Six years ago, at the conclusion of the PGA Tour’s 2015-2016 season, Jason Day finished No. 1 in Strokes Gained: Putting and achieved something that no other golfer, before or since, had accomplished. The Australian, who used a TaylorMade Spider Tour Red putter that year, ended a PGA Tour season with a Strokes Gained: Putting average of 1.13, making him the first player to end a season with an average over 1.0.
Strokes Gained: Putting (SG:P) is the best statistic to use to compare golfers and see who is a better putter, measuring that advantage in strokes. For example, if a player has a SG:P average of 0.4 and another golfer has an average of 0.1, that 0.3-shot edge over 72 holes of a tournament translates to a 1.2-shot swing and on the PGA Tour, averaging one shot better than translates to a lot of money.
Jason Day lines up a putt on the 2nd hole during the first round of The Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. (Photo: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports)
So back in 2016, over 54 measured rounds of golf that season, Day gained more than a full shot advantage over the average player (who would average 0.0), every 18 holes, based exclusively on his putting. That’s 4.52 shots over 72 holes.
No one scared Day’s record-setting performance last year, but with the PGA Tour’s wrap-around 2021-22 season now concluded, we can look back and see which golfers finished in the top 10 in SG:P and what putters they used.
The LA Golf Blade is made from carbon composite, has extreme perimeter weighting and comes standard with a graphite shaft.
Gear: LA Golf Blade putter Price: $1,500 with graphite shaft and Winn Jumbo Lite DRI TAC grip Specs: Milled carbon composite head with milled 303 stainless steel face insert and adjustable tungsten sole weights. 33″ to 36″
Who it’s For: Deep-pocketed golfers who want extreme forgiveness and stability on the greens with a more consistent roll.
The Skinny: Designing the head using carbon composite allowed LA Golf to make a massive heel-toe weighted blade putter with extreme perimeter weighting for increased stability and forgiveness.
The Deep Dive: For the past few years, LA Golf (LAGP) has been making a name for itself by making high-performance graphite shafts for Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and a growing number of tour players. Many of them not only use those shafts in their woods but also in their putters because the ultra-stiff graphite shafts can help reduce twisting on off-center hits.
LAGP recently purchased SIK (Study In Kinematics) and now has released its first tip-to-grip club offering, a blade-style putter that blends LAGP’s expertise with carbon materials with one of SIK’s key technologies.
SIK stands for “study in kinematics”, a branch of science that deals with the motion of objects.
Gear: SIK Flo M putter Price: $449 Specs: Milled 303 stainless steel with a grooved, variable-loft face.
Who it’s for: Golfers looking for a more consistent roll.
The Skinny: The Flo M is a small, tour-inspired version of the original Flo putter that features grooves in the hitting area and a unique, variable-loft face designed to help golfers create a more consistent roll.
The Deep Dive: SIK (which stands for “study in kinematics”, a branch of science that deals with the motion of objects), has been making high-quality putters for years, and has been the putter brand of choice for Bryson DeChambeau. The company’s latest release, the Flo M, provides golfers with options for customizations along with interesting technologies to improve performance.
Forged from a block of 303 stainless steel, the Flo M is 10 percent smaller and 70 grams lighter than the original Flo putter. With a pair of wing-like extensions in the heel and toe area, it creates a boxy look at address. Golfers may notice that the topline is relatively thick, but what really stands out is the compact blade length. It is only about 3.25 inches, so when the single black alignment line is behind the middle of the ball, there is not a lot of extra hitting area on either side.
The SIK Flo M has a very short blade length. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
At impact, the sound is solid but soft, and so is the feel. However, while you can see the grooves milled into the center of the hitting area, it’s what you can’t see that makes SIK putters different. SIK calls this Descending Loft technology, and essentially it creates different lofts in different areas of the face.
The top quarter of the face is designed with 4 degrees of loft, but each quarter of the face below that gets 1 degree stronger, with the lowest part of the hitting area having just 1 degree of loft. This is designed to normalize the loft and launch conditions. If the shaft is slightly forward at impact, which delofts the putter, you will hit the ball in the top section, where the extra loft can counteract the forward press. Conversely, if the putter is rising into impact and thin contact occurs, the reduced loft helps to minimize lift and keep the ball down.
Descending Loft technology decreases the loft in the lower portion of the hitting area. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
To ensure the Flo M matches the stroke style of a wide range of players, it is available in four different hosel configurations, with the head weight changing slightly for each setup. The double-bend version (345 grams) is ideal for golfers who want a straight back, straight through stroke, with the plumber’s neck (370 grams) is better suited for golfers who make a moderate arc with their swing. The swept (365 grams) and slant (360 grams) necks have the most toe hang could be better options for players who make a significant arc with their putting stroke.
The best putters on the PGA Tour in strokes gained putting are using these flat sticks.
Over the past decade, driving and iron play have taken on greater emphasis at the elite levels of golf. If a player can hit the ball a mile off the tee or produce laser-guided iron shots, he can create a lot of birdie chances, avoid making big numbers and contend on the PGA Tour.
Golfers who are not especially long off the tee or not among the most-elite iron players must make up the difference in other aspects of the game, and typically that means being an excellent putter.
Improvements in manufacturing techniques, the ability to use multiple materials and advancements in the study of how balls react off a putter’s face as they travel toward the hole have helped equipment companies make clubs that perform better. Putter fitting techniques also have improved, helping ensure that golfers have a putter ideally suited to their swing style and not just pleasing to their eyes.
Below is a list of the golfers who rank the highest in strokes gained putting – which means they have the largest edge over the competition based on the quality of their play on the greens – along with the putters they are using.
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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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