Marc Leishman’s putter hasn’t exactly been behaving so far this season. In fact, Leishman ranked an abysmal 189th in the stat coming into the Farmers Insurance Open, dropping nearly half a stroke per round to the field.
But when Leishman is winning tournaments, his putter tends to be on. He ranked second in strokes gained/putting in winning the 2017 Arnold Palmer Invitational and was fourth in that stat in winning the 2017 BMW Championship. He was even better in winning the Farmers, ranking first in strokes gained/putting for the week, picking up more than eight shots on the field.
Leishman’s Odyssey Versa #6 with a black/white/black stripe pattern on the head was without question the difference-making club today, starting right off with a 41-footer for birdie at the first. Leishman made four more birdies on the front nine at Torrey Pines’ South course, with none longer than 14 feet. Over the final nine, however, Leishman’s putter kept his pursuers at length. A 14-foot birdie putt at the 11th was followed by nine-foot par save at 12. A five-footer for birdie at 13 kept the momentum going and two key par saves – a 12-footer at 14 and an eight-footer on 15 – gave Leishman a comfortable margin heading in and another short birdie at the last provided breathing room as Jon Rahm finished second just a single stroke behind.
Leishman’s win also marked a victory for Callaway’s new Mavrik driver, which Leishman told Callaway not only provided more ball speed, but a tighter dispersion and better workability.
What Marc Leishman had in the bag at the Farmers Insurance Open:
Ball: Chrome Soft X
Driver: Callaway Mavrik (Fujikura Speeder 757), 9 degrees
3-wood: Callaway Epic Flash Sub Zero, 16.5 degrees
5-wood: Callaway Rogue Sub Zero, 18 degrees
Irons (3): Callaway X-Forged UT; (4-6): Callaway Apex Pro 19; (7-PW): Callaway Apex MB
Wedges: Callaway Jaws MD5 (52, 60 degrees)
Putter: Odyssey Versa #6
