How the LIV Golf star’s long-lost putter, which an airline lost in 2018, magically found its way back into his bag.
Sometimes in professional golf, the smallest, strangest moments can end up having the biggest impact. For me, that moment happened during a rain delay in Seoul. We were there for LIV Golf Korea in nearby Incheon and, like most players, I was expecting a pretty normal week. Instead, I stumbled into a second-hand golf shop and walked out with a putter that would help me win a tournament by five shots a week later. It was a brand I hadn’t touched since 2018.
An unlikely change in putter helped propel Lucas Herbert to victory in Japan.
Let me take you back to the beginning.
The Thursday pro-am at LIV Korea was completely washed out, so I drove to where my caddie, Nick Pugh – “Pughy” to everyone – lives in Seoul. We were heading out for dinner with my fiancée Erika and Pughy’s wife. On the way to the Korean BBQ restaurant, we passed this quirky second-hand golf store packed with racks of used clubs, sets of irons and a ton of putters.
I wandered into the shop on my own and that’s when I saw a brand new Yes! putter and it was the same model I’d used years ago, right down to the C-groove face pattern. I couldn’t believe it. My clubs got lost en route to the 2018 Open Championship and that Yes! putter had been with me since 2016. Yes! had discontinued as a brand and I honestly thought I’d never see another one again.
This putter was 34 inches long, with an oversized grip already fitted. I bought it on the spot, walked into the restaurant and dropped it on the table with the biggest grin on my face. Pughy just looked at me like I’d lost the plot.
I took it to the course at LIV Golf Korea. A week later, at the International Series Japan, something told me to give it a proper look. I’d been putting solidly from inside 10 feet all year, but I’d been leaving a few out there from 15-20 feet. With this Yes! putter, those putts started falling. It just felt automatic.
I asked Pughy and my coach Dom Azzopardi if they thought it was a good idea to put it in play and they did, so it went into the bag for the week.
Before the tournament started, I brought it to the tour truck to get it adjusted to my specs. My specs are pretty rare – I like a very upright lie angle. Most off-the-rack putters don’t come close. But this Yes! model was already spot on, straight off the shelf. That felt like a sign.
When I put it in play, the results were quick. I rolled it beautifully all week in Japan. I was making putts from everywhere. I didn’t feel like I had to manipulate the blade at all. It stayed square through the stroke and the alignment was nice. I could feel the back of my left hand staying square to the target the whole way through, which is big for me as a left-hand-low putter.
That’s one of the things I loved about it: I didn’t have to manufacture anything. I didn’t have to arc the stroke or manipulate the face to get it square. It just worked with my natural motion. Even with off-centre strikes, it still held the line very well. That kind of forgiveness is underrated when you’re putting under pressure.
The funny thing was my previous putter was great and I wasn’t desperate to change. But golf’s funny like that. Sometimes you stumble across something that just fits your eye and your feel a little better, and it makes all the difference.
The Yes! putter gave me a simple, square-to-square motion that felt more natural than anything I’d used in a while. Tiger Woods talks about essentially hitting draws with his putts because he uses the idea of generating topspin to get the ball rolling quickly. That’s always made sense to me. But this putter gave me the confidence to feel like I didn’t need to overthink that. The stroke matched the putter, and everything just synced up.
After I won in Japan – with an eagle on the final hole – I handed the putter back to Pughy and said, “Whatever you do, don’t lose this.” He must’ve taken me seriously because he went straight back to the store in Seoul and bought six more just like it. We’re well and truly stocked now in case anything happens to the original.
So, is it staying in the bag? Yeah, 100 percent – for now, at least. I haven’t touched it since I walked off the final green in Japan. Hopefully it’s still safe and sound, maybe even getting its own seat on the team flight.
Sometimes you don’t find the club. The club finds you.
Photographs by Yoshimasa Nakano/getty images
