Tom Kim, like many on tour, has observed the growing dominance of mallet putters among elite golfers.
Having captured his first three PGA Tour victories with a blade putter, Kim spent the last three years testing various models, trying both mallets and traditional blades.
This spring, he chose to return to his winning formula, reverting to a Scotty Cameron Newport 2‑style blade fitted with a custom LA Golf graphite shaft.
The move paid off immediately; Kim rediscovered his form this summer, securing a two‑shot win at the Genesis Scottish Open last week and ending a three‑year winless streak.
“I’ve always putted my best with a blade,” Kim said when he switched back to the putter in March. “I was using a mallet for a couple of years, but I’ve won a lot of my tournaments with a blade, and I wanted to come back, kind of use something natural. Scotty and [Director of Player Fitting and Development] Paul [Vizanko] really helped me with this piece and it looks great with the mint blue [paintfill].”
The putter he returned to is a TourType GSS tour prototype — identical to the one he used for his maiden PGA Tour victory at the 2022 Wyndham Championship. He later switched among various Newport 2‑style blades to claim his next two tour wins.
Since reinstalling the custom gamer in March, Kim has stuck with it. At the Scottish Open he ranked 20th in strokes gained: putting, adding 3.658 strokes for the week and holing 296 feet of putts. His performance improved further in the final‑round 64, where he gained 2.328 strokes — the sixth‑best total in the field.
Kim is now one of just two tour winners this season — alongside Matt Fitzpatrick — who have prevailed with a blade putter, even as many professionals gravitate toward mallets for their alignment and forgiveness.
Not every player benefits from a larger mallet, and many retain an emotional attachment to the blade’s look and feel, ensuring that blade putters will remain relevant for years to come.