Four years ago I wrote an essay in which I examined the putters that the top-50 world players were using and the top-50 in strokes gained:Putting. I was interested in finding out if more mallet-style or blade-style putters were being used by world’s top players.

I discovered that 44% of the Official World Golf Rankings top-50 players were using mallet-style putters and 56% of the top-50 in strokes won: putting used mallet putters.

Flash forward to 2022 and it seems that more top golfers are switching to mallet putters. Scottie Scheffler for instance, changed into a mallet putting after he had used a blade-style putter all his career.

But what are the actual numbers? Is it true that more top PGA Tour players are using mallet putters or is this a rumor?

I was curious.

To do my research, I just looked through the latest GolfWRX WITB photos and the most recent Getty Images photos to determine which style of putter each Top-50 player is using.

Here are the results

Top-50 in OWG: Blade or Mallet

Mallett putter users, 62 per cent (31 of 50)

Rory McIlroy (No. 1: TaylorMade Spider Tour Hydrblast

Scottie Scheffler (No. 2: Scotty Cam T-5.5 Proto

Patrick Cantlay (No. 4: Scotty Cameron Proto T5

Jon Rahm (N0. 5: Odyssey Rossie S White Hot OG)

Xander Schauffele (No. 6: Odyssey O-Works #7, CH Red

Will Zalatoris (No. 7: Scotty Cam Cameron Circle T Phantom X Proto

Justin Thomas (No. 8: Scotty Cameron T5 Proto Tour – Only custom

Viktor Hovland (No. 11: Ping PLD DS72)

Sam Burns (No. 12: Odyssey O-Works7S

Billy Horschel (No. 16: Ping PLD Sigma Tyne 4

Cameron Young (No. 17: Scotty Cameron prototype T5

Max Homa (No. 18: Scotty Cameron PhantomX T5.5 Prototype

Sungjae Im (No. 20: Scotty Cameron 5 Prototype

Shane Lowry: (No. 21: Odyssey 2-ball DFX 2-ball

Abraham Ancer (No. 23: Odyssey White Hot No. 5 Stroke Lab

Keegan Bradley (No. 25: Odyssey Versa Jailbird)

Sepp Straka (No. 27: Odyssey Tuttle Stroke Lab

Tyrrell Hatton (No. Tyrrell Hatton (No. 28: Ping Vault Oslo

Kevin Kisner (No. 29: Odyssey 2-Ball 11,

Dustin Johnson (No. 30: TaylorMade Spider GT Black

Corey Conners (No. 31: Prototype Ping PLD

Tom Hoge (No. 32: TaylorMade SpiderX Hydroblast

K.H. Lee (No. 33: Odyssey Works Versa 2-ball)

Adam Scott (No. 34: L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 prototype)

Aaron Wise (No. 36: TaylorMade Ghost

Brian Harman (No. 37: TaylorMade OS CB)

Daniel Berger (No. 43: TaylorMade SpiderX Hydroblast

Jason Kokrak (No. 44: Bettinardi Studio Stock 38)

Harold Varner III (No. 46: Odyssey White Hot 7S

Seamus Power (No. 48: Ping LLD3 Mallet

Harris English (No. 49: Ping Scottsdale Hohum

Blade putter owners, 38 percent (19 of 50)

Cameron Smith (No. 3: Scotty Cameron Prototype 009M

Collin Morikawa (No. 9: TaylorMadeTP Soto

Matt Fitzpatrick (No. 10: Bettinardi DASS Prototype)

Jordan Spieth (No. 13: Scotty Cameron Tour Prototype

Tony Finau (No. 14: Ping PLD Prototype

Joohyung “Tom” Kim (No. 15: Scotty Cameron TourType SSS Prototype

Hideki Matsuyama (No. 19: Scotty Newport 2 GSS

Joaquin Niemann (No. 22: Prototype-Ping PLD Anser

Tommy Fleetwood (No. 24: TaylorMade TP Juno)

Ryan Fox (No. 26: Ping Anser IID

Thomas Pieters (No. 35: Scotty Cameron squareback Select 2 Tour Only

Talor Gooch (No. 38: Odyssey Tri-Hot Two

Brooks Koepka (No. 39: Scotty Cameron Teryllium NNP2

Kevin Na (No. 40: Odyssey Toulon Madison)

Kurt Kitayama (No. 41: Scotty Cameron Newport prototype

Louis Oosthuizen (No. 42: Ping Vault 2.0 Voss)

Mito Pereira (No. 45: Ping Vault 2.0 Dale Anser Stealth)

Paul Casey (No. 47: Scotty Cameron Prototype 009M

Alex Noren (No. 50: Odyssey O-Works 1W

Top-50 in Strokes: Putting

Mallet users: 70% (35 out of 50 players).

Lucas Herbert (No. 1: TaylorMade SpiderX Hydroblast

Denny McCarthy (No. 2: Scotty Cam GoLo N7

Tyrrell Hatton (No. 4: Ping Vault Oslo

Beau Hossler (No. 5: Odyssey 2-Ball Ten

Christiaan Bezuidenhout (No. 6: Odyssey White Hot OG #7)

Kelly Kraft (No. 7: Odyssey Versa 1ball Red Prototype

Kevin Kisner (No. 9: Odyssey 2-ball 11.

Sam Burns (No. 10: Odyssey O-Works7S

Martin Trainer (No. 12: Scotty Cameron Prototype Phantom T12

Chesson Hadley (No. 13: Odyssey White Hot OG 2-Ball

Mackenzie Hughes (No. 14: Ping Scottsdale TR Piper C)

Rory McIlroy, No. 16: TaylorMade Spider Tour Hydrblast

Ian Poulter (No. 17: Scotty Cameron Proto T-11

Justin Rose (No. 20: Axis1 Prototype Rose

Billy Horschel (No. 21: Ping PLD Sigma Tyne 4

Matthew Wolff (No. 23: TaylorMadeGT Notchback

Adam Long (No. 24: Scotty Cameron Proto T5

Viktor Hovland, No. 25: Ping PLD DS72)

Max Homa (No. 27: Scotty Cam Phantom X T5.5 Prototype

Patrick Cantlay (T28 Scotty Cameron T5 PROTO)

Jon Rahm (T28: Odyssey Rossie S White Hot OG)

Wyndham Clark (No. 31: Scotty Campion T5 Proto

Xander Schauffele (No. 32: Odyssey O-Works #7, CH Red

Vince Whaley (No. 33: Odyssey White Hot OG #7)

Rory Sabbatini (No. 34: Scotty Cameron Prototype Flowback

Austin Cook (T35, Ping Sigma G Tyne

Sungjae Im (No. 37: Scotty Cameron 5 Prototype

Andrew Putnam (No. 38: Odyssey Stroke Lab Black Rossie)

Sepp Straka (No. 39: Odyssey Tuttle Stroke Lab

Seamus Power (No. 40: Ping LLD3 Mallet

J.T. Poston (T41: Scotty Cameron GoLo 5 Black Tour Prototype)

Adam Scott (T41: L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 prototype)

Troy Merritt (No. 43: Yes! C-Groove Mollie Tour)

Jason Kokrak (T46: Bettinardi Studio Stock 38)

Mark Hubbard (No. 50: Odyssey Metal X Miled #9HT

Blade users: 30% (15 of 50).

Brendon Todd (No. 3: Sik Pro C-Series)

Cameron Smith (No. 8: Scotty Cameron Prototype 009M

Matt Kuchar (No. 11: Bettinardi Tour Department SS28 DASS)

Marc Leishman (No. 15: Odyssey Versa #6)

Alex Noren (No. 18: Odyssey O-Works 1W

Maverick McNealy, No. 19: Toulon Stanford MM Custom)

Matt Fitzpatrick (No. 22: Bettinardi DASS Prototype)

Tommy Fleetwood (No. 26: TaylorMade TP Juno)

Patrick Rodgers (No. 30: Odyssey Toulon San Diego)

Seung-Yul (T35: Scotty Campion Select Prototype).

Scott Stallings (No. 44: Scotty Cameron Newport (2.6 Prototype).

Brooks Koepka (No. 45: Scotty Cameron Teryllium NNP2

Justin Lower (T46, PXG Prototype).

Richy Werenski (No. 48: Scotty Campion Circle T Prototype

Patrick Reed (No. 49: Odyssey White Hot Pro #3

Conclusion

In 2018, 44 per cent of the Official World Golf Rankings top-50 players used mallet-style putters and 56 per cent of the top-50 in Strokes Grassed: Putting used mallet putters.

In 2022, 62 per cent of the top 50 players in the OWGR will use mallet-style putters. And 70 percent of top-50 players in Strokes Gained Putting used mallet-style putters.

What do you think it means?

It means that every golfer should test as many putters possible, under the guidance of a professional fitter/local club professional, and then find the most suitable putter for their stroke style and preferences.