Brian Harman and his previous TaylorMade Spider OS (oversize) putter were nearly inseparable. Since 2016 – when he first bought one of the putters “off the rack” – he played the same model putter for nearly every professional round of golf. It was in Harman’s bag for his win at the 2017 Truist Championship and for his first major victory at The Open Championship 2023.

Even as recently as THE PLAYERS Championship 2025, it was still in his bag. Truth be told, though, Harman had been testing putters throughout 2025, he hadn’t quite found the one to kick out his beloved gamer out of the bag, but he was testing out the market.

Then, on the week of the Valero Texas Open, Harman finally found a putter that sent his longtime Spider OS to the bench. The new putter is so new, in fact, that TaylorMade hasn’t even released it to the public. It’s still a prototype, but based on the engravings in the blue sole plate, it’s called a TaylorMade Spider 5K-ZT (zero torque, which means it’s designed with an inherent resistance to twisting during the stroke, regardless of a player’s stroke style).

As Harman explained in his post-win press conference at the 2025 Valero Texas Open, a TaylorMade putter rep handed him one of the prototype putters on Tuesday of the event. He’d been trying out putters throughout 2025, anyway, so he gave it a shot.

“I looked at my stats from last year and I probably had the best iron game of my career, approach to the green, and probably my worst year from 10 to 20 feet putting,” Harman reflected in his post-win presser. “So still really good inside 10 feet, but that section there is where I was getting all my looks and I wasn't making any of them. I had toyed with the idea of switching putters for a while. Picked that one up on Tuesday this week, it felt really good and it rolls nice, just kind of freed me up a little bit.”

Harman continued to use the new, winning putter at the 2025 Masters Tournament, where he finished T36, but he gained 0.79 strokes on the greens, finishing 12th in Strokes Gained: Putting of those who made the cut, according to datagolf.com. Harman is ranked just 124th in strokes gained: putting throughout all of 2025, according to PGATOUR.COM, so the momentum with the new putter is palpable.

With a few more weeks under his belt with the new flatstick, Harman was again asked about it at the 2025 RBC Heritage.

“Yeah, so for me, especially at Valero, and I don't know how – anytime you get a new putter, you putt good,” Harman said. “There's a honeymoon period there. But currently with that putter, it's sort of – when you're putting, you've got a lot of variables, right? Have I picked the right speed? Have I picked the right line? Am I going to hit a good putt? With that putter, for me currently, it sort of removes the am-I-going-to-hit-a-good-putt variable out of it. It seems like I hit more good putts with it, so I'm focused more on line and speed, and not worried as much about making a good strike on the ball.”

Ideally, a golf club fits a player so well that it allows them to focus on the task at hand, rather than questioning the outcome. It seems that Harman has found that magical combination with his new, TaylorMade prototype putter. Here’s to hoping it just a honeymoon phase, but another longtime answer for Harman, just like his Spider OS was.