Gear: Ping PLD Milled putters
Specs: Milled 303 stainless steel. Available in two blade and two mid-size mallet designs
Who they’re for: Golfers who demand the ultimate in feel and precision and want a putter that looks like it came right off the PGA Tour.
Price: $485
The Skinny: The four PLD putters are straight-from-the-tour designs that will look familiar to anyone who watches the PGA Tour or LPGA. They are designed to provide outstanding feedback and generate a classic, unfiltered sound at impact.
The Deep Dive: Back in 2016, Ping started the PLD program. The letters stand for Putting Lab Design, referring to an area deep inside Ping’s Phoenix, Arizona, headquarters where pros such as Viktor Hovland, Tony Finau, Louis Oosthuizen, Bubba Watson and Brooke Henderson have their strokes analyzed and their putters tweaked. From the start, the goal of the PLD program was for Ping’s staff players to be armed with the best putters available to help them win championships.
In 2017, Ping made the first commercially available PLD putter – an Anser, of course. Over the next few years, pros such as Hovland and Cameron Champ helped Ping refine the shape of some compact mallets using different materials. Now Ping is making four PLD putters available for golfers who love classic shapes and want the ultimate in feel.
Milled from soft 303 stainless steel blocks, there are two PLD heel-toe-weighted blades (Anser, Anser 2) and two compact mallets (DS 72, Prime Tyne 4). While some recent Ping putters such as the Sigma 2 have featured variable-depth milling patterns designed to normalize ball speed over the hitting area, and others such as the 2021 family have multi-material faces to soak up excessive vibrations, the PLD Milled putters have a consistent-depth milling pattern that is intended to soften the sound and feel of impact. Over the years Ping’s designers have studied groove depth in different metals so they can produce the precise harmonics they want, and in the PLD Milled, the slightly deeper milling pattern produces a deeper tone.
The PLD Milled Anser is the latest iteration of one of the most iconic putters ever made. As with previous Anser putters, it has rounded bumpers in the heel and toe, creating perimeter weighting for extra stability. The PLD Milled version comes standard with a plumber’s neck hosel, making it ideally suited for a golfer with a slightly arched stroke. There are no alignment lines or aids on the Anser, which many “feel” players love.
The PLD Milled Anser 2 has a similar shape, but the blade length is longer, the topline is thinner and the bumpers on the back are squared and angular instead of rounded. It also has a single white alignment line on the back flange.
The DS72 mallet is the Viktor Hovland putter, a semi-circular, compact mallet. Looking down at it in the address position, you can see echoes of the Anser. The extra mass in the perimeter and deeper shape make it more stable on off-center hits.
Finally, the Prime Tyne 4, a favorite of Cameron Champ, has a rectangular hitting area and a pair of wing-like extensions in the heel and toe to boost the moment of inertia, along with a short slant neck hosel that gives it some toe hang. There is a short, white alignment line in the back flange, and the space between the wings is identical to the width of a golf ball, which should help players aim the putter more easily.
Ping PLD Milled Anser: $449.99 at PGA Tour Superstore / $447 at GlobalGolf
Ping PLD Milled Anser II: $449.99 at PGA Tour Superstore / $447 at GlobalGolf
Ping PLD Milled DS72: $449.99 at PGA Tour Superstore / $447 at GlobalGolf
Ping PLD Milled Tyne Prime 4: $449.99 at PGA Tour Superstore / $447 at GlobalGolf
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