PutterZone – Best Putter Reviews
The Rife IMO putter is here, Padraig remains faithful, and the Anser still rules. Here is the latest Putter Buzz on the professional tours and beyond:
1. Jesper Parnevik’s 61 at the recent Bob Hope Classic came after he switched to the new Rife IMO putter (pictured here). You first heard about the Rife IMO puttter here at PutterZone.com in a recent exclusive interview with Rife president Matt Molloy. Describing the IMO (which stands for Inline Momentum), Molloy said, “We feel that a putter with 80 percent of the mass directed behind the sweet spot, which is quite large on the IMO, will give the majority of golfers a very stable hit but will also help them swing the putter more on plane as the mass is very directed towards the ball.”
2. Padraig Harrington had a tough time on the greens yesterday at the Buick Invitational, racking up a three-putt and a four-putt on the back nine. An interviewer suggested that he might want to drag his putter back to his hotel in order to punish it, but Harrington laughed, “That putter’s done a good job over the years. It’s not getting any punishment. It was all my fault.”
Harrington’s putter is an Odyssey White Hot 2-Ball blade. It’s probably no coincidence that two of the PGA Tour’s steadiest performers, Tiger Woods and Harrington, have been so monogamous with their putters.
3. PING founder Karsten Solheim conceived his revolutionary Anser putter in 1966. A year later Julian Boros used one to win the Phoenix Open, and the ultimate putter star was born. Golfworld reports that 40 golfers played an Anser-style putter at the recent FBR Open in Scottsdale, which reveals the enduring genius of Solheim’s design. The Anser remains the most-copied design in the putter industry. This year, PING is celebrating its 50th anniversary since Solheim crafted his first putter in his garage in Redwood City, California in 1959.
