This is going to sound like a very strange statement, but I have found the better I putt, the better I putt.
Let me explain: Putting was/is the hardest thing to grasp here at WGT. I've been playing here for about 10 months now, and after 2 months I was able to hit pins with regularity, but putting was a crap shoot. It has gradually gotten better, and now I am at a point where I feel comfortable on the greens. The putts inside 10' I feel I am going to make, and those from 10-20' I feel I have a very good shot at. I also don't tremble when looking at much longer putts any more, enjoying the challenge (usually in alt shot... otherwise it means I hit a bad approach lol). But getting better at putting made me a better putter.
It allowed me to speed up my putts (roll speed). I can hit them harder, thereby removing some of the break and making the putts effectively easier. It's not only the confidence of knowing the putt is going to go where I want it to go, but also that if I charge at it and miss, and I end up with a tricky comeback, the confidence that I'll make that allows me more freedom to go for putts.
I realized this the other day when standing on Kiawah #2, looking at a wicked breaking 33' eagle putt. In the past, I would not really have tried to make it. What I mean is, my first goal would be leaving myself close enough to make birdie, and if it went in, great. This was the type of putt where you know that the speed needed to get to the hole isn't enough to navigate the break, so you have to hit it too hard to get it there on-line. These are the putts that used to terrify me, because if I don't make it, it's going 10' past the hole, probably with some still-significant break. So in the past, I would hit it too soft, giving myself really no chance to make the putt, but leaving myself an easy birdie. Not today. I ran at the putt. It lipped out and rolled to 9', and I made the comeback. The point being that confidence in my putting allowed me to take the shot at eagle, something I wouldn't have done in the past when that 9' comeback was a crap shoot.
I have seen people putt very very well with starter clubs, and with starter balls. So, is confidence the most important factor in successful putting?