Method 004

The Nike Method 004 line runs across three entries on record: a 2009 release, a 2010 release, and an undated edition simply carrying the Method 004 name. Each is built on the same idea, a face-balanced blade with polymetal face groove technology combining milled steel with polymer, and each carries the maker's three parallel sightlines running along an extended flange for alignment. Putterzone.com's reporting on head weight (343 grams) and lie (71 degrees) holds steady from the 2009 model into the 2010 model, suggesting the geometry of the head didn't move much even as the finish and detailing evolved.

What did change, at least in the telling, is how the face was built and described. Putterzone.com's 2010 notes add detail not present in the 2009 rundown: an insert described as a ported polymer layer behind the face. Whether that marks an actual construction change between 2009 and 2010 or simply a fuller writeup the second time around isn't something the record can settle, but it's worth noting the gap.

Across all three releases, reviewers keep landing on the same word for how the putter feels at impact, something soft, airy, ephemeral. Putterzone.com's own line appears verbatim across the 2009 and 2010 entries and the general line entry alike: you still get nice click in the hands and ears, but there is very little tactile resistance on the sweet spot, particularly on the 004 model for some reason. That's a notably specific complaint, repeated model year after model year rather than fading out, which suggests it wasn't a fluke of one test unit but something built into the polymetal face itself.

Best-putter.com, meanwhile, focused less on feel and more on function, favoring the 004 for players who pull their putts or who want a straight-back-straight-through stroke, a fit that lines up with putterzone.com's own read on the head as face-balanced (heel shafted). The line's identity, across 2009, 2010, and the general edition, seems to have stayed consistent on that point even where sourcing on other details didn't fully overlap year to year.