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The 4 most important Scotty Cameron putters of all time

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I know, I know, that is a heavy title, which is subject to debate and opinion. However, I’m going to do my best to convince you these four putters make up the grand slam of Scottys and are indeed the most important Cameron putters ever built.

I will agree that the argument can be made that any item on this list could be ranked No. 1 for various reasons. Would we have heard about No. 1 without No. 4 or No. 3? Why is No. 1 ahead of No. 2? Be sure to let me know what you think in the comments.

Let’s get to the list.

No. 4: Ray Cook Blue Goose (Designed by Scotty Cameron)

 

OK, I’m starting off by bending my own rules here. While not a singular putter, this is one of the most important works of Scotty’s career. Ray Cook was an extremely popular manufacturer for a good stretch from the 1960s through 1980s. Scotty Cameron came along in the late 1980s and helped to create one of their most well-known designs, the Blue Goose.

Per “The Art of Putters” written by Bill Vogeney and David Levine, “The Blue Goose was the first mass-produced, 100% milled gun-blued putter.” While this putter was a success, there are probably many Cameron aficionados in 2020 who are unfamiliar with Scotty’s Pre-Titleist roots. We all start somewhere, and Cameron’s early days were spent honing his craft with Ray Cook before moving on to create designs with his own name on them in the early 1990s. While not his best-selling design, the Blue Goose must be on this list for helping create the behemoth that we know today.

No. 3: Tiger Woods’ TeI3 Newport (Used to win the 1997 Masters)

OK, GolfWRX audience, it is time for a math problem: What does 32 white elastomer dots plus one sight dot on the topline plus one “up and comer” that came into the 1997 Masters with a decent amateur record equal? How about one of the greatest weeks in the history of golf? My generation’s greatest player completed his explosion into the golf world wielding a Scotty Cameron Teryllium “Sole Stamp” Newport. Did your heart just skip a beat when you read Sole Stamp? Perhaps you are ready to head over to our Classifieds section to track down a T22 (a great re-release of this classic).

Most folks probably had not seen anything like this beautiful, softened Newport with a funky copper-looking insert in the face. What is that putter he is using, and WHAT ARE THOSE DOTS? I imagine onlookers at Amen Corner might have had those thoughts swirling in their minds while the players were dealing with the swirling winds that could knock their ball into Rae’s creek with relative ease. I would equate this putter to the newspaper strips that my father would use when building a fire in my childhood home: This putter caught fire quickly and helped Cameron really heat up with collectors.

No. 2: Bernhard Langer’s Classic I (Used to win the 1993 Masters)

To continue the beautifully written, Shakespeare-like fire analogy, Bernhard Langer’s (Mizuno) Classic I is the kindling to the wildfire that is Scotty Cameron. These transitional putters in the Classic series are some of the most underrated and undervalued putters in the Cameron market, in my opinion. Scotty’s take on the classic Ping Anser first came in the form of the Classic I. Scotty was working for Mizuno at the time of his development of the Classic I and Classic II, thus Bernhard’s putter was stamped Mizuno for the Darrell Survey results. However, this stamping would later be X’d out after Cameron left Mizuno. Believe it or not, the putter has made it out into the collector world and has been verified and COA’d by the Cameron Authentication department.

It is important to remember our roots as people so that we can see where we came from, and how we have since grown. A similar thing can be said for collectors. It is fun to go back and look at the history of the hobby and of the game. While not a hickory-shafted blade, Bernhard Langer’s Classic One was vital to the success of Scotty. An argument could certainly be made that Cameron’s product was so good that had Bernhard not won the 1993 Masters, someone else would have eventually taken home a big trophy using one of Scotty’s creations. However, we do not know that to be the case and Bernhard did in fact help put Scotty on the map with his victory. From the putter collector world – thank you, Bernhard!

No. 1: Tiger Woods’ GSS Newport 2 (Used to win 14 majors)

This is another putter that most people following this article would assume to make the list. There was however some debate in my own mind about the order of No. 1 and No. 2 on this list. Is the Neil Armstrong of Scotty’s major-winning putters more important than the most popular wand he has ever created? It makes for a good argument that, without Bernhard helping Scotty explode on the Tour scene, Tiger may have never had a Cameron in the bag. Would the GOAT have stayed with the Ping? Would another Anser-style head have caught his eye? The what-ifs are fun to think about but impossible to verify.

What is not up for debate is the importance of Tiger Woods’ run with his vertical stamp GSS Newport 2 on the collecting world. 2000 saw the introduction of the three-dot Pro Platinum and Mil-Spec lines. The small “bomb” on these putters were similar to the large “cherry dot” on Tigers and from there, a new wave of collectors burst onto the scene. Getting a “vertical stamp” became a thing. The red dot was a status symbol.

The beautifully-shaped Bullseye and Studio lines would follow in 2001. While these were not the biggest selling putters of Scotty’s lineup, they brought back nostalgia of the “good ol’ days.” This new wave of enthusiasts was now able to appreciate the shaping of a beautiful blade that is not found in the squarer Newport or Newport 2.

2002 might be the year that collectors really began to see the Tiger effect in the retail market. This was the first year that we saw the “My Girl” and was also the debut of the first stainless steel putter that Cameron sold in mass, the “Studio Stainless.” Who remembers the colorful sole of the Studio Stainless? Did you have a “green dot down”? Were you able to get a “beach”? These became important questions, and folks had now been seeing Circle Ts around in different places. Being that one of the best stretches in golf history had taken place two years prior, and knowing that the author of that seemingly immortal feat was using a Scotty Cameron, it became “required” that to be at the top of the putter community, you needed to have one for yourself.

Were there other companies and makers creating great products? Yes, there definitely were. People have long-collected items in the golf world. From hickories to steel and Scottsdale Ansers to Tour Newports, this hobby is not new. However, the beauty of Cameron’s art and the genius of his marketing, aligned with the timing of Eldrick helped escalate our world into what we see today. Scotty helped to show new things that could be done outside of the box and this has led to another wave of collectors and makers that are after fancy dots, creative finishes, custom stamping, and limited headcovers.

Some golfers still feel that paying $300 for a putter is outrageous—and perhaps when comparing the characteristics of function with another brand—it is. However, some collectors will not bat an eye at spending $7,000 on a GSS. Even this $7,000 price tag is “low” when compared to $17,000 Damascus steel models.

Scotty Cameron deserves his place in history as one of the most influential people the game of golf has ever seen. As collectors, we owe him a debt of gratitude for his contribution to our chase, and I for one am very appreciative of his work and the journey on which it has led me.

(Featured image, image 1, image 2, image 3 from Scotty Cameron Authentication Registry) 

29 Comments

29 Comments

  1. The duke of dudes

    May 19, 2020 at 5:47 pm

    Many moons ago, a story surfaced that Tiger Woods putter is actually a cast and surfaced milled copy of Mark O’Meara’s PING anser 2.
    That’s the reason his backups which are milled, don’t feel the same.

  2. Freddie C.

    May 19, 2020 at 12:34 am

    What a way to make a living being a putter copycat, the man has never really had to think about designing anything. Put a Ping answer in the mold and engrave Scotty on the sole and bam ???? it’s the greatest creation to mankind…..

  3. Gery Katona

    May 18, 2020 at 11:42 pm

    Back in maybe 2005 I was at Fairway Golf in San Diego. They were (are?) a Scotty Tour putter distributor. I got to know the people there and it helped that I worked for a Japanese company and we both knew some other Japanese guys in common. They had one of Tiger’s back-up’s of his 14 major winner for sale and asked me if I’d to roll a few balls! I can’t tell you how nervous I was. I think I hit 4 balls and I recall how soft (quiet, firm, solid) it felt. It was just a moment in time, but something I’ll never forget. They were asking $35K.

  4. XEROX

    May 18, 2020 at 8:07 pm

    And which of these is he responsible for designing ENTIRELY by him?

  5. Benny

    May 18, 2020 at 7:35 pm

    Sorry boys but one more, watch this (which has been erased from Camerons website and Golf Channel) and at 5mins .04 seconds Cameron describes “I added red ink to the holes so they wouldn’t rust”….
    Stainless Steel does NOT Rust. So why would Crazy expensive German Stainless Steel rust?????
    JB.? Anyone?? Its all marketing fellas…
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NI9w-vvDR9o

  6. Benny

    May 18, 2020 at 7:25 pm

    Here is the article Espn did and Cameron states he built him a GSS years later. After the initial NP2.
    https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/18544732/golf-tiger-woods-scotty-cameron-world-most-famous-putter

  7. Benny

    May 18, 2020 at 7:16 pm

    Every other GSS Cameron says GSS on it except Tigers.
    You will not find any article in the 2000’s say Tigers putter is GSS.
    https://www.golfdigest.com/story/winnersbag20050615
    https://www.golfchannel.com/article/golf-channel-digital/whats-bag-tiger-woods-1
    JB- What makes you so right it is GSS?

    • JB

      May 19, 2020 at 10:36 am

      @Benny – I never said it was GSS. I only said that it was definitely not carbon and definitely not pro platinum. I agree that the whole GSS business is a marketing scheme made to sell putters for 8-10 grand each on the gallery site.

      • Benny

        May 19, 2020 at 2:24 pm

        Understood JB. I agree with your statement as well as everyone elses. Cameron won the lottery. But I am sure there were many ups amd downs as well. But just like LAMB and PXG built their market Scotty has his. If it wasn’t for Tiger beleiving in him and his putter he wouldn’t be much today. This is why GSS is such a fraud term. But he marketed it perfectly and with having the ability to call Tigers putter GSS he now can sell those putters for $10k and be sold out in minutes.
        Marketing and making wants over needs is where it is at. When you do it right and find it you can make millions!

  8. Benny

    May 18, 2020 at 7:03 pm

    JB- this is just me adding up the peices mate. Like why does Cameron specifically say he needed to add red printer ink to the 2 holes so they wouldn’t rust?
    Also why was Tigers 2000 putter the only GSS Cameron mentioned for 5 plus years?
    You can also go back to many articles about Tigers putter never being detailed as GSS.

  9. BillyG

    May 18, 2020 at 6:05 pm

    I have a SC American Classic III Bullseye that I would part with because it just doesn’t putt or feel that great. However, I can’t get my money back, so it sits in a corner with a really nice head cover. My original Bullseye putts better and feels better. That is probably just me since I grew up playing Bullseye. How about an article that ranks the SC head covers?

  10. Delbert

    May 18, 2020 at 3:48 pm

    I have a SC American Classic III Bullseye and don’t need it. My old Bullseye original putts better. One other effect of SC is very expensive hardcovers.

  11. Ty Webb

    May 18, 2020 at 1:58 pm

    “Scotty Cameron deserves his place in history as one of the most influential people the game of golf has ever seen.”

    This comment is a joke! Scotty is like the Wizard of Oz. The guy literally has stolen putter designs from everyone that came before him. Bob Bettinardi milled all of his putters in the beginning days at Titleist because Scotty had 0 clue how to run a milling machine. After Bettinardi stopped Titleist for a time was casting putters and millig over them to look milled. Dan Ashcroft was the one coming up with designs like the Futura not Scotty. The guy is a fraud.

    • Robert Hartnett

      Sep 15, 2020 at 11:27 pm

      A good point. I am reading ‘Harvey Penick’ by Kevin Roberts, where it says that the Blue Goose putter was designed by Jack Burke Sr. ‘…with Tracy Parks, an inventor and friend.’ That would be some time before 1924.

  12. Steve C

    May 18, 2020 at 12:32 pm

    I enjoy playing golf, and I enjoy reading about golf related subjects. However, to some extent, putters are just putters. Either someone can putt well, or they can’t. A $50 putter vs. a $500 putter is NOT going to change that fact. Heck, While playing my best golf many years ago, 2 handicap, I was using a putter that I may (or may not) have liberated from a putt-putt golf course during the 1970s

    • George

      May 18, 2020 at 1:18 pm

      I disagree!! A putters weight , feel and balance make a huge difference. At least for me!! Hit em straight!!!

    • Imafitter

      May 18, 2020 at 4:35 pm

      LOL! When I was 12 I went to Putt-Putt every Saturday morning. Used to win a lot and bought the putter I always used for $5. Still have it!

  13. jgpl001

    May 18, 2020 at 12:31 pm

    It always amuses me when guys balk at paying $300 for a putter and don’t bat an eye lid when shelling out $500 for a driver and maybe an extra $250+ for an exotic shaft on top

  14. Clay

    May 18, 2020 at 11:36 am

    Scotty make wonderful putters, beautiful stuff. But I am sure T.P. Mills was making milled black oxide carbon steel putters long before the Blue Goose came along. Spaulding produced those designs in mass as well.

  15. Pingfan

    May 18, 2020 at 11:21 am

    On a per-item basis, Scotty Cameron must have made WAY more money than Karsten Solheim ever did from Ping Anser and Anser 2-shaped putters.

    • Imafitter

      May 18, 2020 at 12:31 pm

      Ping sold the Anser series for $50-$70 ea back in the day. A current Cameron costs under $50 to produce. Retail mark-up is 10-12%, and the rest is marketing. A pro can make a putt with any putter. But they get them free and most get paid to have a particular brand in their bag.

  16. Francis

    May 18, 2020 at 11:00 am

    What is Scotty’s best selling putter line? Gotta be the pro platinums, right?

  17. Imafitter

    May 18, 2020 at 10:26 am

    So who actually milled Cameron in the early days? Wasn’t it Bettinardi, who also made Mizuno putters? I’m also sick and tired of putter designers taking credit for designs by Ping. Too bad their patents expired or these “designers” would be flipping burgers.

    • Will

      May 18, 2020 at 12:57 pm

      Bob Bettinardi made the Classic 1 and Tigers first Masters winner.

    • Acemandrake

      May 18, 2020 at 1:11 pm

      “The next new Scotty Cameron design will come out when the next Ping patent runs out.”

      Anonymous

  18. Benny

    May 18, 2020 at 10:10 am

    Great article but when did Cameron actually release GSS putters? Wasn’t it 4-5 years after Tigers putter was received?
    Why would Cameron have needed to “add red printer ink to the 1gram holes so they wouldn’t rust”?
    Sure Tigers putter is extremly valuable but its not GSS. Its Pro Platinum which is a finished carbon. Carbon rusts, Stainless Steel does not unless its heavily mixed with carbon.
    Cameron has tried getting Tiger to replace this putter dozens of times. Why? Because GSS is his biggest seller and whats makes them the largest profit.
    Luckily Tiger has gone along with Cameron these last 10+ years sayings its GSS. Maybe Tiger was paid or maybe its just out of kindness. Either way there is a lot more to this story and its about marketing.

    • JB

      May 18, 2020 at 10:30 am

      @Benny Tiger’s putter is definitely not carbon and definitely not pro platinum. Not sure where you got your info, but it’s incorrect.

  19. Stanley

    May 18, 2020 at 9:28 am

    I have the classic I putter. It’s in decent shape. It doesn’t have any sight lines or dots on it. It’s a great putter. Still feels as good as anything.

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Whats in the Bag

Christiaan Maas WITB 2026 (June)

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Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D LS (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P770 (3), TaylorMade P7CB (4), TaylorMade P7TW (5-PW)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 10 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold X100

Wedges: TaylorMade Prototype (50-SB09), TaylorMade MG5 (56-HB12, 60-LV07)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S400

Putter: TaylorMade TP Juno

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord

Check out more in-hand photos of Christiaan Maas’ clubs here.

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Equipment

TaylorMade MySpider Tour and Tour X: More customizable build options now available

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TaylorMade Golf’s MySpider program underwent a substantial overhaul over the last month. Firstly, the company launched the option to customize the Spider ZT model, and now the program has returned with the MySpider Tour and MySpider Tour X.

The revamped page now gives golfers complete control over every visual and functional detail of their putter on the popular Tour and Tour X head, with every cosmetic idea thought of. In MySpider Tour, golfers can choose from four head finishes, 16 paint fill colors, nine Surlyn face insert colors, three aluminum insert options, six sightline configurations, and four hosel options — L-neck, small slant, double bend, center shaft. Six sightline options are available in MySpider Tour, including the optically engineered True Path alignment system. MySpider Tour X gives builders the option of four head finishes, four hosel configurations, and five sightline options, also including True Path alignment.

One of the more interesting features of the new MySpider program is the availability of three distinct face insert options. Along with the usual Surlyn Pure Roll insert trusted by Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, which can be customized from nine colors, golfers can now also select firmer options. Two are offered with the black aluminum Pure Roll insert, slightly firmer than the traditional insert, or for the firmest feel, golfers can choose from two colors of milled aluminum inserts.

Another fun addition to the MySpider Tour is the ability to use the “Tommy Sightline.” The custom alignment aid design, which was first drawn onto Tommy Fleetwood’s putter by PGA Tour Rep James Holley, is based on the milled sightline on his Spider ZT head. There are five shorter lines on the left and right of a longer central line serving as the traditional short line alignment aid.

See below for the full specifications sheet for MySpider Tour and Tour X:

MySpider Tour

MySpider Tour X

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Equipment

Then and now: Comparing Rory McIlroy’s current setup to his record-breaking 2019 Canadian Open victory

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In Rory McIlroy’s first appearance at the 2019 RBC Canadian Open, he crushed the record books to earn his 16th PGA Tour title in dominating fashion, winning by seven shots over Shane Lowry and Webb Simpson.

McIlroy’s score of 22-under-par 258 is the lowest 72-hole score to date at the Canadian Open, and his closing 61 is also the best final-round score in the history of one of golf’s oldest tournaments. Finally, with his win in 2019, McIlroy became only the sixth player to win the career Triple Crown, adding to his victories at the U.S. Open in 2011 and The Open Championship in 2014, joining Tommy Armour, Walter Hagen, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Tiger Woods in a coveted list.

So, with that, why not compare his current setup to the clubs he used to break all the records?

Driver

2019: TaylorMade M5 (9 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees @8), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7X (45 5/8 inches)

McIroy led the Tour in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee in 2019; he’s doing the same in 2026. Between now and then, McIlroy has switched from the Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX (a shaft with slightly more feeling in the tip) to the original Fujikura Ventus Black 7X, having just made the change to the heavier version from playing the 60X.

What’s interesting about McIlroy’s 2019 setup is that the weighting on his driver is actually set in the high-draw setting, using the T-Track weighting system, whereas in the Qi4D, he’s currently using a heavily rear-weighted setup. (Two 13-gram weights in the rear and only two 4-gram front weights.)

The TaylorMade M5 driver he played in during his Canadian Open win was the company’s first head that they claimed to design to initially exceed the USGA’s COR limit, and then injected with tuning resin to bring it back in bounds.

Fairway woods

2019: TaylorMade M6 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 80 TX; TaylorMade M5 5-wood (19 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 90 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8X; TaylorMade Qi4D 5-wood (18 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9X

The TaylorMade M6 fairway wood that McIlroy was using during the 2019 season is still in the bag of some of the best golfers on Tour in 2026. Just check out Justin Rose’s winning setup from the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year. This year, though, McIlroy has still been searching for his top-end-of-the-bag setup, having played both the new Qi4D and the Qi10, which he won the Masters with.

The same shaft swap can be seen in the fairway woods as the driver, along with slightly less loft on the 5-wood.

Irons

2019: TaylorMade P750 (4) Buy here, TaylorMade P730 (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0
2026: TaylorMade P760 (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0

The biggest difference between McIlroy’s custom set and the stock P730s is the groove design. While the P730s were constructed with 14 MX-9 grooves on their milled faces, McIlroy’s proto heads instead use the higher-spinning, 16-groove layout of the TW2 grooves. Other big differences between the sets are that McIlroy’s 7- and 8-irons have thinner toplines, are 1 degree stronger in loft, and are 1/4 inch longer than the original P730 builds.

With McIlroy’s 4-iron, the switch from P750 to P760 sees a transition to a two-piece construction with Speed Foam in it, which allows McIlroy to launch the ball slightly higher, with more workability.

Wedges

2019: TaylorMade Milled Grind (48-09SB), TaylorMade MG Hi-Toe (52-09SB, 56-09SB, 60-LB09), Shafts: Project X Rifle 6.5
2026: TaylorMade MG5 (46-09SB, 50-09SB, 54-11SB, 60-08LB @61), Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46-54), Project X 6.5 Wedge (60)

Between 2019 and 2026, McIlroy’s focus on his short game has been much more apparent. It was the reason why he switched back to the TP5 golf ball, to help with launch, spin and control with his wedges leading up to his career Grand Slam victory in 2025. The most apparent changes to McIlroy’s wedge setup are his lofts and bounce. He’s slowly delofted his pitching to a sand wedge, but has increased the loft on the lob wedge, bending his current 60-degree to 61. With that, adding more loft to his lob wedge also slightly increases the bounce and leading-edge sit point, so, as a result, he plays a lower-bounce lob wedge compared to 2019. The MG5 wedges are also softer than the first Milled Grind option from 2019. McIlroy also no longer plays the full-face grooves found on the Hi-Toe.

Putter

2019: TaylorMade Spider X
2026: TaylorMade Spider Tour X

Notice anything similar. Yes, the copper finish on Rory McIlroy’s Spider X putter in 2019 is a slightly more reflective finish than the recently released torched PVD finish. McIlroy was using the True Path alignment system, but now uses only a single white sightline.

Ball

2019: 2019 TaylorMade TP5 (#22)
2026: 2025 TaylorMade TP5 (RORS)

As mentioned above, McIlroy had transitioned from the TP5 to TP5x golf ball since his victory in Canada in 2019, but now is black with the same style of golf ball as his victory at Hamilton Golf & Country Club.

Grips

2019: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
2026: Golf Pride MCC

Interesting, McIlroy actually used Golf Pride’s Tour Velvet Cord grips during his victory in 2019 (it was during a 2+ year switch to the corded TV) as opposed to his usual MCC grips, which he has played for most of his career.

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