MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Rory McIlroy arrived at the first PGA Tour playoff event at TPC Southwind with a new putter he’d plucked from the collection in his garage – a Scotty Cameron Phantom X T5.5 Tour Prototype hammer – and a simple look.
“I have my [TaylorMade] Spin with me this week. If that putter doesn’t do what I want for the first few days, I might go back. I just wanted to freshen it up,” he said at the FedEx St. Jude Championship on Wednesday.
For two rounds, the Scotty Cameron didn’t exactly transform McIlroy’s play on the greens. He lost shots to the field in strokes won: putts and was stuck in the middle of the pack on the greens before noticing a discrepancy.
FedEx St. Jude Championship full field scores
“It’s funny, I didn’t really notice it in practice, and once I got into competitive play I always put my right hand on my putter first to get in and out. I just felt like where my right hand was on top, it just felt a little too high,” said McIlroy. “I compared it to my Spider last night, it was about an inch [longer than his normal putter]. It wasn’t such a huge difference.’
While the equipment trucks had already left town, McIlroy’s caddy, Harry Diamond, took the putter to a nearby Edwin Watts Golf shop and had it shortened ½ inch.
“But then he contacted [an equipment rep] from Scotty Cameron, and he was like, it probably moved some swing weights, so added a little bit of weight to it this morning to try to balance it out. But it felt better,” said McIlroy, who was slightly better on the greens on Saturday on his way to a 68, which put him five shots behind and tied for sixth.
