ODYSSEY ICON’S

The one that started it all when the brand was still trying to make a name for itself. Nick Faldo reeled in Greg Norman at Augusta in 1996 using the Odyssey Rossie 2. And it was that victory that sent Odyssey off to the races, with 30,000 orders overnight. With its symmetrical half-moon shape, the Rossie 2 is a small mallet by modern standards, but its looks were palatable for players who have had more success using a blade in the past. One of the unsung features on most versions of the Rossie 2 is the alignment aids on the top line and the flange. Aligning both together ensures your putter lie is consistent shot after shot. A slightly modified version is in the bag of world #1 and Masters champion Jon Rahm.

#7

As a company, you’ve created the most iconic mallet putter shape of all time. How do you follow it up? With the second-most iconic mallet putter shape. While it’s officially a #7, most people call this shape the ‘Fang’, for its resemblance to Dracula’s gnashers. In a lot of ways, it does a lot of the same things as the 2-Ball but inverses them. Two long, protruding fangs create a void a ball’s width apart that extend back around the same distance as two balls might. Where the weight is more centrally located with the 2-Ball, it is in the extreme heel and toe of the #7. And while the 2-Ball inspired other putter designs, competitors have been much more blatant in taking the theme of the #7 to their respective brands.

2008: Colin

Montgomerie won

2010: Stuart Appleby shot a 59 using an Odyssey White Hot XG 330 at the Greenbriar

Odyssey’s most iconic design, the 2-Ball has remained a staple since it first appeared on tour in 2001. By utilising two ball-sized discs on the top of the head for alignment, the putter is for many far simpler to line up than a putter with lines. While many putters have been inspired by the 2-Ball, none have captured the magic of the putter that started the wholesale move from blade putters to mallets at every level of the game. There has been a myriad of variations released since its inception, from different inserts, necks, head shapes and even the admittedly less successful 3-Ball. Odyssey has sold millions of 2-Ball putters since its inception, and it’s safe to say they will sell millions more.

2016: Acquired Toulon Design, experts in milled putters

Maybe not as iconic as the 2-Ball, nor as recognisable as the Rossie 2, but the Odyssey Double Wide is an absolute mainstay of the line-up. With Anser-style blades, such as the Odyssey #1 and Toulon Madison and San Diego, still incredibly popular on tour, it’s easy to be tempted by the traditional shaping. but they aren’t as easy to use as a modern, high MOI putter. Enter the Double Wide. Featuring a bladestyled head, but with a double-width front to back, it increases forgiveness, it’s easy to align, while retaining that classic appeal behind the ball.

We know it’s not a putter design, but with the Stroke Lab putter shaft Odyssey has changed the game when it comes to finding that extra percentage to improve your putts. The composite graphite and steel shaft design does a bunch of things that help improve your stroke. Modern putters have got heavier in the head for more forgiveness at the detriment of feel. The Stroke Lab improves the balance of the putter by lightening the overall weight, and then concentrating that weight towards the head and the butt of the shaft. This rebalancing gives the modern putters more feel. Secondly its stiffer. By making the shaft stiffer the putter head is delivered more consistently to help you hole more putts. Introduced in 2019, no one takes a second glance at a graphite shaft in a putter now, because Odyssey has made it ubiquitous.

Again not a putter, but the insert that really solidified Odyssey’s position as the #1 putter in golf. Ely Callaway wanted an insert that felt like a golf ball. So Callaway engineers made an insert out of urethane, using the same material as the cover of Callaway’s Rule 35 golf balls at the time. While it feels incredibly soft, it also has better energy return properties than Callaway’s original Stronomic insert so it rolls off the speed to a similar pace as a milled face putter. Despite many technical improvements to Odyssey putter inserts over the years, tour players still preferred the White Hot insert. In 2021 Odyseey returned it to the line in the Odyssey White Hot OG line. Now, 23 years later, it still performs.

2016: Jim Furyk shoots a 58 using an Odyssey Versa Wide #1 at The Travellers Championship, three years after shooting

2017: Adam Hadwin shoots 59 using an Odyssey Tank Cruiser V Line at the CareerBuilder Challenge

2018: Brandt Snedker shoots a 59 using an Odyssey White Hot XG Rossie