Golfers love to debate performance versus price. You’ll hear someone say, “I play with a Tour Edge driver because I can’t justify the cost of a Callaway Triple Diamond.” For many, performance isn’t everything; it’s performance for the price.

But what if the performance for the price is the best that’s out there? What if a cheaper putter actually outperformed premium options?

That’s exactly what happened in the 2025 Best Mallet Putter Testing. The $129 Wilson Infinite Buckingham didn’t just hold its own. It won.

The best mallet putter of 2025: Wilson Infinite Buckingham

We used our new PuttView Handicap to test all putters in 2025. The lower the PuttView score, the better. Here’s how the Wilson Infinite Buckingham looked from each distance:

Overall: -6.6 Short Putts (5 ft): -6.1 Medium Putts (10 ft): -9.2 (2nd best of all putters) Long Putts (20 ft): -9.0 Price: $129.99

The Infinite Buckingham excelled at the ranges where the test showed the biggest separation in performance. This was in the medium and short putts.

Testers knocked both the sound and the look of the Wilson Infinite Buckingham but it didn’t make it any less effective at getting the ball in the hole. One said, “The ball went in the hole. Not the most subjectively appealing putter, but it performs.”

How does it stack up against Scotty Cameron?

The Scotty Cameron Phantom 7 isn’t a bad putter, far from it. It scored strongly in long-range putting (-11) but lagged in short and medium distances (only -2.3 at 10 feet).

That’s where the Infinite Buckingham separated itself. At the most crucial ranges (short and medium), it consistently outperformed not only Scotty Cameron but most of the entire field.

This doesn’t make Scotty Cameron a poor choice. Many golfers will stick with it out of brand loyalty, craftsmanship appreciation or subjective appeal.

But for golfers who want the ball to drop, price aside, Wilson just gave them a reason to think twice.

Which one should you buy?

To find the best putter for you, go for a fitting. If you want somewhere to start before you get fitted, here’s what you can take away from this test.

Buy the Wilson Infinite Buckingham if you want the best-performing mallet of 2025 at a fraction of the cost. Ignore the sound, ignore the looks, and focus on what matters: getting the ball in the hole. Buy the Scotty Cameron Phantom 7 if you’re loyal to the brand, love the look and feel, or want a putter with proven tour presence.

This isn’t about “cheap versus premium.” It’s about what the data proved. Sometimes the putter that performs the best is the one with the smallest price tag.

The PuttView score and why it matters

This year’s test used PuttView, a groundbreaking system that tracks putts at multiple distances and gives each putter a “handicap-style” score.

Negative numbers mean better performance. The lower the score, the more strokes that putter can save relative to the field. Scores are broken down by short (five-foot), medium (10-foot) and long (20-foot) putts. This allowed us to see where each putter truly excelled.

The Infinite Buckingham’s dominance at medium range (-9.2) was critical. That’s the distance where most golfers either save or lose strokes.

Final thoughts

The 2025 Most Wanted Mallet Test delivered one of the most surprising results we’ve seen. Golfers finally have proof that the best-performing putter might not be the most expensive. For players who care about Strokes Gained over brand names, that’s a win worth celebrating.

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