Originally, I equated the 2-Ball as a golfing equivalent of playing music by numbers, or painting by connecting the dots.
Then some very good golfers, including Annika Sorenstam, used it, won with it, and swore by it. Even the best players encounter difficulties when lining up their putts, and the 2-Ball has helped them.
Still, the original looked blockish to me, and my bias against mallet putters didn't help.
I prefer the 2-ball blade, which combines the original's alignment benefits with more visual appeal. Imagine a White Hot blade putter without perimeter weighting. Now add two balls behind for alignment and mass, but trim away the rounded mallet in back. The 2-ball blade looks sleek, has improved weighting, is nearly face-balanced, feels very solid, and means business. More than before, because Odyssey cleaned out the metal around them, those two balls point the way to the hole.
It provides more than a cosmetic difference. Odyssey also changed the putter's dimensions. The 2-ball blade has a wider face than the original, with a slightly lower profile. Now, it is four and a quarter inches across, one inch wider than the original. At address, the top of the face 7/8ths of an inch above the green, 1/8 of an inch lower.
These subtle variants give the 2-ball blade a much better look to my eye. Like the original, you'll measure three and a half inches from the sweet spot to the back, but the wider face makes it more appealing.
