We examined 79 putters this yr throughout blade, mallet and zero-torque, a mixed 50,000 putts run by way of PuttView. Most of that subject lands someplace within the center. However two putters sit on the excessive ends of the whole take a look at and placing them aspect by aspect, together with the engineering behind every one, tells you extra about what separates an excellent putter from a nasty one in 2026.
Each shopping for information at MyGolfSpy is knowledgeable by unbiased testing and tens of millions of apparatus information factors, serving to golfers separate advertising claims from measurable efficiency.
How we take a look at
MyGolfSpy’s Most Needed Testing is powered by:
UNRL Attire – The official employees attire associate of MyGolfSpy. We depend on UNRL to maintain employees comfy and centered whereas offering world-class testing.
Titleist Professional V1 golf balls are a key element in testing. Each shot hit in Most Needed makes use of these golf balls. They’ve lengthy been the non plus extremely in golf ball high quality and the one ball we belief in Most Needed testing.
Foresight GC Quad – Foresight is the gold normal in camera-based launch monitor expertise as a result of it produces information we will depend on with each shot hit.
The Indoor Golf Store’s SIGPRO Premium – All of our testing is finished indoors at our HQ in Yorktown, Va. With every take a look at, our screens take an absolute beating. We want high-quality, sturdy influence screens to deal with the workload. SIGPRO Premium meets our expectations.
Meet the 2 extremes
The Ai-Twin S2S #7 is the best-performing putter throughout all three classes this yr: blade, mallet and zero-torque. The Brick is the one putter in the whole 79 putter subject to put up a optimistic PV HCP, which means it’s costing strokes in opposition to a tour baseline fairly than gaining them.
Why the Ai-Twin S2S #7 Wins: The design behind the quantity
Odyssey constructed the Ai-Twin S2S #7 round a zero-torque platform which strikes the shaft axis to align instantly with the putter’s heart of gravity so the face resists twisting by way of the stroke. What makes this particular mannequin notable is how far Odyssey went to take away the standard tradeoffs of that design.
Most zero-torque putters require gamers to arrange with a ahead shaft lean that feels unfamiliar. Odyssey engineered a two-degree ahead press instantly into the shaft and paired it with a reverse-taper grip so the palms sit in a impartial place at tackle whereas the zero-torque geometry does its job beneath.
The face carries Odyssey’s Ai-Twin insert, a dual-layer urethane development with a smooth outer layer for really feel and a firmer internal layer for velocity consistency. Grooves are lower at a 19-degree slope, deeper and extra aggressive than earlier Odyssey designs, aimed toward getting the ball rolling ahead quicker no matter the place on the face it’s struck.
As a fast apart, the Ai-Twin S2S #7 is at the moment $100 off at Golf Galaxy.
Why the Brick struggles: A distinct sort of stability
The Brick is constructed on what Edel calls a “torque-balanced” design which locations additional weight within the heel of the putter to withstand face rotation, achieved by way of an inner weight positioned the place the shaft meets the top.
On paper, this shares a aim with zero-torque development.
In follow, it’s a totally different strategy, executed by way of mass placement in a compact blade form fairly than shaft geometry and out of doors reviewers have constantly described it as a putter with a slim tolerance for error.
The place the hole lives within the information
Medium vary is the entire story. A -6.2 versus 7.2 is a 13.4 stroke swing, by far the widest hole of any distance we measured between these two putters. That is the place a forgiving, roll-consistent face pulls away from a design that rewards precision however doesn’t defend in opposition to a barely off-center strike.
Make share and common miss again this up. The Ai-Twin holes putts virtually 10 share factors extra typically and misses by greater than 4 inches much less on common.
Last ideas
This isn’t a narrative about one model being good and one other being dangerous. Edel’s mallet and zero-torque putters each land above their class averages this yr.
What the information does inform you is the place to look when evaluating putters.
Medium vary, roughly the nine- to 12-foot window, is the place design variations present up essentially the most and the place engineering decisions comparable to face insert development, groove design and forgiveness on off-center strikes separate an awesome putter from a poor one.
Greatest Blade Putters 2026
Greatest Mallet Putters 2026
Greatest Zero-Torque Putters 2026
The put up The Greatest Putter of 2026 Vs. The Worst. The Hole Is Greater Than You’d Suppose. appeared first on MyGolfSpy.
