NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
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The TaylorMade Spider Tour putter remains the hottest winner on the PGA Tour, picking up its fourth and fifth wins in the first six events of the season with Collin Morikawa (Pebble Beach AT&T Pro-Am) and Jacob Bridgeman (Genesis Invitational).
While Bridgeman made pretty much everything he looked at on Saturday at Riviera to build a big enough cushion that he could ultimately hang on to win for the first time on the PGA Tour by one stroke, Morikawa got to the finish line for the first time in more than two years almost in spite of his putter.
That’s been a familiar story for well more than a year as the two-time major winner has tried out a showroom full of flat sticks to find one that works out for him. That’s something he doesn’t foresee changing anytime soon.
“I think I might be (unsettled with the putter) for the rest of my career,” Morikawa said. “It’s a comfort thing for me. I think I play a lot with my feel and I play a lot with my gut and unfortunately that changes a lot.”
He plucked the putter he won with at Pebble – a Spider Tour X – out of Kurt Kitayama’s bag during a practice round in Las Vegas. Actually, it was Daniel Kitayama’s bag, but TaylorMade built the putter for his brother for whom he caddies.
“I actually stole it from Kurt Kitayama two weeks ago when we were at home,” Morikawa said of his acquisition.
“I had gone … the (previous) two weeks with a different blade style of a putter – actually the one Nelly Korda won with, I believe, two weeks ago. This wide TaylorMade blade. I was putting with it, didn’t make anything. I looked at Daniel … I said, ‘Oh, let me try it.’ I tried it on maybe the 13th hole. Felt great. I jokingly said, ‘I might have to take this.’
“Then the rest of the round I only putted with that putter. … So the next two days I actually didn’t touch a club other than my putter – or his putter. That’s all I was doing in the hotel room. Like I didn’t hit balls, I didn't do anything. Just putting in the hotel room, putting, putting, putting.
“That’s kind of how I stole it. I don’t know if (Kurt’s) going to want it back. He looked at it again this week. I think he’s trying to replicate it with maybe a different club or whatever. But it’s mine now.”
A trimmer Aldrich Potgieter has a brand new PXG bag among his wholesale changes in 2026.
ORLANDO RAMIREZ, GETTY IMAGES
In his post-Genesis interview on CBS after finishing fifth at Riviera where he’d never played before, South African Aldrich Potgieter confirmed the scale of offseason change that ran the gamut from replacing his management agency, trainer, physio and apparel line to losing 35 pounds.
“It’s over three months that I kind of lost the weight, so I don’t really feel a big change all of a sudden,” said Potgieter. “I don’t think I would be in this shape playing five weeks in a row six months ago.”
He also made a major equipment change from the Titleist gear he used to win last season’s Rocket Classic to a full PXG setup from driver to wedges. After missing cuts at the American Express, Torrey Pines and Phoenix and finishing a distant T60 at Pebble Beach, it was a big lift to post four rounds in the 60s and snag a top-five finish.
“Going into the offseason we wanted to have a look to see what we could change for the better,” Potgieter said. “The equipment change was big. Tested a few things out and we decided to go with PXG. I’ve been really happy with them so far.
“It’s quite daunting coming into the season with new stuff, but you’ve just got to trust that there’s a good team behind you and get through those tough times.
“It’s kind of the process we had to push through to get where we are today. I’m happy we did that. … It’s tough missing three cuts in a row, but you can kind of see progress getting better and better every week.”
Potgieter wasn’t the only new PXG player getting a big lift at Riviera, as England’s Marco Penge posted his best result (T16) after a similarly rough PGA Tour start with his new clubs.
A former Mizuno staffer who won three times on the DP World Tour in 2025 to earn a PGA Tour card, Penge also signed with PXG ahead of the new season, putting in play the Lightning Tour driver and Secret Weapon mini driver as well as the PXG 0317 ST irons.
Penge kept the Titleist Vokey SM10 wedges in his bag.
Scott Michaux
