In 2023, Scottie Scheffler ranked first on the PGA Tour in nearly every ball-striking category you can name, yet he finished the season 162nd in strokes gained putting. That is like owning the fastest car in the race and driving it with square tires. So when golf fans ask what putter does Scottie Scheffler use, they are really asking a much bigger question: what changed for the best player in the world once he finally fixed the shortest club in his bag?
The answer is more interesting than a single model name. Scheffler spent years rolling a classic milled blade, struggled with it, worked with a new putting coach, and then made a switch that helped fuel one of the most dominant stretches of golf in modern history. In this guide, you will learn the exact putter he plays today, the specs and technology inside it, the blade he used before, how his putting statistics changed, whether you can buy the same model, and how to decide if a putter like his actually fits your stroke. You will also get a straight comparison against popular alternatives, plus answers to the questions most golfers ask before they spend a few hundred dollars on a new flatstick.
The Putter Scottie Scheffler Plays Today
Scottie Scheffler uses a TaylorMade Spider Tour X mallet putter with a short slant neck, built to roughly 35 inches with about 3 degrees of loft and a slightly upright lie angle near 70 degrees. He first put it in play at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March 2024, won The Players Championship the very next week, and then slipped on a green jacket at Augusta National a month later. He has kept that same style of putter in the bag ever since.
The Spider Tour X is a high-MOI mallet, which means the head resists twisting when you miss the center of the face. It uses a multi-material build: a lightweight aluminum body paired with heavy steel weighting pushed out toward the perimeter and the back of the head. That construction moves mass away from the middle, which keeps off-center putts rolling closer to your intended line and speed.
Scheffler’s version carries the white True Path alignment channel on the crown, a milled aluminum face with TaylorMade’s Pure Roll grooves, and a short slant hosel that gives the head a small amount of toe hang. That toe hang matters, because Scheffler has a slight arc in his stroke. A fully face-balanced mallet would fight the natural way his putter opens and closes. Reports from tour vans list a pistol-style grip rather than an oversized counterbalanced model, keeping the feel closer to what he used with his old blade.
Here is the quick spec sheet golfers usually want:
- Model: TaylorMade Spider Tour X
- Head style: High-MOI mallet with wing-style perimeter weighting
- Hosel: Short slant neck (light toe hang, roughly 20 to 25 degrees)
- Length: About 35 inches
- Loft: Around 3 degrees
- Lie: Approximately 70 degrees
- Head weight: Roughly 355 grams
- Face: Milled aluminum insert with Pure Roll II grooves
- Alignment: White True Path sightline running front to back
The Scotty Cameron Blade He Used Before the Switch
Before the mallet, Scheffler rolled a Scotty Cameron Special Select Timeless Tourtype GSS. That is a mouthful, so let me break it down. “Timeless” is a Newport-style blade shape with a plumber’s neck. “Tourtype” means it came out of the Scotty Cameron tour department rather than off a retail shelf. “GSS” stands for German Stainless Steel, a soft, dense material that Cameron reserves for tour players and limited Circle T releases. Those putters are famous for their buttery feel and their eye-watering resale prices.
What made this detail so unusual is that Scheffler signed with TaylorMade for his driver, irons, and golf ball, yet he kept a Titleist-owned Scotty Cameron in the bag for years. Equipment contracts almost always allow a putter exception, because pros get emotionally attached to their flatsticks. Scheffler won the 2022 Masters and reached world number one with that blade in his hands.
Why He Eventually Moved On
The blade worked beautifully when his stroke was on. The problem showed up when it was not. A traditional blade has a much lower moment of inertia, so heel and toe misses lose distance and drift offline. Scheffler’s ball striking put him inside 20 feet constantly, which meant he faced a huge volume of medium-length putts. Small misses added up fast across a season.
He also fought the mental side. In interviews he admitted he lost trust in his stroke, and he began working with renowned putting coach Phil Kenyon in late 2023. Kenyon helped him with setup, aim, and stroke mechanics, and the equipment change followed naturally from that work. A larger, easier-to-aim mallet gave him a clearer picture at address and a more forgiving strike.
How the Switch Actually Happened, Step by Step
Golfers love to imagine a pro grabbing a new putter off the rack and instantly winning. Scheffler’s change was far more deliberate than that. Here is the sequence that unfolded over roughly four months:
- Late 2023: Scheffler finishes the season 162nd in strokes gained putting despite leading the Tour in tee-to-green performance. He decides the problem needs outside help.
- December 2023: He begins working with Phil Kenyon, who focuses first on aim, posture, and face control rather than equipment.
- Early 2024: Scheffler tests mallets during practice rounds and at TaylorMade’s tour facility, comparing head shapes, hosel styles, and weights against his old blade.
- March 2024, Arnold Palmer Invitational: He debuts the Spider Tour X in competition and finishes near the top of the leaderboard.
- March 2024, The Players Championship: He wins the biggest purse in golf with the new putter, becoming the first back-to-back Players champion.
- April 2024: He wins the Masters, then rolls through a season that includes multiple wins and an Olympic gold medal.
The important lesson hides in step two. He changed his method before he changed his gear. The mallet supported the new setup and stroke pattern Kenyon built with him, and that combination is why the switch stuck instead of becoming another short-lived experiment.
Picture a weekend golfer who slices every drive. Buying a draw-biased driver might mask the problem for a few holes, but the slice returns. Scheffler took the opposite approach. He fixed the engine first, then bolted on better tires. That order of operations is the part most amateurs skip.
The Numbers: What the New Putter Did to His Stats
Equipment stories are fun, but statistics tell you whether a change actually worked. Strokes gained putting measures how many strokes a player gains or loses on the greens compared to the field average, per round. Positive numbers are good. Negative numbers cost you money.
| Season | Primary Putter | Approx. Strokes Gained: Putting | Approx. Tour Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Scotty Cameron Timeless GSS blade | Slightly positive, near even | Middle of the pack |
| 2023 | Scotty Cameron Timeless GSS blade | About -0.33 per round | Around 162nd |
| 2024 | TaylorMade Spider Tour X mallet | Roughly +0.08 per round | Around 70th |
| 2025 | TaylorMade Spider Tour X mallet | Continued improvement, comfortably positive | Top half and climbing |
A jump of about 0.4 strokes per round sounds tiny. Over 72 holes, it is worth roughly 1.6 shots per tournament. For a player who already led the field from tee to green by a wide margin, that swing turned close calls into wins. It helps explain how he stacked up multiple victories, an Olympic gold medal, and additional major championships after the change.
Notice something else in that table. He did not become the best putter on Tour. He simply stopped losing strokes on the greens. When the rest of your game operates at that level, average putting is more than enough.
Blade Versus Mallet: Which Style Fits Your Stroke
Scheffler’s move from blade to mallet mirrors a decision millions of golfers face. Neither style is universally better. The right choice depends on how your putter travels and how you see the line.
Understanding Toe Hang and Stroke Arc
Balance a putter shaft on your finger. If the toe points straight down, you have strong toe hang, which suits a player with a pronounced arc. If the face points straight up, the putter is face balanced, which suits a straight-back-straight-through stroke. Scheffler sits between those extremes, which is exactly why he uses a mallet with a slant neck instead of a double-bend shaft.
| Feature | Traditional Blade | High-MOI Mallet |
|---|---|---|
| Forgiveness on mishits | Lower | Higher |
| Feel and feedback | Very soft, precise | Firmer, more muted |
| Ease of aiming | Depends on the player | Usually easier for most golfers |
| Best for stroke type | Moderate to strong arc | Slight arc to straight |
| Head weight | Around 340 to 350 grams | Around 355 to 370 grams |
| Typical user | Feel-based putter, great distance control | Golfer who wants stability and clear alignment |
Here is a practical way to test yourself. Take ten putts from 15 feet with a blade and ten with a mallet. Ignore how many you make, because that number is noisy. Instead, measure how far the misses finish from the hole. The putter that leaves you the shortest average miss is doing the most for your score, and that is the honest test Scheffler effectively ran on himself.
Can You Buy the Same Putter? Tour Issue Versus Retail
Good news: yes, you can buy a Spider Tour X. TaylorMade sells the model through retailers and its own website, usually in the $350 to $450 range depending on the release year and finish. The retail version shares the same head shape, alignment channel, face insert, and general weighting as the one in Scheffler’s bag.
That said, tour putters differ from retail putters in small ways that matter to a professional and almost never matter to an amateur:
- Tighter tolerances on loft, lie, and head weight, often checked to a fraction of a degree or gram
- Custom lengths and grip builds fitted to the player, not standard 34 inch or 35 inch options
- Occasional hand-stamping, custom paint fill, or personal markings
- Hosel options that are not always offered at retail, such as specific slant neck bends
- Sole weights swapped to hit an exact head and swing weight target
If you want to get as close as possible to his build, order the Spider Tour X with the small slant neck, request a 35 inch length only if you are tall enough to stand comfortably over it, and ask a fitter about loft and lie. Most golfers stand too far from the ball with a putter that is too long, which raises the heel, opens the face, and pushes putts right. Copying the number on the shaft without checking your own posture is a fast way to putt worse than before.
One more note: TaylorMade updates the Spider Tour lineup every couple of years. Model names shift between Spider Tour, Spider Tour X, Spider Tour Z, and Spider Tour S. The X shape is the squarer, wider-bodied version with the highest stability, so look for that profile rather than only the year on the box.
Common Mistakes Golfers Make When Copying a Pro’s Putter
Every time a superstar switches putters, sales spike. Every time, a large share of those buyers end up disappointed. The putter is not the problem. The copying method is.
Mistake One: Ignoring Length and Lie
Scheffler is 6 feet 3 inches tall. A 35 inch putter fits his frame. If you stand 5 feet 8 inches, that same putter forces you to stand tall, hold your hands too high, and lose control of the face. Length changes lie angle at impact, and lie angle changes start direction more than most golfers realize. A putter that sits with the toe in the air can push a 10 footer offline by several inches.
Mistake Two: Chasing the Look Instead of the Numbers
Plenty of golfers buy a mallet because a mallet looks modern, then discover they aim it left every single time. Aim bias is personal. Some people aim a blade perfectly and a mallet badly, and some people are the reverse. A fitting session with a laser or a camera system will show your true aim in about five minutes.
Mistake Three: Skipping the Stroke Work
Remember the order Scheffler followed. Coaching first, equipment second. A forgiving mallet reduces the damage from mishits, but it will not fix a wristy stroke, poor speed control, or a habit of peeking early. If you only have money for one thing, spend it on three lessons before you spend it on a new putter.
Mistake Four: Switching Too Often
Scheffler played the same blade for years before he moved. Confidence grows from repetition. If you change putters every two months, you never build the feel that makes short putts automatic. Give any new model at least ten rounds and one honest practice block before you judge it.
Alternatives That Deliver Similar Performance
Maybe you love the idea of a stable mallet but want to shop around. Several putters offer comparable forgiveness and alignment help, each with a different personality.
| Putter | Style | Standout Feature | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| TaylorMade Spider Tour X | High-MOI mallet | True Path alignment, multi-material weighting | Slight arc strokes wanting maximum stability |
| Odyssey Ai-One series | Blade and mallet options | Computer-designed insert for consistent ball speed | Golfers who lose distance on toe misses |
| Ping Tyne 4 or DS72 | Mid mallet | Adjustable length shafts and strong fitting support | Players who want a proven fitting system |
| Scotty Cameron Phantom series | Milled mallet | Premium milled feel with mallet forgiveness | Blade lovers who want more stability |
| L.A.B. Golf DF3 or Link.1 | Zero-torque mallet | Lie angle balance that resists face twisting | Golfers who struggle to square the face |
| Bettinardi Inovai series | Mallet | Soft milled face with unique shaping | Feel players who want boutique craftsmanship |
Think about a mid-handicap player who averages 34 putts per round and misses most putts short and right. That pattern usually means a face that stays open and a strike toward the toe. A high-MOI mallet with a slant neck, fitted to the correct length, addresses both issues at once. That player does not need Scheffler’s exact putter. They need Scheffler’s category of putter, built to their body.
What Is Changing in Putter Design Right Now
The putter market moves slower than the driver market, but it is moving. Three trends stand out, and they all connect back to the reason Scheffler changed clubs in the first place: golfers want help squaring the face.
First, zero-torque and lie-angle-balanced designs have exploded. Brands like L.A.B. Golf built the category, and nearly every major manufacturer now offers a version. These putters position the shaft so the head resists opening and closing during the stroke. Several tour players have adopted them, which tells you the concept is more than a fad.
Second, face technology keeps improving. Milled grooves, variable-thickness inserts, and computer-optimized faces all aim at the same target: similar ball speed whether you hit the center, the heel, or the toe. Distance control on long putts drives three-putt avoidance, and three-putts destroy scores far more than missed 8 footers.
Third, fitting has become data-driven. Putting labs now measure aim, face angle at impact, path, launch, rise angle, and skid distance. Ten years ago, buying a putter meant rolling a few balls on a store carpet. Today a good fitter can show you exactly why you miss and match a head shape, hosel, length, and grip to your tendencies.
Interestingly, Scheffler has resisted the zero-torque wave so far. His Spider Tour X is a conventional slant neck design, and he has said he prefers something that feels natural in his hands over something that promises to do the work for him. That is a useful reminder. New technology helps, but confidence and repetition still win tournaments.
Frequently Asked Questions About Scheffler’s Putting Setup
These are the questions that come up most often once golfers learn which putter he plays.
- Is Scottie Scheffler still using the TaylorMade Spider Tour X? Yes. He has kept the same mallet style in the bag since March 2024 and won multiple majors with it, including the Masters, the PGA Championship, and the Open Championship.
- Why did he use a Scotty Cameron if he plays TaylorMade clubs? Equipment contracts usually include a putter exception. Players get attached to their flatsticks, and manufacturers rarely force a change until the player is ready.
- How long is his putter? Roughly 35 inches, which suits his 6 foot 3 inch height and his posture at address.
- What grip does he use on it? A standard pistol-style putter grip rather than an oversized model, keeping the feel similar to his old blade.
- Does he use a claw or cross-handed grip? No. He putts with a conventional grip, and his improvement came from setup, aim, and stroke work with Phil Kenyon plus the equipment change.
- How much does the Spider Tour X cost? Retail versions generally run between $350 and $450 depending on the model year, finish, and hosel option.
- Will this putter make me a better putter? Only if it fits your stroke and your aim. Get fitted, and pair the purchase with practice on speed control from 20 to 40 feet.
- What ball and driver does he pair with it? He plays a TaylorMade TP5 ball, TaylorMade drivers and irons, and Titleist Vokey wedges, which shows again that pros mix brands when the rules of their deal allow it.
One more question deserves a longer answer: does the putter or the stroke matter more? Both matter, but not equally. Research from putting labs consistently shows that face angle at impact controls roughly 80 percent of a putt’s starting direction. No putter head design overrides a face that points 2 degrees left. Equipment nudges the odds in your favor. Technique sets the ceiling.
Putting It All Together
So, what putter does Scottie Scheffler use? He plays a TaylorMade Spider Tour X mallet with a short slant neck, built around 35 inches with roughly 3 degrees of loft and a lie near 70 degrees. He switched to it in March 2024 after years with a Scotty Cameron Special Select Timeless Tourtype GSS blade, and the change came only after he rebuilt his setup and stroke with coach Phil Kenyon. The results speak clearly: he moved from 162nd in strokes gained putting to comfortably positive numbers, and he turned a great career into a historic run.
The bigger takeaway has nothing to do with brand loyalty. Scheffler proved that the best players still hunt for improvement, that a forgiving mallet can rescue a struggling stroke, and that equipment works best when it supports a sound method rather than replacing one. If your own putting has gone cold, follow his sequence. Check your aim, get fitted for length and lie, pick a head shape that matches your stroke arc, then commit to it long enough to build trust. You may not win a green jacket, but you will absolutely save strokes, and that is the part of Scheffler’s story every golfer can copy.
