Equipment
Charles Howell III Q&A: Putter testing, being a “gearhead” and his favorite putting drills
This week at the 2022 Waste Management Phoenix Open, 42-year-old Charles Howell III is making his 600th career PGA Tour start. Chucky Three Sticks, as he’s called, has been one of the most consistent golfers on Tour for the last two decades, amassing over $40 million in on-course earnings.
He’s also a massive gearhead who loves to test and switch equipment. While the full-time Titleist staffer is currently set with 13-of-14 of his clubs, he still enjoys testing putters – everything from Scotty Cameron’s to putters made from other manufacturers. As he discusses below, he just likes to keep things interesting.
A look at Howell III’s Titleist setup at the Phoenix Open.
On Tuesday ahead of the WM Phoenix Open, I caught up Howell III following a putter testing session on the TPC Scottsdale practice green. I noticed he was testing a bunch of different putters, and the session lasted for hours. I couldn’t help but talk to Howell III for a few minutes following the session to pick his brain.
Happy 600 to Chucky Three Sticks, and enjoy the quick interview below!
Tursky: So I just saw you grinding for hours, doing a little putter testing. What are you looking at? What are you seeing?
Howell III: So, for some reason I’ve putted my best historically with more of a Newport style putter with some amount of toe hang, but my eye always wants to go to a mallet putter. So I’m always in that… it’s why we’re golfers I guess. We’re strange creatures. But I’ll end up with a Newport style putter. I love the way the others look when they sit down. And then Tim Suzor, who helps me with my putting and I’ve known forever, he’s…none of it’s rocket science but we play so much we fall into these bad habits and weird stuff, it’s nice to have another set of eyes there to get your attention to go in [the right direction].
I feel like you had the same putter for a few months in a row there and ended up switching it out.
Three months is just way too long. It’s just way too long.
Is that a thing where you just can’t help yourself? Like you just have to look at something different?
I don’t switch anything else…I’ve played the same driver and driver shaft forever now. I’ve played the same 3 wood, etc., so you have to switch something. There’s also part of it, too, that it keeps it interesting and exciting. When you’ve played golf as long as I have, sometimes it’s just part of the fun of it to look at something else. It’s why we’re all gearheads, right? You don’t need any more reason to it than that.
I’m not a guy that can look at the same putter forever. I’m just not.
What are you working on technique wise?
A lot of posture and balance stuff. We’ve actually introduced quite a bit of games to make it more of a competitive environment on the practice green, similar to how you feel and what you do on the golf course.
It’ll be a certain amount of block practice, some setup and posture stuff, and then some games for the competitive side of it.
What are some of the games?
Well, we do a lot of holing a certain amount of putts before you can leave the green. We’ll do a lot of speed drills where you have to get a certain amount of balls between the front edge of the hole and a rod, let’s say 3 feet behind it. All different things like that just to make it a little bit competitive.
So how many putts in a row will you need to hit?
We’ll go from 8 feet and you have to make 5 in a row from both sides of the hole, so that would be 10 in a row. That game at times can take for-absolute-ever, and then you just give up and say, ‘The hell with it, I’m going to the driving range.”
But as long as there’s a balance between a certain amount of block practice for what we’re trying to do, and a certain amount of practice of like, let’s get out of that and into results and a little bit of competitiveness. So it doesn’t really matter what the game is, it just matter that it’s more a performance game as opposed to like a block game.
And you’re only doing putter testing, you’re not testing anything else?
No, it’s just putters. See it’s boring. See, it’s all boring. Just putters, because everything else is fine.
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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Feb 12, 2022 at 1:13 pm
Thank you for this. I always like reading CHIII’s interviews. Fun perspectives on equipment that many of us can relate to.