blades and actually won the Masters with the 710 blades.”
However, as Titleist’s muscleback blades evolved over the years, they slowly went away from the 680-style look that Scott liked.
Adam Scott’s Titleist 710 MB irons in 2011. (David Dusek/Golfweek)(
“I like offset, and (680 irons) have a more-offset look. They have a longer blade and a higher toe and are less boxy,” he said. “Today’s irons are beautiful, but they are a little different than what I grew up looking at. There’s very little offset (in today’s musclebacks), and not many guys out here these days play with offset. But that’s what I grew up playing, and that’s what the 680s have.”
Scott also noted that the 680s have a sharper leading edge, which he likes because it forces him to avoid swings that could dig into the turf.
3. Scott is a 4-wedge guy now, usually
Two years ago, Titleist’s Vokey wedge rep, Aaron Dill, worked with Scott to create two completely separate sets for wedges, with one collection consisting of three clubs and the other being comprised of four clubs. The idea was that Scott might tweak his fairway woods or driving iron setup based on the course, and when he did, he wanted to be able to make changes to his wedges to accommodate an extra club.
Scott typically plays four wedges at PGA Tour events. (Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports)
Today, Scott said he uses the four wedge system almost exclusively, opting for the new SM8 wedge in 48, 52, 56 and 60-degree lofts.
“That was really based on statistics and how golf courses are playing,” Scott explained. “When there were over a certain number of wedges into greens, it was better to have four and have the gapping be a little easier to manage than three. TPC (Sawgrass) was an example of one where I was at a disadvantage because I was hitting a lot of half wedges.”
The only time that Scott goes back to a three-wedge setup now is when he’s on a links-style course.
“When you get to the (British) Open, loft kind of becomes your enemy,” he said. “You want to keep the ball on the ground a little more, so the three wedges work there and then an extra iron goes in at the top end.”
4. He doesn’t care what you think of his broomstick putter.
It’s not uncommon for Scott to practice with a putter that he has no intention of using in that week’s PGA Tour event because it keeps his gamer, a prototype Scotty Carmon Xperimental Rev. 11 mallet, looking new and exciting to his eyes. That includes occasionally using a traditional-length putter in a practice round. When he gets confident with the shorter putter, then switches to his broomstick, he feels he putts even better.
In 2010, Scott won the Valero Texas Open and the Barclays Singapore Open, and more than $2.4 million in prize money, but he left a lot on the table. Scott ranked first in strokes gained tee to green, but 186th in strokes gained putting using a conventional-style putter.
“My frustration levels were too high, I was putting either really good or really terrible, there was nothing ever in between and I wasn’t sure what was going to show up on any given week,” he said with a laugh.
Adam Scott used a broomstick putter for the first time in competition at the 2011 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
His coach, Brad Malone, bought a broomstick putter at a pro shop in Australia and was tinkering with it one day on the practice green behind Scott’s house. Scott saw it, was curious and tried it. He discovered he putted well with it.
“I knew there would be a few interesting looks at the (2011) WGC-Match Play when I came out putting with a broomstick,” he said. “But to be honest, I didn’t really care. I was more interested in achieving some results.”
It took a little getting used to on tour, but a few weeks later, Scott finished third at Doral and second at the Masters using his broomstick.
Using feedback from PGA Tour players, Scotty Cameron’s newest putters feature thinner toplines, lower profiles and milled faces.
Gear: Scotty Cameron Special Select putters Price: $399 each Specs: Milled 303 stainless steel heads with 6061 aluminum, stainless steel and tungsten. Available: Jan. 24
Scotty Cameron’s official title at Titleist is not head of design or category manager. It’s master putter maker. For years he has focused on trying to make putters with which the game’s elite golfers fall in love, and many have. Some of the game’s best players collect Cameron putters, often those being prototype and customized clubs that aren’t available at retail.
With his latest update to the Select family of putters, Cameron is making the putters sold at retail simpler, cleaner and more like clubs used by the pros.
Each of the seven head models starts as a solid block of 303 stainless steel before a computer-guided milling tool shaves off ribbons of material until the final shape is achieved. In the Newport, Newport 2 and Newport 2.5 blades, the sole was given a soft, tri-sole design, with the toe and heel rising slightly so the center portion can easily rest flat on the ground at address.
Special Select blades have thinner toplines and slightly shorter blade lengths, so Cameron achieved the ideal swing weight by adding tungsten weight screw in the sole. (Titleist)
The blades also feature thinner toplines and slightly lower face heights, with more material being milled off the back flange areas. That may not seem like a big deal, but Cameron did it to make the retail putters have the same look at address preferred by many pros.
As a result, the overall weight of the heads decreased. In order to maintain the same swing weight, Cameron decided to use tungsten in the heel and toe sole weights of the blade putters. Heavier weights are added to shorter putters, while longer putters get lighter weights.
The Special Select Flowback 5 mallet has steel removed from the bottom and an aluminum sole plate added to cover the opening. (Titleist)
The four mid-size mallets have extra material in the sole milled out. Removing steel from the center of the sole, then covering the hole with 6061 aircraft-grade aluminum, shifts more of the head’s weight to the heel and toe areas, which creates more stability without increasing the head size.
While the Fastback 1.5 and Squareback 2 are shapes Cameron has offered in the past, the Flowback 5 and Flowback 5.5 are new. They are semi-circular mallets based on the previously released GoLo putters
Scotty Cameron Special Select Del Mar putter (Titleist)
Cameron has brought back a compact mallet, the Del Mar, with the Special Select line. As with the blades, it has a solid sole.
Unlike the previous Select putters, none of the Special Select putters have an insert or vibration-dampening membrane. Again, this is a nod to the kind of insert-free putters that pros often ask Cameron to make.
Each Special Select putter has a glare-resistant, raw stainless steel finish with a single black alignment line.
A new hosel and neck configuration could make this putter appealing to golfers who have an arched stroke and are looking for stability.
Scotty Cameron released the Phantom X line of putters in January at the PGA Merchandise Show, and today Titleist’s master craftsman for putters announced the release of the first line extension to that family, the Phantom X 12.5.
A full-size mallet with a single alignment line, the Phantom X 12.5 has a center section made from 6061 aircraft-grade aluminum with silver-toned 303 stainless steel sections in the heel and toe areas. The stainless steel is significantly heavier than the aluminum, so more of the head’s overall weight is in the perimeter, which stabilizes the club on off-center hits.
The Phantom X 12.5 has an aluminum center section and stainless steel pieces in the heel and toe. (Titleist)
The putter also has a pair of weights in the sole that can be adjusted either at the Titleist factory or by a custom fitter. Longer putters typically come with lighter weights, and shorter putters come with heavier weights to standardize the swing weight, but golfers can get the weights customized based on their preferences.
The differences between the Phantom X 12.5 and the standard Phantom X 12 is the hosel configuration and the toe hang. The new putter has a low-bend shaft configuration that creates more toe hang, so the putter is better suited for players with an arced putting stroke.
The Phantom X 12.5 reaches stores Dec. 12 and costs $429.
