PutterZone – Best Putter Reviews
You may have heard about how you can win the equivalent of Phil Mickelson’s U.S. Open paycheck via Callaway’s Big Bertha Payday contest.
The premise is that if Phil keeps bombing it straight and long with his Callaway driver, he could win the tournament while also netting the contest winner a cool $1.5 million.
But the truth is that if Mickelson is going to earn big bucks at the Open, his putter—not his driver—is going to be the most important contributor, as it accounts for more strokes than any other club.
So what flatstick will Lefty be bagging for the U.S. Open? No one knows for sure, because he can switch at any moment between his handful of trusty custom Odyssey putters. But if this week’s St. Jude Classic is any indication, it’ll be an Odyssey Versa #9.
Phil Mickelson’s putter this week is, indeed, a custom #9 heel-shafted mid mallet from the Versa line. It’s 34 inches in length, with a black shaft that’s typically used in the Odyssey ProType Black putters. It also has ample offset, because Mickelson feels that it helps him position his head better at setup. An alignment line is milled into the back flange, and the line is raw stainless as opposed to paint filled.
All Odyssey Versa putters feature “a high-contrast alignment” pattern with parallel black and white lines that provide clear visual feedback on the face angle in relation to the target line.
If you entered the Big Bertha contest, go ahead and root for long, straight drives. But remember, the final payday is going to be largely determined by Lefty’s putter.
Sorry Sean, I disagree. It is not Phil’s putter that will make a diff. It is his putting. I’ve seen enough of Phil missing three footers to be convinced that he chokes and it is not the putter choking. If a putter would make a difference, it would have to be on of the large MOI designs.
Yes, quite true. My implied (if not very clear) point is more that the putter/putting will, as always, be more important than the driver/driving. Since this highly publicized contest is about the driver, I thought it would be fun to take a closer look at his putter!