Christian Petersen/PGA of America
By Joel Beall
Tiger Woods is chasing after his 16th major championship at TPC Harding Park. And he is doing so with new equipment.
Golf Digest’s Daniel Rapaport reported on Monday that Woods was contemplating a putter switch for the PGA Championship, benching his trusted Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS in favour of a new Cameron prototype. And in fact, Tiger did make the putter switch, teeing off on Thursday with the new putter.
Woods has used the Cameron Newport 2 GSS for 14 of his 15 major wins, including his 2019 Masters triumph. However, Woods struggled on the greens at the Memorial, his lone appearance in the PGA Tour’s restart season, posting a negative strokes gained figure on the week. He also laboured with the flat stick at the Genesis Invitational, his only other start in 2020, finishing 67th out of 68 qualified players in sg/putting.
The prototype Woods put in play for the first round at Harding Park is similar to the Newport 2 GSS. The primary differences are the putter’s lengths, which takes some stress of Tiger’s back, and adjustable weights in the heel and toe, allowing Woods to better calibrate to the speed of the greens.
The new putter treated Woods well on the first hole, as the 15-time major champion holed an 8-footer for birdie to secure a sporty up-and-down.
Woods has won the PGA Championship four times in his career, his last Wanamaker coming at Southern Hills in 2007.
