Odyssey Golf Square 2 Square S2S Tri-Hot Jailbird Putter Review

Zero torque (ZT) putters have taken the industry by storm.  So far in 2025 zero torque putters have accounted for 25-percent of all putter sales.  However if you walk into any golf equipment retail store you also see a large stock of these putters in the used clubs areas.

While people are definitely running to trying zero torque, they're also definitely leaving zero torque almost as quickly.  But Odyssey Golf believes the problem contains the solution.  And today they've announced their new line of Square 2 Square Tri-Hot putters that very well could be an evolution in the zero torque category of putters.

I've been testing the Square 2 Square (S2S) Tri-Hot Jailbird putter and it's not an exaggeration to say I almost feel like the cup is rolling out a red carpet for me before every putt.  And I'm a very hard sell on zero torque, center-shafted putters, and even mallet styles.  I'll get into that more below as I tell you about the S2S Tri-Hot Jailbird performance.

A Quick Zero Torque Refresher

For those who aren't familiar with zero torque putters basically the design of these putters keeps your face square with your stroke path.  It doesn't matter if you putt straight back-straight through or have some arc in your stroke like I do.  Zero torque designs eliminate unwanted rotation in your stroke so you can return your putter at impact to the exact position it was at address.  And hence Odyssey's take and name of their zero torque putters being Square 2 Square.

With that said if you've tried a zero torque putter you already know all zero torque putters are not created equally.  Some ZT putters are more stable than others.  Some resist twisting more than others.  And some are even better than others in distance control and consistency on off-center hits.  I'm going to get into all of these performance categories and tell you what I experienced with the S2S Tri-Hot Jailbird.  

I can tell you right now however it's so impressive that I'd have to put S2S Tri-Hot Jailbird in my top-3 list of putters I'd consider if I only used one putter (life of an equipment tester, you know).  And the others in my top-3 list include a blade and none are ZT or center-shafted.

An Odyssey Milestone Marked by Another Insert Innovation

This year Odyssey Golf celebrates 25 consecutive years of being the Number 1 Putter on Tour.  And if you're like me when you think of Odyssey you think of Odyssey inserts.  Inserts are at the heart of Odyssey's identity and they've been pioneering inserts that boost forgiveness enhance forward roll, and control feel ever since that first putter design in a garage in 1992.

 

Insert putters in general are on the rise and many players believe they're at a competitive disadvantage without one.  At the end of 2024 52-percent of putter sales in the industry were inserts.  So far in 2025 65-percent of putters sold have been insert putters.  And Odyssey is about to make that number grow even larger.

The New Odyssey Ai-DUAL Insert

Odyssey has released three Square 2 Square Tri-Hot putters in three of their most popular models.  You have the Jailbird (in standard like mine but also available in Cruiser), the Rossie, and the Seven.  And each of these mallet style putters incorporate a new dual-layer, urethane insert that's soft on the surface but firm in the core.  Odyssey calls it Ai-DUAL and you can see the two-layer construction just by looking at the sole.

Sound and Feel

The Ai-DUAL insert immediately became my favorite putter insert ever.  I'm not kidding, from the very first putt with the Odyssey S2S Tri-Hot Jailbird.  It's extremely soft and responsive like the White Hot insert with a feel that resonates up the shaft into your hands.  But at the same time it's also an extremely solid and dense softness.  So dense feeling in fact that it rivals the solid feel of a pure milled putter.  And that's pretty damn impressive for a multi-material putter.  A real best of both worlds sound and feel.

Forward Roll Design

Ai-DUAL is about a lot more than sound and feel however.  Those are the insert fine tunings in my opinion.  At its core Ai-DUAL is about improving performance, specifically increasing forward roll.  Odyssey designed aggressive and deeper grooves in the insert with 19-degrees of slope.  And according to Odyssey this should get the ball rolling immediately, faster, and with better ball speed consistency.  Odyssey went through over 15,000 iterations and 72 prototypes testing new S2S Tri-Hot construction and grooves.  Probably good enough, but I thought one more test was in order.  AGNB, you know.

Pete's Triple Filter Test

Hey I had to give my new Odyssey Square 2 Square Tri-Hot test a catchy name, right?  And while I don't have any high-tech camera sensors to measure speed consistency, my Triple Filter Test was pretty comprehensive.  First, I'd hit putts from 10 feet, 20 feet, and 40 feet.  Second, I'd hit these putts all over the face.  And third, I'd hit putts on flat surfaces as well as sloping, breaking ones.

• Different Distance Putts

Speed consistency is distance control to me.  Obviously too long or too short and something's breaking down in performance.  And on 10-foot putts hit in the center with S2S Tri-Hot you could throw a t-shirt over where all my putts ended up.  You'd kind of expect this as 10-footers aren't supremely difficult.  But what was unusual is I was also making more putts than I would with other putters I've tested and use.

 

On 20-foot putts the results were almost identical.  Maybe some of the misses a few inches (tops) long or short, but every single putt I'd call very good and I was extremely happy with.  There wasn't a single putt that made me scratch my head or wonder, "what happened?"  And none of the misses were in danger of becoming three-putts.  Call this forward roll or speed or distance control consistency, but from 20-feet S2S Tri-Hot was like a dagger.

And finally on those 40-foot putts?  Well I'm going to be honest and tell you I don't think I made any more of these putts with S2S Tri-Hot than I would with any other putter.  But the collection of my misses was again extremely tight short of or past the hole.  Exceptionally precise results from long range.

• Putts All Over the Face

It's sometimes said the only absolute truth is there are no absolute truths.  But when I tell you every millimeter of the Odyssey S2S Tri-Hot Ai-DUAL face is a sweet spot it makes me believe maybe there are two absolute truths.  S2S Tri-Hot is the most consistently forgiving putter I've ever hit.

Putts hit towards the toe and heel on those 10-and-20 footers rolled pretty much identically to putts I hit dead center.  And on the longer 40-foot putts while toe and heel misses weren't as accurate as center impact, my pace control was still exceedingly good and consistent.  You probably shouldn't expect to make a lot of putts from 40 feet, especially on off-center hits.  But I was seeing a lot more of my misses wind up only 1 to 2 feet from the cup than I'm accustomed to. 

 

And one of the really interesting things about my S2S Tri-Hot Jailbird was how it also performed on misses low and high on the face.  These had nearly the exact same distance control consistency as my misses left and right of center-face.  This might be why the longer 40-foot putts gave me more kick-ins than I usually have from this range.  On those longer putts we have longer strokes so the miss high or low on the face becomes more likely.  But again, I had more misses inside of 3 feet with S2S Tri-Hot than I have with other putters I've played.  And that's just freaking awesome.

• Flat Putts and Breaking Putts

To this point in my review I've been taking about putts on generally flat surfaces with little to no significant break.  However distance control issues can be exacerbated when you're hitting putts on sloping greens so I found a few uphill and downhill breakers to also test my new Odyssey S2S Tri-Hot Jailbird.

I'm smiling as I write this because I'm almost embarrassed to say S2S Tri-Hot kind of makes these putts... easy... ish... er?  Listen, I'm not telling you all of a sudden you're going to become 2000 Tiger Woods on the greens or selling you some kind of putter snake oil.  You still have to read putts, judge distances, and we all sometimes just have bad days on the greens.  But the new S2S Tri-Hot flat out delivers extremely consistent roll and speed all over the face no matter what kind of putt you're up against.

As I said earlier, Ai-DUAL is without a doubt by favorite putter insert ever and I've just never experienced this degree of consistency with any other inert putter.

A More Intuitive Zero Torque Putter

One of the most common disconnects between zero torque putter interest and zero torque putter retention is the shaft lean.  ZT shaft lean is why many players don't try zero torque putters and also why many players leave them.  In order to get that zero torque balanced stroke path the putter shaft has to fall in line with the putter center of gravity.  And on virtually all putters CG is behind the top line (and hence why there is shaft lean).

Many of you have told me the zero torque forced lean is uncomfortable, that it messes with your set-up, your aim, and even your distance control.  And Odyssey also learned from Tour player, fitter, and customer feedback that ZT forward lean is disagreeable and unnatural.  But Odyssey went above and beyond merely creating a zero torque putter without shaft lean.

On the Edge of Glory

With the Square 2 Square Tri-Hot Odyssey also moved the shaft significantly closer to the putter leading edge by moving the center of gravity closer to the face.  It looks cleaner, more traditional.  And in fact compared to other ZT putters on the market the shaft is up to one inch closer to the leading edge.  You don't have to adjust or consciously counteract lean or use a special grip.  S2S Tri-Hot is zero torque in its most uncomplicated and natural state of putter performance.

 

A Front Loading Machine

Odyssey engineered S2S Tri-Hot center of gravity closer to the leading edge with multi-material construction.  The red color back of the putter is lightweight aluminum.  This weight saving allowed Odyssey to front load S2S Tri-Hot with 141 grams of high density tungsten.  So 80-percent of the putter weight is in the black topline area in the front and the remaining 20-percent is behind the topline in the red back.

And remember when I said earlier all zero torque putters are not created equally?  Well I'm pretty sure it's Odyssey's front loaded weight construction that makes S2S Tri-Hot a stability machine.  Of all the zero torque putters I've tested and played S2S Tri-Hot has the greatest resistance to twisting on mishits and also feels like it reduces unwanted rotation throughout the entire stroke just a little bit better than the rest.

Got You in My Crosshairs

Academic and empirical evidence shows crosshairs can improve focus.  We see crosshairs in golf rangefinders and hunting rifle scopes.  Even in video games like Call of Duty crosshairs make it easier to focus on targets, align headshots, and maintain control during those high stress battles.

Odyssey learned that crosshairs on a putter engages brain pattern recognition to improve and recognize precise alignment.  Alignment is always highly dependent on personal preference and I usually prefer a single dot front putter alignment.  But I also have to admit there's something about the crosshairs on this S2S Tri-Hot that I like a lot.  It compliments, even fits the overall shape and design of this putter.  And I'm not sure I'd change to single dot even if I could.

New Shaft and Grip

All of the new Odyssey Square 2 Square Tri-Hot putters feature a new shaft and new grip.  The Black SL 120 shaft design was driven by Tour feedback.  It's heavier and stiffer than what was used in previous S2S putters and a stiffer shaft should in theory reinforce the stability of the putter.

The new Pistol Grip Plus also comes standard with all the new S2S Tri-Hot putters.  It's slightly larger than previous Odyssey pistol grips with more pronounced edges.  I find the grip to give me a strong awareness and sense of my hands being connected to the face of the putter during my stroke.

 

Conclusion

All of the new Odyssey Square 2 Square Tri-Hot putters will be available at retail on November 7th.  And I strongly encourage you to check these out at your local retail store if you can.  The performance I saw with my Jailbird makes me believe S2S Tri-Hot is going to take interest in zero torque putters to another level.  And the consistency of performance makes me believe S2S Tri-Hot is going to be the kind of zero torque putter that stays in players' bags for the long haul.