As a notorious non-tinkerer, Brooks Koepka has made the surprising decision to switch away from his trusted flatstick…
The news that Brooks Koepka has swapped out his blade putter for a mallet might not be quite as surprising as his split from LIV – but for us gear nerds, it’s massive.
Koepka has an interesting golf bag. He’s contracted to play Srixon’s irons, but then he has a utility club from Nike – remember them? – and a TaylorMade M2 fairway wood. Then, of course, there’s the rare Scotty Cameron T10 Select Newport 2 Teryllium putter which he has used to devastating effect in the major championships.
He did have a brief spell with a Phantom 5 for a few events last season, but it wasn’t long before he went back to the blade. But now it looks like that relationship is on the ropes again.
Ahead of the WM Phoenix Open, the 35-year-old was spotted on the practice green with a different mallet putter…
No need to squint, it’s a TaylorMade Spider Tour X.
The Newport 2 was still there during his practice rounds, but the Spider Tour X got the nod for his opening round of the WM Phoenix Open.
(Maybe he read our piece about the impending death of blade putters and took note?)
Why a putter change makes sense for Brooks Koepka
After describing himself as a non-tinkerer at the Farmers Insurance Open, it did come as a shock to see the American using a couple of Spider putters during the practice days in Arizona.
Although based on Koepka’s putting stats from the Farmers Insurance Open, a change of putter probably isn’t a bad move.
Out of 175 players who’ve played an event on the PGA Tour this season, Koepka ranks 172nd for Strokes Gained: Putting at -2.410. These are the numbers after one event, but Koepka has been struggling on the greens for a while.
“I’ve been putting pretty poorly for the good side of two years. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ve got to figure it out,” Koepka said in Phoenix.
“Just really never felt comfortable over the ball. You’ve got to have everything squared up to the target. Just working on things like that. Real simple stuff. At setup, shoulders were open, feet are always a little bit open, but just trying to minimize the lines crossing so much.
“And yeah, just tried to keep everything more consistent, the face, the path, everything.”
Could this be the equipment change Koepka needs to get back into the winners’ circle on the PGA Tour? Or will he back into his Scotty before we know it?