NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
BROUGHT TO YOU BY GOLF PRIDE, THE #1 GRIP ON TOUR
The only thing more fluid than Collin Morikawa’s caddie situation this season is his ongoing putter search. He might have finally found one he likes at the Rocket Mortgage.
Morikawa went from a blade-style TaylorMade TP Soto putter at the Masters to a Spider Tour V at the RBC Heritage. After struggling on the greens at Oakmont, Morikawa tried out a Logan Olson 1.0 Round Tour Matrix putter at the Travelers Championship.
But a week later after the first round of the Rocket Classic, Morikawa gamed a prototype Spider Tour putter he had TaylorMade make for him in April with a head similar to one he played in college. The winged mallet has a steel body and hosel, but an aluminum sole plate.
The change paid immediate dividends as Morikawa went from 156th (dead last) in strokes gained putting after the first round at Detroit GC to 11th in the second round. He eventually tied for eighth at 19-under.
Former Players champion Si Woo Kim also has been searching for answers to his putting for several years. He started using an Odyssey 2-Ball Ten broomstick putter on the advice of Presidents Cup teammate Adam Scott in 2022.
But with his putting in the doldrums in 2025 – ranked 142nd on the PGA Tour in strokes gained putting – Kim’s dabbled with various standard putters this year, including an Odyssey Toulon blade.
At the Rocket Classic, Kim broke out another new putter – the distinctive Odyssey Ai-One Giraffe Beam Jailbird Mini. He ranked among the top half of the field in strokes gained putting in the first two rounds at Detroit Golf Club with a pair of 68s before regressing on the weekend shooting 75-73.
The Giraffe Beam putter – so named because of the elongated neck of the face-balanced crank hosel – was recently released for retail and Kim made a request on Monday at the Rocket to the Callaway folks to try one out. Tour rep Jim Toulon told GolfWRX that he immediately liked it and put it in play for the first round.
The way Kim is going through putters this season trying to find something that suits him, the Giraffe better hold its head up to stay in the bag.
Scott Michaux