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This year’s Ryder Cup didn’t include much drama, but gearheads were enthralled by the wild story of Harris English’s putter grip.
English has used a Ping Palm Lock putter grip dating to his University of Georgia days. As he won this year’s Sentry Tournament of Champions and the Travelers Championship to vault into a spot on the American Ryder Cup squad, fans noticed that his trusty grip was coming apart at the seams. English has been so comfortable with the tattered grip – why wouldn’t you be when you’ve won more than $20 million with the same one? – he didn’t want to replace it.
That strategy worked well through his first two days at the Ryder Cup. However, as English was walking into the Whistling Straits clubhouse about two hours before his singles match against Lee Westwood, he received a call from captain Steve Stricker.
The grip had been deemed non-conforming. After receiving a tip, rules officials agreed that the rubber cap on the butt end of English’s putter was no longer attached to the grip material near the top of the flap, commonly referred to as the “banana flap.” That damaged the grip, and a player can’t use one that is not a uniform thickness up and down the handle.
So, vice captain Davis Love III stepped in to perform surgery.
“Davis, the savvy deer hunter and knifeman he is, got an X-Acto knife and cut the part off,” English said on the Fore The People podcast. “We gauzed it so it would be flush with the other cloth part. He did it in a few minutes. He finished it, gave it to the rules official and the rules official had to go give it to (European captain Pádraig Harrington), I guess, to OK it. Then I went out and played with it.”
After the Ryder Cup, English was convinced his grip would be done for good. But after Ping reps spoke to PGA Tour officials at length, they came up with a creative solution to prolong the grip’s life.
They took off the frayed rubber that was on top of the firmer core material and then wrapped the grip in athletic tape to achieve the required uniform thickness. It’s rare to use athletic tape on a putter grip, but it has been done on occasion. J.B. Holmes has used it since 2017 to help with sweaty hands.
Problem solved. English’s putter grip is still alive for now.
The main reason he has been averse to using a new grip is that he doesn’t like the slickness of the material. Ping reps have developed a solution for when English needs to replace his grip: They have run some grips under a sand belt machine to give a worn look that English prefers.
But for now, that day is still not here.
Sean Fairholm