Pros...blades for irons, but lots of mallets for putters! Hmmm

[Yellow Jacket]

19 hours ago, pinestreetgolf said:

Let's actually look at the numbers...

 

Anywhere from 25-35% of bags in a given event have blades per golfweek.  So it isn't a "majority" (most replies seem to be ignoring this).  Inside the top 50 iron players, blades have almost zero representation.  Similarly, blades are played by virtually nobody on tour under age 28.

 

In terms of putters on tour, the VAST majority prefer mallet putters.  In the top 10 putters on tour, only one (Patrick Reed at #3 with his Cameron) uses a blade* and doesn't get much better expanding to the top 20, adding only Bubba Watson and Rein Gibson (3/20).

 

So, in a massive, huge, unexpected surprise, cavity back irons and mallet putters are the choice of the best of the best.  You can wax poetic about turf interaction and consistent speed all you want, the guys making the decisions about what to game have overwhelmingly decided to use small cavity back irons and mallet putters.  Its not close, guys.  It hasn't been close since 2016.  This isn't a debatable topic.  You can just WITB them and then look at the rank.

 

Please stop saying general nonsense like "the majority of tour pros play blades" when it is demonstrably false.

 

*If you count an arm-lock putter with a blade head as a "blade", the list gets longer but is still about a quarter.  You do get a few near the top, though (Kuchar, Bryson are both top 20).

 

"Inside the top 50 iron players, blades have almost zero representation."

 

In strokes gained approaching the green, we have:

 

Justin Thomas: 620MB

Collin Morikawa: P730

Russell Henley: T100

Tyrrell Hatton: i200

Hideki Matsuyama: Srixon Forged

Webb Simpson: 620MB

Viktor Hovland: i210

Cameron Tringale: P730

Paul Casey: P730

Gary Woodland: Wilson Staff

 

7 out of the top 10 play blades.

Edited September 9, 2020 by Yellow Jacket

[Yellow Jacket]

oops double post

Edited September 9, 2020 by Yellow Jacket

[pinestreetgolf]

It is a good point that if the players are not actually using or holding what the WITB says they are then we can't have this discussion.  Since the issue was putters (and that is much clearer) I should have stuck to that, which is pretty irrefutable.  But as Yellow Jacket points out as well as another user if the WITB here is straight-up lying to us (very possible) then this discussion is impossible.  Not sure what the point of WRX WITB is if that is the case.

 

But, the point stands for mallets versus blade putters I think.  Hard to fool people Justin Rose Honma-headcover style on those.

[mahonie]

10 hours ago, Yellow Jacket said:

"Inside the top 50 iron players, blades have almost zero representation."

 

In strokes gained approaching the green, we have:

 

Justin Thomas: 620MB

Collin Morikawa: P730

Russell Henley: T100

Tyrrell Hatton: i200

Hideki Matsuyama: Srixon Forged

Webb Simpson: 620MB

Viktor Hovland: i210

Cameron Tringale: P730

Paul Casey: P730

Gary Woodland: Wilson Staff

 

7 out of the top 10 play blades.

 

I think you’ll find about 7 out of those 10 also game ‘blade’ putters...so we’re no further forward ??‍♂️

[North Butte]

14 minutes ago, mahonie said:

 

I think you’ll find about 7 out of those 10 also game ‘blade’ putters...so we’re no further forward ??‍♂️

You are correct, this subject could go round and round as many times as anyone likes without ever discovering anything. Here's the reason why...

 

If "blade" irons or "mallet" putters or "claw" grip or "alignment lines" on the golf ball were a genuine advantage, then everybody playing golf for their livelihood would be doing it.

 

Whatever the relative proportions, the fact that a non-zero number of the best players in the world play "blades", "cavities", "mallets", blah, blah, blah is proof that it is PURELY PERSONAL PREFERENCE. No particular style is literally best. 

 

That's why all that stuff is on the market in the first place. 

[Bubbtubbs]

18 minutes ago, North Butte said:

You are correct, this subject could go round and round as many times as anyone likes without ever discovering anything. Here's the reason why...

 

If "blade" irons or "mallet" putters or "claw" grip or "alignment lines" on the golf ball were a genuine advantage, then everybody playing golf for their livelihood would be doing it.

 

Whatever the relative proportions, the fact that a non-zero number of the best players in the world play "blades", "cavities", "mallets", blah, blah, blah is proof that it is PURELY PERSONAL PREFERENCE. No particular style is literally best. 

 

That's why all that stuff is on the market in the first place. 

And why handicap averages aren't going down.

[pinestreetgolf]

18 hours ago, North Butte said:

You are correct, this subject could go round and round as many times as anyone likes without ever discovering anything. Here's the reason why...

 

If "blade" irons or "mallet" putters or "claw" grip or "alignment lines" on the golf ball were a genuine advantage, then everybody playing golf for their livelihood would be doing it.

 

Whatever the relative proportions, the fact that a non-zero number of the best players in the world play "blades", "cavities", "mallets", blah, blah, blah is proof that it is PURELY PERSONAL PREFERENCE. No particular style is literally best. 

 

That's why all that stuff is on the market in the first place. 

 

Edited to not argue the blades/cavity point.

 

I'm not sure I agree with the postulation that a non-zero population means its not inferior (look at barefoot kicking in the NFL, a million other examples of holdouts that could still do it at a high level) but you are right this discussion will not be settled.

Edited September 10, 2020 by pinestreetgolf

[dubbelbogey]

Sure - there were, at one time, barefoot kickers in the NFL, just as there were some in tennis to move more slowly to the larger headed racquets. But they all did switch and modernize. 100% - no holdouts -  because the performance advantage was so clear.

 

I don't think golfers are any different and they're mostly not stupid. They all hit 460cc drivers. They all hit a modern urethane ball. They all use launch monitors. Graphite shafts in woods. Etc... If one style of putter or iron was just better, they'd all use it. We wouldn't have 10%/30% or even 5% sticking to something inferior just because of tradition. Not in a pro sport where millions of $$ are on the line. And I don't buy that even the best ball strikers don't ever miss the center of the clubface some of the time. You see misses happen on Tour on TV happen all the time. They're super good, but not perfect.

Edited September 10, 2020 by dubbelbogey