No doubt switching from a blade putter to a mallet putter marked a turning point in Scottie Scheffler’s recent career. Since the world No. 1 started using the TaylorMade spider putter, he has won 13 PGA Tour tournaments, including three major championships, in addition to the Olympic gold medal in Paris.
It’s well known that switching putters is a matter of the utmost importance for any professional golfer. For this reason, one might imagine that Scheffler’s putter is absolutely exclusive and incorporates the latest technology available.
However, that doesn’t seem to be the case. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.
Adrian Rietveld, Senior Manager at TaylorMade, was involved in helping Scheffler switch putters. Recall that, at the beginning of the 2024 season, the four-time major winner was experiencing a period of inconsistency on the greens, which contrasted greatly with his extraordinary off-the-tee and approach skills. Trying a new putter was the obvious next step for him.
As Rietveld recounted in a recent appearance on the popular “Fore Play” podcast, the first challenge was discovering that Scheffler had never been fitted for a putter in his career.
“He said, ‘Stop copying the spec of my putter,’ Rietveld recalled. “You know, he was playing a competitor’s putter at the time (a Scotty Cameron blade putter). He basically said, ‘Stop copying the spec. This isn’t my spec. I’ve never been fitted for a putter.’ He says, ‘If we’re going to do this, it’s going to be a blank slate.’ And this is the No. 1 player in the world.”
Most surprising of all, however, was that after trying dozens of TaylorMade designs, Scheffler ended up using a relatively common putter.
“You think of all the parameters and all the other components that go into a putter, it’s 10 (times) any other piece of equipment,” Rietveld said. “You know, I must have sent him 15 putters at a time. And we’re just literally going down this rabbit hole to a miracle ending where he actually puts in play a putter that we sell off the shelf. Literally a putter that you can walk into a shop and literally go, ‘I’m having Scottie Scheffler’s putter here.’ Again, imagine as a company guy, right? We’ve got warehouses full of these things.”
We’re talking about the TaylorMade Spider Tour X L-Neck putter (3° loft, 72° lie) with a Golf Pride Pistol grip. It’s a putter available at virtually any pro shop for around $350.
Rietveld himself explained how Scheffler was able to adapt so well to a putter that wasn’t so technologically intensive. The secret? His talent.
“It doesn’t matter what the guy uses,” he said, “He’s just very good. He’s got a good awareness, and he figures it out very quickly. So we almost have to hide technology within the putter so that he can benefit from it. Because if the putter is moving a certain way, he’s going to just fix it with his feels, with his hands.”
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