Equipment
Golf legend Bob Murphy’s new putter insert
If you ask any of the great players that have played golf with Bob Murphy, they will tell you that he is one of the best putters that ever lived. His tempo and putting stroke are like the movement of a fine Swiss timepiece, and were the fuel for his win at the 1965 U.S. Amateur, his 1966 NCAA Championship individual title, and his five wins on the PGA Tour.
Because great putting is important at every level, Murphy continued to win tournaments as a member of the Champions Tour. On the Champions Tour, he notched 11 tour victories, and missed only nine cuts in the 366 events he played in.
Arthritis has slowed his playing career, but not his passion for putting. He and his team have created a putter insert that they believe to be the next big thing in putting. Enjoy this story from Bob Murphy about the new insert that is being kept under type wraps … for now.
High Friction Insert Technology
By Bob Murphy with Craig Dolch
“‘Old Murph’ could make a putt or two”– that statement was spoken by Johnny Miller on many television broadcasts we were doing fro NBC. I did make “a few” and learned a lot by watching and listening to fellow PGA Tour professionals, including Miller, Nicklaus, Stockton, Watson, Floyd, Trevino and Colbert. We were obsessed with improving our putting.
Most of our work was on the putting stroke. But there was always concern regarding the putter, too. Did it look good? Did the lie have the sole flat when placed behind the ball? Was the loft correct? Was there a nice “sound” or “click” when struck? Did it “feel good” giving feedback to the hands and brain?
Today, we have a new consideration — the ball itself and the large dimples. Try taking a new Titleist or Callaway and roll it easily and softly by pushing it with your finger and it will veer directions, rock and then come to a halt quickly — all on a flat surface. The new golf ball is simply not perfectly round. The dimples are arranged in various patterns and the ridges of the dimples do protrude. A ball struck on a ridge point can easily impart spin and misdirection. This distortion varies greatly, of course. But the fact is it does happen.
My group is working to develop an insert with high friction to absorb the strike of the ball. The result is that the ball is on the face for a slightly longer time. It may seem infinitesimal, but the ball begins to true roll faster and leaves incredibly straight off this insert. My showing this to PGA Tour and Champions Tour pros Nick Price, Robert Allenby, Ken Duke, Olin Browne and Jay Sigel brings a similar response from each of them. They can see the ball rolls with no bounce and no spin. With this true roll, they notice how straight it takes off, especially on putts of 2 to 5 ft. How many of those have we seen missed on TV in the last three years — by the best in the business?
In trying these putters with the insert installed, these pros realize they can play less break on short putts. That becomes an advantage to them to trust that the ball is leaving so straight and rolling so purely.
Click here for more conversation in the forums
I am not the “mad’ scientist” who concocted this insert material. I am the voice of experience from golf assisting our group in filing the patent pending and obtaining the approval stamp of the USGA. We have that approval — it is legal.
This high-friction insert is ready to play. You will be watching television soon and Johnny Miller will say, “Old Murph has come up with something special here!”
More to come,
Bob Murphy
Cameron Young’s WITB from his win at the 2025 Wyndham Championship. Cameron is a Titleist staff player but his bag is definitely filled with some unique clubs. Here are the clubs he used to secure his first PGA Tour win!
Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX
Hybrid: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus HB Black VeloCore+ 10 X
Irons: Titleist T200 (4), Titleist T100 (5), Titleist 631.CY Prototype (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X7 (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F @57), WedgeWorks (60-K* @62)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X7
Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5 Tour Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Prototype
- Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Titleist GT3 (10 degrees, C2 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Project X Denali Blue 60 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 X
7-wood: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 X
Irons: Titleist T150 (4, 5), Titleist T100 (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper AMT Tour White X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F, 56-08M @57, 60-04T @62)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Style Fastback 1.5 Tour Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Yellow
We’re proud to once again partner with 2nd Swing Golf to bring you GolfWRX Members Choice 2025! 2nd Swing has more than 150,000 new and pre-swung golf clubs available in six store locations and online. Check them out here.
What is the best driver in 2025? At GolfWRX, we take great pride in our online community and the cumulative knowledge and experience of our members. When it comes to the best driver of 2025, we want to know what our forum faithful think.
Since our founding in 2005, the bedrock of GolfWRX.com has been the community of passionate and knowledgeable golfers in our forums, and we put endless trust in the opinions of our GolfWRX members — the most knowledgeable community of golfers on the internet. No other group of golfers in the world tests golf clubs as frequently or as extensively, nor is armed with such in-depth information about the latest technology.
Below are the results of GolfWRX member voting for the 2025 best driver, along with the vote percentage for each club.
Best driver of 2025: The top 5
5. Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond: 6.02%
Callaway’s pitch: “For golfers looking for a fast, forgiving, yet workable driver, the Elyte Triple Diamond features a tour-inspired shape and is the preferred model by most Callaway tour players.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond here.
4. Ping G440 Max: 6.86%
Ping’s pitch: “The most forgiving G440 model, MAX has a hotter face to generate speed and distance, and a lighter overall system weight with a longer shaft (46″) for faster clubhead speed, higher launch and longer carries. The Free Hosel and Carbonfly Wrap crown save weight to create our lowest CG ever and increase forgiveness while contributing to a more muted, pleasing sound.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Ping G440 Max here.
3. Ping G440 LST: 9.53%
Ping’s pitch: “LST is an especially good fit for faster swings, offering less spin and more control with a penetrating trajectory. A hotter face, lighter overall system weight and longer shaft (46″) deliver more speed and distance while maintaining tight dispersion.”
@phizzy30: “Not a fan of Ping drivers in general, but 440 LST takes the cake. It’s super forgiving across the face for a low spin head, looks and sounds good and the ability to make it play neutral or slightly fade biased through the hosel settings is very appealing.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Ping G440 LST here.
2. Titleist GT3: 16.55%
Titleist’s pitch: “The GT3 Driver offers Titleist’s boldest combination of power and personalization through adjustable performance. Dial in the CG Track to your frequent contact location to make your biggest drives even bigger while taking total control over flight and shaping.”
@mrmikeac: “I’ve been Anti-Titleist for years and years and years (outside of Vokey, of course). With that being said, HOLY BEGEEZUS the GT3 driver is an absolute NUCLEAR MONSTER! This thing blew my G430 10K Max out of the water in every single category. Forgiveness is the biggest thing that stands out of me, the 3 model has always been one of the less forgiving models in the past but this GT3 can take bad shot after bad shot and still end up in the fairway, I think a ton of that has to do with the adjustability, it’s actually effective. Feel and sound is perfect, that solid crack is so addicting to hear and when you hit it out the screws this thing can absolutely bomb it. Titleist, I’m sorry for doubting you. You have converted me.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Titleist GT3 here.
1. Titleist GT2: 22.91%
Titleist’s pitch: “Delivering impressive distance from any impact point, the Titleist GT2 Driver extracts maximum performance through a forgiving design. Get the stability and added confidence of a high-MOI driver without sacrificing speed.”
@DTorres: “The Titleist GT2 has proven to be the best driver of the year. Packaged in a classic profile, GT2 perfectly balances performance and forgiveness while consistently being a high performer across all categories.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Titleist GT2 here.
Other drivers receiving >2% of the vote
| Driver | Vote percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| Cobra DS Adapt Max K | 4.85% |
| Ping G430 Max 10K | 3.85% |
| Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond | 3.68% |
| TaylorMade Qi35 | 3.51% |
| Callaway Elyte | 3.18% |
| Cobra DS Adapt X | 2.34% |
| Cobra DS Adapt LS | 2.17% |
| TaylorMade Qi35 LS | 2.17% |
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skaterdude
Jan 23, 2012 at 10:27 am
That insert looks killer!!
Pingback: GolfWRX.com – Golf legend Bob Murphy's new putter insert | Golf Club Advisor
yeahright
Jan 20, 2012 at 6:19 pm
looks a lot like skateboard grip tape… would applying grip tape to ones putter be legal?