Tiger's Putter

[trek1500]

I'm sure there has been a thread started on this topic somewhere but I just wanted to share with you an article I read in this year's " 2007 Official PGA Tour Guide" which I picked up at the SHO this spring..

 

On page 281 there is an interesting article entitled, "The Endless Search for the Perfect Putter" which had a section on Tiger's putter which was quite interesting..

 

In the article it states that Tiger made a switch to a Newport 2 at the Byron Nelson Classic in 1999 and the same putter has been in his bag ever since..

 

He has won more than 40 times with it...

 

He's so attuned to his putter that he can detect any slight imperfections in it and although SC has made backups for him he still goes back to this particular putter..what dedication

 

Other examples of this dedication to one particular putter are also mentioned in this article such as Ben Crenshaw's famous "Little Ben" his classic 8802 and Brad Faxon's dedication to 2 SC models that he has used for over 20 years...

 

This article was quite an interesting read and I was wondering if anyone out there has that kind of experience with their own putter?

 

I know I have gone through quite a few putters since I have been playing but as of now I have been using the same Newport 2 for over 2 years now and am pretty happy with it..

 

I've tried other putters but am quite attached to my SC so I can kind of understand....

 

A great article! Unfortunately I don't see it online but if you have the "Official Annual 2007 PGA Tour" guide it's on page 281..

 

A really good read!

[RobotDoctor]

I think the reference to Brad Faxon is that he has been using a Ping My Day putter as well as his 2 Camerons for 20 years now. I think Faxon made the switch to the Camerons about 9 or 10 years ago.

[eppey]

I have read the article or at least one very simliar to it, I did find it online somewhere. If it's the same one then Tiger indicates that he has tried putters that rolled the ball better than his but he knows that come a Sunday afternoon at a major that this one putter had done the job for him before and he knows it can do it again. Or something along those lines.

 

Brad Faxon actually had three SC's that he uses. If you go looking through the SC website you can find some information where the custom shop restored all three of them.

[trek1500]

Probably the most successful putter asides from "Little Ben" in the history of the game....

[opus_mh]

Didnt Tiger give away a his putter after a horrid putting day at the bridgestone event last year. I thought i remember seeing it sold on ebay earlier this year or late last with a letter of authenticity.

[502 to Right]

Didnt Tiger give away a his putter after a horrid putting day at the bridgestone event last year. I thought i remember seeing it sold on ebay earlier this year or late last with a letter of authenticity.

 

No. He has used the same putter since 1999.

 

Some of his certified backups have been sold, however. But those are not putters he has ever used in competition (and may never have used them in practice either.)

[akanacl]

During todays 3rd round of the US Open I very clearly saw "PING" on Tigers putter grip. I have a large HD LCD TV and it was clear as day. Whats up with that?

[teamarctic]

Im pretty sure he has always used the ping grips on his putter, he probably likes the feel of'em.

[pickerjohn]

He's always, as long as I've known, used a Ping putter grip.

When he was with Titleist they would black out the Ping, it led to Ping actually making that model.

[cbae]

Didnt Tiger give away a his putter after a horrid putting day at the bridgestone event last year. I thought i remember seeing it sold on ebay earlier this year or late last with a letter of authenticity.

 

No. He has used the same putter since 1999.

 

Some of his certified backups have been sold, however. But those are not putters he has ever used in competition (and may never have used them in practice either.)

 

 

After this tournament, he should consider retiring his gamer.

GIRs: 69%, Rank: 1

Putts: 1.76, Rank: 48

 

In the 3rd round, he hit 17 greens and had 35 putts.

[MCCA]

Didnt Tiger give away a his putter after a horrid putting day at the bridgestone event last year. I thought i remember seeing it sold on ebay earlier this year or late last with a letter of authenticity.

 

No. He has used the same putter since 1999.

 

Some of his certified backups have been sold, however. But those are not putters he has ever used in competition (and may never have used them in practice either.)

 

 

After this tournament, he should consider retiring his gamer.

GIRs: 69%, Rank: 1

Putts: 1.76, Rank: 48

 

In the 3rd round, he hit 17 greens and had 35 putts.

 

What are you on crack :shok: , he had a bad putting day how many Majors & PGA tournaments has he won with his current putter. ridiculous

 

mcca

[kobe123]

Completly agree... with mcca.. his putter can't always be hot...

[zanna5910]

Its not like he was putting on flat muni greens either. He putted at least 4 or so puts with 1-4 feet of break in them.

[ZombieDave]

It's not like he hit bad putts. They just weren't dropping, and I don't know how some of them stayed out. On another day the 69 he shot on Saturday could have been a 64.

[diablojoe]

It's not like he hit bad putts. They just weren't dropping, ...

Putts that aren't dropping are called "bad putts" in a major. The guy putted like a dog. It's really nice that he left himself a lot of par tap-ins. Who cares? He lost the tournament on the greens.

[NikeSlingshot06]

haha i have a ping grip on my putter, i blacked it out 2 just to be like tiger :shok:

[SadTrombone]

It's not like he hit bad putts. They just weren't dropping, ...

Putts that aren't dropping are called "bad putts" in a major. The guy putted like a dog. It's really nice that he left himself a lot of par tap-ins. Who cares? He lost the tournament on the greens.

Not necessariliy. You can hit a lot of good putts that never see the hole due to factors beyond our control. I don't think that was necessariliy Tiger's problem at Oakmont as perfect as those greens are. The problem there is you can't be agressive at all and taking the correct speed gives you more break...not a good combination.

 

He may have hit the ball on the line he wanted at the speed he wanted...those putts don't drop but are still good putts.

 

It may be me, but hey...I'll take T2 in a US Open if he wants to hand it off.

 

-mini

[HeadonaStick]

It's not like he hit bad putts. They just weren't dropping, ...

Putts that aren't dropping are called "bad putts" in a major. The guy putted like a dog. It's really nice that he left himself a lot of par tap-ins. Who cares? He lost the tournament on the greens.

Tiger's problem really wasn't his putter. He was not hitting laser like irons this weekend - the length of most of his birdie opportunities weren't exactly kick-ins.

 

By the way, did you see how many very nice par putts Tiger made to actually stay in the tournament this weekend?

[roper1313]

It's not like he hit bad putts. They just weren't dropping, ...

Putts that aren't dropping are called "bad putts" in a major. The guy putted like a dog. It's really nice that he left himself a lot of par tap-ins. Who cares? He lost the tournament on the greens.

Tiger's problem really wasn't his putter. He was not hitting laser like irons this weekend - the length of most of his birdie opportunities weren't exactly kick-ins.

 

By the way, did you see how many very nice par putts Tiger made to actually stay in the tournament this weekend?

 

No kidding. If he could have made as many 10 foot birdie putts he would have run away with the US Open. It seemed like he was right in the heart on all those long par putts.

[cbae]

It's not like he hit bad putts. They just weren't dropping, ...

Putts that aren't dropping are called "bad putts" in a major. The guy putted like a dog. It's really nice that he left himself a lot of par tap-ins. Who cares? He lost the tournament on the greens.

Tiger's problem really wasn't his putter. He was not hitting laser like irons this weekend - the length of most of his birdie opportunities weren't exactly kick-ins.

 

By the way, did you see how many very nice par putts Tiger made to actually stay in the tournament this weekend?

 

No kidding. If he could have made as many 10 foot birdie putts he would have run away with the US Open. It seemed like he was right in the heart on all those long par putts.

 

10 foot birdie putts? He couldn't even make a 4-footer for birdie on Sunday.

[localfitch]

Brad has indeed been using the same MyDay/FaxDay style for many years... here is the putter he used during the 2000 season to break the record for putting average with 1.704 PPGIR... if any of you have wondered what a $10,000 putter looks like... here it is...

 

http://www.scottycameron.com/authenticatio...egistry=A004771

[502 to Right]

Are you saying that putter cost $10,000 to make, or it is worth $10,000 as a collector's item?

[localfitch]

Are you saying that putter cost $10,000 to make, or it is worth $10,000 as a collector's item?

 

Take a guess... :D

[502 to Right]

Wow. That's a lot a dough.

[greencarlito]

10 foot birdie putts? He couldn't even make a 4-footer for birdie on Sunday.

 

Perhaps, but how many other players in the field only had 1 3-putt all week? I think its ridiculous how much criticism he gets, so what he didn't hole as many putts as usual on the hardest greens in America - and given the birth of his first child 24 hours later maybe he had other things on his mind?

[cbae]

10 foot birdie putts? He couldn't even make a 4-footer for birdie on Sunday.

 

Perhaps, but how many other players in the field only had 1 3-putt all week? I think its ridiculous how much criticism he gets, so what he didn't hole as many putts as usual on the hardest greens in America - and given the birth of his first child 24 hours later maybe he had other things on his mind?

 

Avoiding 3-putts doesn't win you a tournament. Getting more 1-putts than 3-putts, however, does.

 

BTW, his mediocre putting at the US Open was actually better than at his two prior tournaments: The Memorial and The Players. So methinks the impending birth of his child didn't affect his putting negatively.

[villa]

He's always, as long as I've known, used a Ping putter grip.

When he was with Titleist they would black out the Ping, it led to Ping actually making that model.

He used a black cameron grip (can't remember the name but it's got a really hard feel) on his Scotty Newport Teryllium until he changed to a Ping Anser 2 and has used the Ping grip ever since.

 

Tiger putted as well if not better than the majority of players over 4 days at the U.S Open but he had one of the best ball striking rounds i've ever seen on the Saturday. If he could've holed some of those birdie putts, he may have shot a ridiculously low number and walked away with another major.

 

I think because we expect so much from him, it's strange to see him miss anything from within ten feet (regardless of how difficult the greens were).

[TheCapedAvenger]

I like how everyone points out that missed four footer, even though it had more break than any 8 footer at my home course and couldn't be more than tapped or it would have screamed 8 feet by.

 

He miseed many putts that were easier than that one.

[Caligula]

The thing I admire most about Tiger's game is his putting. Nobody holes out better or makes more putts when they really matter. OK so it didn't go for him on Sunday - Life can be like that. If he'd made a better fist of the bunker shot on 17(?) he'd have won no question, maybe a new sand wedge is in order. :D

[rrd]

i found these photos of one of tiger's backups, i dont know if they've been posted before but i am in serious awe of this thing