Tiger Woods made a lot of people turn and take notice on the practice putting green at TPC Potomac on Tuesday, when he pulled out his bag a TaylorMade putter.
Woods pulled out the TaylorMade TP Black Copper Ardmore 3 putter and got to work hitting some putts with it as he prepared for a practice round ahead of the Quicken Loans National in the D.C. suburbs.
A member of Team Tiger remarked in passing, "It only took 30 seconds for everyone to notice."
To be frank, Woods changing putters is a big deal. He left the Scotty Cameron which has won him 13 of his 14 major titles out of the bag -- at least for today, maybe for the week and beyond. That hasn't happened many times in Woods' career, so such a move sets off a reaction of panic among the most concerned Woods fans and general curiosity among most everyone else in the golf world.
Woods practiced with a number of putters he asked TaylorMade to make up for him, working with each in his off week after missing the cut at the US Open. He settled on the Ardmore 3 after his Bermuda practice sessions, choosing to go with 2.5-gram weights in the sole, per PGATour.com's Jonathan Wall, who got a look at the putter up close.
The Ardmore 3 putter has wings on the toe and heel sides, framing the ball and giving the player some additional moment of inertia, all on what is fundamentally a blade head. The black copper look is gorgeous.
Woods also took a shining to the TaylorMade Spider putter, which could be another potential choice if the Ardmore 3 doesn't prove itself to Woods' liking in competition.
With Woods struggling since May with putting, particularly inside 10 feet, perhaps looking down at something different will help him putt with more confidence heading into his final start before the British Open Championship in July.
