On Sunday, J.J. Spaun sank a 64-foot putt to win the U.S. Open, one of the PGA Tour’s four major tournaments. Over the final seven holes, he made more than 136 feet of putts, including that curling 64-footer on 18. He was the only player to finish the U.S. Open under par, and it was his first career major win. It was also the first major win for L.A.B. Golf, the boutique manufacturer that outfitted Spaun with his DF3 custom putter. L.A.B. Golf is the new company shaking up the putter circuit, and its innovation is simple. Traditional putters have shafts that attach in front of the clubface or at the heel, creating twisting forces during the stroke. L.A.B. putters position the shaft directly through the putter’s center of gravity, behind the face, the shaft stabbing the putter head like a toothpick spearing a square of cheese. This creates a nontraditional forward shaft lean that eliminates torque and helps the face naturally stay square throughout the putting motion. J.J. Spaun reacts to making the winning putt on the 18th green during the final round of 125th U.S. Open Championship at Oakmont Country Club on June 15, 2025 in Oakmont, Pennsylvania. [Photo: Ben Jared/PGA TOUR/Getty Images] “Every other putter you’ve used, you’re trying to keep it square,” Sam Hahn, L.A.B. Golf cofounder and CEO, says. “With L.A.B., you’re trying to let it stay square. So it becomes more like so many other stroke sports out there—throwing darts, shooting a free throw, throwing a ball—where you’re not thinking about managing the instrument, you’re thinking about the target.” The company has been built on one simple philosophy: Putting doesn’t have to suck. [Photo: L.A.B. Golf] An accidental garage innovation In 2014, a Reno-based club builder named Bill Presse made an accidental discovery in his garage. While testing new designs, he stripped the grip from a putter, and when he grabbed the slick, ungripped shaft, his hand slipped and the putter face flopped open, almost instinctively. The putter head wanted to twist and turn on its own. This sparked Presse’s curiosity. Using a makeshift device crafted from a crutch and fishing wire, he tested every putter in his collection to see if any would remain square when properly suspended. None did. So he drilled holes in dozens of putter heads to find the precise shaft placement that would eliminate the unwanted rotation. This led him to design (and patent) the first lie angle balance putter, the Directed Force. He sold his L.A.B. putter directly out of his garage and at golf events and showcases.  View this post on Instagram A post shared by L.A.B. Golf (@labgolfputters) A key early adopter In 2017, Hahn acquired one of Presse’s putters from a golf instructor and experienced dramatic improvement on the greens. (For you golf nerds, he went from a 1 handicap to plus 3.5 in six weeks.) Then, the club’s head fell off. When Hahn called customer service and sent in his broken L.A.B. putter, Presse personally called to apologize. Sam Hahn [Photo: L.A.B. Golf] “We hit it off instantly,” Hahn says. “We talked for hours on the phone and learned that we’re kindred golf spirits.” A few months later, Bill’s club-making company was struggling and was about to close its doors. Hahn, a music venue owner in Eugene, Oregon, and a closet golf addict, saw an opportunity and partnered with Bill in 2018 to form L.A.B. Golf. “The lie angle balancing concept was there, but nothing else really was,” Hahn says. “The marketing wasn’t there, the manufacturing wasn’t there, the infrastructure, the branding, the general vibe—there simply wasn’t a company there. But there was a concept.” The L.A.B. Rats With no marketing budget, L.A.B.’s growth had to happen organically. Hahn spent time jumping between golf forums and online groups, explaining the physics behind lie angle balance and taking a humble approach when skeptical golfers said their putters looked like branding irons. “We knew we had to be a little self-deprecating and a little humble at first when we were out there making some pretty bold claims,” Hahn says. [Photo: L.A.B. Golf] Then, in 2021, Hahn discovered something unexpected: Two L.A.B. customers had created a Facebook group for L.A.B. fans. The group exploded into a thriving community where golfers share putting tips and success stories, many singing L.A.B.’s praises. Hahn and his team began engaging with members, answering questions, and gathering feedback to inform their product design. It’s a real-time focus group that Hahn and his team have leveraged to not only continue to iterate and innovate, but to build putters that golfers actually want to use. “I log on to Facebook at night and see what’s going on,” Hahn says. “So when we sit in a product meeting and try to figure out what we should do next, it’s easy, because the customers are telling us every day what they want next.” Today, the group has bee