Yahoo Sport 
Mallet putters: Better aim and more consistency
It's hard to believe that there was once a stigma surrounding mallet putters. The thinking was that if you were a good player, you used a blade, and if you struggled on the greens, you played a mallet. But thankfully, times have changed, and that mode of thinking has gone the way of hickory shafts.
Let's be clear: There is nothing wrong with blade-style putters, but modern mallet putters offer several distinct advantages that blades can't offer. The most significant is mallets give club designers more space to create effective alignment aids and designs so they can help golfers aim the face more easily. Mallets also tend to offer a higher moment of inertia (MOI) than most blades, so they wobble less when you mis-hit a putt and work to keep the ball rolling on your intended line.
More: Blades, mallets, grips and more: What you need to know about putters
The breakthrough for mallets came about a decade ago when manufacturers started to offer mallets that had some toe hang. Previously, nearly every mallet was face balanced, and therefore ideal for golfers who make a straight putting stroke. Once brands started offering mallets with different hosel configurations and neck designs, putters that are ideal for golfers who make an arced putting stroke caught on with pros and recreational golfers alike.
Now, the list of golfers who use a mallet putter includes Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, Brooke Henderson, Viktor Hovland, Justin Thomas, Wyndham Clark, Xander Schauffele and Rory McIlroy.
The best way to find the putter that is best suited to your stroke and game is to work with a custom fitter, making sure to consider the length, loft and lie angle, as well as the balance. Below is a list of several popular mallet putters that you will see right now in pro shops and golf specialty shops that you might want to consider.
Cobra 3D Printed Agera
Price: $349 each with KBS CT Tour 120 shaft and SuperStroke Zenergy Pistol 1.0 gripSpecs: Carbon fiber crown with 304 stainless steel body, milled 6061 aerospace grade aluminum face insert and 3D-printed features.
Who it’s For: Golfers who want extra stability and modern design with enhanced alignment features.
What you should know: By 3D printing a significant portion of the body, Cobra designers can radically shift weight to enhance performance while the variable-loft face encourages a more consistent roll.
Excerpt: "Looking closer at the body of the 3D Printed putters reveals what makes them unique. Each head has a dark nylon area in the center that is made using 3D-printed nylon that is shaped into a lattice. This technique allows designers to make shapes and structures that could not be produced by forging or milling, while saving weight. The nylon also absorbs vibrations to improve sound and feel." Read the full review.
L.A.B. DF3
Price: $449 (stock) and $559 (Custom)Specs: 6061 aluminum with steel weights. 69-degree lie angle
Who It’s For: Golfers who struggle to square their putter face at impact or start putts on their intended target line.
What you should know: Using a unique weighting and balance system, the DF3 putter is designed to keep the face square to the arc you create when you set up to putt and help you start your putts on your intended line more easily.
Excerpt: "After you sole the putter behind the ball, the DF3’s weighting encourages the face of the putter to remain square to the arc you establish in the address position. To be clear, this is not face-balanced. This is lie angle balanced (L.A.B. stands for lie angle balance). To make this effect happen, each DF3 putter, which is made from 6061 aluminum, is center-shafted and has eight weights positioned in specific areas in the front of the sole. The weights vary based on the putter’s length, and they are all measured and installed by hand." Read the full review.
Odyssey Ai ONE Jailbird Cruiser
Price: $349.99 eachSpecs: Cast stainless steel heads with adjustable sole weights.
Who It’s For: Golfers who struggle with distance control and who want a more solid, stable-feeling putter.
What you should know: 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.
Excerpt: "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." Read the full review.
Ping PLD Milled DS72
Price: $485 eachSpecs: Milled 303 stainless steel
Who It’s For: Golfers who want tour-inspired looks and elite levels of feel and precision in their putter.
What you should know: Using feedback from tour pros, Ping is expanding its PLD Milled putter family with new blades and mallets while also expanding the personalization and customization options.
Excerpt: "Like the first PLD putters, the new Anser, Anser 2D, DS72 and Oslo 3 are each milled from a solid block of 303 stainless steel in a process that takes about four hours to complete. They come standard with a gunmetal finish and a deep-milling pattern in the hitting area that creates the sound and feel that tour players prefer .... [DS72 is the] Viktor Hovland putter, a compact mallet suited for golfers with a straight putting stroke. The gap in the back flange can help players align the face more easily. " Read the full review.
PXG Allan
Price: $449.99Specs: 303 stainless steel chassis with injected polymer and milled 6061 aluminum crown.
Who It’s For: Golfers who want to reduce face rotation on putts and increase stability and consistency.
What You Should Know: The PXG Allan putter is designed with an S-shaped hosel that creates a toe-up balance, helping the putter’s face stay square to the arc of your stroke. This design aids golfers in making solid contact more easily.
Excerpt: "When you make a stroke with the Allan putter, the balance helps keep the face square to the arc of your stroke, reducing the chances of the face fanning open on the backswing and closing on the downswing and follow-through. According to PXG, this should allow golfers to return the putter to the ball with a square face more often and start putts rolling on their intended line more easily." Read the full review.
Scotty Cameron Phantom X 11
Price: $449 and $499 (Phantom 11 Long)Specs: Milled 303 stainless steel and 6061 aluminum chassis with steel/tungsten weights.
Who It’s For: Golfers who want a mallet that is easy to align and aim while still getting the sound and feel of Scotty Cameron’s milled blade putters.
What you should know: The Phantom putters for 2024 have been subtly tweaked so the entire head acts like an alignment aid, while the dual-milled face design enhances sound and feel in each of the five different head shapes.
Excerpt: "When golfers put a Phantom 11 putter down behind a ball, they see a pair of lines extending from the back of the head to the topline and forming an arrow. However, golfers may not even be aware that the topline edges in the heel and toe area have been angled inward toward the ball, while the back of the topline has also been angled toward the ball. The negative space between the wings in the back of the head also forms a second arrow. These features work together to aid a golfer in alignment, even if some of them are working subconsciously." Read the full review.
Shop Scotty Cameron Phantom X 11 putter
TaylorMade Spider Tour X L-Neck
Price: $349.99Specs: Stainless steel and aluminum body with a grooved urethane face insert. 34- and 35-inch clubs for right-hand players only.
Who It’s For: Golfers who want a putter that can help create a more consistent roll while also helping the player aim and align the face more effectively.
What you should know: Like the previously released Spider Tour putters, the L-neck hosel is designed to be easy to aim and to create forward roll quickly. Its moderate toe-hang makes it ideal for golfers with a slight-arc stroke.
Excerpt: "Previously released Spider Tour putters had a single-bend, double-bend and short slant-neck hosel, but this putter has an L-shaped hosel that creates about 20 degrees of toe hang. It’s subtle, but for golfers like Scheffler, who make a slightly arced putting stroke, the balance is ideal." Read the full review.
Shop TM Spider Tour X L-Neck putter
Wilson Staff Model MT22
Price: $349.99 eachSpecs: Milled 304 stainless steel heads available in 33-, 34- and 35-inch options
Who its for: Golfers looking for putters with classic, time-honored shapes and an especially soft feel.
What you should know: Wilson comes to the premium putter market with four offerings that look familiar to nearly every player and that blend the precision of milling with the soft feel of 304 stainless steel.
Excerpt: "Starting as a solid black of 304 stainless steel that is milled by a computer-controlled bit that passes back and forth over the block, shaving small ribbons of metal away with each pass. This is the most precise way to make a putter, and while it is time-consuming, the final result is nearly perfect consistency from club to club." Read the full review.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Mallet putters: Better aim and more consistency
