After 3 putting 2X in the first 4 holes of my quarter final match this year, I made a dramatic move and switched my Scotty Cameron Newport 2 Cameron and Crown to the Phantom X 5.5. I have been using Scotty blades for over 20 years. Previous to that I had a png Anser and a TM blade. As I have been hitting the ball further this year, I have been hitting more greens, but I also noticed my putts per round had climbed more often to 31 or 32 instead of previous year's number of 28 to 29. Weighing in the factor that I was having more birdie opportunities, I still felt I should be making more putts.
Here's the thing: I love the look of the Scotty blades. It gave me great confidence. While I still managed to come back and win my quarter final match, I did not want to be playing catch up in the next one. Noticing that several pros had switched to a mallet putter, I decided to go all in and trade my Newport 2. It helped soften the blow of the price, and to use a metaphor from early explorers, I burned my boats on the shore so there was no turning back.
Now, 4 months later, I can say it was the right move. The best thing I have found with the Phantom X is that I am putting more from off the green. The face stays square while cutting through the fringe, and while I don't keep stats on the closeness of lag putts during a round, I have noticed that I seem to have tap ins more times than not. Very few 3 putts. Percentage of putts made under 10 feet has also gone up. Conclusion, while the Phantom X is not as appealing look at, the results overwhelming point to this being the correct decision for me.