Odyssey Celebrates 25 Years As No. 1 Putter On Tour

Long before the days of L.A.B. Golf, Odyssey disrupted the golf putter industry, piquing the curiosity of amateurs and pros alike, while causing manufacturers to ask themselves: “Why didn’t we think of that?”

Founded by non-golfer Michael Magerman in 1991, Odyssey bucked the then-trend by utilizing a non-metal insert and urethane face to stabilize putter weight to help improve feel, forgiveness, roll and alignment.

It didn’t take long for the brand to gain traction among the game’s best. Tom Watson was one of Odyssey’s early tour adopters in 1996; he’d go on to win the Memorial Tournament later that year. Nick Faldo’s win at the 1996 Masters put Odyssey in the mainstream. A $130 million acquisition by Callaway the following year was a force multiplier. Success from the likes of Annika Sörenstam, Ernie Els and Jon Rahm over the years has only reinforced the brand’s status as top dog.

In fact, this year marks 25 consecutive years that Odyssey is the No. 1 putter on tour. It’s also the most popular putter on the market in 2025.

“The biggest thing for Odyssey early on in the brand’s existence was offering a differentiated product,” said Eric Stubben, manager of putter R&D at Callaway Golf. “We were kind of the first ones to introduce inserts in a big way and inserts on a mass scale. Then, of course, White Hot was really the big one in 2000 that kind of blew it all out into the open and got us to No. 1.”

Sustained success—like FootJoy boasting the No. 1 shoe in golf for 75+ years—doesn’t happen overnight nor is it guaranteed.

From the brand’s initial adopters to today’s golfers, Odyssey’s popularity is validated by its products: Rossie, White Hot, 2-Ball and AI One. Despite sustained success, that doesn’t mean Odyssey is resting on its laurels as it tries to appeal to golf’s growing demographics with the game more popular than ever. More than 47 million Americans age 6+ played both on- and off-course golf in 2024 according to the National Golf Foundation.

To celebrate its quarter-century atop the industry, Odyssey is getting into the zero-torque craze with the introduction of its S2S Tri-Hot line of putters available November 7.

Utilizing aluminum, steel and more than 140 grams of tungsten, the Square 2 Square Tri-Hot putters ($549.99+) feature more than 80% of its weight under the topline, allowing for a forward center of gravity and hosel position.

A new dual-layer urethane insert designed utilizing AI features a soft outer layer and firm inner layer to deliver consistent ball speed and roll on the face across the mallet-led line featuring the Rossie, #7, Jailbird and Jailbird Cruiser.

“Callaway, and by extension Odyssey, have led the industry in the use of AI,” said Luke Williams, Callaway Golf senior director, product & brand management. “That has been a differentiator for us. The insert in Tri-Hot is our second generation insert using AI to drive the design and this time it delivers consistent ball speed across the face along with improved forward roll.

“In the case of Tri-Hot, however, the magic formula of this design comes back to engineering and the use and understanding of multi-material construction to achieve the mass properties needed in order to position the cg (center of gravity) and shaft closer to the face.”

With 51 pro wins through September 25 for Team Odyssey in 2025 and their putters being utilized by top pros including Xander Schauffele, Yuka Saso, Sam Burns, Rose Zhang and Jeeno Thitikul, Odyssey has its sights set on a 26th consecutive year as the most-popular and successful putter in pro golf.

That success will pay dividends among amateurs as golf continues to grow.

“I think (amateur) golfers can trust that if Odyssey putters are good enough for the best players in the world, they will be good enough for them,” Williams said. “We have the broadest array of shapes, styles, price points, technologies, and looks and feels in the market so we feel like we have something to offer every golfer no matter what they are looking for in a putter.”