While amateurs usually persevere with the tools they have, the tour professionals have the luxury of being able to switch putters at will without cost. At any given stop on the European or PGA tour, you can see pros on the practice green with a variety of putters trying to find one that feels good, looks good and gives them the confidence to hole putts. It is not uncommon to see players switch putters from week to week and even during a tournament.
Stay or Go?
Any good golfer would tell you that once you find a putter you love, stick with it. The problem is that golfers tend to fall in and out of love as easily as a teenage girl when it comes to putters. It is hardly surprising though, given the variety of putters on the market today, they are spoiled for choice. It's not so easy to stick with that heel-toe design you loved so much a week ago when suddenly it won't put a 3-footer in the hole, especially when there is the new offset blade model waiting for you in the tour van.
What do the Pros Have to Choose From?
Putters have exploded with new and strange designs. Where once blade, heel-toe and mallet was the basic vocabulary of the putter market, suddenly there was the 2-ball, a putter seen as crazy at the time and yet now blends into a market full of strange shapes and sizes, all designed to inspire confidence in the player who picks it up. Sergio Garcia is one of the most recognized tinkerers on tour, changing putters frequently and sometimes he even carries two putters in the bag as he did at the WGC Accenture matchplay championship in 2008 where he used both the standard length Taylor Made Rossa Monaco and the Taylor Made Monza Spider belly putter.
Custom Fitting
Not only do the pros have the chance to try any putter they like the look of, they will have it custom fit for their own specifications. The standard length putter is between 34 and 35 inches but if the pro wants it 32.5 inches with a steeper lie angle, it will be ready by the time he plays. Unlike amateurs who will happily use the off-the-rack putters, the pro takes no such chances, knowing each putt can mean thousands of dollars. PGA Tour star Adam Scott and the team at Scotty Cameron know his exact putter specifications so when he finds one he likes the look of, they know he needs 35 inches in length, 4 degrees for loft and a 71 degree lie angle.
Customizing
One problem with switching putters so frequently is the lack of connection with the putter; it doesn't feel like yours for a while. Luckily the pros have a solution for that as well. They customize. Often it's a simple imprint of initials just so the putter knows who it is working for. Other times it is elaborate designs such as Rickie Fowler's Scotty Cameron putter, in his alma mater Oklahoma State's black and orange colors with his and former college's initials on the face. Rickie is not alone in showing his college pride, Columbian Camilo Villegas represents his Florida Gators with a design featuring orange and blue dots and inscription on his Circle T putter.
Putt like the Pros
So you might not be able to change putters every week in the search of holing everything. You may not be able to demand a customized putter from a big manufacturer. However, you can do some things to help yourself hole some more putts. You can, and should, get custom fit; it's worth the little time and money it costs, you can practice a little more, and as far as liking the look of the putter, find one you do like or learn to love the one you're with.
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