In the days leading up to the 2023 Masters and PGA Championship, Ping released 88 limited-edition PLD putters to honor the winners of 1988’s first two major champions, Sandy Lyle and Jeff Sluman, who both used a Ping putter to earn their major victories. Now, just a few days before the start of the U.S. Open, Ping is set to drop the third commemorative putter in the Ping Slam family, the PLD Limited Zing 2 that honors Curtis Strange’s 1988 U.S. Open victory at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.
In a release, Ping executive chairman, John A. Solheim, said, “We’re really enjoying celebrating the ‘Ping Slam’ and reliving some wonderful memories from 1988, Curtis’s thrilling win at the U.S. Open was soon followed by the U.S. Women’s Open champion using a Zing 2, giving us wins at both national championships that summer. The next year, Curtis won the U.S. Open again with his Zing 2. That was a remarkable run for the Zing 2 and secured its place in Ping’s putter history.”
The Zing 2 has a distinctive, curved back flange and thin topline. (Ping)
The 88 commemorative PLD Limited Zing 2 putters are each milled from a block of 303 stainless steel and have a short slant-neck hosel. There is a distinctive curve to the back flange, with extra mass in the heel and toe areas that create more perimeter weighting and stability. The original Zing 2, which was first released in 1984 and was cast instead of milled, is nearly identical to the original Zing putter in appearance, and both putters became classics that still look at home in modern golfers’ bags.
“A lot of what we did back then is still critical to our putter designs today, so we went to great lengths to maintain the subtleties of each model while giving them the precise details and strikingly clean, premium appearance made possible through the milling process,” Solheim said.
The 88 PLD Limited Zing 2 putters will go on sale Tuesday, June 13 at 2 p.m. Eastern and cost $990 at pingpld.com. If you want one, act fast, because the previous Ping Slam putters sold out in a matter of minutes. On December 5, Ping will offer 35 complete sets of the PLD Limited Ping Slam putters for $4,990.