Equipment
Brooks Koepka explains the biggest challenge switching from a blade to a mallet putter
Brooks Koepka’s recent putter switch has been one of the biggest equipment stories of 2026 thus far.
The 5-time major champion had been a longtime blade user throughout his career, but turned heads when he decided to put a TaylorMade Spider Tour X L-neck putter in play at last month’s Waste Management Phoenix Open.
The change resulted in an uptick of form on the greens at Koepka’s last outing at the Cognizant Classic, where the 35-year-old gained over 2.5 strokes over the field for Strokes Gained: Putting.
Koepka will be hoping to continue that positive trend at this week’s Players Championship, and ahead of the event, Brooks was asked by media what the biggest challenge changing from a blade to a mallet style putter has been over the last month, to which Koepka responded:
“I mean, I think with that change there’s been a lot of mechanical changes as well. I would say it’s definitely more of the mechanical issues are the tougher parts of it. But I mean, if you look at it, the face rotation on the Spider is a little less than it was with the blade. Just looking for a little bit more consistency.
Then obviously the changes that I’ve made in the stroke, whether it be from taking a little bit more hands out of it and not swaying as much. Just got into a bunch of bad habits. I’ve always played it off the toe, and some of those habits were created just to fix that, to go hit it off the center.”
Koepka added:
“Then being able to — the putter’s a little bit smaller, so I don’t have that — I can’t exactly putt it off the toe when there’s a longer line. I think it’s easier to line up as well. Yeah, just starting it more off the actual center of the ball, not having it off the toe, has been a huge thing as well.”
The 35-year-old gets his Players Championship underway at 7.28 a.m e.t on Thursday at TPC Sawgrass.
Neal Shipley was the first to admit that he enjoyed his food while in college. But since his days at Ohio State, he’s slimmed down and earned a PGA Tour Card.
That hasn’t stopped him from having fun with his wedge stampings, though it’s led to some misunderstandings.
On the 54 (degree), we have ‘Big Fudge,'” Shipley told GolfWRX. “It was supposed to be ‘Big Fridge,’ so this happened a little while ago. ‘Big Fridge’ was a nickname between my college teammates and I, with ‘fridge’ meaning stomach, a big stomach.
“We told the Ping guys to put … ‘Big Fridge’ on it, and I think maybe some bad cell service or something, and they thought I said ‘fudge,’ so they put fudge on it.”
On Shipley’s 50-degree he also continues the food theme, this time with his go-to order at the “Golden Arches,” and his stamping “DONS 7.”
“The number 7 meal, the two cheeseburger meal, that was my McDonald’s order, back when I would have McDonald’s frequently,” Shipley shared.
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @raw10628 has a L.A.B. DF3 putter and Masters putter cover up for grabs.
From the listing: “Some great items here today, time to thin out and make room for next set of gear. All prices include shipping.
LAB DF3 Purple 33.5” 68° lie with TPT – $725. LAB Masters release DF3 cover – $150.”
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules
Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 5-M4
3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4
5-wood: Ping G440 Max (19 degrees @18)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4
Hybrid: Ping G440 (23 degrees)
Shaft: Oban Isawa Red Hybrid Shaft 04 Flex 70 Gms
Irons: Srixon ZXi7 (5-P)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i80
Wedges: Cleveland RTZ (50-MID, 54-FULL, 58-MID)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i105
Putter: L.A.B. Golf OZ.1i
Shaft: ACCRA Putter Shaft
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
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Photos from the ShopRite LPGA
Maria Torres WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees) Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 5-M4 3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees) Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4 5-wood: Ping G440...
Eric Cole WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: PXG Lightning Tour Max (9 degrees) Shaft: Project X Titan Yellow 70 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (15 degrees) Shaft:...
Si Woo Kim WITB 2026 (May)
Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (8.5 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X Mini driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Mini...
Wyndham Clark’s winning WITB: 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D (10.5 degrees) Shaft: Project X Titan Yellow 60 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D Tour (15 degrees) Shaft: Project...
