Gear: TaylorMade Spider Tour Torched putters
Price: $349.99 each with KBS CT Putter 120 Stepless Black shaft and SuperStroke grip
Specs: Multi-material, high-MOI mallet design with PVD finish, grooved TPU insert and internal vibration dampening polymer.
Available: June 4
Who it’s for: Golfers looking for high-MOI mallet putters with different toe-hang profiles, alignment systems and center of gravity (CG) locations to better match specific stroke types.
What you should know: TaylorMade is reintroducing the Spider Tour family with a complete fitting ecosystem and four distinct head shapes, multiple hosel configurations and progressive CG placements designed to appeal to golfers with different stroke types.
The Deep Dive: TaylorMade doesn’t really need to reinvent Spider. Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa and a host of other elite players have been winning with Spider putters for the past few seasons. At this point, the shape has almost transcended branding. Even golfers who have never rolled a Spider know what one looks like from across a putting green, and the name has become shorthand for stability, forgiveness and modern mallet putting.
So instead of reinventing a successful line, the new Spider Tour Torched family appears to be TaylorMade’s attempt to broaden the appeal even further using an updated platform. At the same time, it is wrapping the new line in a new torched PVD finish inspired by Rory McIlroy’s “torched” Spider Tour X.
The TaylorMade Spider Tour X Torched putter features the company’s True Path alignment system.
The finish will probably grab golfers first because it’s noticeably different from the brighter silver and black combinations Spider models have we have seen for the past few seasons. Depending on the lighting, the heads shift between bronze, smoky copper and darker tones. It looks more refined and less industrial than previous Spider generations, particularly when paired with the black shaft and subtle blue accents.
The more interesting story, however, is how TaylorMade is segmenting the lineup.
Instead of building one Spider and offering a few hosel choices, TaylorMade created four distinct shapes with different CG placements, alignment systems and toe-hang characteristics.
Weights in the back heel and toe boost the MOI and enhance stability on off-center hits.
The standard Spider Tour still has the deepest CG in the family, located 36 millimeters behind the leading edge. That deeper CG placement is designed to maximize stability and forgiveness while helping the head resist twisting at impact. Golfers can choose between L-Neck, Small Slant and a Counter-Balanced Double Bend configuration depending on how much arc they create with their stroke.
Spider Tour X, which many golfers will associate with McIlroy and Scheffler, will also be available in multiple configurations, including Rory-inspired single sight line versions alongside True Path alignment options. Depending on hosel choice, toe hang ranges from face balanced to 30 degrees.
With the other two models, Spider Tour F and Tour V, things get more interesting.
The TaylorMade Spider Tour V (left) and Spider Tour V (right) Torched putters.
Spider Tour F and Tour V move the CG progressively farther forward. Spider Tour F positions it 22mm behind the face, while Spider Tour V moves it to 21mm, the most forward CG in the lineup. That forward CG placement changes how the putters rotate during the stroke. Golfers who traditionally prefer blade putters with more toe flow and face should feel as similar sensation while still getting the stability benefits of a mallet.
Across the lineup, TaylorMade retained many of the technologies golfers already associate with Spider. The White TPU Pure Roll insert combines Surlyn and aluminum with grooves angled downward at a 45-degree angle to encourage forward roll and soften feel. A strip of internal HYBRAR ECHO dampening material also sits behind the face to reduce unwanted vibration and tune sound.
The Spider Tour’s Pure Roll insert features downward-facing grooves that reducing skidding and bouncing.
There was a time when choosing a mallet putter mostly meant choosing forgiveness. Now it means choosing how much toe flow you want, how forward the CG can be located, how the alignment looks at address and how actively the putter rotates during your stroke.
With the Spider Tour Torched family, TaylorMade isn’t trying to convince golfers to switch to mallets anymore. It understands that most golfers already have. Now it’s trying to build the specific kind of mallet each golfer wants.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: TaylorMade Spider Tour Torched putters add four new models