Should you putt with the flagstick in or out? 🤔 It depends on more than you'd think...! Let’s start with when leaving the flag in helps. If a putt is travelling fast and heading dead centre, the flagstick can help it drop. When European Tour pro Edoardo Molinari tested this fast, centre-hit putts dropped 100% of the time with the flag in, but only 81% with it out. The stick acts as a backboard and stops the ball bouncing out. It also depends on the design of the pin. If it’s thin and soft, it absorbs the impact better and can help edge-hit putts drop too. Bryson used to putt with the flag in but doesn't anymore. But unfortunately that's when the flagstick benefits stop. The truth is, those firm, dead-centre rockets are rare. If you're hitting a more normal medium-speed putt the flag can actually cause more lip-outs. In Tom Mase’s study, off-centre putts were twice as likely to drop with the flag out. And in Molinari’s experiment, an edge-hitting putt went in 73% of the time with the f...