Adam Scott was one of five Major winners perched atop the Masters leaderboard heading into Saturday’s third round, but he was likely the only one considering a putter change.
The Aussie, who made Masters history in 2013 by becoming the first player to win one a men’s Major using a full-length long putter, was practising this morning with a Scotty Cameron by Titleist TFB (a tour-only version of its Fastback model, a mid-mallet style). This after playing the first two rounds this week with a Directed Force putter he has had in the bag since last month’s Honda Classic.
The high moment of inertia Directed Force mallet has an unusual grip and a clubhead that looks like a frying pan or a flying saucer. It is designed to stay square through impact because it’s balanced to the putter’s lie angle. It does this through the shaft’s location relative to the head’s centre of gravity.
However, although tied for the lead, Scott’s performance on the greens has been less than worthy of claiming a second green jacket. After two rounds Scott ranks 64th in the field in putting inside five feet, and is 0-for-3 in putts from 5 to 10 feet and also 0-for-3 in putts from 10 to 20 feet. He’s also a mediocre T-33 in putts per green in regulation. Worse, his stroke has looked shaky at times, including a couple of weak efforts coming in Friday when he could have taken the lead outright.
Scott used the Cameron TFB during a second-place finish at the Farmers Insurance Open and a T-7 at the Genesis Open. And as most golfers know, there’s something to be said for having a little bit of magic in the flat stick to rely on. For Scott, that magic might lead to a second green jacket come Sunday night.
UPDATE: Scott stuck with the Directed Force putter and although he birdied the first hole, he had to wait until the 12th to drain his second.
