Peanut butter and jelly. Salt and pepper. Harris English and a Ping Hohum.
It’s the putter he started using during his senior year at the University of Georgia and has used for wins on the PGA Tour, dating back to 2013 at the Mayakoba Golf Classic and most recently for his victory at the 2025 Farmers Insurance Open.
“My assistant coach took it off the putting green, and he was like, ‘Man, I’m a terrible putter. If I can make putts with this putter, anybody can putt with it,’” English told GolfWRX a few years ago about how he ended up with the putter. “It’s been a staple that I’ll always go back to. It’s something with the face; It’s pretty soft. It’s very unique, easy to aim. There’s a reason why I go back to it. It’s kind of an old faithful putter, and I feel like I’ve had some of my best putting weeks with that putter.”
After some time on the bench, the HoHum returned to the bag in 2020 and has been ever-present since — until now.
English traded out “old faithful” for a new Ping Scottsdale Tec Ketsch H, in an attempt to move inside the top-50 bubble for the next stop in the FedExCup Playoffs. He’s currently the first man out at No. 51.
The reason for the switch stems from an original Ping Pal putter from the 1960s, which English surprised tour reps with when he took it out on the practice putting greens earlier this month in Detroit. The light and less forgiving putter allows English to dial in his stroke, along with the Anser-style hosel.
(Ping Golf)
“We were talking to him about the Pal putter and his comment to me is with the anser-style hosel, which is more of a slight arc putter, has a little bit toe down, Harris said he just felt like that matched his stroke better, that he could just naturally just release the putter down the line,” Tony Serrano, Senior Design Engineer at Ping Golf, told GolfWRX. “Where his face balance, Hohum that he played for 15 years or whatever, he said he always felt like he just had to hold onto it just a millisecond at the end there to keep it down the line or what his line or what his intended line was.”
English actually put the new Scottsdale Tec Ketsch H with the Anser hosel for Friday’s round of the Wyndham Championship, where he gained nearly two strokes on the field putting. It’s not just the hosel, though, that has English excited about the new flatstick, but also the new insert.
“The other thing I would say that I thought was really encouraging is the Tec insert, how consistent that insert is for him,” Serrano added. “He said on long putts, short putts, the feel, the feedback, he couldn’t say enough about it, which is really music to our ears because that’s our stock putter, a stock insert, where he’s played that Hohum that has a firmer insert and he’s played that for 15 years.
“Honestly, I don’t think KO (Kenton Oates, Ping PGA Tour rep) or I would ever think he would get out of the Hohum because he’s never really interested in looking at stuff, but he’s really bought into that insert.”
Remarkably, despite all the time together, Ping felt that English wasn’t at one with the insert in the 15-year-old Hohum.
“I don’t think Harris necessarily loved the insert in the Hohum, but he was super comfortable with what it did and what it felt,” Oates told GolfWRX. “… We’ve built him multiple different inserts over the last 10 years and could not find one that he liked right away. So for him to like the insert right away was huge.”
(Ping Golf)
Regarding the head, it should be one English is accustomed to if he remembers far enough back. The 6-f00t, 3-inch tall drink of water played a Ping Ketsch Cadence, a similar U-shaped mallet, during the 2017 season, when he was on a break with the HoHum.
The Scottsdale Tec Ketsch H has some pretty big shoes (or hands) to fill, but after one round at the FedEx St. Jude, English sits sixth in Strokes Gained: Putting.
Bhatia’s makeshift “4-iron”
One of those inside the top 50 is Akshay Bhatia, who sits 14th in the standings and has a comfortable couple of weeks ahead of him (despite the extreme heat in Memphis) before the top 30 battle it out for the season-long title at the Tour Championship at the end of the month.
So, with the flexibility knowing he’s likely got a tee time at East Lake, why not experiment with options that will help him on the currently baked-out and rock-hard greens at Southwind.
Bhatia usually plays a Callaway X Forged UT at 22 degrees, which is his stock 4-iron. Zach Smith, Callaway Tour Rep, said in a social post that, at times during the season, he’s swapped that club for a Callaway Apex UW, including a 19-degree version at this year’s Masters. In Memphis, he’s doing the same, but with some modifications—mostly to the length.
“We made one shorter this week,” Smith said. “Same 4-iron length, 38.5 inches. (Bhatia’s) Touch more consistent with spin, ball speed is a little tighter, and obviously, it’s a little bit higher. So it’s gonna be a good option this week around these firm greens.”
(Callaway Golf)
Taking a look at the scorecard, the 14th hole at TPC Southwind can stretch to almost 240 yards, which plays perfectly to the yardage that Bhatia’s new 4-iron plays to.
Check out Bhatia’s 2026 Apex UW specs below:
2026 Apex UW 21 degree
- Actual loft: 21.5 degrees
- Lie: 59.2*
- Finished Length: 38.5 inches
- Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 10X (2-inch tipped)
- Grip: lomic Stick Black 2.3, 1 Double Side Tape
- Swing Weight: D2.5
- Carry yardage: 230-yard stock with a max of 235 yards
- Ball Speed: 151mph
- Spin: 5100 rpm
Custom Bettinardi’s for “Hideki”
Week-in-week-out, Hideki Matsuyama is “gifted” a new putter, usually from the reps at Scotty Cameron. Things took a turn at TPC Southwind, though, when Matsuyama’s putter collection added a new brand.
Our Tour Photographer, Greg Moore, was able to get some snaps of the custom Bettinardi blades that were requested by Matsuyama.
The main reason why the Japanese golf star was looking to test out the Bettinardi putters was the Fitz-Face milling found on Matt Fitzpatrick’s custom blade. With that, Bettinardi built a one-of-one 3 Step model along with another wand for Matsuyama to test out.
Check the full gallery here.
Odds and Ends
Robert MacIntyre had a back-up TaylorMade Spider Tour X putter with him in Memphis. That’s no real surprise as players travel with plenty of options each week. What was unique about the putter is that the sole has ridges cut into it so the putter doesn’t slide on the baked-out Bermudagrass greens.
It’s not the first time players have requested sole modifications to increase friction. Fitzpatrick used a custom Bettinardi BB1 FF putter for links golf, featuring a honeycomb-style sole for the same results at MacIntyre. True Temper showed off a new “Flighted” Dynamic Gold shaft in Memphis. GolfWRX spotted the shafts on-site at TPC Southwind, but with no information from the shaft company, we’re guessing it’s a Tour Issue X100 flighted option, where the longer irons launch and spin higher, and the shorter irons get back to a flatter, more controlled flight.
