Best Putters 2021

What were the best putters of 2021?

Naming the best putters in golf is tricky. We can test drivers, woods, hybrids, irons and wedges on a launch monitor, recording the data and analysing it to find the top performers.

Putters are a far more personal choice, with it often coming down to looks and feel. Some of us love a blade, others prefer a mallet or even an armlock putter. Some putters are best suited to a straight stroke, while others will work best with an arced stroke.

RELATED: Best Putter Grips

You can make and miss putts with any putter, but finding the best one for you could help you hole a couple more putts per round and help lower your scores.

We’d recommend using our list to narrow your options down before going and trying them. A proper putter fitting is a great idea, as it will teach you a lot about your stroke and help you decide which type of putter will suit you best.

Once you’ve chosen your putter, make sure you read our guide to the best puttings mats to get to grips with your new club. You can also check out our special look at TaylorMade putters and Lamkin grips.

But now, let’s delve into the models that we felt were the best putters of 2021.

TaylorMade Spider EX

RRP: £299 | VIEW OFFER
Head style: MOI | Toe hang: Short Slant Neck – 28° / Flow Neck – 20° / Single Bend Shaft – 0° (face balanced) | Grip: Super Stroke GTR 1.0

TaylorMade Spider putters have played a huge roll in convincing tour pros to ditch their blade putters for more forgiving MOI and mallet style models over the last decade. And TaylorMade are showing no signs of taking their foot off the Spider gas in 2021. Two brand new models (the TaylorMade EX and TaylorMade SR) target extra forgiveness and stability right alongside a reinvented Spider S and X.

The TaylorMade Spider EX putter is a cracking, compact, high MOI model, just like the previous Spider X.

The head of the TaylorMade Spider EX is 3.5mm longer from toe to heel and 2.7mm wider from face to back than the Spider X.

Thanks to a lightweight aluminium body, enough weight is freed up to allow 56g of steel to be split between two discrete back wings and a further 20-30g of tungsten (depending on shaft length) to be positioned in the extremities of the toe and heel behind the face. That extra weight on the outer edges of the putter provides a huge amount of stability performance.

The TaylorMade Spider EX comes with the option of a new, fluted shaft that TaylorMade worked on with KBS to tune and heighten feel, plus an aggressively sharp grooved new urethane and aluminium Pure Roll insert.

TaylorMade have obviously poured loads of time, effort, and know how into creating the Spider EX and we love it. As good as the design is what’s really impressive is golfers now having three hosel options to choose from. It doesn’t matter if you have a straight, slight or strong arc putting stroke or if you prefer platinum, blue or navy colouring there’s a TaylorMade Spider EX out there to fit everyone’s eye.

Odyssey 2-Ball Ten Tour Lined putter

RRP: £299 | VIEW OFFER
Head style: MOI | Toe hang: Slant Neck – 24°/ Single Bend Shaft – 0° (face balanced) | Grip: Odyssey Pistol

It took world number two and new Callaway signing Jon Rahm no time at all to make the switch from his trusted TaylorMade Spider putter to the new Odyssey 2-Ball Ten.

The switch was never really in much doubt though. Not only did Rahm play and love an Odyssey 2-Ball in college, but he also got his hands on 32% more MOI performance (over the original 2-Ball) which effectively made the switch a complete no brainer.

The Odyssey 2-Ball Ten comes in three versions (2-Ball, 2-Ball Triple Track and 2-Ball Tour Lined), and we really like the simplicity of the Tour Lined model (a single black line runs across the two golf ball sized discs, just like lots of tour players request), as it sets up really nicely behind a single alignment stripe golf ball. Triple Track golf ball fans of course are likely to prefer the 2-Ball Triple Track version.

If like us you found the original Odyssey 2-Ball had too many distracting curved edges we think you’ll really warm to this new model. The more angular head and straight edges sit perfectly with the Tour’s single sightline and our eye. It goes without saying the sound and roll from the new Stroke Lab shaft and White Hot Microhinge insert are just fantastic. Just remember to get the right hosel set-up to suit your stroke, as each of the three models is available with either a slant neck with 30° of toe hang, or face balanced with a double bend shaft.

If you’re stuck between the 2-Ball Ten and any other model it’s worth remembering the 2-Ball Ten is the most forgiving 2-Ball of all time. Thanks to the increase in MOI you get 20% less twisting at impact, 38% more speed control and 44% more topspin consistency over the original 2-Ball. And that to us sounds like a perfect receipe for a whole lot more confidence and holed putts.

RELATED: What are the best putter grips?

Bettinardi Queen B #11 putter

RRP: £355 | VIEW OFFER
Head style: Mallet | Toe hang: 40° | Grip: Lamkin Sink Fit standard or Straight Jumbo

Today there’s more talk around the benefits of stability MOI putters than ever before, but there will always be a place, and an appreciative crowd, for beautifully well-made traditional blade and mallet putters. And if we’re talking beauty, the Bettinardi Queen B putter deserves to be right at the front of any conversation.

For putting in the UK year round we really like how the whole Betterinardi Queen B series have slightly heavier heads and a firmer feel than the rest of Bettinardi’s range.

The Bettinardi Queen B #11 is the perfect compact, toe hang mallet, and we love the crisp sharp appearance which you only get from CNC Milling every edge and surface. The aged copper finish is a joy not just in the hand but sat behind a white golf ball too. Anyone who back in the day used beryllium copper Ping irons or putters will welcome the look of these old favourites.

The Bettinardi Queen B #11 is very much a putter that deserves to be treasured and looked after for years to come. Those who do treat the #11 with care and respect will be rewarded with pulling a really special putter from their bag on every hole played. And you can’t say that for many clubs in your bag.

RELATED: How good is the 2022 Bettinardi putter line-up?

PXG Battle Ready Closer

RRP: £249 | VIEW OFFER
Head style: Blade | Toe hang: Plumbers Neck – Mid / Heel Shafted – Significant / Double Bend Shaft – Face Balanced | Grip: Lamkin Sink Fit Skinny

Stable and blade were two words rarely uttered in the same sentence in golf until very recently. PXG have been in golf for 6 years and 2021 is the year they’re going all guns blazing at shaking up the industry. The brands Battle Ready Collection have slowly dripped out over the last few months and we love how every single model comes with three hosel options.

It means golfers get not only to choose whether their putter is face balanced or has toe hang, but also whether they want to look at short slant hosel, plumbers neck or double bend shaft, that has no hosel at all. Other putter brands may now be exploring multiple hosel models but PXG were first to this particular party.

For 2021 PXG have got some cracking putter models, but the PXG Battle Ready Closer stands out as it challenges conventional thinking around blades. We love the wide body shape, and how PXG insist on CNC Milling 100% of the head. The black cosmetics and long single sightline are the height of simplicity, what you don’t expect though in a traditional blade putter is a hefty tungsten weight which covers half the sole and naturally improves stability.

Any golfer who’s loved the look of a blade putter before but struggled to find a face balanced model to suit their stroke, PXG are now here to help. Two additional sole weights also mean you can reduce weight by 10g or increase it by 50g, which is really useful when looking at different shaft length. What PXG demonstrate with the Battle Ready Closer is that it’s entirely possible for you to have your putter whichever way you want it, and we love that.

Evnroll ER11 Midlock

RRP: £399 | VIEW OFFER
Head style: MOI | Toe hang: 0° (face balanced) | Grip: Evnroll Midlock

We’ve never recommended an armlock putter before, primarily because every model we’ve ever tested has always felt really unnatural to use. And before you think we’ve gone a bit lockdown loopy, we honestly haven’t. Yes the Evnroll ER11 Midlock is an armlock putter and yes it’s seriously good. And by seriously good we mean switching back to a regular length putter after hitting putts with the Evnroll Midlock felt a bit unstable and awkward. And that’s something we’ve never experienced before.

The mad professor behind Evnroll is Guerin Rife, a name that might ring a bell for some, as it wasn’t that long ago he was making premium CNC Milled Rife putters for top tour players. Rife has never shied away from experimenting with and developing new ideas, in fact he positively thrives on proving some of his wackiest ideas are actually built on sound engineering principles. So whilst we never thought we’d say it, the tagline ‘Armlock made easy’ that Evnroll have adopted for the new four strong Midlock family, is absolutely spot on.

We loved the way the new Midlock grip sits. Initially it might look like it’s been put on the wrong way round, and it has the maximum pistol style shaping allowed by the rules, but it sits beautifully up against the forearm. It gives a real ‘locked-in’ stable feel which from our experience has never been there with armlock putters before. The whole idea helps overcome the breaking down of the wrists and boy does it work. From 10 feet we could just rock our shoulders and stroke putts beautifully at the hole, so much so we can’t wait to get out and try it on the golf course. We’ve definitely never been this excited about an armlock putter before.

In typical Guerin Rife fashion everything has been thoroughly thought through, it means Evnroll reckon the perfect Midlock is 6” longer than your typical putter. So if you use a 34” putter you should be playing a 40” Midlock, hence why there’s 3 lengths to choose from. Of the four Midlock putters available the ER11 is our favourite. The head’s 100% CNC Milled from aluminium with heavy steel perimeter weights to up MOI. And very cleverly the golf ball sized hole in the sole, which removes inefficient centre weight is also the perfect size for picking up a golf ball. That’s just the way it’s mad scientist designer likes to think and play.

Odyssey White Hot OG #5 putter

RRP: £239 (Stroke Lab shaft) / £199 (steel shaft) | VIEW OFFER
Head style: Mallet | Toe hang: 0° (face balanced) | Grip: Odyssey DFX

Incredibly 20 years after the original, over half the putters that Odyssey make for tour players are still requested with an original White Hot face insert. Even more remarkable is how the White Insert material is the same as the cover on Callaway’s Rule 35 golf ball. With tour players being such big fans of White Hot it’s not that surprising Odyssey have opted to bring the insert back, and team it up with 6 new models and a new stiffer and more stable Stroke Lab shaft.

If like us you were a fan of the original Rossie, which was Odyssey’s first majorly successful putter we reckon you’ll have a font affiliation for the new Odyssey White Hot OG #5. The White Hot #5 has a lovely mallet shape and thanks to some surface milling (the whole head is not CNC milled) you get really clear and defined edges at address. Team that up with the firm to touch but soft under impact characteristics of the White Hot insert and a new candy apple red Stroke Lab shaft and we reckon you’ve got your hands on a top performing putter for 2021.

RELATED: Test your new putter on one of Golf World’s Top 100 Best Courses in the UK and Ireland

Ping Heppler Tomcat putter

RRP: £275 | VIEW OFFER
Head style: MOI | Toe hang: 0° (face balanced) | Grip: Four size and profile options

MOI style putters are where the action’s at in 2021 (as they’re more forgiving and can now suit arcing strokes), and Ping’s Heppler family showcases brilliantly how far thinking has come around improving weight distribution for forgiveness.

The Ping Heppler Tomcat is ½ steel and ½ aluminium and Ping have done a brilliant job of teaming the pair to create a really attractive and forgiving putter. The 14 white dot alignment aid is simple unfussy and encourages the eye to see the putters path whilst also drawing attention away from the heads back wings and size.

With the exception of the Ping Fetch we reckon the Tomcat 14 is the best MOI style putter Ping have produced for some time. And the ability to adjust shaft length  from 32” – 36” (as 8 out of 10 golfers use the wrong length putter) might just secure the deal for golfers wavering between models.

RELATED: Best Golf Balls

Axis 1 Rose Proto putter

RRP: £449 | VIEW OFFER
Head style: MOI | Grip: Lamkin Deep Etched 

It’s not easy getting your head round how the face of every putter, when hit from the centre naturally wants to open. Especially when we’ve all been programmed to think hitting the centre means impacting the sweetspot. This issue was spotted by industrial designer, Luis Pedraza, who questioned why putters have forces pulling them open during the stroke, and at impact, rather than naturally remaining square to where they were aimed. The idea led to the creation of Axis1 Golf, the maker of the only perfectly balanced putters on the market.

Now we’re not saying everyone should ditch their flatstick and go out and buy an Axis1 model, far from it. That’s because during testing we missed a lot of putts left of our target. But when you think about it those results tied in perfectly with what Axis1 say. Putts were missed left because the blade wasn’t deflecting and opening at impact like any other flatstick we tested.

What we are saying is Axis1’s concept is absolutely spot on. It’s why Justin Rose signed to use them when he was World #1. Axis1 putters might take a bit of getting used to but if you intend to hit putts in the centre of your putter, which we all do, they’re the only putter that naturally deflects straight along your target line, which is a big step away from anything else on the market. Being fans of MOI and alignment style putters the Rose Proto for us is the pick of Axis1’s bunch.

RELATED: Why Justin Rose chose Axis 1

Ben Hogan BHM02

RRP: £175 | VIEW OFFER
Head style: MOI | Toe hang: 0° (face balanced) | Grip: Super Stroke Traxion Flatso 1.0 

Ben Hogan won’t have crossed too many golfers decks as a putter brand for years. Jim Furyk might have won the 2003 US Open using a Bettinardi designed ‘Big Ben’ Hogan model but as nice as the brands most recent classic blade and mallet offerings have been, they’ve not been anything golfers couldn’t get elsewhere.

However we got our hands on the new CNC Milled multi-material BHMO2 (aluminium face and heavy steel backweight) before they launched and in 2021 we reckon they’re a stand out performer. The fanged body and triple alignment lines are tried and trusted and they work in terms of stability and cosmetically. We really like the simplicity of the head (there’s no distracting features) and how there’s the appearance of a little more size than similarly shaped models. Which we felt built confidence without being over powering. Feel, sound, and roll were really impressive too.

If you still need convincing Hogan putters are available in four grip choices, and we’d highly recommend the pentagonal shaped of Super Stroke Flatso. It’s been one of our favourites for a few years. All in we reckon the BHM02 is a heck of a lot of CNC Milled, multi-material putter for £175.

Rife RG4

RRP: £99 | VIEW OFFER
Head style: Mallet | Toe hang: Slight | Grip: Rife Pistol

We get not everyone has a good sized chunk of next months mortgage payment to splurge on a new putter, so we always try to highlight a decent value for money option too. In 2021 the Rife RG4 mallet caught our eye as being an excellent option if your putter budget runs to £100.

We really like the short (from toe to heel) but wide head shape as it gives a very friendly and forgiving appearance. A single white dot above the sweetspot focuses attention on the impact zone and the two long sightlines are great for highlighting the putters path. The Rife also has a decent size and shaped grip, which isn’t always the case with lower end models.

If you’re on the lookout for Rife, they’re now owned by American Golf so you won’t find them in your local pro shop. There’s a five model family currently on the AG website but the RG4 would definitely be our pick of the bunch.

How we tested the Best Putters of 2021

We asked every manufacturer to submit their entire putter ranges for testing and gathered them all together at our test facility, Keele Golf Centre.

We used Callaway Chrome Soft X premium golf balls because it is hugely popular with some of the world’s best players and our test pro, Neil Wain, is a big fan of it.

BUY NOW: Callaway Chrome Soft and Chrome Soft X balls

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Simon Daddow is the Equipment Editor at todaysgolfer.co.uk

Simon has worked in the golf industry for 30 years. Starting out as trainee professional at Downes Crediton GC where he learned the art of golf club making, before going onto work for Clubhaus Plc and Tony Charles Ltd as a golf club maker, and running Product Development at Benross Golf.

Joining EMAP Active (now Bauer Media) in 2006 as Equipment Editor Simon has worked for Today’s Golfer and Golf World magazines and the Today’s Golfer website.

Simon has played golf for 40 years and plays to a handicap of 10. A lack of club speed means he’s short off the tee, but very handy from 125 yards and in.

You can contact Simon here.