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Stricker is utilizing a 37-inch Odyssey Versa Jailbird 380 putter for the primary time.
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Some execs choose to maintain their interior on-course demons hid from public view. Steve Stricker isn’t considered one of them. On Wednesday on the U.S. Senior Open Championship, a reporter spied Stricker engaged on his placing, which prompted him to surprise how among the best to ever stroke a putt preps for a serious championship.
As an alternative of talking in generalities and concealing his placing woes, Stricker bought straight to the purpose: “It’s been just a little little bit of a problem currently on the greens for me.”
Like a hitter attempting to swing his method out of a droop, Stricker is doing no matter it takes to search out his placing stroke at Newport Nation Membership. Even the perfect undergo tough patches. What made Stricker’s admission so attention-grabbing was the phrases that adopted.
“I feel I’m going to go together with a special putter, to be fairly trustworthy with you,” he mentioned.
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It’s frequent for execs to attempt completely different wands when nothing goes proper on the greens. Nonetheless, Stricker’s scenario isn’t so black-and-white. His Odyssey White Sizzling No. 2 putter has been changed now and again within the final 17 years, however you’ll be able to the variety of instances on one hand. It could be the closest factor to the connection Tiger Woods has with the “Elder Wand.”
Stricker’s needed to substitute the White Sizzling insert and shaft through the years — on account of basic put on and tear — however putter surgical procedure has by no means pushed the connection to the brink of a everlasting change. It’s at all times close by.
In fact, like each long-term relationship, there are bumps alongside the way in which. When the trusty putter began to go chilly not too long ago, Stricker contemplated a change. With counterbalanced putters on the rise, Stricker determined to offer a 37-inch Odyssey Versa Jailbird 380 the chance to bump White Sizzling No. 2 from the bag.
“[I]t’s the very same factor that Wyndham Clark putts with,” Stricker mentioned. “It simply feels just a little bit extra secure, particularly in these windy situations. I discovered that it’s heavier. It appears to carry the road just a little bit higher, the putter does, I ought to say. It simply appears to trace on my line just a little bit higher.
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“That’s the one factor that’s been form of letting me down to this point this yr is getting the ball within the gap. And it’s robust to apply proper there the place we’re getting batted round within the wind. That inexperienced is just a little bit completely different than the course. It’s just a little thinner. They aerated it. There’s nonetheless some marks in there from the aeration gap. It’s inferior to the golf course, so that you sit there perhaps too lengthy.”
Requested to elucidate the variations between the 2 putters, Stricker confirmed it’s a big change away from the standard blade (and size) he’s identified for many of his profession. One is mild and flowy whereas the opposite is sturdy and tank-link.
“It’s a whole 180 from the place I’m at,” he mentioned. “This putter that I’m placing with, it’s extra face stability. It’s bought a special neck on there. It’s an enormous ole grip. It’s counterbalanced. It’s longer than my putter.
“It feels just a bit bit simpler to maintain the putter head on my line proper now, and I’ve been battling consistency with mine. It’s a smaller blade. I’ve gotten older. It’s getting tougher.”
Father Time could also be undefeated, however the brand new putter has Stricker feeling like his outdated self once more via 36 holes. Using the heavier counterbalanced construct for the primary time, Stricker buried quite a few putts from inside 10 toes to publish matching 66s and transfer into rivalry as he chases senior main win No. 8. Even putts that used to come back up brief have been all of a sudden discovering the outlet.
“Hit loads of actually good putts,” he mentioned of the putter change. “Even the one I missed at 10, it was like a 90-degree lipout. I felt like I hit it proper on my line. In all probability hit it just a little bit too agency. Left a pair proper in the midst of the outlet brief. I assumed I left the final one brief proper within the center, however it ended up simply the final roll getting there. It was positively higher than what I’ve been doing.”
It’s the form of placing efficiency that ought to give Stricker the idea that one other senior main win is effectively inside attain.
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