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NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
BROUGHT TO YOU BY GOLF PRIDE, THE #1 GRIP ON TOUR
As suggested here last week, it didn’t take long for Tiger Woods to ditch the Scotty Cameron Newport 2 Timeless that flunked its test at the PGA Championship.
Woods went back to his “Elder wand,” the Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS that has helped him win 14 of his 15 major championships, at last week’s Northern Trust. He had used the longer version, one that he said relieved back pressure, during a horrid putting performance at TPC Harding Park three weeks ago.
When asked why he switched back so quickly, it was clear Woods wasn’t willing to be patient with the new putter.
“Just stubbornness, I guess,” Woods said. “I practice all the time with the longer putter, and the one I’ve been using ... for 21 years, and then also my 8802. I switch back and forth between all of those.
“I really do practice with my 8802 probably the most because I like feeling that toe release and I like putting with my right hand. That’s basically my training aid, and then I went to a longer putter to get more reps in. Went with it at the PGA, had one good day, the first day, and then after that I didn’t really putt well.”
Many have suggested that Woods just give his Newport 2 GSS a longer shaft, but he isn’t yet willing to fundamentally alter one of the most famous putters in the game’s history.
“I’ve thought about doing that, but I don’t know,” Woods said. “I just can’t do it. I've regripped it. I've sent it to Scotty (Cameron) to rebuild the hosel because I’ve thrown it a few times. But I’ve never dinged the shaft. That’s the same shaft for the last 21 years. The hosel has been warped a few times, but it was still the original shaft.”
In Boston last weekend, Woods gained more than two strokes on the greens during the first two rounds, but he lost nearly four strokes to the field there in the third round and continued to look uncomfortable.
On the subject of the Scotty Cameron Newport 2, that was the putter Adam Scott used to pick up his first PGA Tour victory in 2003 – at TPC Boston where the tour played last week.
Unlike Woods, Scott has long abandoned that flat stick. Now he uses a broomstick-style, MOI-heavy mallet with weights that make the putter head look like Micky Mouse. The Scotty Cameron Xperimental Prototype Rev X11 isn’t conventional, but it’s helped Scott sneakily become a solid putter over the past two years – after being outside the top 100 in strokes gained putting four years in a row, Scott has been in the top 30 the past two years.
Sean Fairholm