The Best Mallet Putters of 2024

Mallet putters used to be considered unconventional, with designs that laughed in the face of classics such as the PING Anser or Wilson 8802. Today, there are an endless number of putter head designs, and mallets are available in toe-hang, face-balanced, heel-shafted, and center-shafted options, which could be the reason mallets have overtaken blades as the most popular putters in golf.

Of course, the forgiveness of a mallet putter compared to a blade is undeniable. Look at the PGA and LPGA Tours and you’ll see more mallets than blades. If they’re good enough for the best players in the world, they must have benefits for the rest of us, right?

Throughout the process of finding the best putters of the year, we’ve identified the 11 best mallet putters of 2024. While some of these putters tip the scales at around $450, others won’t even set you back $200. And with various shapes, sizes, and toe hang options, there really is a great mallet putter for any golfer who wants one. 

Without further ado, these are the 11 best mallet putters of 2024.

• Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird
• L.A.B DF3
• PING PLD Milled DS72
• Sub 70 Sycamore 002
• Odyssey White Hot OG 2 Ball
• PXG Battle Ready Hercules
• Zebra Milled Series 001
• Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5
• Mizuno OMOI Type 3
• Cobra 3D Printed Agera
• TaylorMade Spider Ghost White

Odyssey’s Ai-ONE Jailbird putter combines two of the hottest technologies in putting into one putter, which made it easy to give it our nod as the best mallet putter of 2024. 

Let’s start with the Ai that Odyssey puts into the face of its new line of Ai-ONE putters. Similar to what you see in today’s drivers, the face of the Ai-ONE putters is a variable thickness face, meaning it’s thicker in some spots than others, strategically of course, in order to deliver the most consistent ball speeds possible regardless of whether you strike it off the center, or miss a little on the toe or heel.

I’ve personally tested the face on the Ai-ONE putters, and yes, that tech does help give consistent ball speeds across the face.

The second element that Odyssey baked into this particular putter is the Versa Jailbird design. The black and white contrast on the putter head (or is it navy blue and white in this case?) makes alignment easy, not only at address, but throughout your stroke. You’ve probably noticed Rickie Fowler, Wyndham Clark and Keegan Bradley using this style of putter lately, but you might not know that none of those players are contracted by Odyssey. They simply use the putter because it’s the best one they can find, not because they get paid to use it.

As with most putters on this list, you must be very particular about which specific model of the Ai-ONE Jailbird putter you purchase. Those little throwaway words and letters at the end of the putter’s name are actually anything but throwaways.

For starters, there are Mini and Cruiser versions of this putter. The Cruiser is an extra-long (38-inch) putter with a bigger, heavier head, longer grip, and counter-balanced shaft. It’s meant to be gripped down on, and built for maximum stability through the stroke. The mini comes in the standard 33 to 35-inch lengths, and also has multiple hosel options. If you prefer a face-balanced version, that would be the DB option (double-bend). However, if you want a little toe hang, the CH (crank hosel) edition offers 15 degrees of toe hang.

The only downside we can find with the Odyseey Ai-ONE Jailbird putter is that it’s only available for right-handed golfers. As a southpaw myself, that’s a major bummer.

Remember that whole lecture I gave about matching the toe hang of your putter to the arc of your putting stroke? You can throw all that out the window for just a minute while I tell you about the L.A.B DF3 putter. That’s because, like all L.A.B putters, this thing is Lie Angle Balanced (hence the L.A.B name). That essentially means that no matter how much arc you have in your putting stroke, the L.A.B DF3 will fight to stay square from start to finish.

You might not be drooling over the DF3's looks, but believe it or not, this is the latest iteration of L.A.B’s original Directed Force putter, and it’s actually much sleeker with a smaller footprint than the original.

In case you haven’t heard yet, and you’re wondering why someone would iterate on this design rather than throw it out the window, it’s because of the almost comically good performance.

Simply put, L.A.B putters keep your putter face aimed at your target, which is one third of the equation of a successful putt. When you use a L.A.B putter, you can focus your attention on getting the right read, and nailing the speed. And if you’re looking for a mallet putter, the DF3, in its sleeker, smaller footprint, is our recommendation for you.

We go from two putters that stand out for their unique looks to one that, in our opinion, is the most sleek, best-looking putter on this list, the PING PLD Milled DS72.

The face-balanced mid-mallet putter in PING’s PLD Milled lineup has a new gunmetal finish for 2024 and leans heavily into a minimalist aesthetic. I tested the new PLD Milled putters at the 2024 PGA Show, and the line stood out as the most confidence-inspiring of the putters I got my hands on.

PING’s deep AMP grooves, which can be found on every PLD Milled putter, give you a nice soft feel at impact, and the face-balanced hosel combined with the mid-mallet shape makes this a great putter for players with a straight stroke who want forgiveness but don’t gravitate towards a large, full mallet head. If that’s you, and you want a premium putter and don’t mind paying a premium price, the PING PLD Milled DS72 is a must-try.

If you love the look of the aforementioned PING PLD Milled DS72 putter, but can’t stomach the price, then we’ve got some great news for you. The Sub 70 Sycamore 002 is another sleek black mid-mallet putter with a minimalist design and premium performance, but it costs nearly $300 less than the PING. 

While visually the two putters deliver the same satisfying clean look, they aren’t exactly replicas of each other. The Sycamore 002 has 30 degrees of toe hang in a plumber’s neck hosel, making it better suited for players with some arc in their putting stroke. With weight placed at the heel and toe, the 002 is forgiving across the face.

One of our favorite things about buying from Sub 70 is you can take advantage of their superior demo program, where for $20 (plus a refundable deposit) you can try the club you have your eye on for 10 days. On top of that, all Sub 70 purchases are backed by a 60-day guarantee, allowing you the option to get a refund for any reason within 60 days.

From the unmistakable alignment aid to that oh-so-soft feel of the White Hot insert, the Odyssey White Hot OG 2-Ball putter is so tempting. Considering it checks in at less than half the price of some of the premium putters on this list, if you’ve ever wanted to jump on the 2-ball bandwagon, now just might be the time. Of course, for $50 more you can get your White Hot OG 2-Ball putter with Odyssey’s Stroke Lab shaft. 

The 2022 release of perhaps Odyssey’s most famous putter is more than just a tip of the cap to the original 2-Ball. Odyssey even re-created the original two-part urethane face insert. The moment you strike it, the familiar sound and feel will let you know it’s a White Hot.

I recently went to PXG for a putter fitting, expecting to get matched with a blade putter, but I left being fit into this exact mallet putter instead. The PXG Battle Ready Hercules has somewhat of a smaller profile for a mallet putter, which I like, and it offers some toe hang for those of us with some arc on our strokes.

The Hercules is also as stable as can be, and it’s easy to make a smooth stroke and get the ball started right on line.

The face on the Battle Ready Hercules putter is just 0.055 inches thick, or roughly 5/100s of an inch if you prefer fractions. That allowed PXG to optimize the CG for more forgiveness. Afterall, that’s what mallet putters are all about.

While I matched with a version of the Hercules putter with some toe hang, it’s available in four hosel options, including two face-balaned options (one of those is the arm lock version), a mid toe hang option, and a significant toe hang option. If you want a forgiving mallet putter with a small-ish footprint that’s easy to roll, do yourself a favor and check out this putter.

If you were excited about Zebra’s return to the putter space in 2023 (and even if you weren’t), there’s even more to be excited about in 2024. Zebra has expanded its line of putters this year with its new Milled Series, a line of four premium putters. The 001 is the mallet of the family, which features a traditional mallet head and Zebra’s trademark alignment aid. 

The line also includes a blade, wide blade, and fang options. Each is milled from carbon steel and has toe and heel weight ports, which give you the option, if you need, to optimize the head weight to dial in stability and distance control of your putter. Those perimeter weights also produce a forgiving face while the one-piece milled head elevates the overall feel of the putter squarely into the premium category.

What kind of a best putter list doesn't have at least one Scotty Cameron? We were judicial and unswayed in our testing, but there was no denying the Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5 is one of the best mallets.

Titleist staffers such as Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, and Will Zalatoris have all used variations of this putter on tour, but the standard X 5 with the single mid-bend is the one we couldn’t put down. 

The milled face felt a bit harder than some of the other high-end milled putters we tested, which was surprising. Nevertheless, this X 5 was rock-solid from all over the green. It’s easy to lag putts with confidence, but perhaps our favorite feature was the Pistolero Plus grip. It’s the perfect blend of firm and soft, allowing you to feel the head of the putter on every stroke.

We didn't expect Mizuno to give us one of the best mallet putters you can buy, but it only took a few minutes rolling the Mizuno M-Craft OMOI Type 3 to realize this is a legitimate contender in a crowded putter market.

Mizuno undeniably has a putter to complement its superior irons. It’s heavy, but not in a clunky or unbalanced way. This putter is a steady ship that requires little effort to drop in mid and short-range putts. 

We also didn’t expect to love the Blue Ion color, but here we are favoring it over the more traditional satin and black finishes. A quick test is all it takes for you to see and feel the attention Mizuno gave this design.

I tested the new Cobra 3D Printed Agera putter at the 2024 PGA Show and I was blown away by two things in particular. First was the feel. The new face insert, made from aircraft aluminum, just felt perfect. It’s actually a little firmer than the insert on Cobra’s previous generation 3D Printed putters. I know manufacturers like to put new inserts in their putters every few years, but if you’re listening, Cobra, please keep this one as long as possible.

The second, and probably more important thing that stuck out to me was how easy the distance control was with this putter. For whatever reason, whether I was hitting 6-footers or 20-footers, I seemed to roll the rock with perfect speed every time. The reason, it turns out, is probably because of that 3D printing that Cobra uses in these putters. That technology is made to create stable, forgiving putters, and the Agera is just that. 

The last thing I’ll say about this, and all Cobra putters, is that the LA Golf Descending Loft Technology on the face is a huge bonus for adding even more consistency to your putting game. Whether you hit the ball high or low off the face, you’ll get a consistent and predictable roll thanks the the face that has four degrees of loft at the top, and descends by one degree in each horizontal quadrant down to one degree at the bottom.

Golf is all about consistency, and if you want more consistency on the greens, check out this putter.

The TaylorMade Spider putter is another one of the long-standing successful putter designs, along with the 2-ball, to be featured here. It’s been a staple of TaylorMade’s putter stable for years, and for good reason, it works for the world’s best players, and the rest of us.

While we enjoy the look of today’s black putters, they’re becoming more and more popular, so why not mix it up with the complete opposite with our Spider selection? The Ghost White version of this Spider features an all-white head with a high-contrast black alignment line that runs the length of the mallet head.

This putter also has TaylorMade’s Pure Roll insert, which is made of soft surlyn and I can tell you feels great at impact. That insert also helps the ball get rolling quickly and smoothly, with grooves cut at a 45-degree angle to give you immediate roll.