There must be something in the water. Or potentially on the greens. A whole host of big-time players decided that the Charles Schwab Challenge was the perfect place to test out new putters.
With the 2026 U.S. Open just around the corner, defending champion J.J. Spaun made a surprising switch away from his center-shafted Df3 and into L.A.B. Golf’s OZ.1i HS – the heel-shafted mallet putter.
“Just something I kind of wanted to change the way the putter was looking, just a completely different look than the DF3 that I’ve been using for the last year and a half,” Spaun told GolfWRX about the swap. “So it’s just easier to line up for me with less onset looking design, and it’s just something I felt like switching it up and seeing how it goes.”
You can find more about the putter and the reasoning behind Spaun’s change here.
Robert MacIntyre also decided to change the flatstick at Colonial Country Club. He’s using a custom Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5R. The Scotty team created a specially-milled face featuring horizontal grooves and shortened the plumber’s neck to increase toe hang.
Another custom feature of the build is the welded wings added to the rear of the putter, similar to those found on the Phantom 11 head.
It’s potentially part of a major overhaul to his bag. The Scot has recently switched from the Titleist Pro V1 to the Pro V1x golf ball, added the new GTS2 driver, and is currently testing a GTS 3-wood that could replace his ancient TaylorMade AeroBurner 3-wood.
Ludvig Åberg joined the trio of superstars making alterations on the greens. He’s added a Scotty Cameron Phantom 3.2.
It’s not Åberg’s first putter switch of the season. He had been using different versions of his usual Odyssey Versa #1 head to try to get better speed control on the greens.
? Ludvig Åberg is using a new putter! He’s playing a @ScottyCameron Phantom 3 head. First major putter switch, although he has been changing loft and heads in the Odyssey #1 style this season.
Here’s a Phantom 3 built for him earlier in the season pic.twitter.com/edRbpk22m4— Alistair Cameron (@ACameronWRX) May 28, 2026
Currently, a Tour-only offering, the Phantom 3 head is a half-moon mallet shape. Like the previous version that GolfWRX captured at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which Åberg never put in play, the current version appears to feature the Studio Carbon Steel face insert and chain-link face milling. Instead of the all-black version one, Åberg’s current flatstick is in the metal finish.
Rico Hoey’s make-shift Jailbird
Some of the best builds on Tour have a certain Frankenstein theme to them.
Odyssey decided to do this when breeding a turtle and a bird together. The result, Rico Hoey’s latest broomstick.
The custom Jailbird S2S Tri-Hot head includes an aluminium-milled insert from the unreleased TRTL head, which the team machined down to fit the face of the Jailbird after removing the usual Ai-Dual insert.
The team also filled the wings of the putter with epoxy to redistribute mass away from the face, with the metal insert weighing more than the original.
Hoey was also spotted with a custom Damascus Milled Jailbird Mini broomstick. Check out the full gallery here.
Brant Snedeker’s full WITB
Arguably, the PGA Tour’s feel-good story of the year so far was 45-year-old Brandt Snedeker returning to the winner’s circle for the first time in nearly 8 years.
His victory didn’t come without some equipment updates, either. The Presidents Cup Captain added the 2016 M2 driver equipped with a Fujikura Speeder Evolution 661. It’s a shaft that’s even older than the driver.
The historic driver setup might have been added because Snedeker was missing some antique vibes. He recently switched out his 2-decade-old Odyssey Rossie White Hot XG for a TaylorMade Spider Tour X.
He first put the Spider in play at the Cognizant Classic. Still, at the Valspar Championship, he tested TaylorMade’s True Path Alignment versus without, and preferred the added aim benefits he was getting. In previous testing, the biggest thing Snedeker noticed was the launch and how quickly the ball got to true roll from the Spider and its Pure Roll insert compared to anything else he had tried.
Check out Snedeker’s full what’s in the bag during this week’s episode of “Inside the Ropes” from Colonial.
Everything’s bigger in Texas
TaylorMade Golf chose the second stop of a Texas two-step in Dallas as the spot to launch the tour’s latest Spider putter.
On-site Monday at Colonial Country Club, GolfWRX’s Tour Photographer Greg Moore captured the new Spider ZT Max putter ahead of the Charles Schwab Challenge.
The Max version of TaylorMade’s zero-torque putter style has a larger footprint than the original ZT, which will likely lead to a higher MOI thanks to wider perimeter weighting.
The original ZT is made of high-density 303 stainless steel at the front, and then a lower-density 6061 aerospace aluminum on the back to create a high-MOI foundation, with a center shaft featuring slight forward shaft lean and 25mm onset behind the leading edge.
The Spider ZT Max also appears to use the ZT cambered sole, which is also seen on the recently Tour-launched Spider Tour, Tour X, F and V models, which were first spotted at the RBC Heritage.
Brian Harman gamed the original Spider ZT for his victory last year at the 2025 Valero Texas Open, and the putter also saw victory on the DP World Tour in the hands of Michael Kim for his FedEx Open de France win.
Check out the full gallery here.
Odds and Ends
Project X officially Tour launched the Titan Yellow shaft, just a few days after Wyndham Clark played it for the first time and won The CJ Cup Byron Nelson. The shaft features a smoother feel in the handle compared to past Project X wood shafts, along with a firm midsection and firm tip. The Synex Technology allows a player to feel more load in transition without losing the feel of the clubhead. Titleist launched the GTS300 back at Quail Hollow, and just a few weeks later, it’s in the bag of Justin Thomas. Could this be a test run for Shinnecock?
