There've been a few Peter Parkers on Tour this year playing and winning with TaylorMade's new Rossa Monza Spider. J.B. Holmes was the first player to use his superpowers to win in February at the FBR Open. According to TaylorMade the extremely high MOI mallet was the "No. 1 putter model" at the tournament. The week before at the Buick Invitational, 12 Spiders were in play.
In March Sean O'Hair used the Spider at the PODS Championship. That week O'Hair averaged 1.813 putts per Green in Regulation and won by two shots over six other players.
Why have Tour players been so successful with the Spider? In order to find out I tested it last week.
Aside from all of its technical advances I liked the Spider because it just felt great (I know, what an expert opinion). It has tremendous balance and at times it felt like I literally couldn't swing it off line. (See below for more a technical summary of its weighting properties.)
It's hard to say how golfers will react to its unorthodox looks, but if they give it a try I think it's very possible that it could supplant the Two-Ball as the most popular mallet.
A quick overview on what TaylorMade did to ramp up the Spider's MOI to give it that great weighting:
1. Its head was constructed from a steel wire-frame so weight can be pushed to the clubhead's perimeter.
2. It has a light, but strong aluminum core which helps move weight to the perimeter as well.
3. It sports a pair of "wings" into which weights have been added (and adjusted). (I didn't mess around with the weights-I never do-and still found it to have exceptional control and balance.)
It might not be the most traditional looking putter and it may turn off some customers simply by its looks, but I suggest giving it a try at your local store. TaylorMade just started shipping them to retailers (they ring up at $240) and I wouldn't be surprised if you started seeing more in your friends' bags as well as on Tour.
Charlie Schroeder
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