The Best Face Balanced Putters of 2024

Should you use a face-balanced putter? That completely depends on your putting stroke. 

Face-balanced putters best serve golfers with a straight-back, straight-through stroke with little to no arc. If that sounds like you, then our list of the best face-balanced putters of 2024 could help you sink more putts.

When you buy a new putter, you should gain an immediate shot of confidence. I can’t stress this enough, but before you put a new putter in the bag, you must know the shape of your putting stroke, and find a putter that matches your stroke. From there, you can decide whether a blade, mallet, or mid-mallet suits your eye.  

If you have a straight-back, straight-through putting stroke, I can guarantee you’ll get more putts started on your intended line with a face-balanced putter than with a putter that has toe-hang. To help marry your stroke and your putter, these are the best face-balanced putters of 2024.

In our opinion, this PLD Milled DS72 putter from PING is the most sleek, best-looking putter on this list.

This face-balanced mid-mallet has a new gunmetal finish for 2024 and leans heavily into a minimalist aesthetic. I tested the new PLD Milled putters at the 2024 PGA Show, and the line stood out as the most confidence-inspiring of the putters I got my hands on.

PING’s deep AMP grooves, which can be found on every PLD Milled putter, produce a nice soft feel at impact, and the face-balanced hosel combined with the mid-mallet shape makes this a great putter for straight-stroke players who want forgiveness but don’t jive with large, full mallet head. If that’s you, and you want a premium putter and don’t mind paying a premium price, the PING PLD Milled DS72 is a must-try.

If I had $150 to pick a putter to put in my bag today, it would be this HB SOFT Premier flatstick from Cleveland.

I love the classic look, minimal branding, and gray satin finish. Another  thing I love about Cleveland’s second HB SOFT line is that there is a seemingly endless variety of head shapes and balance options, so no matter what your putting stroke or style, there is one for you. 

The Model 11 is our favorite face-balanced model, which is a more traditional mattlet shape, but if you want an HB SOFT 2 putter in a different style, the 8C (center-shafted wide blade), Model 15 (full mallet with unique design) and RETREVE versions are also face-balanced.

The diamond-pattern milled face gives it a softer feel at impact, but it’s the Speed Optimized Face Technology that provides the SOFT in the name. That technology helps ensure consistency across the face, which improves your distance control and can help you cut down on three-putts.

On top of all that, it comes with a premium stitched headcover.

Odyssey’s Ai-ONE Jailbird putter combines two of the hottest technologies in putting into one putter, which is why it earned our nod as the best mallet putter of 2024. 

Let’s start with the AIi that Odyssey puts into the face of its new line of Ai-ONE putters. Similar to what you see in today’s drivers, the face of the Ai-ONE putters is a variable thickness face, meaning it’s thicker in some spots than others, strategically of course, to deliver the most consistent ball speeds possible regardless of whether you strike it off the center, or miss a little on the toe or heel.

I’ve personally tested the face on the Ai-ONE putters, and yes, that tech does help give consistent ball speeds across the face.

The second element that Odyssey baked into this particular putter is the Versa Jailbird design. The black and white contrast on the putter head (or is it navy blue and white in this case?) makes alignment easy, not only at address, but throughout your stroke. 

You’ve probably noticed Rickie Fowler, Wyndham Clark and Keegan Bradley using this style of putter lately, but you might not know that none of those players are contracted by Odyssey. They use the putter because it’s the best one they can find, not because they get paid to use it.

As with most putters these days, you must be very particular about which specific model of the Ai-ONE Jailbird putter you purchase. If you prefer a face-balanced version, you need the DB option (double-bend).

There are also Mini and Cruiser versions of this putter. The Cruiser is an extra-long (38-inch) putter with a bigger, heavier head, longer grip, and counter-balanced shaft. It’s meant to be gripped down on, and built for maximum stability through the stroke. The mini comes in the standard 33 to 35-inch lengths, and also has multiple hosel options.

The only downside we can find with the Odyseey Ai-ONE Jailbird putter is that it’s only available for right-handed golfers. As a southpaw myself, that’s a major bummer.

Zebra has expanded its line of putters in 2024 with its new Milled Series, a line of four premium putters. The 001 is the mallet of the family, which features a traditional mallet head and Zebra’s trademark alignment aid. The 001 mallet is available in face-balanced or toe-hang options, so make sure you select the appropriate version for your stroke (in this case, that’s probably the face-balanced option).

This new Zebra putter is milled from carbon steel and has toe and heel weight ports, which give you the option, if you need, to optimize the head weight to dial in stability and distance control of your putter. Those perimeter weights also produce a forgiving face while the one-piece milled head elevates the overall feel of the putter squarely into the premium category.

I recently went to PXG for a putter fitting, expecting to get matched with a blade putter, but I left being fit into this exact mallet putter instead. The PXG Battle Ready Hercules has somewhat of a smaller profile for a mallet putter, which I like, and is as stable as can be. It’s easy to make a smooth stroke and get the ball started on the right line.

The face on the Battle Ready Hercules putter is just 0.055 inches thick, or roughly 5/100s of an inch if you prefer fractions. That allowed PXG to optimize the CG for more forgiveness. Afterall, that’s what mallet putters are all about.

If you want a forgiving mallet putter with a small-ish footprint that’s easy to roll, do yourself a favor and check out this putter.

I tested the new Cobra 3D Printed Agera putter at the 2024 PGA Show and I was blown away by two things in particular. First was the feel. The new face insert, made from aircraft aluminum, just felt perfect. It’s actually a little firmer than the insert on Cobra’s previous-generation 3D Printed putters. I know manufacturers like to put new inserts in their putters every few years, but if you’re listening, Cobra, please keep this one as long as possible.

The second, and probably more important thing that stuck out to me was how easy the distance control was with this putter. For whatever reason, whether I was hitting 6-footers or 20-footers, I seemed to roll the rock with perfect speed every time. 

The reason, it turns out, is probably because of that 3D printing that Cobra uses in these putters. That technology is made to create stable, forgiving putters, and the Agera is just that. 

Among the various options you have when testing or buying Cobra’s 3D Printed Agera putter, the Single Bend (SB) option is your face-balanced version.

The last thing I’ll say about this, and all Cobra putters, is that the LA Golf Descending Loft Technology on the face is a huge bonus for adding even more consistency to your putting game. Whether you hit the ball high or low off the face, you’ll get a consistent and predictable roll thanks the the face that has four degrees of loft at the top, and descends by one degree in each horizontal quadrant down to one degree at the bottom.

Golf is all about consistency, and if you want more consistency on the greens, check out this putter.

If you’ve noticed a trend towards black and dark putter heads, that’s because it reduces glare at address, and also because it looks sleek.

Looks are a huge selling point of the TP Black putter, but ultimately we judge putters on how they perform, which is why we admire the TP Black. The Del Monte Single Bend (SB) is one face-balanced option in the TP Black line, and the somewhat wider blade-style head offers variety contrasted against most other face-balanced putters, which skew toward the mallet profile, in case you haven’t noticed.

While TaylorMade classifies its single bend option as face-balanced, the TP Black Del Monte Single Bend technically produces 8 degrees of toe hang, which is near face-balanced and suits players with little to virtually no arc in their stroke.

When you hit putts with the TP Black, you’ll notice a smooth, immediate roll. That’s thanks to TaylorMade’s Pure Roll insert with groves designed for optimal forward roll off the face.

Tommy Armour, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Golf Galaxy’s in-house brand of clubs, is starting to get the respect it deserves. I’ve spent hours testing and writing about Tommy Armour putters, wedges, irons and woods, and I can tell you first-hand that if you think it’s nothing more than a cheap knock-off brand, you’re dead wrong. These clubs perform.

There’s a new release of the Tommy Armour Impact putter for 2024, which is exciting news for those of us who know just how good these clubs are.

The high-contrast black finish makes setup a breeze and this new 2024 edition replaces a face insert with the milled face, and with the all-black head, looks much cleaner than the two-tone design of the previous model. 

In testing the Tommy Armour Impact putter, I was most impressed with how easy it was to control distance, which is the biggest key to avoiding three-putts.

The oh-so-soft feel of the White Hot insert and the wide blade profile make the Odyssey White Hot OG Double Wide putter an excellent face-balanced option, especially for those who prefer to avoid a mallet. 

Considering it checks in at less than half the price of some of the premium putters on this list, if you’ve ever wanted to jump on the White Hot bandwagon, now just might be the time. Of course, for $50 more you can get your White Hot OG 2-Ball putter with Odyssey’s Stroke Lab shaft. 

The 2022 release of perhaps Odyssey’s most famous White Hot putter insert is more than just a tip of the cap to the original. Odyssey even re-created the original two-part urethane face insert. The moment you strike it, the familiar sound and feel will let you know it’s a White Hot.

We didn't expect Mizuno to give us one of the best mallet putters you can buy, but it only took a few minutes rolling the Mizuno M-Craft OMOI Type 3 to realize this is a legitimate contender in a crowded putter market. If you like a center-shafted putter, the OMOI Type 5 is a center-shafted mallet version, also face balanced.

Mizuno undeniably has a putter to complement its superior irons. It’s heavy, but not in a clunky or unbalanced way. This putter is a steady ship that requires little effort to drop in mid and short-range putts. 

We also didn’t expect to love the Blue Ion color, but here we are favoring it over the more traditional satin and black finishes. A quick test is all it takes for you to see and feel the attention Mizuno gave this design.