Hot List: Major-Winning Putters

By E. Michael Johnson

August 15, 2011

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2011 PGA Championship Odyssey White Hot XG Sabertooth Long

Rocco Mediate nearly gave the Odyssey Sabertooth a major at the 2008 U.S. Open but lost in a playoff to Tiger Woods. Keegan Bradley, however, used an XG Sabertooth Long putter to become the first man to win a major with a long (46.75 inches) putter at the 2011 PGA Championship. The Sabertooth, a Silver medal winner on the 2009 Hot List, features “fangs” that place 37 percent of the clubhead's weight on the outermost perimeter for increased stability. Bradley's model, however, was highly specialized, with a total weight of 762 grams and a double-bend ski-pole shaft.

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2011 British Open Scotty Cameron by Titleist Tour Rat prototype

Cameron's "Tour Rat" putters debuted earlier in 2011 and was in the hands of Darren Clarke when he rolled in a crucial 18-foot eagle putt on seventh hole at Royal St. George's to take the lead for good at the 2011 British Open. The putter is similar to the Golf Digest Gold medal winning Cameron Newport(including circular weights in the sole), but boasts slightly softer corners. Clarke's putter also differs from the Newport in that it has a dark finish with yellow paint fill.

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2011 U.S. Open Scotty Cameron by Titleist Studio Select Newport GSS prototype

The Scotty Cameron Studio Select Newport not only earned Gold medal honors on the 2010 Golf Digest Hot List, but earned the top score in "Look/Sound/Feel" in the blade putter category. The 33-inch putter Rory McIlroy wielded during his record-shattering performance at this year's U.S. Open, however, was a specially made model with a chromatic bronze finish and black paint fill instead of brushed chrome with a red paint fill.

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2011 Masters Nike Method 004

When you make four birdies on the final four holes to win the Masters, the putter gets some of the credit. For Charl Schwartzel, that means kudos to his Nike Method 004, a club with polymer grooves to assist forward roll as well as tungsten heel and toe weighting for a high moment of inertia and improved performance on mis-hits. The Gold medal winner on the 2010 Golf Digest Hot Listwas in the South African's hands as he rolled in putts of 8, 15, 12 and 14 feet to take the title.

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2010 PGA Championship Ping Karsten Anser 2

Can a $90 putter really win a major championship? Just ask Martin Kaymer, who used Ping's Karsten Anser 2 to win the 2010 PGA Championship. The Karsten, a Gold medal winner on the 2009 Golf Digest Hot List, is a simple version of Ping's classic blade that adds a single-layer elastomer insert in the back cavity to assist feel. The two-level alignment aid also helps square the putter at address. This club earned the top score in both the "Buzz" and "Value" categories for blade putters on the 2008 Hot List as well.

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2010 British Open Ping Redwood

In winning the 2010 British Open at St. Andrews in runaway fashion, Louis Oosthuizen used his Ping Redwood putter to lead the field in birdies with 20 and rank T-3 in putting for the week. The Redwood, a Silver medal winner on the 2007 Golf Digest Hot List, features a black nickel finish and a milled face. Oosthuizen's putter (which went in the bag just two weeks before his win) featured some personal touches, including a hosel nearly twice as long as the production model to make the club face-balanced.

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2010 U.S. Open Odyssey White Hot 7

The White Hot 7 putter debuted in 2001, before the Golf Digest Hot List existed. Nine years later, however, Graeme McDowell used a modified version of the club (butane finish, White Hot Tour insert) to take a mere 110 putts (ranked T-3) at Pebble Beach GL to win the U.S. Open. The putter regular White Hot 7 has a insert made from Callaway's golf-ball cover material that is lighter than the steel it replaces to increase perimeter weighting. Want one? PGA.com Value Guide currently lists its value as $25.

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2010 Masters Odyssey White Hot XG Blade PM

The White Hot XG blade was a Gold medal winner on the 2007 Golf Digest Hot Listand earned the top score in the "Buzz" category. And that was before Phil Mickelson won the 2010 Masters using a blade made specially for him that holed putts for 16 birdies and three eagles. The White Hot XG line features a resilient elastomer back insert and a thin, firm front insert for optimum feel.

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2009 PGA Championship Odyssey White Hot 2-Ball

Although he didn't really need it, Y.E. Yang ran in his eight-foot birdie putt on the final hole to topple Tiger Woods at the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine National GC. The weapon Yang used was an Odyssey White Hot 2-Ball, a club with a pair of spherical disks the size of a golf ball that aid in the alignment process. More than half-a-dozen 2-Ball models have earned Gold medals on the Golf Digest Hot List.

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2009 British Open Nike Method 001

Lost amid Tom Watson's final-hole bogey and playoff implosion at the 2009 British Open was Stewart Cink's clutch 12-foot birdie putt on the final hole at Turnberry that made a playoff possible. Like Glover a month earlier, Cink also used a Nike Method 001 model (Golf Digest Hot List Gold in 2010), which uses polymer in the face of the club to save 30 grams of weight in the face that helped push the center of gravity back to reduce backspin.

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2009 U.S. Open Nike Method 001 prototype

In a commercial for Nike re-enacting his winning putt at the 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, Lucas Glover deadpans, "It was just a three-footer, kid." But Glover made enough putts to not only take the title, but put a Nike putter on the map. Called "Oven Prototype" at the time, the putter Glover used would come to market as Nike's Method 001 model, a model that earned Gold medal status on the 2010 Golf Digest Hot Listthanks in part to its intriguing technology of alternating grooves of steel and a low-durometer polymer.

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2009 Masters Ping i Series 1/2 Craz-E

Although he didn't anchor the club to his stomach, Angel Cabrera did use a belly-length (39 inches) Ping I Series 1/2 Craz-E putter in winning the 2009 Masters. The club's insert-within-an-insert design features a thick, urethane main piece with a thin, soft layer in the center of the face. The putter earned a Gold medal on the 2008 Golf Digest Hot List.

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2008 PGA Championship Odyssey White Hot 2-Ball Blade

The 2-Ball, introduced in 2000, has been one of the game's enduring designs. And the 2005 Golf Digest Hot List Editor's Choicewas still working three years later for Padraig Harrington as he defended his British Open title. The venerable 2-Ball alignment system helped Harrington average 29 putts per round at Royal Birkdale en route to a four-shot romp.

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2008 British Open Odyssey White Hot 2-Ball Blade

Same guy, same putter. Same result. Padraig Harrington won his second major in a row (and third overall) with some dazzling putting at the PGA Championship using an Odyssey White Hot 2-Ball Blade (which has had several iterations named Gold medal winners on the Golf Digest Hot List). Ranked second for the week in total putts with just 108, the Irishman made two to close the deal, making a 10-foot birdie putt on the Oakland Hills' par-3 17th before applying the crusher, a 15-footer for par that ended any hope for Sergio Garcia.

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2008 U.S. Open Scotty Cameron by Titleist Tiger

As Tiger Woods stared down the 12-foot birdie try on the 72nd hole of the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines GC, he had a trusted ally in his hands--the Scotty Cameron by Titleist Tiger prototype he had used to win 12 previous majors. Woods' putter is a derivative of Cameron's timeless Newport model, which has been a Gold medal winner several times on the Golf Digest Hot List. It also was money in the bank for Woods, who made the putt and won the playoff the next day.

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2008 Masters Ping Redwood ZB

Although Ping's Redwood Series only earned a Silver medal on the 2007 Golf Digest Hot List, the Redwood ZB blade helped Trevor Immelman slip into a green jacket at the 2008 Masters, thanks to ranking T-4 in the field in putting. The stainless-steel Redwood boasts a black nickel chrome finish that is easy on the eyes and milled face that produces a crispness at impact.

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Hot List: Major-Winning Putters

Shop This Look

2011 PGA Championship Odyssey White Hot XG Sabertooth Long

2011 British Open Scotty Cameron by Titleist Tour Rat prototype

2011 U.S. Open Scotty Cameron by Titleist Studio Select Newport GSS prototype

2011 Masters Nike Method 004

2010 PGA Championship Ping Karsten Anser 2

2010 British Open Ping Redwood

2010 U.S. Open Odyssey White Hot 7

2010 Masters Odyssey White Hot XG Blade PM

2009 PGA Championship Odyssey White Hot 2-Ball

2009 British Open Nike Method 001

2009 U.S. Open Nike Method 001 prototype

2009 Masters Ping i Series 1/2 Craz-E

2008 PGA Championship Odyssey White Hot 2-Ball Blade

2008 British Open Odyssey White Hot 2-Ball Blade

2008 U.S. Open Scotty Cameron by Titleist Tiger

2008 Masters Ping Redwood ZB