Emperor

The Yamada Emperor entered the record through soranews24.com's reporting on Rhein Gibson, who was carrying the putter during a record-setting round. According to soranews24.com, the Emperor was priced at 55,000 yen (US$587), was made of soft iron, and took around six months to make. The same reporting noted that, at the time, the model was only available right-handed.

soranews24.com's framing of the round leaned on the putter's presence in the bag as much as its build: "Sure enough Gibson was carting a Yamada putter for his record meeting round." Whatever role the Emperor played in that round, the outlet's account ties the model's visibility directly to Gibson's performance rather than to any claim made by Yamada itself.

Within the Emperor line, this is the release defined almost entirely by that single outing and that single price point. The soft iron face and the six-month build time are the two specs that recur across soranews24.com's coverage, and both are worth weighing as one publication's account rather than a settled figure.