- PING releases their third “PING Slam” 2023 PLD limited-edition putter.
- The PLD Limited Zing 2 honors Curtis Strange’s win at the 1988 U.S. Open.
- The fully milled stainless steel PLD Zing 2 drops June 13 at 2 p.m. EST.
Another major already?
It’s hard to believe the U.S. Open is already upon us. Wasn’t the PGA Championship just last week? Hopefully, Brooks has finished his victory lap and is ready to go again. He’ll need to be in top form at Los Angeles Country Club if he’s going to bag another major. The pack is ready for the chase.
Memorial champ Viktor Hovland obviously is dialed in, Schellfer is the DraftKings favorite and Phil’s recent Twitter bluster could show up in his game. Rahm, Rory and Max would also like to be wearing the Nicklaus medal come Sunday afternoon.
Anyway, in addition to reduced productivity in the workplace, the return of the U.S. Open also means PING will be releasing the third of their PING Slam putters. This time, Curtis Strange’s winning Zing 2 is getting the PLD treatment.
What’s a PING Slam?
Refreshing your memory … The PING Slam references PING putters being used by all four men’s major champions in 1988. Sandy Lyle used a PING Pal to win the Masters. Jeff Sluman won the PGA Championship with a Pal 2.
Up next, we have the PING Zing 2 that Strange used to defeat Nick Faldo in a playoff at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. Sure, he three-putted on 17 to end up in that playoff but he still edged out Nick by four strokes.
Strange defended his title the next year with the Zing 2 in the bag. Here’s the Sports Illustrated cover from June 25, 1989, showing Strange and his putter. (Photo source and SI article about the 1989 U.S. Open here)
PING “PING Slam” Zing 2 Putter Specifications
- 100% milled 303 stainless steel
- Original Zing 2 Design
- PING PP58 Grip
- $990 MSRP
- Limit of one putter per customer
- Official sale begins at 2 p.m. EST June 13
- Pre-sale waiting room opens at 1:55 p.m. EST. To reserve a randomized place in line, it is recommended that you join promptly at this time.
Things About The PING Zings
I thought it would be interesting to take a bit of a dive into the big book of PING, officially titled And the Putter Went… PING by Jeffery B Ellis.
If you are unfamiliar with this book, it is an expansive history of PING. Expansive both in information and also in heft. It’s a beast of a book. Fun fact: MyGolfSpy and yours truly are cited in the book. Check page 480 if you are curious.
PING first produced the Zing back in the early 1970s. The Zing 2 and its flowing hosel design rolled out in 1985. While both Zings were heel-toe weighted like the iconic Anser, the Zings featured sweeping bumpers rather than the stepped Anser design.
Obviously, this scheme creates a different look from the rear but it is at address where the Zing’s look is most unique. The Zing is quite square in its overall profile. However, the slope of the bumpers creates a rounded cavity in the negative space.
If you just focus on that part of the putter at address, what you have is a small rounded blade-ish design. No, I’m not going to say it looks like an 8802 at address but it kind of does if you squint a bit.
Remember, when these putters hit the market, we were decades away from the relatively huge modern mallets. Blades were the norm. The PING Zing 2 has the optics of a much smaller putter but it still has the stability of the weighted ends. It fit the marketplace zeitgeist and it was a winner.
“A winner” is not hyperbole. The Zing was professionally victorious, Strange’s wins are probably the most famous but other pros won with it as well. For example, Juli Inkster used a Zing 2 to win the 1989 Nabisco Dinah Shore LPGA event..
PING PLD Zing 2 putters will sell out
Keeping to their majors week release plan, PING will release the PLD Zing 2 on the Tuesday of U.S. Open week. Next, we will see the last PING PLD “PING Slam” putter on the Tuesday prior to the Open Championship in July.
Like the prior two models, only 88 are being made with a retail price of $990 (limit one per household). Also like with the last release, the waiting room will open at 1:55 p.m. with random waiting-room occupants getting the chance to buy the putter five minutes later..
Like the first two releases, expect these to be gone in minutes..
Reminder: PING will be offering all four putters as a set on Dec. 5. The 35 “Ping Slam” sets will cost $4,990.
The Zing is one of my favorite PING putter models. While I don’t expect to be able to score one of these limited-edition models, I do hope a retail PING PLD Zing or Zing 2 shows up in a future line. I think the last milled Zing was part of the Redwood line back in 2007. Fingers crossed for a PLD Zing in 2024.
Find out more about the 2023 PING PLD limited-edition putters at pingpld.com.
MarkM
11 months ago
Always liked the Zing2 profile so much better than the Anser. If I had the time, patience, money and was not loving my L.A.B. Mezz I would definitely try to get lucky and grab one of those.