2017 PXG Bat Attack Putter

By Tony Dear

It’s difficult to know who has been PXG’s most significant signing to date. The 16-strong stable now includes four major champions (two PGA Tour, two LPGA) and a FedEx Cup winner, but it’s really a disparate mix of charismatic, below-the-radar players that keeps the company in the spotlight most of the time.

Two-time major winner Zach Johnson was one of PXG’s eight signings last January, and he was joined in July by fellow Masters champion Charl Schwartzel. Last year’s U.S. Women’s Open winner Brittany Lang signed on at the start of this year.

None though had quite the impact or made quite as much noise as Lydia Ko, who arrived along with Lang, Christina Kim, and Ryann O’Toole in January.

Ko, a two-time major champion and 19-time professional winner, became golf’s youngest-ever world number one (she was 17—four years younger than Tiger Woods) when she replaced Inbee Park at the top of the Rolex Women’s World Rankings in February 2015.

Ko plays the company’s 0811X Driver, 0341X 3-wood, 0341 5-wood, three 0317 hybrids, 0311 Extreme Dark irons, 0311 Milled Dark Sierra wedges and, since the middle of last month, the new Bat Attack putter which she had been using a prototype of for the previous three months.

Though it’s not clear exactly what role she played in designing the putter, PXG will say the Bat Attack is “Ko-inspired.”

A modified, face-balanced, mallet built with an aircraft-grade aluminum body and heavy-weighted “wings,” the Bat Attack features the same TPE (Thermo-plastic elastomer) Core Technology that dampens vibrations (“anti-concussion”) in the company’s irons. “The face insert creates not only a better sound and feel, but also a more consistent response across the entire face,” says PXG engineer Rob Schweigert.

“The mass is distributed more efficiently, yielding a higher MOI, which results in less twisting at impact.”

The Bat Attack, PXG’s sixth putter model, is available in three weight options—350g, 375g, and 400g. Set exactly a ball’s width apart, the wings for the 350-gram model are constructed from stainless steel while higher-density tungsten is used for the heavier clubs. The shaft, available in black or chrome, features a double-bend that produces “half-shaft” offset.

$550; pxg.com