Marc Leishman fired a 2nd Round 67 Friday at the Masters to vault him deep into contention going into the weekend. Although his game has been solid throughout the bag, it’s the putter that has been the lynchpin to his success thus far.
Leish made a putter switch early in 2021 going into Odysseys White Hot OG #1 WS. I had a chance to chat with Odyssey Tour Rep Joe Toulon on how that went down and this is what he had to say:
“Leish has always been a fan of the 1W shape and the WH insert so we knew this was right up his alley. We sent him one in December of last year and he showed up to the Sentry TOC with it. Straight in the bag and he’s been rolling it great all year. Absolutely loves the WH insert.”
March Leishman Putter Specs:
Make: WH OG 1WS
Shaft: Red SL Shaft
Insert: WH OG
Loft/Lie: 4/68.5
Length: 35” eog
Swingweight: E0
Total Weight: 510
Grip: SS Traxion 1.0 PT
So what is it about White Hot that keeps the best players in the world coming back or staying with it for years?
In my opinion, some pieces of innovation are YEARS ahead of their time. Golf technology has evolved at an almost ridiculous pace in the last 20 years and sometimes simple “aha!” moments are the ones that change the game. Let’s face it, the game has COMPLETELY transformed. Golf balls that spin and don’t spin all at the same time, fast drivers, missile launcher irons. Hell, even cell phones changed the game.
Very few things stick for an extended period of time, however, when Odyssey released the White Hot insert in 2000 it was simply in response to giving players a soft feel AND a crisp reaction off the putter face. White Hot has dynamic stiffness meaning the insert will feel soft or firm depending on the length of putt you have. Stronomic was the hot insert at the time but for a lot of players, it was too soft, players noticed putts coming up short of the hole more than average. Under the gun that can be a problem.
The rest (as we like to say) is history.
Yes, new iterations of inserts were born from White Hot but after years of innovation Odyssey decided that some things just hold up over time, why fight brilliance?
If White Hot OG were a song it would be Silk Sonics LEAVE THE DOOR OPEN. Sometimes the classics or honoring them is just better😉
GolfWRX.com did an awesome write up on the creation of White Hot:
The WRX article will give you a 35,000-foot view of just how iconic this insert has become. Yes, it’s just an insert but is it? How many White Hot 2-Balls have you seen in the last 20 years? Everyone has had one at some point, and even on TOUR multiple players still have older White Hot models in play. I pray the next project for Odyssey is bringing back my favorite putter of all time, the Tri-Hot….one miracle at a time.
Below is an awesome timeline of Odyssey/White Hot, Enjoy!!
