MacGregor Fat Lady Swings Putter Review

Bobby Grace has been at the heart of putter design for many years and his designs have been a hit for all that time. The original design of The Fat Lady Swings was in the bag of Nick Price when he went on a tear and won the 1994 PGA Championship with it on August 14. On August 15, Bobby Grace had 25,000 orders and a legacy to uphold.

Grace then took the momentum from The Fat Lady Swings and parlayed it into a deal with Cobra to design putters. Now with MacGregor, he has taken the famous putter and given it a totally new look and feel. The result is a better looking and feeling version of the classic that some touring pros may find in their bag.

Design and Technology
The new Fat Lady Swings has been gutted and rebuilt with all new technologies. We’ve seen Scotty Cameron do the same with his line of Newport putters, first using a Teryllium insert before switching to the Platinum style putter with a German Stainless Steel insert. Bobby Grace and MacGregor now have pulled off a similar change in The Fat Lady Swings.

First, Grace added Beryllium Copper to the face of the putter. On their website, MacGregor states that:

The strength and sensitivity of an Annealed Beryllium Copper face insert is magical. You get the satisfying “click” of harder Beryllium combined with a face that’s 7 points softer than carbon steel. In short, it’s solid but soft.

Grace also utilized an aircraft-grade aluminum that allows the deployment of 195 grams of strategically placed weighting. The solid, milled block of 60-61 aluminum is lightweight but sturdy. The copper weights are triangulated in a way that creates high Moment of Inertia (MOI) to resist twisting.

The Fat Lady Swings has a smooth look on its milled body. The dull finish also reduces any glare coming from the top of the putter

Another build feature of The Fat Lady Swings is that the center of gravity has been moved deep and away from the face. This gives The Fat Lady Swings a stable and forgiving feel that all golfers are looking for in a putter.

Look and Feel
Much maligned for its looks over 10 years ago, one would think that The Fat Lady Swings would get a bit of an overhaul. For the most part, it did not… and the changes Grace did make have only made it look marginally better.

The previous incarnation of The Fat Lady Swings had the same stepped mallet design the current one does. The biggest addition to the new version is a rectangular alignment chamber cut out of the top of the club. This chamber contains two slotted lines that fall above and below the alignment mark on the top of the club giving aids both directly behind the ball at address and deep on the club as well. While still not pretty, it is an improvement over its predecessor. The bottom of The Fat Lady Swings is much easier to look at. The three copper weight plugs rest inside the aluminum sole, and both are highly polished to a mirror-like finish.

The new version of The Fat Lady Swings also has a low profile.

The Fat Lady Swings may not look pretty, but it’s got a good personality. I’m talking about feel, here. I just switched to a center shafted Odyssey Two-Ball because of how good the Fat Lady felt (hush, those of you with dirty minds) at setup. Short putts rolled very true. With The Fat Lady I got a very similar feel. Aligning the Grace re-creation was very easy using both the tiered back side of the mallet and the slot lines. Also, unlike some putters that annoyingly open when soling the club, The Fat Lady Swings square to the line.

If there is one negative on the feel it would be the “clicking” sound that MacGregor calls “satisfying.” Don’t count me in the “satisfied” category. After playing with an Odyssey for a year now, I’m not accustomed to a loud sound when striking a putt… and prefer it that way. At least the feel is as soft as advertised.

As for weight, let’s just say the Fat Lady is a bit of an oxymoron: she’s a bit on the light side when compared to my Odyssey Two-Ball. I’m not as picky on putter weight as some would be, just as long as a putter isn’t too heavy. The Fat Lady Swings feels just right to me.

Performance
I tested a 33″ version of The Fat Lady Swings and made no modification in weight or anything else. The reason for the short shaft is that I normally choke up on The Odyssey Two-Ball I have to a 33″ or 34″ length, so I moved to a shorter putter with the Fat Lady to make such gripping down unnecessary.

I took The Fat Lady Swings out for a few practice sessions initially. The first impression I had of it was very, very good. I’ve never been a person to put a great “roll” on the ball on the green, but with The Fat Lady Swings it really seemed to come off the face that way. I came away quite impressed with the roll, the alignment, and the feel.

I ran through a series of straight three-, six-, and ten-foot putts over about 20-30 minutes. On the three footers I had no problem rolling a bunch in the hole in succession. Most were dead center without any lip-outs. The same could be said for the six- and ten-foot putts. It was easy to put a good stroke on The Fat Lady Swings. I never felt like I had to think about anything but a good, pendulum swinging motion with the shoulders. The rest was easy.

Here you can see the Annealed Beryllium Copper face insert that provides the soft feel with a traditional clicking sound.

After holing a bunch of short putts, I was eager to see how long putting would be with The Fat Lady Swings. I dropped a series of balls about 25-30 feet from a hole on the practice green. This is where I really stated to see the great roll off the face of the putter. I rolled the first two putts into the hole. The ball never touched the back or side of the hole… which makes any golfer feel good. After about 10-15 minutes and more success, I decided to back it up further.

Around 40 feet is where I had a bit of a struggle. I attribute most of this to the lighter weight of this putter compared to my Two-Ball. I left a good percentage of the putts short… although they were on line. After getting a better feel, I managed to make a couple of the 40 footers.

Next it was time to take it out on the course to see it in action. In three rounds, The Fat Lady Swings pretty much replicated its performance on the putting green. I had relatively no problems with shorter putts. Inside five feet, I only missed a few putts. I felt extremely comfortable over the ball. It was over ten feet or longer that I had problems judging distance and only made a few of those putts. The good thing is that I only three-putted one time from about 60 feet. All in all, pretty good.

Conclusion
When I first received The Fat Lady Swings, I was a bit skeptical. It wasn’t very pretty to look at and I hadn’t played a heel-shafted putter since my college days with an 8802. As you have read though, I have been impressed with The Fat Lady Swings and pleased with my experience.

Bobby Grace has taken a popular putter from the past and made it even better. With its high MOI and solid milled head, The Fat Lady Swings has a lot to offer all golfers including myself. After using it for three rounds, I’ve decided to keep it in the bag for now. Once I adjust to the weight, The Fat Lady Swings may be the best putter I own.