NORTON, Mass. — As much as PGA champ Keegan Bradley praises four-time major champion Phil Mickelson for helping him learn the ropes during his first year on tour, looks like Lefty may have stolen a trick or two from the 25-year-old tour rookie as well. Early-morning eagle eyes spotted Mickelson tinkering with a belly putter prior to his 6:50 a.m. tee time in Thursday’s Deutsche Bank Championship pro-am at TPC Boston.
“I played last week with Keegan Bradley and he putted so good with it,” Mickelson said to a pro-am partner, according to Average Joe Golf Pro.
Golfweek’s Jim McCabe noted that Mickelson had taken up with a left-handed version of the same putter Bradley uses — an Odyssey White Hot XG Sabertooth. On the practice green, fellow TPC Boston contestant Jim Furyk compared his 47-inch Odyssey to Mickelson’s and found it a tad longer, McCabe observed.
Purists who believe the long putter to be an abomination to all golf-kind can calm down. As someone who’s gone with two drivers during rounds, Mickelson has both a long and short flat stick in his bag, according to McCabe.
It’s not exactly a shocker that Mickelson had a long putter in his hands. He hinted before last week’s Barclays event that he was open to experimenting with the mallet that Bradley used to win the PGA Championship.
“I wouldn’t rule it out,” he told reporters last Wednesday.”I’ve grabbed one off the rack and just hit one with it, sure. I don’t see very many left-handed but I’ll grab one when I see it and just take a few practice strokes.”
Mickelson and Bradley played in the first two rounds of the The Barclays, at which, oddly enough, Bradley failed to make the cut. They have also played a few practice rounds together, as Bradley observed in his Wednesday press conference.
Long putters have been all the rage, especially last month, with Bradley’s major victory, Adam Scott’s win at the Bridgestone Invitational with a sternum model, and Webb Simpson’s Wyndham Championship triumph using a belly putter.
As McCabe pointed out, Mickelson could use some help on the putting surfaces. Prior to this weekend’s FedEx Cup competition, Mickelson was 89th in “total putting,” and an even worse T133 in jarring putts from four feet.
Related posts:
- Deutsche Bank Championship: Phil Mickelson out to grab Tiger Woods' No. 1 title
- Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson move up Deutsche Bank Championship leaderboard
- EIGHTH-ANNUAL DEUTSCHE BANK CHAMPIONSHIP TO HOST WOODS, MICKELSON, DEFENDING CHAMPION STRICKER THIS WEEK AS TOP 100 PLAYERS CONTINUE ON IN PGA TOUR PLAYOFFS
- Charley Hoffman wins Deutsche Bank Championship; Tiger Woods still No. 1
- Bradley downplays family, hometown pressures at Deutsche Bank Championship
