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What you need to know: For the better part of two decades, the TaylorMade Spider has been one of the most recognisable putters in the industry. With Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood leading the way, it’s earned more PGA Tour wins than any other model since the start of the 2024 season, increasing Spider’s visibility at the highest rung of professional golf.
Increased visibility is always a good thing—until a tour-only version comes along that isn’t available to the masses. While the torched version of McIlroy’s Spider Tour X has been made in limited quantities, it was never a retail option. That will soon change with the release of Spider Tour Torched.
In addition to a torched Spider, TaylorMade is increasing the overall footprint (and weight) of the putter with the release of Spider ZT Max, a hefty high-MOI mallet that’s designed to provide an extra level of off-centre stability.
3 Cool Things
1. The CG ladder: Let’s start with the most obvious change: the torched finish. To achieve the finish on McIlroy’s current putter, TaylorMade’s putter team used a blowtorch and sandblasting for the raw appearance.
In this case, they added a “torched PVD finish” to the head of Spider putter to get the rustic materialisation. The finish provides a different look, but the technology underneath the hood remains intact.
The four models within the lineup (Spider Tour, Tour X, Tour F and Tour V) feature different CG depths, ranging from 36mm behind the leading edge on the original Spider Tour—the deepest in the family—down to 21mm on the forward-focused Tour V. The Tour X lands in the middle at 34-36mm; the Tour F sits at 22mm.
That CG spread is designed to offer multiple options for golfers that go beyond the different head designs. A deeper CG means more stability and a head that wants to stay square, which is better for straighter strokes and anyone chasing maximum forgiveness. Forward CG works with an arc stroke, keeping the face tracking through impact and handing back more feedback.
Stack that against toe-hang options that run from face-balanced all the way to 33 degrees, and the family stops being one putter in four outfits. It essentially becomes a fitting matrix where you pick the shape that matches your stroke, not the one that looks best in the bag.
While the CG changes from one putter to the next, the same white TPU Pure Roll insert with 45-degree grooves and a Hybrar Echo damper carries across the lineup
2. Mallet for blade players: If you’ve been paying attention to recent gear changes on tour, then you’re familiar with Spider Tour V. The mallet made a brief appearance in Brooks Koepka’s bag at the PGA Championship, and looks nothing like the original shape that’s become synonymous with Spider.
That’s by design. With a CG that’s 21mm behind the leading edge, it’s the most forward option in the family. The target is specific: players with an arc stroke that want the feedback of a blade with the stability and forgiveness a high-MOI mallet generally delivers.
This is the lineup’s most stroke-specific shape, and the one blade loyalists will likely gravitate to. Its L-Neck hosel generates a blade-esque 33 degrees of toe hang.
3. Going bigger: When you add the word “Max” to a putter name, players expect a certain level of off-center stability. For Spider ZT Max, the extra stability comes in the form of four heavy corner weights that throw mass to the perimeter and push MOI as high as it’ll go.
With a larger overall footprint than the original Spider 5K ZT, the Max’s shaft bores straight toward the CG for 2 degrees of lean and 34mm of onset, sitting toe-up at address, with new sole shaping designed to make the head sit flush when it’s soled.
The three weight configurations are a progression in how much of the stroke you hand off to the bigger muscles. The standard head weighs in at 379 grams (33 to 35 inches), while the counterbalance goes up in overall mass to 398 grams with a 155-gram graphite shaft that pushes the balance point into the grip end, quieting the hands and forearms.
The long version is the full commitment: a 46-inch single-length build, with the heaviest head in the group at 472 grams and a notably upright 79-degree lie, engineered to move control off the hands and wrists and onto the shoulders and arms for a pendulum stroke.
The head weight climbs with intent from 379 to 398 to 472 grams as the putter gets longer and closer to the body.
Finishing the package, TaylorMade’s black Pure Roll insert—a Surlyn-and-aluminum blend—softens feel at impact while its 45-degree-angled grooves promote true launch and immediate forward roll at impact.
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Main Image: TaylorMade
