Phil Mickelson has struggled since winning the PGA Championship in May—his best finish is a T17 at the WGC FedEx St. Jude Invitational in Memphis. Armlock putting keeps getting more popular on the PGA Tour, and Mickelson began using it in Memphis.
Mickelson begins his 2021-2022 season at this week's Fortinet Championship in Napa, and he's made a slight tweak to his armlock putter this week. The sis-time major champion lengthened the grip on his putter to give him more room to choke down on his grip. This change brought his putter to 41 inches in length, .25 inches longer than Mickelson was using previously.
He is still using a similar looking head—an Odyssey model that resembles the look of the classic Wilson 8802 blade putter. But this particular model is a prototype head designed to keep the face steady throughout the entire stroke.
Mickelson shot 70 in his opening round Thursday, and his solid putting was his main takeaway from the round.
"I thought I putted really well. The ones that I made a lot of key four, five, six-footers, and then the ones that were 20 feet, I had three or four that I thought I made and didn't quite go in. So that's good that the ball's hunting the cup and tracking. Hopefully they'll go in tomorrow," Mickelson said Thursday.
As for the longer grip, he is still adjusting.
"I've been messing with it for about six weeks," Mickelson said. "It takes a little getting used to, but it seems like I've had moments where I just start rolling it in from everywhere."
