It was one of the greatest moments in golf when J.J. Spaun sank a 64-foot putt to claim his first major at the 2025 U.S. Open. Spaun was nowhere near the lead when he entered the final 9 holes, but four birdies on the back nine, including his monster clutch putt on the 18th hole, helped him become the champion. While a lot of credit is given for keeping his composure, it is undeniable that his play was exceptional, particularly his putting. And fellow player Wyndham Clark believes he has had an important role to play in helping Spaun become the major winner.

Wyndham Clark hasn’t come close to a victory since his last at the 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. This year, he has had only one top-10 finish at the Texas Children’s Houston Open and also missed the cut at Oakmont. Playing at this week’s Rocket Classic in Detroit, Clark blamed his putting for setting him back in the past. “Long story short, I just haven’t been making a lot of putts from 8 to 20 feet. You know, like last week I felt like I played great but didn’t hole any putts, and that kind of kept me from having a top-10 or top-5 finish or even winning the tournament,” Clark confessed at a press conference after the first round on Thursday. 

But this week, he decided to switch to an L.A.B. putter from his Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser putter to make some changes. Was it J.J. Spaun who inspired Clark, given that he won at Oakmont with the same putter? Hardly. It was rather the other way around. “No, no, not—zero. J.J. got inspiration from me; I used it before he did. No, no, it’s just a coincidence, but it is a great putter; I’ve always loved it,” Clark sternly clarified, indicating that he had an important role to play in Spaun’s win. Spaun sank nearly 136 feet of putts on his last final holes with the same model of putter Wyndham Clark uses.

Clark confessed that this is not the first time he’s been introduced to an L.A.B. putter. It was nearly 3-4 years ago that he was introduced to it, and he keeps tinkering with the putter at home. “Yeah, I’ve tinkered with the LAB for, I guess, three or four years now, mainly at home. I used it in a couple tournaments maybe three years ago, four years ago. So I thought if there’s something that could maybe help me make those putts, I want to try it. So I came here on Monday, tried a million different putters, and kind of settled on the LAB, and we said, All right, we’re going to go with it,” Clark added that he’s not new to the trend.

And he hopes that the putter will make all the difference starting this week. Clark currently ranks 64th in the strokes gained stats in putting and is looking to change that. With the L.A.B. Putter in his bag this week, he hopes it gives him the results he wants—”It’s easy to stroke. Yeah, hopefully it stays hot and we keep it in the bag.” But what is this putter that everyone is suddenly obsessed with?

What is Wyndham Clark’s famous L.A.B. Putter?

It is not just Wyndham Clark who has experimented with this putter. Back in 2019, Adam Scott began using one, and even Phil Mickelson and Lucas Glover are hooked on it. But what makes this putter so unique? The putter can eliminate torque, so your ball starts exactly on line from where you want it to. And you’d hardly believe it, but this putter was created in someone’s garage.

Back in 2011, Bill Presse, who had dedicated his life to working on clubs, was struggling with his putting and wanted to do something about it. He discovered that while all putters on the market claimed to be balanced, it was hardly the case. An impromptu experiment at his home confirmed his doubts. That’s when he discovered it was simply about finding the center of gravity and calibrating that with the shaft. While he took a while, eventually he settled on using screws at the base of the putter to fix the issue, and it continues to look like that even today.

Hence, the name L.A.B. came into inception, for Lie Angle Balance, and it was designed specifically keeping in mind golfers who struggle with inconsistent impact. It’s not that professional tours aren’t exceptional putters. But this putter is trying to eliminate even the tiniest of unforeseen errors that might cost players their well-deserved wins.