Hot List 2026: Best mallet putters for our best putters
J.D. Cuban
Putting is, arguably, the most personal area of golf. Watch any golf event and you’re bound to see at least half a dozen ways to grip a club. The grips themselves vary in size. Pay really close attention and you’ll notice even more variance on the hosels or necks of putters, especially with the rising popularity of zero torque lines.
One area that has become a bit homogenous, especially on the PGA Tour, is more and more of the best players in the world opting for mallets over blades. Of the 36 events on the PGA Tour schedule in 2026, 31 were won by a player using a mallet putter. Matt Fitzpatrick, the only player in the top 10 of the World Ranking who uses a blade, won three times, and one of those times, he shared the win with his brother Alex, who was using a mallet.
What we see here is an example of the top level of golf’s so-called Pyramid of Influence, which is, essentially, the best players in the world influencing “lesser” players all the way down to hackers who seldom pick up a club. Playing on golf’s aspirational nature, the theory is everybody wants to play the stuff better players are gaming. Whether it’s Justin Thomas saying “Just give me Cam [Young]’s putter,” at Quail Hollow or Rory McIlroy accidentally sparking Scottie Scheffler’s generational run of play with his suggestion the Texan switch to a mallet, the best in the world have exhibited a herd mentality over the past few years when it comes to putters.
Naturally, we at Golf Digest thought it would be useful to see what our Hot List testers who consider putting a strength thought. Interestingly, our results don’t exactly jive with the Pyramid of Influence; you won’t see many Meridian Milled putters on tour. In fact, several gold-medal-winning mallet putters on the 2026 Hot List get little to no tour play. That's because the Hot List is not for tour pros, it's for you. But this list also seems especially meaningful because if we're talking about a group of players who already are very happy with their putting, the fact that they might find a completely new model of putter interesting is intriguing. Our theory: It's got to be a good club if it's going to make an already highly skilled putter think he or she might want to change to this new model. That point rings especially true in this category, as more than 80% of these players game a mallet outside of Hot List testing.
At the end of each testing session, players are asked to assess the field of clubs they just hit and rank their Top 5. Based on those rankings combined and weighted with players’ performance, look, sound and feel score, here are the best mallet putters on the 2026 Hot List, as determined by players who consider putting a strength (clubs are listed in alphabetical order):
Bettinardi BB Series:
Jason Guss, 49, 0-handicap: This is a great transitional putter for someone who's always used a blade but who's afraid to go into a mallet. Much shallower face.
L.A.B. Golf DF3i:
Alejandra Bedoya, 27, 6-handicap: Once you get over how it looks, it's really good fun. I don't quite understand the technology behind the shape, but something's working. It's powerful yet soft. Enough sound to let me know I'm hitting a solid stroke but muted enough to where it will never distract you. The more I used it, the more confidence I gained.
Meridian Milled Series:
Megan Padua Buzza, 40, 0-handicap: I love the look of this one. It's a really simple and traditional putter, but it's appealing and effective in its performance. I really like the blue line visual. I like that the head weight is a bit heavier at 370 grams. It reeks of stability.
Odyssey Ai-Dual Square to Square:
Ryan Woyski, 47, 12-handicap: It felt like home in my hands. This one performed great. Didn't feel like the club face moved on me. Putts were either going in or just barely missing every time. Love the offset grip on this one, just made me feel like I could make anything.
Odyssey Square to Square Tri-Hot:
Aaron Borgmann, 45, 16-handicap: I was surprised at how consistent it was. Really enjoyed the feel of the ball coming off the face. I didn't have to work too hard to hit distance putts, and it was accurate with tight dispersion on short putts. The biggest knock is the craziness of the design and appearance. But from a performance standpoint, it was excellent.
TaylorMade Spider Tour:
Gary Abbott, 38, 13-handicap: It sets down effortlessly. The proportions front to back and heel to toe sort of support the ball, and the psychology behind it suits my eye. I'm able to frame the center of the face on the ball every time. Makes it easy to get that end-over-end roll.
TaylorMade Spider ZT:
Robert Shaw, 29, +2-handicap: It took a few rolls to understand how the putter released, but once I got comfortable with it, I enjoyed how it gave me quality feedback when I didn't hit it well. It was soft and very muted off the face.
Titleist Scotty Cameron Studio Style:
Anand Mudaliar, 44, 6-handicap: The putter feels hefty but in a good way. Helped me square the face at impact. Anything within six feet of the hole, I felt confident it was going in. Pure roll—the insert definitely feels soft—with less skid at contact. Good distance control on longer putts, too.
