Tiger Woods puts new putter in the bag, shows promising signs early at Dell Technologies Championship
Not a fan. Ever heard of the saying, "If it ain't broke don't fix it"? Case in point for Tiger at +2 thru 6 holes at the Dell Technologies Championship. I know he's started almost every tournament slow but he's missing putts like he was before he switched to the mallet putter. His driving has been damn good the past few tournaments and is still holding strong today, but his approach and play around the green has been less than stellar, not a good combo.
I feel like Tiger was starting to get in a good groove and have a lot of confidence in the mallet so I'm a little confused by the switch at this point. I know he's played with a blade putter for his entire career and won 14 majors with it, but sometimes change is a good thing, especially when you've been near the top of leaderboards lately.
The good news is that it's Thursday and he's only +2 thru 6, but if he doesn't get back to even or just under he's going to have a hard time being in contention come Sunday. I hope he makes me eat my words.
-SR
Tiger Woods officially put a new putter in his bag on Friday for the first round of the Dell Technologies Championship. The good news for the 14-time major champ? The TaylorMade TP Juno passed its first test from six feet. The bad news? It was a bogey putt.
Woods found the left hazard on No. 10 at TPC Boston with his opening tee shot. After taking a drop, he missed the green and hit a pitch to six feet, but avoided further damage with his new blade-style putter, which has a similar look to the Scotty Cameron he won 13 of his 14 majors with.
On the next hole, Woods got more positive feedback that he made the right call switching away from the mallet he's been using since the Quicken Loans National in June when he nearly got that shot back with his second attempt with the new flatstick. Check out this beautiful roll from nearly 35 feet that stuns Tiger when it doesn't drop:
Seriously, how didn't that drop? Anyway, on No. 12, Woods two-putted from 38 feet, and then on 13, he rolled in a five-footer. For a second one-putt bogey in his first four holes to fall to two over. Hey, can't blame the putter for that.
Alex Myers | GolfDigest.com
